"Wow! What is this place? Why does it look completely different from last time?!"
Looking at the dim, rocky cave in front of him, Luffy exclaimed in surprise.
"Of course it's different~"
Red smacked the back of his head and walked directly toward the cave's exit.
"This is the progress Zoro painstakingly helped push through for you yesterday. You better thank him properly later."
"I didn't ask him to help though~"
Luffy pouted but still hurried to follow Red.
As they walked, Red instructed him:
"Today, our target is the second gym after Pewter Gym, Cerulean Gym."
"That gym mainly uses Water-type Pokémon, so there'll probably be a lot of underwater combat…"
"Be careful. Don't wait for my instructions. The moment the opponent sends out a Pokémon, attack immediately!"
"Don't give them a chance to dive underwater."
"Roger that~"Luffy nodded, though how much actually registered was anyone's guess.
Red continued:
"Also, Luffy, you said you wanted to train your Armament Haki, right?"
"Perfect—there'll be a lot of trainers on the way. You can use them for practice!"
"Oh, and since you said Headbutt helps you feel the presence of Armament Haki, don't use any other moves from now on…"
"Just take down all your enemies with Headbutt!"
As he spoke, Red led Luffy out of Mt. Moon.
In an instant!
Blinding sunlight shone in their eyes, forcing them to squint and adjust to the brightness.
Between Cerulean City and Mt. Moon lies a mountain path called Route 4.
Because it runs along Mt. Moon, the road is extremely rugged.
But that wasn't a problem for Red or Luffy.
From their higher vantage point, they scanned the area and could clearly see all the trainer NPCs along Route 4.
"Alright! Time is limited, so let's finish this quickly!"
Red clenched his fist and cheered Luffy on.
"Heh heh, leave it to me!"
Luffy was bursting with fighting spirit.
After a good meal and rest, he was brimming with energy, with nowhere to let it out!
Without waiting for Red's command, he leapt down onto a nearby ledge.
Since Red wasn't following him as his trainer, the NPCs wouldn't trigger battle dialogues even if Luffy stood right in front of them.
But that didn't matter!
There was a big patch of grass on the ledge.
As everyone knows, in Pokémon games, wild Pokémon appear in tall grass!
With a rustle of the bushes, a fierce-looking Spearow suddenly sprang into the air, appearing in front of Luffy.
A battlefield dome materialized instantly.
Then came—
"Gomu Gomu no… Headbutt!!!"
*BAM!!!*
With a thunderous crash, the poor little Spearow instantly fainted, eyes spiraling as it dropped to the ground.
At that moment, Red arrived on the ledge and showed a look of pity as he gazed at the fallen Spearow.
"Sigh, what a pity~ If only we could bring Flying-type Pokémon into the One Piece world, maybe we could steal some business from Morgans~"
As for whether making Pokémon work counted as animal abuse?
Sorry!
Dude's already crossed into another world, why would he care about your animal protection laws?
It's just… such a waste!
"Hey! You there! You're a trainer too, right?!"
Just as Red landed, an NPC who had been zoning out in the corner suddenly sprang to life like a triggered robot and blocked Red's path.
Good thing Red was long used to this kind of thing.
…
One minute later.
"That was an amazing battle! Here, take this 980 Pokédollars!"
"The rewards are getting better~"
Looking at the defeated Youngster in shorts, handing him a pile of money, Red couldn't help but feel like a senior bullying a freshman.
Still, he didn't hesitate to grab the money and stuff it into his backpack.
"Let's go! Pick up the pace!"
He gave Luffy a wave, and the two of them strode off at once.
In no time at all, Route 4 was invaded by two young demons.
They fought every trainer, knocked out every wild Pokémon.
In a short while, the entire route was thrown into chaos!
Half an hour later.
Red, with Luffy who had gained over 800 experience points, finally exited Route 4 and arrived at a seaside town brimming with the scent of the ocean.
Cerulean City, the third city they had reached in the game world!
Thanks to the console's powerful reconstruction capability, this once-small city with only a few buildings in the original game had been fully transformed into a bustling coastal metropolis!
Wide, clean cement roads stretched all the way to the city's central landmark, Cerulean Gym!
On both sides of the road were shops operated by various NPCs selling all sorts of items.
Of course, regardless of what those shops seemed to sell on the surface
If Red went inside, he could still only buy the usual items from the Poké Mart, along with some fashion items that didn't boost stats.
He had already experienced this back in Viridian City.
So no matter how glamorous and beautiful Cerulean City looked now, to Red, it was just scenery.
"Alright, stop looking around, Luffy!"
"Once you reach max level, I'll bring you here to sightsee all you want!"
"For now, we're heading straight to the gym, strike while the iron's hot. With any luck, you'll awaken your Armament Haki today!"
Red grabbed Luffy's stretching arm and, without waiting for a response, marched quickly toward Cerulean Gym.
Although there was still plenty of time, he was more eager to see whether Luffy could master Armament Haki after leveling up!
As for touring Cerulean City…
Sure, that was also in Red's plans. After all, every city in the game usually had a few hidden items.
But now wasn't the time!
If he remembered correctly…
There should be a Rare Candy hidden somewhere in Cerulean City!
That's the kind of item that instantly boosts a Pokémon by one level, ignoring experience!
The question was whether the console had recreated that feature in this world.
Besides, trying to find a single item in a city this size was a time-consuming job!
Ten minutes later.
Thanks to Red's persistent urging, the two quickly arrived at the front gates of Cerulean Gym.
As the crystal-like automatic doors slowly opened, a refreshing, watery burst of youthful energy rushed out toward Red and Luffy!
Inside the Cerulean Gym was a massive swimming arena.
Its size rivaled a small water park, though aside from the two diving platforms on either side, there weren't any entertainment facilities.
Instead, there were crystal glass platforms floating on the water's surface.
Connecting them were narrow glass walkways, wide enough for just one person at a time.
The usual spectator stands were embedded into the walls around the pool.
A large audience was clapping and cheering, the atmosphere was electric.
The reason?
At that moment, a group of stunningly beautiful women in bikinis was performing a graceful water ballet in the pool.
"Pheww~!"
Seeing this, Red suddenly sucked in a deep breath.
Looking at all those long, pale legs rising from the water, he mentally shouted:
'Console! Well done!!!'