Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
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[You defeated Gym Leader Erika]
[Evaluation: Excellent]
"It's just an 'Excellent' rating? Not even a higher evaluation!?"
Red, who had been confident in his strategy skills, stared at the results in disbelief, doubting the machine's judging criteria.
Still, as the battlefield gradually faded away and Erika returned to her standard standing pose, Red tossed another bottle of Antidote to Sanji before walking over to the gym leader.
The moment Red approached Erika, her dialogue mechanism was triggered.
"I lost," she sighed, resting a hand on her face, looking utterly dejected.
"As a reward for your successful challenge, this Rainbow Badge is now yours."
"Oh, and this as well..."
Like every gym leader before her, Erika, upon defeat, retrieved a petal-shaped badge shimmering with vibrant colors—along with a Move Tutor disc.
[Congratulations! You obtained the Move Tutor - Giga Drain.]
[Move: Giga Drain]
Type: Grass
Category: Special
Power: 40
Description: Fires an energy beam that absorbs nutrients from the target to restore the user's health.
"Another Fruitful Day!"
Feeling a sudden surge of vitality within his body, Red beamed with excitement.
Before long, his attention shifted toward the newly acquired move.
"A Grass-type attack, huh..."
"The versatility of this Move Tutor isn't great."
He pondered for a moment before deciding to store it in his backpack.
As expected, upon opening the Move Tutor menu, only Usopp's portrait displayed the word 'Learnable' beneath it.
"But if I want Usopp to learn this move, I'll have to head back to Cerulean City and pull him out of the Daycare Center."
"That's… kind of a waste of time."
Usopp had already spent quite a while in the daycare, and retrieving him would come with an additional fee.
At the thought of expenses, Red instinctively opened his bag.
'Unknowingly, I've already saved up this much?'
"More than enough to get Usopp out."
"But…"
His crimson eyes flickered as he weighed his options.
Getting his crewmates to learn new moves early would definitely be beneficial for their battle prowess.
But if it meant delaying his progress in the game, then the trade-off might not be worth it.
"Forget it. Usopp doesn't even know about this new move. He can learn it when the time comes."
"It's not like one or two days will make a difference."
With that, Red swiftly made up his mind—Usopp would stay abandoned at the daycare a little longer.
Usopp: "So love really does fade over time, huh?"
"Sanji! How about it? Can we move on?"
Having finalized his decision, Red turned toward Sanji.
Their battle at Celadon Gym had taken over two hours, meaning…
There was still about one hour left in today's playtime.
Just enough to hit up the department store!
After downing a bottle of Antidote, the toxins in Sanji's body quickly faded, and his skin returned to normal.
"No problem!" Sanji smirked, clearly excited.
At that moment, he was still reveling in the changes within his body after leveling up.
As one of the three core fighters of the Straw Hats, and an enhanced human created with advanced genetic engineering, Sanji's base stats weren't inferior to Zoro's in the slightest.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have taken down two level 31 Pokémon and a level 34 gym leader Pokémon while only being level 35 himself.
Each time he leveled up, Sanji gained 18 attribute points—the same as Zoro—second only to Luffy's 19 points.
Two consecutive level-ups meant a massive 36-point boost to his stats.
Although this might seem insignificant compared to his total attribute score, the most astonishing part is that Sanji had only been in the Pokémon world for two hours!
This insane rate of improvement made it hard for him to calm down.
A glimmer flickered in his eyes as he murmured softly:
"So this is the power of a Trainer…?"
A Few Minutes Later
Red first took Sanji to the Pokémon Center for recovery.
To his surprise, Celadon City's Pokémon Center also had a Move Tutor!
Curious, Red struck up a conversation with the tutor, who then revealed a list of available moves:
Fluttering Fall Whispering Aura Sinister Domain
Although the names sounded cute, the actual effects were anything but.
Move Details
Floaty Fall – A Flying-type physical attack.
The Pokémon's body becomes light and floats effortlessly into the air before diving down at high speed to strike the opponent.
Glitzy Glow – A Psychic-type special move.
Uses telekinetic energy to shatter the opponent's confidence while creating a magical barrier that resists Special Attacks.
Baddy Bad – A Dark-type special move.
Similar to Whispering Aura, but instead channels evil energy to damage foes, intimidate them, and create a barrier that resists Physical Attacks.
"Interesting!"
After reading through the move descriptions, a sharp gleam flashed in Red's eyes.
It was clear—these partner-exclusive moves were far more powerful than standard Pokémon techniques.
Floaty Fall reminded him of the Float-Float Fruit's abilities from the One Piece world. The other two? They were essentially replicas of Conqueror's Haki.
Whether in style or strength, they were perfect.
Unfortunately…
"Ahh~"
Seeing the attribute incompatibility between Sanji and all three moves, Red sighed in disappointment.
"Forget it. I'm staying in Celadon City for a while anyway. I'll have Luffy and Nami check it out later."
"Nami, being a Flying-type, should be able to learn Floaty Fall, right?"
As he thought about it, a vivid image formed in his mind—
High above the sky, Nami floated effortlessly, her Clima-Tact in hand.
Her gaze was cold, looking down upon the world from above.
With a simple wave of her hand, winds howled and thunder roared.
"Wait a second… why does this feel like Big Mom chasing the Sunny!?"
Was he… accidentally turning Nami into the Straw Hat Crew's strongest female pirate?
Thinking about how she had been growing more obsessed with battle lately, Red suddenly felt uneasy.
Of course, he wasn't worried about her becoming too powerful—
What he was really worried about…
Would Nami's increased strength mean she'd cut his allowance even further!?
"She wouldn't dare… right?"
Shaking his head, Red brushed the thought aside.
For now, discovering these partner-exclusive moves was already an unexpected bonus.
Their real goal was waiting for them—
Celadon City Department Store!
As the only place in the Pokémon world where Move Tutors could be freely bought and sold, Red's expectations were sky-high from the start!
Celadon City – Department Store, 2nd Floor
Wasting no time, Red walked up to the counter and boldly announced to the NPC clerk:
"I want to buy three TMs—Hyper Beam, Dragon Tail, and Bulk Up!"
"Understood! Thank you for your purchase."
The NPC clerk responded politely before turning around.
A moment later, three TM discs appeared in his hands, which he then handed over to Red.
At the same time, Red's balance instantly dropped by 130,000 PokéDollars.
Bulk Up – 10,000
Dragon Tail – 20,000
Hyper Beam – 100,000
But to Red, every PokéDollar spent was worth it!
After all—
Hyper Beam was a 150-power monster of a move!
At least in this version of the game, the only techniques that could rival it were self-destructive moves that sacrificed all HP!