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"By the way, Red! I haven't seen Luffy and the others in a while. Aren't they in Pokémon Park now?"
After touring Pokémon Park and gaining a general understanding of its facilities and functions, Red escorted Cobra and the others back to the leisure area.
Although not officially open to the public yet, the staff positions had been fully filled. It happened that the crackdown on Rain Dinners casino had left many former casino employees suddenly jobless. Red seized the opportunity and recruited these service industry veterans to handle reception duties in the leisure area. He then asked Mr. 1 and others to assign capable individuals as park security or wilderness area patrols.
Vivi, sipping a sweet nectar drink after exploring the park, inquired about the whereabouts of their companions.
"Ah? You mean Luffy and the others?" Red displayed a harmless, gentle smile as he replied, "Actually... you've already seen them just now!"
"Huh?" Vivi was momentarily stunned. Her eyes grew distant as she tried to recall something. After a moment, she frowned slightly. "Why don't I remember seeing them?"
"Ahahaha..." Red laughed proudly. "This is thanks to the special magic mirror created by Wapol."
As he spoke, he slowly raised his arm, and a strange spatial wormhole suddenly appeared before him and Vivi.
Red then addressed Cobra and the others: "Your Majesty Cobra, please rest here for a while! I'll take Vivi to chat with my friends."
"Wait a moment, Lord Red!" Seeing that Red was about to depart, Cobra, suddenly remembering the reason for his visit, called out urgently: "Lord Red, the Marine Captain named Smoker should still be with you, correct?"
...
...
"Strange... how did the Marines find this place?" Red wondered as he stepped into the dimensional passage, leading Vivi back to the Pokémon battle area.
But this time... the battle area that had appeared undeveloped and desolate to Vivi's eyes earlier now revealed itself as an enormous dueling complex. Each arena featured a different environment—lakes, forests, deserts, wilderness, snow—it seemed impossible that someone could create so many natural landscapes in a single area simultaneously.
On these stages, the Straw Hat Pirates had formed teams of two or three and were engaged in combat training.
"Chopper, watch out! That's not how you use Green Star!"
"Special move: Green Star: Venomous Acid!"
"Hehe~ I'm not who I used to be, Usopp! Rumble Ball: Fur Enhancement!"
"Ahhhh, this is unscientific! It makes sense that you're immune to Zoro's Dragon-type slash, but why doesn't my Electric-type special move work on you?"
"What? Because I'm a rubber man!"
"Sorry, Marine Sir~ I won this battle again!"
"Damn it! Didn't Red say my ability would counter yours? Why isn't it working?"
"Maybe it's... individual differences, hehehe~"
"Hey, hey, hey! This is outrageous! That guy Luffy is one thing! But why are you two improving so fast?"
"Isn't this natural? If you can't even do this... how can I become the world's greatest swordsman!!!"
BOOM!!!
A giant dragon exhaling an extremely cold breath flapped its wings and charged forward alongside a demon burning with blazing flames. Together they knocked down Ace, who had transformed into a fire god, slamming him hard into the special heat-resistant metal wall behind him. The impact created an enormous hole and produced a deafening roar.
"This... this is..." Vivi stared at everything around her in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Haha~ This is the magic mirror I mentioned," Red explained, suddenly extending his hand to tap the air beside him several times.
A series of sharp knocks echoed instantly.
Red continued: "The public facilities in the Pokémon battle area indeed aren't completed yet. But the venues and battlegrounds for major events were finished long ago. As for why you couldn't see what was happening here earlier..."
Red grinned. "We wanted to prevent people from getting free admission to major events, so we specifically asked Wapol to develop this special material. Not only does it have excellent sound insulation properties and prevents sound from traveling outside... it also makes people outside see only their reflection, as if looking at a mirror. Interesting, isn't it?"
"Indeed," Vivi nodded seriously.
She couldn't quite understand why, when introducing this material, there seemed to be an inexplicable gleam in Red's eyes, as if he'd thought of something particularly amusing.
Just then, the battles between companions ended one after another. Smoker, having lost another match, descended from the ring dejectedly when Red spotted him.
Red quickly raised his arm and called out: "Hey! Smoker, your partner is here to pick you up!"
"Huh?"
Red's voice pulled Smoker from his thoughts of defeat. Hearing this, he instinctively glanced back at Luffy and the others before realizing...
My partner? What partner do I have?
I'm definitely not part of the Straw Hat Pirates!
Wait, that's not right! Red knows this. And I'm... a Marine!
Which means...
"Are Marines here?" Smoker frowned but quickly approached Red and asked: "What's happening? Have Marines come to Alabasta?"
"Uh..." Red shrugged. "I don't know the details. Let Vivi explain."
"It's like this, Mr. Smoker," Vivi began at Red's signal. "Yesterday afternoon, a group of Marines arrived in Alubarna. Their leader was a female Marine Captain named Hina. For some reason, she was absolutely certain we could contact you. She asked me to deliver a message..."
After speaking, Vivi first gave Smoker a curious glance. Then, placing one hand on her hip and using her other hand's slender fingers to mimic smoking, she addressed Smoker in a stern tone: "Come back quickly when you're done playing! Do you really want to become a pirate? Hina's feelings are very complicated!"
For a moment, the entire desert seemed to fall silent.
Smoker's face flushed red, his fingers continually clenching as if possessed by their own will, nearly ready to dig a hole beneath Pokémon Park to escape into.
Although they hadn't seen each other for some time, from Vivi's imitation, Smoker could be certain—the Marine who had arrived was definitely the Hina he knew well.
But...
"That's strange. How does Hina know I'm here? Neither the Straw Hat Pirates nor I appeared publicly during the Alabasta incident!"
The same questions that troubled Red now filled Smoker's mind, alongside complex emotions.
He and Hina could be considered childhood friends. They had trained in the same batch at the Marine Academy, both learning under former Marine Admiral Zephyr, and both had been reprimanded by him for over-reliance on their Devil Fruit abilities.
Even before his assignment to Loguetown, Smoker had maintained an ambiguous relationship with Hina for some time. During their breaks, they often went shopping, drinking, and dining together. Even Hina's smoking habit had been picked up from him.
So when Smoker heard that the Marine who had come looking for him was Hina, his heart instantly became as complicated as hers...
No...
His feelings were even more complicated than Hina's!
After all, until moments ago, he had been planning which Straw Hat Pirate to challenge next in sparring. He wasn't ready to leave yet!
However...
"Ah~" Smoker sighed inwardly.
Hina's arrival instantly resolved the dilemma he had been avoiding. At this point, he truly had no excuse to remain.
"I understand," Smoker nodded firmly, then asked Vivi: "The Marines you mentioned are still in the capital, correct? I'll head there immediately."
Though he wished to bid farewell to the Straw Hat Pirates before departing, his identity as a Marine compelled him to make the proper choice.
At that moment, however, Red suddenly interrupted: "Wait a minute..."
He raised his head, meeting Smoker's puzzled gaze, and then smiled slightly: "I'll go with you!"