Capítulo 241: Chapter 241
January 17th, the third day of the Trainers' Fair in Alliance City.
"Hey, hey~ You've got to be kidding me. How many people is that today?"
Walking down Central Avenue, Kuzan scratched his curly hair, looking utterly annoyed.
Since entering Alliance City that morning, Kuzan had been challenged by at least thirty trainers.
At first, he happily accepted a couple of battles, easily defeating his opponents, but soon he was overwhelmed.
As the crowd of onlookers grew larger, more and more people wanted to challenge him.
This was largely due to Kuzan's fame. Unlike Ro and Morty, who had recently risen to stardom in the trainers' circle, Kuzan had been famous since the previous era and was still well-known.
Not just in the trainers' circle—wherever you go, Kuzan was a big name.
With such fame, it was no wonder other competitors wanted to challenge the "Aokiji."
"Roar."
Floating beside Kuzan was a large, tired-looking head.
It was Glalie.
An Ice-type Pokémon, known for its rather fearsome appearance.
Imagine encountering such a giant head floating in the air in the middle of the night—wouldn't it be terrifying?
Although the Pokémon Island environment was comfortable for Glalie, it had already fought two battles today.
Moreover, many trainers had never seen a Glalie before, and upon seeing it, they couldn't resist stopping for pictures.
At first, Glalie enjoyed the attention, reveling in the feeling of being a celebrity.
But soon, it became tired.
"We're almost there, almost... I think."
Kuzan replied lazily.
He still needed to head to the Alliance base's main hall to sign up for the tournament and didn't have time to waste on this road.
"Come back for now, Glalie. I'll have Mamoswine take me the rest of the way."
Kuzan, feeling lazy, decided he couldn't walk any further.
"Roar, roar~"
Glalie weakly responded, nodded, and obediently returned to its Poké Ball, which was hanging from Kuzan's waist.
This so-called second-generation Poké Ball was a slight modification of the first-generation one, designed by Monet.
It looked just like the common red-and-white Poké Balls from the Pokémon world.
However, there were two major changes to the second-generation Poké Ball.
Firstly, now Pokémon could enter their Poké Balls at will, whereas before they could only exit on their own but not enter.
Secondly, the internal environment of the Poké Ball had been optimized, making it much more comfortable for Pokémon to stay inside.
Afterward, Kuzan tapped another Poké Ball at his side.
In the next moment, a large Pokémon appeared in front of him.
Piloswine, a second-stage Pokémon that had yet to evolve into its final form.
Though Piloswine had a warm appearance that seemed unrelated to Ice-types, it was actually an Ice- and Ground-type Pokémon.
To evolve into Piloswine's final form, Piloswine would need to learn the move "Ancient Power."
Despite many attempts, Kuzan had been unable to teach Piloswine"Ancient Power." In fact, he didn't even fully understand what "Ancient Power" was.
One of Kuzan's goals in joining the tournament was to address this issue.
By placing in the top 16, he could choose a move from the Alliance's move library and have Dak help his Pokémon learn it.
Kuzan wasn't sure how Dak managed to guarantee a Pokémon would learn a move, but he wasn't particularly curious either.
As for this ability, it came from the "Technical Machine," a game item.
Dak was currently working with Monet to see if they could replicate the Technical Machine. This was the main project of Monet's research lab.
Kuzan's other goal?
To become one of the "Elite Four."
Yes, this was Kuzan's little secret—he was planning to switch jobs.
He would still be working for the Alliance, still working for justice, but instead of being one of the Navy's Three Admirals, he would become one of the Elite Four.
Why?
Because the perks were better!
Not only was there a base salary of 1,000 gold coins per month, but there were also five days off each month, full benefits, holiday pay at triple the rate, and two weeks of paid leave during the New Year.
Oh my goodness, what a fantastic deal—who could resist?
Kuzan was mainly tempted by the vacation days. He'd have more days off in one year than he had in ten years with the Navy.
And why not become the Champion?
Because after subtly asking Dak, he learned that the Champion had much more work to do, while the Elite Four had a much more relaxed schedule. The main differences between the two were fame, status, and salary—there wasn't much difference in terms of vacation.
So Kuzan figured it would be better to become one of the Elite Four—no need to trouble himself by becoming the Champion.
No one could stop him from getting the Elite Four position.
Thinking about his future relaxing holidays, Kuzan suddenly felt immensely strong, carrying Mamoswine on his back and running 30 or 40 meters ahead.
The onlookers and trainers who had been about to challenge him were stunned into silence.
Carrying a Pokémon like Mamoswine for 30 or 40 meters on Pokémon Island—what kind of challenge was that? You'd have to try it to know.
Everyone could only marvel at how even on Pokémon Island, one of the Navy's Three Admirals was still far stronger than the average person.
...
Elsewhere...
A skeleton with an afro walked down the road, carrying a purple cane, drawing countless stares.
"Yohohoho~ What a charming and harmonious city! If I could live here forever and raise a family, that would be wonderful... though I can't have children! Yohohoho~"
This was none other than Brook, a member of the Straw Hat Pirates and former acting captain of the Rumbar Pirates.
The Rumbar Pirates...
They were even more gentle-natured than the Straw Hat Pirates. More accurately, they were an adventurer band made up of musicians, much like Jewelry Bonney's Bonney Pirates.
Not only did they refrain from causing trouble on the seas, but they often fought against other pirate crews to protect the people, earning themselves a fierce reputation.
The Rumbar Pirates' motto was: "Make crying children laugh."
The Bonney Pirates' motto was: "Steal treasure from bad guys."
As Brook laughed, his mood sank, as he realized there was nothing to laugh about—he really was quite pitiable.
"Gen-Gengar~"
Suddenly, a purple fat figure emerged from Brook's afro, clutching its belly and laughing.
It was Gengar.
One of the Alliance's top starters, Gengar was a Ghost- and Poison-type Pokémon, and quite popular among trainers.
"Enough, Gengar! If you keep laughing at me, I'll get really mad!"
A vein popped on Brook's skull.
"Squeak-squeak~"
Brook's words only made Gengar laugh harder, and another Pokémon emerged from his afro—a grey doll-like Pokémon.
Banette.
A Ghost-type Pokémon, Banette was rumored to store a vast amount of cursed energy within its body, making it quite fearsome.
Ghost-type Pokémon weren't very popular in the pirate world.
Their eerie appearances and strange abilities often terrified many trainers. Some even believed that Ghost-type Pokémon could harm their trainers.
This wasn't entirely baseless, as Ghost-type Pokémon did have a reputation for being the most likely of the 18 types to harm their trainers. Their origins often weren't the happiest, leading to a buildup of negative emotions.
In Pokémon academies, teachers openly advised students not to raise Ghost-types until they had more experience with Pokémon.
Weaker trainers might even have their life force drained by their Ghost-type Pokémon.
The Pokémon themselves often didn't even realize it and never meant to do it, but it could still slowly sap away their trainer's life force.
However, Brook felt great affinity for Ghost-type Pokémon.
It was as if they were kindred spirits, natural companions.
Likewise, Ghost-types were highly fond of Brook and quickly took a liking to him when they met.
"Stop laughing! It's getting dark, and we need to hurry to register. Who knows if some ghost will jump out of the shadows."
Brook shuddered as he looked nervously around, unable to stop himself from trembling.
"Gengar?!"
"Squeak?!"
Gengar and Banette clung to each other in fear, nervously looking around.
When they saw the passersby staring at them as if they were ghosts, they felt a chill down their spines.
Could the ghosts be nearby?!
The two Pokémon couldn't take it any longer and immediately retreated into their Poké Balls.
Sabo, who had been walking by and witnessed the whole scene, couldn't help but sweat nervously at Brook's words.
He really couldn't understand why Brook and his two Ghost-type Pokémon were afraid of ghosts.
Wouldn't ghosts be more afraid of them?
Sabo shook his head, and with his vast knowledge, quickly deduced that Brook was a Devil Fruit user.
Therefore, he wasn't afraid of Brook or his Ghost-type Pokémon.
On the contrary, he was quite intrigued by this trainer, who seemed to be a humorous Ghost-type specialist.
At this point...
All eight Torchbearers, selected by the Gym Leaders, had arrived in Alliance City.
(End of Chapter)
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Capítulo 242: Chapter 242
January 23rd.
In a card room on Entertainment Street in Alliance City, the atmosphere was lively and bustling.
This shop was set up specifically for the tournament participants during the seven days leading up to the tournament.
The shop was named "Alliance Kill."
Inside, groups of young people, ranging in age from as young as seven or eight to people in their thirties, gathered around tables. It was a popular card game during these days.
At one of the corner tables, the Monkey family was surrounding Hinata, guiding her through the game.
"Hinata, use 'Protect'!"
Ace quickly advised as the opponent used the hero character "Palkia's" special move, "Spacial Rend." He hurriedly instructed Hinata, who was sitting at the table, to make her move.
Spacial Rend was a powerful move, randomly targeting any player on the field, destroying one of their cards (except equipment cards) and reducing their health by one point, regardless of distance.
"Don't listen to Ace. 'Protect' has many uses; save it for later. You should use Grandpa's special move 'Loving Iron Fist' now to forcibly break this attack," Luffy suggested.
Garp's "Loving Iron Fist" could forcibly cancel the opponent's move, but it could only be triggered after another hero had already used a skill.
"Loving Iron Fist then,"
Hinata hesitated for a moment but decided to follow Luffy's advice.
She felt closer to Luffy, who always took her along, while Ace spent more time training with Infernape. So, deep down, she preferred Luffy as her big brother.
"Hahaha, I was waiting for this! 'Protect!'"
The other player gleefully dropped a card, blocking "Loving Iron Fist."
'Protect' couldn't be countered by another 'Protect.'
So even if Hinata used 'Protect' again, it wouldn't work. And in this game, she couldn't use it to block a move from two turns ago either.
This meant that Loving Iron Fist had failed, and Spacial Rend could continue.
Bang!
A virtual light and shadow appeared on the table.
[A half-human-sized Palkia slashed through the air, sending Spacial Rend to hit Garp.]
Garp's last bit of health was gone.
"No!!! Grandpa!!!"
Luffy let out a loud wail as Garp's holographic figure shattered into pieces and vanished.
Bang!
Blaziken, who had been watching, couldn't take it anymore and delivered a swift karate chop to Luffy's head.
Luffy: "We lost..."
Hinata lowered her head, feeling a bit sad.
"It's alright! We'll win the next round! Let me take over this time, and you can watch," Ace said, gently patting Hinata's head to comfort her.
This card game, "Alliance Kill," had become quite famous in Alliance City. The friendly shops even sold decks of cards, and people could buy a deck to play in Central Park.
Many trainers participating in the tournament couldn't resist buying a deck to take back and play with their friends from the pirate world.
Some were even considering using this card game to open casinos.
A few participants had become so immersed in the city's various entertainment and scenery that they had forgotten about their training.
Of course, some weren't swayed by these distractions.
Like Sabo, who wasn't there.
In the public training grounds on the outskirts of Alliance City, Sabo was undergoing special training with Typhlosion.
"It's still not right,"
Sabo frowned, rubbing his chin.
From his observations at the Pokémon Club over the past few days, he had noticed that most trainers had no concept of a "move pool."
The moves their Pokémon learned were mainly acquired naturally as they leveled up, with no additional focus on strengthening those skills.
The pirate world seemed to have a very different approach to training Pokémon compared to the ninja world.
In the pirate world, people focused on improving their Pokémon's physical strength, constantly enhancing their physical abilities.
Meanwhile, the ninja world placed more importance on Pokémon's moves, teaching them moves of different types and experimenting with new combinations or uses.
To be precise, the ninja world's training methods were closer to those of the original Pokémon world.
But that didn't necessarily mean the pirate world was wrong.
Who knew—perhaps the pirate world's training methods would produce stronger Pokémon.
At least for now, judging by their size, Pokémon from the pirate world generally seemed to be one or two sizes larger than those from the ninja world.
"Roar."
Typhlosion was panting heavily, exhausted.
Sabo had been thinking of taking advantage of the fact that many people in the pirate world didn't understand the concept of move pools. After all, moves learned naturally through leveling were usually only of the Pokémon's primary type, making their move sets limited.
Sabo didn't want to be at a disadvantage when facing Pokémon with a type advantage.
He was well aware of his own weakness—he was currently forced into specializing in Fire and Fighting types.
The reason he was "forced" into it was that he only had one Pokémon, Typhlosion.
Infernape, Emboar, and the others weren't considered his partners in terms of his career as a trainer; they were more like family.
But there was no other option.
The Pokémon Battle Tournament required participants to have at least six Pokémon, so Sabo had to ask Infernape and the others to help.
Even with Infernape, though, he still only had four Pokémon.
He'd have to borrow two Fighting-type Pokémon from Garp.
Borrowing Pokémon wasn't exactly ethical, but it was allowed by the rules.
This wasn't uncommon in the Pokémon world, and even Cerulean Gym Leader Misty had mentioned lending Ash her Water-type Pokémon to help him win a Gym Badge.
Still, with this team setup...
Sabo's group was being forced into a Fire- and Fighting-type identity.
Garp was in the same situation, but since he wasn't a competitor, he didn't care.
"Shadow Ball."
Sabo frowned as he pondered.
He had asked a moves instructor, and it had been confirmed that Typhlosion could learn the Ghost-type move Shadow Ball.
But why couldn't Typhlosion seem to grasp it?
This question related to a subject Sabo hadn't studied: history.
Long ago, in the Hisui region, during the era of ancient beasts, Typhlosion was a Fire- and Ghost-type Pokémon. Back then, Typhlosion was calm, elegant, and gentle.
According to a guide created by Dak, this was because the spiritual energy of Mount Coronet in the Hisui region gave Typhlosion its Ghost-type attribute.
However, after the eruption of Mount Coronet caused a massive disaster, that spiritual energy vanished along with it.
Since then, Typhlosion gradually lost its Ghost-type attribute, becoming purely Fire-type over time.
Typhlosion's temperament also became more irritable and violent.
Because of the lingering Ghost-type energy in its genes, Typhlosion could still learn some Ghost-type moves.
But Sabo didn't know any of this.
"Wait... I remember that skeleton guy was a Ghost-type trainer. Maybe I should ask him."
A lightbulb went off in Sabo's head.
There were few Ghost-type Pokémon in Alliance City.
Aside from the students of the Pokémon Academy, most people had an unconscious bias against Ghost-type Pokémon.
If you asked them, they'd say they didn't dislike Ghost-types.
But when it came to raising a Ghost-type Pokémon, they would instinctively feel reluctant and fearful.
Not even the eight gyms in the pirate world had Ghost-types.
This made Brook's presence all the more valuable during this time.
"Typhlosion, let's go find him."
Alliance City had been open to trainers for a week now.
The last time Sabo had seen Brook was four or five days ago, so he wasn't sure where Brook had gone.
But that wasn't a problem.
With Brook's appearance and unique Pokémon team, he must have become quite popular in Alliance City by now. It wouldn't be hard to ask around.
Just as Sabo expected, it didn't take long to find out where Brook was.
It was said that Brook had been training with his Pokémon during the day and performing for couples in Central Park in the evenings.
"Yohohoho~"
When Sabo arrived at Central Park, the area had already been taken over by a large group of couples.
He even recognized a few familiar faces among them.
For instance, Smoker and Hina, two well-known figures from the Navy, were sitting on the grass, listening to Brook's performance. The two were clearly in a romantic phase, whispering sweet nothings to each other.
On the other side...
Smoker and Hina had no idea that sitting together in such a place was giving people the wrong impression.
They didn't realize that the park became a couples' spot in the evening and had thought it was a children's playground.
Smoker had invited Hina to let her in on some information.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, the Coordination Contest of the pirate world will officially begin after the Pokémon Battle Tournament ends. Didn't you and your Pokémon always want to perform on stage? Maybe a Coordinator role would suit you."
"This..."
"Do whatever you want. The seas are calm now."
Smoker encouraged Hina.
He knew his childhood friend loved being in the spotlight, and the Coordination Contest was the perfect opportunity for her.
After speaking, Smoker turned his gaze to the skeleton and the Pokémon ahead.
Was it just his imagination, or did the skeleton look like it was about to cry?
'Can skeletons shed tears?'
Banette was playing the tuba, and Gengar was holding a violin.
Brook sat at the piano, singing Binks' Sake.
(End of Chapter)
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