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"Please! Please don't take away my dojo sign!"
"That's my livelihood!!!"
After the battle ended, Red and Usopp stood there, looking in shock at Kiyo, who had appeared fierce and strong moments ago but was now begging for mercy like a beaten dog.
Even though Red knew this was just a scripted plot designed by the game, a few sweatdrops still formed on his forehead.
But Kiyo's next words made his eyes suddenly light up.
"As long as you don't take away my sign, to thank you, I can give you one of my prized Fighting-type Pokémon!"
Upon hearing this, Red immediately stepped forward: "A gentleman never takes what another man cherishes!"
"So..."
"Hurry up and show me your Pokémon!"
A moment later, two Fighting-type Pokémon suddenly appeared on either side of Kiyo.
A Hitmonlee with powerful legs extending from its rounded body, and a Hitmonchan with boxing gloves resembling a professional boxer!
Unfortunately...
Even in this materialized game world, Red could only choose one of them.
After a moment of hesitation, he quickly made his decision.
It was actually quite straightforward.
After all, Sanji was the only one in their crew who had Fighting attributes, so they naturally had to choose Hitmonlee, which matched his kicking-based fighting style.
With a flash of red light, Hitmonlee instantly transformed into a TM and fell into Red's backpack.
[Move: Low Kick]
[Type: Fighting]
[Category: Physical]
[Power: Variable]
[Description: A powerful low kick that knocks the target over. The heavier the target, the greater the power and likelihood of causing the opponent to fall!]
"A move that might not be consistently powerful, but could have special effects against giants or Sea Kings!"
After reading the Low Kick description, Red immediately made some mental notes.
Regardless, being able to collect another TM was enough to bring a smile to his face.
Unfortunately, successfully challenging this Fighting dojo didn't provide Red with the usual gym reward.
Apparently, even the game system didn't recognize its official gym status.
Poor Kiyo~
After the dojo battle, they still had about an hour and a half left in their game session.
At that moment, the door of the dojo suddenly opened.
A woman in a green uniform walked into the building and immediately smiled at Red:
"I'm an Elite Trainer here on business, and I just witnessed your wonderful battle!"
"Would you like to battle with me? If you win, I'll provide a generous reward~"
The uniformed woman showed a sweet smile as she invited Red.
Simultaneously, a selection interface suddenly appeared before Red's eyes.
[Accept!] or [Maybe later...]
Without any hesitation whatsoever, Red instantly chose the latter!
What a joke~
Any Elite Trainer appearing at this point in the game would certainly be more powerful than Kiyo!
Usopp had managed to defeat Kiyo because he had a large ammunition reserve and the advantage of a ranged fighter against Fighting-types, which were mostly close-combat specialists.
Pitting Usopp, who was only level 23, against Pokémon of other types would be too risky and waste their time, with potential losses outweighing the gains.
Besides, the Elite Trainer wouldn't disappear. When they came to challenge the Saffron Gym in the future, they could battle her then.
After making this decision, Red immediately left the Fighting dojo with Usopp.
With more than an hour remaining in today's game session, they couldn't afford to waste it.
Red took Usopp to the Pokémon Center to enjoy a free full recovery.
If they wanted to continue advancing the plot, they should head to Lavender Town and clear the Pokémon Tower full of Ghost-type Pokémon.
However, considering Usopp's current level and fighting style, Red ultimately took him to the route between Saffron City and Lavender Town to battle wild Pokémon!
The Pokémon here were similar in level to Usopp. Although each one provided only around 100 experience points, with Red's assistance...
Their leveling speed was actually faster than when they had challenged the dojo!
Just as they were running out of energy, Usopp was only a few hundred experience points away from advancing to the next level.
There was a sudden flash of white light, and Red and Usopp's consciousness returned to the real world.
The silent moonlight shone into the cabin through the clean windows.
Usopp, who had just emerged from battle, couldn't calm down quickly, but to avoid disturbing his friends, he covered his head with the quilt and started snickering quietly.
Red, long accustomed to this lifestyle, silently used Ancient Power and began his evening meditation practice.
The night passed peacefully.
In the blink of an eye, the Going Merry had been sailing on the sea for three days.
During these three days, the waters through which the Merry traveled were surprisingly calm, completely different from the danger they had experienced when first entering the Grand Line!
Perhaps the Grand Line had wanted to show its strength to newcomers, or maybe the Straw Hats were just extraordinarily lucky...
During this time, Luffy successfully reached level 52 with the help of Rare Candies!
And Usopp rose to level 24 under Red's training.
After that, Red switched to having Nami or Sanji in his party, and smoothly progressed through the Pokémon Tower storyline over two days of game time.
He successfully obtained a TM that even Red envied - [Teleport]!
As the name suggested, the effect of this move was straightforward and easily understood.
The only disappointment was...
This was another Psychic-type move that the Straw Hats couldn't learn.
By now, Red's TM collection already included five Psychic moves: [Teleport], [Psychic], [Hypnosis], [Light Screen], and [Reflect], which occupied one-sixth of his item storage.
There was also a Psychic partner move from Celadon City [Glitzy Glow].
Six powerful moves that could be used for attacking, defending, escaping, or utility, but surprisingly, no one in the crew could learn them!
Of course, this wasn't entirely accurate.
After all, Luffy, who had the Fairy type, could learn Hypnosis and the two defensive moves.
But these moves didn't align with Red's vision for Luffy at all.
Currently, Luffy's four moves were Bulk Up, Tri Attack, Hyper Beam, and Play Rough.
Bulk Up kept Luffy in a physically enhanced state at all times, beneficial for both fighting and training—an excellent move.
This move was also standard for Zoro and Sanji.
As for Tri Attack, while it suited Luffy's general attack style,
Red's purpose in teaching him this move was actually to help Luffy master the three types of Pokémon energy: fire, electricity, and ice.
This would improve his fighting abilities!
Similar to the techniques Luffy would use in the original timeline after the two-year timeskip...
Even while deep underwater, he could ignite his fist with blazing flames, inflicting both physical and burning damage to enemies.
In turn, this would further reduce Ace's Mera Mera no Mi's uniqueness!
Even Usopp had successfully attempted it, and Red believed that Luffy would soon master the technique.
Hyper Beam needed no explanation.
Even if Luffy wasn't skilled at using it yet, this move could explode with tremendous damage in critical moments!
And Red still looked forward to... the day when Luffy and the others could master this move perfectly.
As for Play Rough~
While this move wasn't outstanding in terms of raw power or effects,
It happened to be the only Fairy-type move in Red's possession.
Now that it was confirmed that Luffy's Fairy typing came from his Devil Fruit abilities...
Red wanted to test whether Luffy could master his fruit's abilities faster by practicing Fairy-type Pokémon energy, thus accelerating his awakening.
Bringing Gear 5 Luffy to this world sooner!
...
...
"It's a shame. It would be great if I had a crew member who could use these powerful Psychic moves."
In the afternoon.
The warm sea breeze swept across the deck of the Merry, providing a cooling sensation to Zoro and the others as they trained.
Red sat in his private cabin, looking at the Psychic moves in his TM list, sighing to himself.
And it seemed that the universe heard his wish...
At that moment, there was a knock on the door of the cabin.
Knock knock knock.
Then, Vivi's soft voice came from outside:
"Mr. Red, may I come in?"