A faint dragon's roar echoed through the battlefield that had been completely overtaken by vegetation, reverberating through the netherlike valley.
Under the relentless draining of countless thorny vines, Rhydon's anguished cries grew weaker and weaker.
No matter how anxiously Giovanni shouted in concern or barked out commands, he still couldn't free it from the Green Dragon's maw.
As time slowly passed, Rhydon's voice finally vanished altogether, dissolving into a massive surge of experience points that flooded into Usopp's body, instantly boosting him by two full levels.
Whoosh—
As the battle domain dissipated, it also erased every trace of damage the fight had inflicted on the surroundings.
The plants Usopp had grown across the entire field shattered like a fading dream, disappearing bit by bit until the arena returned to its normal Gym appearance.
Fortunately, the battle domain didn't take Usopp's insects with it.
With a single spread of his hand, he drew the entire swarm back into his body.
Taking advantage of this moment, Red stepped forward and walked up to Giovanni.
"Damn it!!!"
Having lost the battle, Giovanni slammed his fist into the floor and said bitterly,
"I never imagined I'd lose to you twice in a row!"
"It seems you really aren't an ordinary brat."
Rustle—rustle—rustle—
At his words, the surrounding Team Rocket members immediately stepped forward, each pulling out a Poké Ball and taking battle stances.
The sudden scene nearly scared Usopp half to death when he'd just been about to rest.
He hurriedly jumped to his feet, countless tiny storage hatches reappearing along his fingers.
Faced with this formation, even Red felt uncertain for a moment, wondering if the system had secretly added extra drama to this most important Gym.
But just then, the defeated Giovanni waved his hand and shouted in a commanding voice:
"All of you, stand down!"
He then rose to his feet with imposing presence, admiration and appreciation clear on his face.
"It's been a long time since I've seen such an interesting young man."
"Perhaps one day, we may even become partners."
"You intend to challenge the Elite Four and become the League Champion, don't you?"
"Then let me lend you a hand with this Earth Badge!"
Under Red's surprised gaze, Giovanni handed over the Earth Badge that represented the Viridian Gym.
In an instant, a heavy, grounding aura surged out from within Red's body, nourishing every corner of him.
At that moment, Red clearly felt his defensive capabilities surge once again.
But unlike the pure defensive power granted by the Rock-type Boulder Badge…
The Ground-type enhancement focused more on resistance to various abnormal elements.
"Another life-saving reward, huh."
Looking at his nearly indestructible body, Red let out a helpless sigh.
If it didn't feel a bit stupid, he'd honestly considered letting his companions attack him freely just to test how tough his body had truly become.
"Oh, and there's also this!"
With a look that clearly suggested recruitment, Giovanni took out another Technical Machine and handed it to Red.
[Move: Earthquake][Type: Ground][Category: Physical][Power: 100][Description: Creates a powerful seismic shock, dealing damage to all enemies within range.]
As soon as he finished speaking, Giovanni's expression instantly reverted to that of a stern NPC, standing perfectly still.
"So I thought there'd be some special storyline… turns out it was just a cutscene CG?"
Seeing this, Red shook his head in disappointment.
After putting away the Earthquake move—one none of his partners could currently use—he waved at Usopp, who was still on guard, signaling that it was safe to leave.
…
…
The night passed without incident.
After spending the entire night grinding levels with Usopp, Red's consciousness quickly returned to the real world.
The first thing he did upon returning was, naturally, to claim his achievement reward.
What Red hadn't expected, however…
Was that the system—normally obsessed with giving him powerful moves—would hand him something utterly outrageous this time.
[Move: Rototiller][Type: Ground][Category: Status][Power: —][Description: Consumes energy and stamina to till the land, making plants easier to grow.When battling on tilled ground, all Grass-type Pokémon receive a stat boost.]
"…Seriously?"
Reading the new move description, Red's expression stiffened instantly. His lips twitched, but he didn't know what to say.
"Fine, giving me Surf to push ships forward, I can accept…"
"Giving me Grassy Terrain to help my partners train is still tolerable…"
"Hyperspace Hole for mobility and Sacred Fire for healing—I can endure those!"
"But you can't just give me this because I've got the blood of the Flower-Planting Nation, can you?!"
With a helpless sigh, Red closed the move panel.
In a flash, he used Hyperspace Hole to enter the internal world within Laboon's body.
Since all the insect species had already been transferred into Usopp's body, Laboon's internal world now contained only Usopp's cultivated plants and the munitions factory.
With a single Teleport, Red arrived before a lush bamboo forest.
Although the land had already been planted, Pokémon moves were never constrained by such logic.
As thick, earthy-scented energy surged from Red's body, the ground beneath the bamboo rippled like waves—yet without disturbing the bamboo itself.
Once the move was activated, the dense forest began growing at a visibly accelerated pace.
Watching this scene, Red's heart sank.
"So… Usopp is your real son, right, System-bro?!"
There was no doubt that the ultimate beneficiary of Rototiller was Usopp, who fought using plants and insects.
Just when Red had finally escaped his role as cheap labor—since the Going Merry now had a Klabautermann and no longer needed Surf for acceleration…
He'd been dragged right back into being the Straw Hats' tool thanks to this new move.
Still, there was no helping it.
With a move like this, Red was never going to let it go to waste.
Even if it was troublesome, rapidly boosting his companions' strength was always a good thing.
"Perfect timing. I was planning to let Usopp challenge an Elite Four member. Now that I've got Rototiller, if this kid still can't carry the load, I'll be disappointed."
With nothing else to do, Red flew around the internal world, tilling all of Usopp's plantations before returning to the Going Merry, which was docked at Water 7.
But before he could even sit down, a distinctive Den Den Mushi suddenly began ringing.
"Hm!?" Red froze for a moment, then instantly answered.
From the other end came the voice of Owl(Fukurou), now a member of Akatsuki.
"R-Red… Lord Red…"
The Den Den Mushi panted as it spoke.
"I'm terribly sorry! The auction house you sent me to was just attacked by a group of pirates!"
"When I chased after them, I wasn't strong enough… I lost!"
"You lost?"
A sharp glint flashed through Red's eyes.
"I remember that auction house was on an island near Water 7, right?"
"Yes!"
When assigning missions, Red always considered his agents' strength.
Agents like Fukurou, Kumadori, and Kalifa—whose combat power was around a Marine Rear Admiral—were usually given simple errands.
He hadn't expected even such an easy mission to go wrong.
But the refit of the Going Merry was currently the Straw Hat Pirates' top priority.
No margin for error was acceptable.
"Do you know who attacked the auction house?!"
"Yes!"
As a professional agent trained by the World Government, Fukurou might lack raw strength, but information gathering was never an issue.
His tone turned grim.
"The man who attacked the auction house… who defeated me…"
"Was the rising rookie pirate on the Grand Line—Eustass 'Captain' Kid!!!"
"Kid?!"
Red froze for a split second.
Then, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.
"So it was him."
"In that case… it makes sense."
Red didn't blame Fukurou for his failure. Instead, he asked calmly,
"Do you know where they're headed next?!"
The Den Den Mushi nodded immediately.
"Based on my analysis, after looting the Yulia Trading Company's auction house, the most likely place for them to fence the goods…"
"Is the black-market island controlled by the Donquixote Family—Royas!"
"I understand."
Red nodded lightly.
"You don't need to worry about this anymore."
"Find a place to recover, then continue gathering other materials."
"Yes, Lord Red!"
The call ended.
At the same time, a bright gleam flashed through Red's eyes.
"Interesting~"
"To dare steal right under the Straw Hat Pirates' noses."
"I wasn't planning to deal with the Worst Generation so soon, but since you've chosen to show yourself…"
"I'll start with you."
…
…
Two days later,at the harbor of Royas Island—not far from Water 7—
A massive ship slowly docked along the shore.
A red-haired "Captain" Kid leapt down from the pirate ship, landing heavily on the dock.
One after another, the officers of the Kid Pirates followed him ashore.
"Kid, are you really planning to trade with the Donquixote Family?"
"They're a pack of wolves who eat people without leaving bones behind. Dealing with them could drag us into serious trouble."
"And there was that strange guy yesterday, too."
"Even though that fat man clearly didn't want to reveal his identity and deliberately wore that trendy Akatsuki uniform…"
"He still managed to escape after fighting the two of us together. He's definitely not ordinary."
Killer—Kid's childhood friend and now vice-captain—warned him anxiously.
But Kid, who had encountered no real opponents since setting sail and believed himself unstoppable, split into a wild grin.
"Hahaha, Killer, don't be such a coward!"
"Our trading partners are just subordinates of a Warlord!"
"So what if one of the Seven Warlords shows up personally?!"
"As for that guy you mentioned—just a nobody too scared to show his face. Why care?"
"Besides, I'm itching to fight some real strong opponents!"
Kid raised his head arrogantly, scanning the harbor with disdain.
When the surrounding pirates and underworld figures recognized him, their expressions changed instantly.
"It's Captain Kid!!!"
"Kid?! That rookie pirate with a 250 million Beli bounty?!"
"That's him! I saw him in the paper just yesterday!"
"Lately, only that Straw Hat rookie who just entered the Grand Line can even be compared to him, right?!"
"Why would someone like him suddenly show up here?!"
The harbor immediately erupted into noisy discussion.
Kid clearly reveled in the attention and fear.
But when someone mentioned the words "Straw Hat," his expression darkened, anger flashing in his eyes.
Crack… crunch…
Kid suddenly thrust out his hand, palm aimed at the pirate who'd mentioned it.
In an instant, nearby metal weapons and equipment were violently pulled toward him, forming a massive mechanical hand that clamped around the pirate's head and lifted him into the air.
"Don't lump me together with some coward who hides behind others…"
"I'm not on the same level as that trash!"
As he spoke, the metal hand tightened, ready to crush the unfortunate pirate.
But at that very moment—
"Hey, hey, hey—can I take that as a provocation toward us?"
Zap!
A brilliant bolt of lightning descended from the sky like divine punishment, striking Kid head-on.
Blinding thunder engulfed his body, and under its influence, Kid's Devil Fruit powers abruptly failed.
All the metal clattered to the ground, freeing the terrified pirate.
Not understanding what had happened, the pirate scrambled away in panic the moment he hit the ground.
The disturbance instantly drew everyone's attention.
Just as the crowd stared in confusion, an eerie black halo suddenly appeared beneath the feet of the Kid Pirates.
In the blink of an eye, Kid, his crew, and even their ship vanished completely.
As if they had… never existed at all.
(End of Chapter)