As expected…
Without the slightest hint of underestimating his opponent, Red had Luffy go all out from the very start.
With Luffy's Level 46 strength, the Level 15 Onix didn't even get the chance to use Dig to evade. It was smashed straight into the ground by Luffy's overwhelming power, its eyes spinning as it lost all ability to fight.
"As I thought—at this stage, getting a command evaluation above average really isn't possible."
Watching the notification slowly fade away along with the battlefield itself, Red let out a silent sigh of regret.
But very quickly, he turned his attention back to Brock standing across from him.
With the defeat of Brock's final Pokémon and the disappearance of the battlefield, the light in Brock's eyes seemed to vanish once more, as if his awareness had been stripped away again.
Moments ago, he had still been shocked by Luffy's incredible strength. Now, however, he wore a look of admiration as he strode over to Red with a broad smile.
"That was an amazing battle!"
"I think I seriously underestimated you. As a reward, I'll give you these 2,000 as well."
Gold—gold dropped!!!
As Brock casually reached into thin air, Red was stunned to see his balance jump by another 2,000, blasting past the 6,000 mark.
This was far more generous than those Trainers roaming out in the wild.
"What a great guy! Such a good person!"
Red felt genuinely moved.
And Brock's rewards weren't over yet.
"To certify your victory over me, I'll present you with this— a Gym Badge officially recognized by the Pokémon League. The Boulder Badge!"
"And also this…"
Brock waved both hands through the air again, and two items appeared in his palms.
One was a badge carved from stone, shaped like a cut diamond.The other was a CD-like disc.
After placing both items into Red's hands, Brock explained:
"This is the TM for the move Headbutt. With it, any Pokémon that meets the requirements can learn the Normal-type move Headbutt."
"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!!!"
Without dwelling on why a Rock-type Gym would hand out a Normal-type TM, Red eagerly took both items from Brock.
In that instant, a cascade of messages suddenly popped up from the device within his body:
[Congratulations, player has obtained their first Gym Badge. Achievement unlocked: Badge Collector.]
[Badge Collector: Each time the player obtains a Gym Badge, their physical strength receives a boost corresponding to the attribute of that badge.]
[Congratulations, player has obtained the Boulder Badge. Reward: Randomly obtain one Rock-type Pokémon move.]
[Draw Pokémon move now?]
[Yes] / [No]
One notification after another flashed across the screen, all clearly rewards exclusive to the device—things that had nothing to do with the game itself.
After skimming through them, Red's heart surged with uncontrollable excitement.
"Exactly! I knew it—there was no way the device would just abandon me and dump all the benefits onto Luffy!"
"Achievement rewards? Badge rewards?"
"My path to becoming stronger has finally begun!"
Though he desperately wanted to study the device's rewards immediately, the battery life was limited. After savoring the moment, Red refocused his consciousness back into the game world.
The device was inside his body anyway—it wasn't going anywhere.
Game matters came first!
Back in the game world, Red looked up just in time to see Luffy sprinting over with an excited expression.
Staring curiously at the badge and the TM in Red's hands, Luffy examined them left and right, but couldn't make heads or tails of it.
After a moment, he looked at Red in disappointment.
"Eh? Didn't you say beating a Gym gets you awesome rewards? Why are they just these two weird things?"
"You can't even eat them—what's the point?"
"Eat!? All you think about is food!"
Red shot Luffy an annoyed glance.
"Don't underestimate these!"
"They're priceless treasures!"
Though he hadn't examined them closely yet, the instant he obtained the Boulder Badge, a mysterious power surged through Red's body, strengthening him from head to toe.
He guessed that was the effect of the Badge Collector achievement.
"Priceless!?" Luffy tilted his head, still unable to see how a tiny badge and a round disc with a hole could be valuable.
Seeing this, Red stopped teasing and directly waved the Headbutt TM in front of Luffy's eyes.
"You won't understand just by looking. You'll have to experience it yourself!"
With that, Red tossed both the badge and the TM into his backpack.
As his consciousness shifted, the game interface appeared before his eyes.
Opening the Bag and selecting TMs, a brand-new move—Headbutt—appeared.
When he clicked on it, information immediately popped up:
[Move: Headbutt][Type: Normal][Category: Physical][Power: 70][Description: The user sticks out its head and attacks by charging straight ahead. May cause the target to flinch.]
Below it was a single button: Use.
"Power 70…" Red pondered. "In the games, power represents damage potential. With only 70 power, Headbutt isn't exactly a strong move."
"I wonder what Pokémon moves are like in the real world."
"But still…"
"At the very least, it should make Luffy's head tougher, right?"
If intelligence was a lost cause, then durability might still be salvageable!
With a thought, Red pressed Use.
The only Pokémon available was, naturally, Luffy.
Seeing the Can Learn indicator under Luffy's portrait, anticipation flared in Red's eyes as he clicked again.
[Monkey D. Luffy has learned Headbutt.]
"Huh? That's it?" Red froze slightly as he stared at the simple notification.
No fancy effects. No complicated rituals.
"It feels… oddly lacking in ceremony."
Closing the interface, Red immediately turned his gaze to Luffy.
He discovered Luffy staring blankly ahead, eyes wide with confusion.
"Red… my head feels itchy. Like… something's growing up there!?"
Luffy scratched his scalp, completely baffled by the strange sensation in his head.
Red merely smiled. "Relax, Luffy."
"Didn't I tell you? This world lets us get stronger—fast!"
Pointing at a large decorative rock pile in the distance, Red didn't care whether they were still inside someone else's Gym and shouted an order:
"Luffy! Use Headbutt on that!"
"Huh? Headbutt!? What's that?!"
Luffy looked just as confused as before.
But in the next instant, a surge of energy mysteriously welled up inside his body, gathering in his head.
Almost instinctively, Luffy locked onto the rock pile. His neck suddenly stretched, and his head shot forward like a cannonball.
Boom!!!
A violent crash echoed throughout the Gym as a cloud of dust instantly engulfed the rocks.
Whoosh!
Luffy's head sprang back out of the dust, snapping perfectly back into place.
A few seconds passed.
As the dust slowly settled, the once towering pile of rocks had been reduced to rubble, shattered beyond recognition.
"W–What just happened!? Did my head turn into stone!?"
Luffy stared wide-eyed, disbelief etched across his face as he felt his forehead.
In the past, Luffy hadn't hesitated to use his head as a weapon—and it had worked remarkably well.
Most of the time, though, he relied on the rebound force of the Gum-Gum Fruit to increase momentum before slamming into his target.
But just now, after smashing through that solid rock pile at full force, his head didn't hurt nearly as much as expected.
In fact…
It didn't hurt at all.
It felt as though some mysterious power had been protecting his head.
And that impact far surpassed his usual output.
Suddenly, a thought struck Luffy. He turned to Red in excitement.
"Hey—could this be what you meant by Armament Haki!?"
Armament Haki—the hallmark of the strong!
Over the past two and a half years, Red had mentioned it countless times.
But without professional guidance, Luffy had never figured out how to train it.
That sudden surge of power just now really did resemble how Red described Armament Haki.
Unfortunately, Red had to rain on his parade.
"If it were that easy to learn Armament Haki, life would be a lot simpler."
Then he explained further:
"What you just used wasn't Armament Haki. It was Pokémon power."
"Pokémon power?" Luffy repeated, puzzled.
Red continued, "Just like how Geodude used Rollout, or how Onix used Rock Throw. Those are applications of Pokémon energy."
"And now you're the same. You've learned how to harness Pokémon energy too."
"This is one of the benefits that comes from challenging Gyms!"
Please recommend~ Please vote~ Please keep reading~!!!I'm counting on everyone!!!This is really important to me while the book is new~!
(End of Chapter)