"Wuhuu~!"
"Adventure in a magical world, I'm coming—!!"
The moment he set foot on foreign soil, Luffy instantly threw his arms over his head, grinning from ear to ear as he cheered excitedly.
Then—remembering the rule of "In another world, listen to Arelon no matter what"—he quickly turned toward Arelon.
"Arelon, can we go find that talking kitty again!?"
"That trio was so interesting! I wanna see their show one more time!"
"That's Team Rocket. They're an evil organization, not entertainers."
"Ah?" Luffy blinked in confusion. "But they were super funny!"
Arelon shot him a helpless sideways glance before saying:
"Quit it. Quiet down. I need to verify something first."
As he spoke, his consciousness stirred. A vibrant interface—visible only to Arelon—flashed open before his eyes.
Bright red Pokédex, yellow Bag, green Pokémon, purple Save…
Four options neatly lined up in different colors.
The Pokédex recorded information on Pokémon they encountered—mostly useless to Arelon, though it could serve as a reference.
The Bag stored items obtained in this game world.
But they had only just resumed the run, so nothing new had been added.
As for Save, which normally saved game progress, here it functioned as the exit button.
Even inside the game world, their senses of the outside weren't fully cut off—they were in a strange "immersed-but-aware" state.
If anything happened to their real bodies, they would notice instantly and exit via Save.
And finally—
Arelon's thoughts flickered, and the Pokémon icon flashed.
A familiar yet foreign screen unfolded before him.
Six Pokémon slots, neatly arranged.
The last five were greyed out.
Only the first slot was occupied—by a little cartoon chibi of Luffy.
He tapped it.
With a "I'm the man who'll become the Pirate King!" voice cue, Arelon entered Luffy's Pokémon status screen.
[Pokémon: Monkey D. Luffy]
[Level: 46]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Bold (+Defense –Attack)]
[Typing: Normal / Fairy]
[Ability: Regenerator (Quickly recovers stamina and injuries while out of battle)]
[Moves: —, —, —, —]
[EXP: 693 / 6787]
HP: 194
Attack: 141
Defense: 156
Sp. Atk: 121
Sp. Def: 135
Speed: 138
This was everything.
Arelon's gaze immediately locked onto the EXP bar.
"Six hundred ninety-three!? That's almost two hundred more than when we left last time!"
A spark lit in his eyes.
"So EXP can be gained outside the game!"
"Training and fighting in the real world… also give Luffy experience!"
Discovering another system mechanic, Arelon's lips curled upward—the classic "I am beginning to understand everything" smile.
Seeing Luffy itching for a fight next to him, Arelon chuckled.
"All right, Luffy!"
"You've rested all day. Time to warm up!"
"Heheh, I've been waiting!"
Luffy grinned.
Then his eyes locked onto a tiny purple rat that popped out of the grass—two sharp fangs, twitching nose.
The classic route-one gatekeeper Pokémon—
Rattata!
With a flicker, Luffy blurred like an afterimage, appearing behind the Rattata in the blink of an eye.
A strange battle domain instantly expanded around the two of them.
Arelon, watching from the side, was also surrounded by a thin, trainer-only barrier.
This world was both real and unreal.
Real—because even without knowing any actual Pokémon moves, Luffy could fight freely.
The wild Pokémon, too, dodged, ducked, and fought instinctively—nothing like their stiff in-game sprites.
Unreal—because every battle generated an isolated pocket field.
And above the wild Pokémon's head, a floating info bar appeared:
[LV 5 — HP 21 / 21]
The Rattata's level and HP.
And although everyone they met had expressive faces, they all repeated fixed lines—unable to hold real conversations.
But honestly—
Who cares?
As long as this world helped them grow stronger, it was a good world.
"Gum-Gum… PISTOL!!!"
Bang!!!
A lightning-fast punch shot forward, smashing into the Rattata with absolutely no honor.
Level 46 vs Level 5.
The outcome had been written long before the fight began.
"Squeee—!"
The poor Rattata never expected a sneak attack from a monster like Luffy.
With a final squeal, its eyes spiraled into dizzy swirls.
In this world, no Pokémon died—only fainted.
And once fainted, they could be captured with a Poké Ball.
Arelon wouldn't receive the Pokémon, but capturing it converted it into EXP—plus occasional item drops.
Basically a double EXP bonus.
"Are we catching it, Arelon?"
Luffy asked while stretching lazily.
He'd gotten used to the rules here.
But Arelon only shook his head. "No need. Wasting a 200-berry Poké Ball on a Level 5 Rattata is not worth it."
"Let's keep moving."
He glanced at the fading info prompt:
[Monkey D. Luffy defeated Rattata — EXP +12]
"Twelve points? That won't even scratch Luffy's EXP bar…"
"Looks like the priority now is progressing the storyline and reaching high-level grinding zones."
Arelon thought silently.
"Luffy's Normal/Fairy typing means he should counter Bug, Ghost, Dragon, and Dark…"
Pokémon had eighteen types—knowing matchups was basic for any competent trainer.
Why Luffy was Normal/Fairy, Arelon had a theory.
His fighting style—pure physical combat with no extra energy—fit Normal-type.
And his Devil Fruit…
Written as rubber, named Nika, a Mythical Zoan with mysterious transformation qualities…
Being categorized as Fairy-type made complete sense.
"But…"
Arelon paused.
"Before awakening, Luffy fights much more like a pure Normal-type. Normal has no super-effective hits—and it can't touch Ghost…"
"Even with Regenerator, we can't just brute-force everything."
"He needs training. Lots of it."
"Only a strong Luffy can help me clear stages—and earn rewards from the console!"
An odd glint flashed in Arelon's eyes.
He didn't believe for one second that his cheat only strengthened the people around him.
His hopes were pinned on a yet-unlocked mechanic:
Complete quests or achievements → receive rewards tied to the game.
Arelon could feel it.
His path to strength lay in those rewards.
And to reach them, he had only one Pokémon to rely on—
Luffy.
Which meant he absolutely could not allow this idiot to slack off.
Watching Luffy laugh while charging a wild Pidgey, Arelon slowly revealed a meaningful smile.
"Enjoy this world as much as you want, Luffy."
"I hope you never get tired of fighting with all you've got."
"For your dreams and goal, I'll push you forward without mercy."
"When the time comes, don't hate your trainer for it~"