"Y–You're kidding, right!? That's impossible!"
Inside Viridian Forest, as Caterpie let out a pitiful cry, the short-skirted girl standing opposite Red instantly revealed a look of utter disbelief. Then, without hesitation, she pulled out a pile of rewards and stuffed them into Red's hands.
"This ₽80 is yours for defeating me!"
"And also—these three Poké Balls~"
"What a generous big sister!"
Looking at the three Poké Balls worth ₽600 in total, Red's expression immediately transformed, as if Nami herself had descended upon him—golden light practically sparkling in his eyes.
But when he lifted his head again, the short-skirted girl he had defeated had already returned to an expressionless, aloof demeanor, standing coolly beneath a tree.
"Anyway, thanks for the Poké Balls!"
Having finally shaken off a group of Bug Catchers yet gained nothing but money, Red sincerely thanked the girl.
At that moment, Luffy, who had also just finished his battle, walked over. He glanced at the rewards in Red's hands, then at the short-skirted girl, and complained with a strange expression.
"People in this world are really weird~ Their Pokémon are obviously so weak, yet they still run over and force us to battle…"
"And after losing, they even hand us rewards. It's like we're robbing them or something."
"So what?" Red laughed as he put the rewards into his bag—his Backpack—then pointed ahead of them.
"Don't sweat the details! Other worlds are bound to have strange quirks."
"And our victory is right in front of us!"
"Don't forget—there's a Gym waiting for us in the next town!"
Red smoothly painted a beautiful picture for Luffy.
And Luffy was more than cooperative. The moment he heard the word "Gym," his fighting spirit ignited. In just a few words, Red successfully diverted his attention.
"A Gym, huh!? I'm already getting excited~"
By now, three hours had passed since they entered the game world.
With Luffy plowing through everything along the way—Metapod, Weedle, Bug Catchers, Youngsters—
All of them were turned into bits and pieces of experience flowing into Luffy's body.
Altogether, it added up to a little over a thousand points.
Not much.
After all, the Pokémon in Viridian Forest were extremely low-level.
If not for the extra experience gained from battling NPC Trainers, it would've been even less.
However…
This amount of experience growth was already comparable to five or six days of Luffy's training!
Even factoring in the time Red needed to recharge the game console, it still more than doubled the speed at which Luffy grew stronger!
And this… was only the beginning.
Later on, wild Pokémon would become stronger and stronger, and the experience gained from victories would multiply!
At this moment, Red could already see their bright future ahead!
…
…
"Looks like our luck is pretty good! We're about to leave this forest!"
After defeating yet another Bug Catcher, Red suddenly noticed a streak of color in his field of vision that didn't match the palette of Viridian Forest.
As they moved forward, a tall building with a yellow-brown roof and white walls appeared before Red and Luffy.
Unlike the simple corridors in the game—
The scale and architecture of this world seemed to have been filled in and expanded.
For instance, Viridian Forest itself was now lush and sprawling, nowhere near something you could traverse in just a few minutes like in the game.
And this passage building serving as the forest's exit looked far more imposing as well, standing proudly amidst the green sea of trees—like a crane among chickens, impossible to miss.
Red naturally knew that once they passed through, their destination for today awaited them—
Pewter City!
Thinking of this, he subconsciously licked his lips, excitement and anticipation flashing in his eyes.
The remaining battery on the game console would probably allow them to keep playing for less than two more hours.
If they moved quickly, they might even clear the Pewter Gym today and obtain the console's first reward!
With that in mind, Red immediately reminded him:
"Forget the Pokémon by the roadside, Luffy. We're running out of time."
"From now on, we need to push progress fast—ideally finish the Gym challenge before the game time ends!"
After two years together, Luffy quickly understood the new phrases Red sometimes used.
"Speedrun!? Got it—leave it all to me!"
Grinning broadly, he patted his chest with confidence.
The next instant, Luffy suddenly stretched out his arms. Like a nimble serpent, he wrapped Red's body tightly while using his other hand to press down on his straw hat.
"Then I'll… go full speed ahead!"
"No need to worry about me—unleash your power, Luffy!"
Looking at the arm binding him, Red's expression shifted slightly, fully aware of what was about to happen. Still, he shut his eyes and shouted decisively.
Luffy, clearly, had no intention of holding back.
Before Red's voice even faded, Luffy's feet were already stamping against the ground at speeds invisible to the naked eye.
Then he murmured excitedly—
"Shave!"
Whoosh!!!
Accompanied by a piercing burst of air, a lightning-fast blur flashed through the dense forest like a streak of thunder, shooting straight toward the exit!
The sheer speed alone whipped up fierce winds that made flowers, grass, and trees rustle violently.
Trailing behind that blur—
Was Red, dangling from Luffy's rubber arm.
"Sigh… when will I finally gain some combat ability?"
"I never want to ride this damn bus again!"
Feeling the cutting pressure of the wind against his face, Red groaned inwardly.
As for Luffy's method of travel—
It was one of the techniques Red had taught him over the past two and a half years.
Though calling it "teaching" wasn't quite right. All Red had done was relay, word for word, what he remembered from anime.
Who could have imagined that after hearing a single sentence—
"By repeatedly stepping on the ground dozens of times in an instant at extreme speed to produce explosive recoil for high-speed movement"—
One week later, Luffy was already using Shave to travel up and down mountains.
Beyond that, Red had taught him many things within their means.
Such as Second Gear and Third Gear of the Gum-Gum Fruit.
Thanks to Red's early influence, Luffy had completed much of his Devil Fruit development far ahead of schedule.
And after learning about Haki, Luffy—relying on his own intuition and methods—had even developed rudimentary Observation Haki.
As for Armament Haki, he already seemed to be on the right path.
Still, Red firmly believed—
As Luffy's Trainer, the help he could provide would never stop there!
Although Luffy, this peculiar "Pokémon," couldn't level up to awaken new skills, that didn't mean he couldn't learn Pokémon moves!
Red couldn't wait to see what kind of spectacular sparks would fly when the power of the Pokémon world fused with the power of the pirate world!
…
…
A few minutes later.
Driven by inertia, Red slammed with a bang into the white wall of the exit corridor.
"Damn it! I knew it!!!"
Even though he'd expected it, Red couldn't help but curse after sliding down the wall.
Well, it was his own choice after all.
Rubbing his reddened nose and relying on his special physique, Red quickly got back on his feet and complained at Luffy.
"How many times have I told you!? When braking, control your muscles—don't throw the passenger out!"
"Sorry, I forgot—hahahaha~"
Luffy grinned foolishly, without the slightest hint of reflection, grinding Red's teeth in frustration.
But time was tight, and Red didn't have the luxury to lecture him.
I'll remember this.
You'd better not fall into my hands later!
Otherwise, I'll make sure you understand—
What cruelty really means~!
Mentally marking it down in his little notebook, Red waved at Luffy and walked into the exit corridor.
Despite how grand the corridor building looked from the outside, inside there were only two NPCs standing far apart from each other.
Ignoring these irrelevant NPCs, Red grabbed Luffy and sprinted straight out of the corridor.
"Pewter Gym—here I come!"
(End of Chapter)