An Aura of Freedom (One Piece/Pokemon)

[DolphinMan]

In this enormous, incredible world, there existed a countless number of oddities and fantastic sights that those who contented themselves with their small little corners would never be able to believe were they not able to look directly upon them. Men triple the size of elephants who were strong enough to lift them above their heads with one hand, oceans of clouds that sustained their own entire ecosystems all the way in the sky, a train that ran on the surface of the sea itself, and so many more bizarre little facets that it seemed as if the world- and the gigantic ocean that dominated its surface- was just begging each and every person who looked out at the watery horizon to come and explore it themselves.

And there was no other location in the world that could provide the same adventure as the vaunted Grand Line itself. The sea route that circled the entire globe, broken only by the looming majesty of the line of mountainous rock known as the Red Line, and which housed the greatest powers that the world had to offer. Pirates, who flew black flags in opposition to the laws and justice imposed by the World Government and enforced by their Marines.

Each island within the Grand Line was a microcosm of a larger world, with conflicting climates that fought to control the weather out on the sea, rendering it almost completely unpredictable. The magnetic poles of the islands played havoc with ordinary compasses, while the brutal ocean currents and eclectic weather battered the ships and the sailors who tried to brave them. Those that wished to brave such conditions and conquer the challenge of the Grand Line could rely on one instrument, and one instrument alone- the Log Pose, a special compass that could lock onto one island's magnetic field and stay locked on. A navigator couldn't trust the wind, the sky, the waves or even the clouds. Amidst the treachery of nature, they could trust only in the Log Pose.

It was for this reason that, for one particular orange-haired young woman with a dark blue tattoo of a pinwheel and a tangerine on her arm, the sight of her Log Pose's needle suddenly flipping ninety degrees to the right was a cause for mild alarm. Having been lounging about on the deck of her crew's caravel, a colourful and jolly vessel with a figurehead in the likeness of a sheep's head, she rose to her feet with a start. The action did not go unnoticed by one especially adoring blonde, swirly-eyebrowed chef.

"Is something the matter, Nami-dear~?" 'Black Leg' Sanji asked as he crossed the deck over to where Nami was standing, his every limb bending and flowing like liquid as his eyes seemed to transform into hearts before the navigator. Were it not for his lovesick antics, his impeccable black suit and the cigarette in his mouth might have given off an image of high-class.

"The Log Pose!" Nami exclaimed, "It's pointing somewhere completely different!"

That statement drew the attention of every other individual on the deck.

"Did you stop paying attention again?" Came the voice of a young man with curly black hair and a long, thin nose. The Great 'Captain' Usopp, clad in brown overalls with an olive-green plaid bandana and pair of goggles atop his head, raised an eyebrow at Nami from where he was sprawled out. The question had scarcely left his mouth before the underside of Sanji's leg connected with the top of his cranium, slamming him face-first down into the deck with a fresh goose egg formed on top of his head.

"AS IF NAMI WOULD EVER MAKE A MISTAKE LIKE THAT!" Sanji roared.

"Why not? She already did it when we arrived." Interjected a green-haired man with three swords bundled together at his hip. 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro ducked his head under the furious kick his statement earned from the chef.

"WATCH WHAT YOU SAY, MOSSHEAD!" Sanji threatened, glowering at the swordsman, who rose to his feet to match the venomous glare with his own.

"MAKE ME, SHIT-COOK!" Zoro retorted. The two's hateful glares bore into each other as they gnashed their teeth and butted heads, both trying to push the other back in a show of strength. They were promptly both knocked off their feet by a pair of fists, courtesy of Nami, who stood over the two of them with a scowl on her face.

"For the record, no, I didn't stop paying attention." She said, looking back down at the Log Pose on her wrist and furrowing her brow, "It just changed direction out of nowhere."

"Maybe it locked onto a different island?" Usopp suggested as he rubbed his stinging scalp.

"No, I don't think so." The crew's one tagalong- distinctly not a member of their crew at the current moment- said. Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta was a young woman with kindly brown eyes and vibrant blue hair that ran halfway down her back even while tied up, as it usually was. She was dressed casually, especially for a lady of her stature, wearing just a simple white and black-striped shirt with white shorts.

"Grand Line routes don't change idly." Vivi explained, "The only way for another island's magnetic field to have overpowered the one the Log Pose was already locked onto would be for it to spontaneously appear along the route."

"I'm guessing that islands don't just appear out of thin air in the Grand Line, do they?" Nami said.

"No." Vivi shook her head, "Not that I've heard of, at least."

"What do you think, Luffy?" Usopp said, looking over at the final member of their crew, their true captain. 'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy, known as such for his signature straw hat that he wore atop his head, looked over at his navigator with a curiosity in his eyes.

"If the Log Pose moved, that means the island must have moved, doesn't it?" Luffy said bluntly.

"That's not-!" Vivi replied, but quickly cut her protest off as she stared down at the deck, "I want to say that's not possible, but neither is any other explanation I can think of."

"That Miss All-Sunday person said that we would never be able to leave Little Garden." Nami murmured, "What if it's because we can't even find it in the first place?" Her mind flashed back to the crew's meeting with the enigmatic, cowboy hat-wearing Miss All-Sunday and both the warning and gift she had given to them- an Eternal Pose that would allow them to skip the island of Little Garden altogether as they journeyed for Vivi's homeland of Alabasta. The gift that Luffy had crushed in his hands as soon as he found out what it did because he refused to let anyone dictate his journey for him. And with the predicament that they may have gotten themselves in as a result, she briefly felt a pang of irritation towards their captain.

"Nah, we'll be fine." Luffy said, his face breaking out into a D-shaped grin, "You'll find our way there, Nami. I trust you!"

A pang of irritation that promptly vanished as she smiled warmly at him, before snapping to attention and beginning to bark out directions to everyone else aboard.

"Alright everyone, we need to change course on the double!" She instructed, "Sanji, you take the whipstaff! Usopp, watch astern! Turn the ship ninety degrees to starboard!"

"YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, NAMI-DEAR~!" Sanji said enthusiastically as he rushed to follow her directions along with everyone else. Nami paid them half her attention, while the other half of her attention was directed solely at the Log Pose on her wrist, keeping an eye out for any more sudden changes like before. And in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder just what kind of island they were going to find when they arrived at their destination.

As he followed Nami's instructions obediently and with more competence than he could approach a great many tasks with, Luffy wondered just what kind of adventures would be waiting for him and his friends when they arrived at their destination.

-O-




​

Elsewhere in the Grand Line, there was an island. It was moderately large, sporting a half-dozen different towns and villages dotted around its surface, and had a rough, rocky exterior that sloped upwards into a peak in the center. Standing atop that peak was a castle, once a respected and honourable establishment that had since decayed into a monument of tyranny under its new owner. That castle, though, was not yet important. Though most of the island was craggy and barren when it came to vegetation, there was a forest located near the western coastline of the island.

The forest stood out as a spot of green amidst a sea of orange, and it was a sanctuary for a great many creatures that were known by the name of 'Pokemon'. Technically, all of Iron Island was home to these Pokemon, but the animosity between human and Pokemon that had festered for years kept all but a handful of them away from the towns, while the caves of the island- once prosperous mines- were plagued by a pecking order where all the Pokemon present were forced into an unending battle with each other so that only the strongest could enjoy some semblance of peace.

Needless to say, far from a sanctuary.

Only the relative tranquility of the Eterna Grove allowed Pokemon to thrive and live in harmony with each other, all in their own compact ecosystem. The humans didn't bother the Pokemon, the Pokemon didn't bother the humans, and that was how the two groups were balanced on Iron Island. Save for one little outlier.

A young man in body, and a young boy at heart, there was one human who dwelled within the Eterna Grove, disconnected from the other humans of the island. Standing at a wee height of only five and a half feet, with the kind of hardened build that could only come from braving it out in the wilderness for half his life, Magnus Spruce crouched near the edge of a cliff around the perimeter of the grove. Like his body, his garments were also a product of the years that he had spent in the grove, with the blue line running up the center of his white t-shirt having faded to such a degree one could easily miss that it was there at all, not to mention the dozen holes of varying sizes that he had either ripped or worn away all over it. Luckily for his modesty, his brown shorts had fared somewhat better, though it was clear they were on their way out as well. The closest thing to footwear that he had on was the layer of dirt caking the soles of his feet like a second skin. Fastened around his waist was the one clothing item that was in good condition, the black belt which had three red and white spherical objects with black lines running horizontally across their middle fastened to it.

Reaching up to brush away the locks of auburn hair that flapped around in defiance of gravity from his eyes, Magnus turned his curious hazel gaze out at the horizon as for the first time since he could remember- since anyone on the island would be able to remember- there was a ship. A great big ship with a figurehead in the likeness of a sheep, makings its way across the sea in the direction of Iron Island. Painted across the sails of the ship was a great big skull and crossbones wearing a straw hat, an emblem which matched the one on the black flag that the ship was flying. Even from such a distance, there was no mistaking what the emblem meant.

"Do you see that, Ria?" Spruce said, turning to his companion who was standing beside him, "That ship has a giant smile on it! That must mean they're friendly!"

Beside him, Ria- a short blue and grey canine Pokemon known as a Riolu- looked back at him with a sparkle in her eyes. Even squatting as he was, Spruce was still a whole head taller than his partner, though the discrepancy in their respective levels of strength was very much in reverse.

"Rio!" She nodded and turned back around to face the ocean, hopping up and down and throwing a few punches out against the air, "Riolu!"

"It would be rude if we barged up to them and demanded a battle before introducing ourselves, Ria." Spruce chastised her with a shake of his head, "We need to make a good first impression. And maybe if they're strong…" He trailed off, staring off into the distance for a second before shaking his head, "No, that's stupid of me."

"Lu." Ria said somberly, patting a hand against the side of his leg. He perked up at the touch and smiled back at her, patting her atop the head, before being distracted by the sudden shaking of one of the balls on his belt. Spruce looked down at the ball, and then he and Ria looked at each other and snickered together.

"I guess a certain someone wants to go make some friends." He said, reaching down to remove the ball from his belt and raise it up to his mouth, "Alright Whiskers, go out and say hi to them for us!"

-O-




​

As the Going Merry neared the island that they believed to be Little Garden, the atmosphere aboard was wildly varied. Usopp and Luffy both stood beside each other at the ship's bow, peering curiously at the sight of the rocky island they would be setting foot on soon enough. Sanji was below deck, checking the larder and running a mental inventory in preparation for stocking up once they dropped the anchor and headed inland. Nami was watching the Log Pose with such focus that one might think she expected it to grow legs and try running away, and Zoro had settled down for a nap. Vivi stood a distance behind Usopp and Luffy, staring up at the island with trepidation, and beside her stood a large, yellow-brown duck wearing a saddle along with a blue and white chullo and pink goggles. The duck's name was Carue.

"So, this is Little Garden…" Vivi said to herself, "It certainly doesn't look very welcoming."

"I wonder why it's called that." Usopp said, a spyglass raised up to his eye which he surveyed the coastline of the island through, "You'd think a garden would have more plants."

"If you could see the garden from here, then it wouldn't be little, Usopp." Luffy said bluntly, "Don't be stupid."

"YOU'RE THE LAST PERSON I WANNA HEAR THAT FROM!" Usopp raged, whirling around to glare at Luffy, who just plucked the spyglass from his grasp and raised it in front of his own eye. Just as he did, however, something broke the surface of the water in front of the Merry. Something big, red, and scary enough that it made Usopp's jaw drop in terror as the sniper shielded himself behind an oblivious Luffy.

"Huh? Why'd everything go red and yellow?" Luffy frowned, lowering the spyglass and staring at the creature in front of him.

It was serpentine in nature, with a long body that allowed it to tower over the ship while it still remained partially submerged beneath the water. Its scale-covered body was primarily red, with a pale-yellow underbelly and matching yellow spots running down its sides along with a set of four spiky white dorsal fins. At the top of the creature's body, it had a pair of white fins on the sides of its face, along with a single pair of red barbels, along with a dark red, three-pointed crest that sat above its red eyes to give off a permanent glaring expression. Its mouth was gaping wide, with yellow lips and four prominent, pointed teeth that seemed to glimmer in the sunlight.

Luffy, Usopp, Vivi and Carue all stared at the sea-serpent, with the latter three holding onto each other and shaking with fear, and the sea-serpent stared back with its furious demeanor and gaping mouth.

"GYARADOS!" The creature roared with such volume that it made the ocean tremble, bouncing the Going Merry from side to side.

"SEA MONSTER!" The three humans screamed in unison, along with Carue's own terrified quack. Though while Vivi and Usopp said it with terror, Luffy said it with a mixture of excitement as well as hunger.

"Sea monster…?" A groggy Zoro murmured, having been awoken from his nap. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked over towards the bow and saw the sea-serpent, the sight of which caused his eyes to light up as he reached down to the bundle of swords at his hip in order to unsheathe the one with the red and white sheath.

"A SEA MONSTER? I'LL PROTECT YOU, NAMI AND VIVI!" Came Sanji's yell from below as he hurried up onto the deck. Unfortunately, the chef's own momentum sent him barreling right into the path of Zoro as the swordsman was rising to his feet, eager for a fight, and he bowled right into him, sending the two of them tumbling across the deck in a tangled pile of limbs and blades.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, SHIT-COOK!" Zoro exploded, quickly untangling himself from Sanji and rising to his feet to snarl at the chef, who was back on his own feet in an instant to snarl right back at him.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE STANDING, MOSSHEAD!" Sanji said, "I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SAVE NAMI AND VIVI-DEAREST FROM THAT HORRIBLE SEA-MONSTER AND SERVE IT UP ON A PLATTER FOR THEM!"

"AND I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SLICE THAT SEA-MONSTER DOWN IN ONE SLASH WHILE YOU WERE BUSY BEING A LOVESTRUCK IDIOT!" Zoro said, "YOU COULDN'T SERVE A KINGFISH!"

"YEAH? WELL YOU COULDN'T SLICE A MINNOW!" Sanji said.

"WORTHLESS SHIT-COOK!"

"USELESS MOSSHEAD!"

The shouting match had drawn everyone's attention away from the sea-serpent, with Usopp and Vivi both staring at the feuding crewmates with flat, unimpressed gazes and Nami rolling her eyes at their antics. Even the sea-serpent was put off by the sheer animosity between them, closing its mouth timidly and backing up away from the ship a bit. As soon as it moved, however, Luffy's head snapped right back around to stare it down firmly.

"You're not getting away that easy." Luffy said, tuning out the argument in the background and winding back a fist, "Because I'm hungry, AND YOU LOOK REALLY YUMMY! GUM-GUM…!"

As the captain spoke those words, the fist he had been winding back wound back further, as the arm it was attached to stretched like rubber. The sea-serpent's eyes widened at the sight of the anatomically impossible phenomenon before it, and it tried to dive back down into the water to avoid what was about to come.

"PISTOL!"

Just as it had stretched like rubber, so too did Luffy's arm snap forwards like an elastic band, sending his fist rocketing forwards straight into the sea-serpent. His knuckles struck the side of the monster's face, and struck it good, digging into its scales and knocking it upwards. Its great, long body flew several feet above the water's surface, before quickly crashing back down with a mighty SPLASH that sprayed the sides of Merry's hull while it sank beneath the waves. As the sound of seawater battering wood died down, there was nothing but silence left in its place, with Luffy's yell having cut Zoro and Sanji's argument off early. Of everyone currently aboard the ship, the other four members of the Straw Hat pirates were a mixture of bemused and relieved at Luffy's feat, while Vivi and Carue were staring at the space where the sea-serpent had been towering over them from a moment ago with an agape jaw and beak respectively.

'So this is the strength of a pirate who can beat an Officer Agent that easily?' She thought to herself.

"Haha, good job Luffy!" Usopp laughed, puffing his chest out and steadying himself, "If you hadn't beaten that giant sea-monster, I would have been forced to deal with it myself! Just like the time I fought off a school of Sea Kings in the Calm Belt using nothing but a rubber band and a bag of frozen peas!"

"Dang." Luffy said, pulling his fist back and looking at where the serpent had fallen into the sea, "I really wanted to eat it. HEY SANJI, CAN YOU GO GRAB THE FISHING-!"

"STARAVIA!"

"RIOLU!"

The request was cut short by a pair of shouts that came from above. Looking up, Luffy barely had enough time to duck as a white and black-feathered bird with an orange, black-tipped beak, and a curved tuft of feathers above its head, swooped down as if to ram right into him. Riding on the back of the bird was a short, bipedal canine with blue and black fur, which jumped off the back of the bird as it swooped back up. The canine glared furiously at Luffy, who stood up and stared blankly right back at it until it suddenly leaped forwards and reared its fist back.

"Wha-!" Luffy said, ducking back down as the canine's fist struck the air where his face had been just a moment ago. Its momentum carried it forward, and it landed on the edge of the bow and whirled right back around to jump at him again.

"Little pest!" Sanji scowled, running forwards across the deck as Luffy once again weaved out of the way of the canine's attack. After just a couple of steps, however, he skidded to a stop as the bird dove down once again, this time flying into his face and flapping its wings incessantly. The chef bit back a curse as he swatted at the bird with a hand, before switching to swinging a leg up towards it from the side which it flew upwards to avoid.

"Tch. Of course the swirly-brow can't even handle a damn bird." Zoro scoffed. Behind him, the crimson sea-serpent rose back out of the water, with a vein popping on the side of its head.

"WHISKERS, USE BRINE! PEX, USE DOUBLE TEAM INTO TAKE DOWN! RIA, GET IN WITH A QUICK ATTACK AND THEN TAKE HIM DOWN WITH ROCK SMASH!"

The crew barely had any time to process the sudden addition of yet another voice- this one belonging to a human- as the sea-serpent, apparently named Whiskers of all things, opened his mouth up wide and released a powerful jet of water like an oversized firehose. Everyone on deck, save for Zoro whose back was to the creature, were able to hit the deck as the creature turned its head, running the jet over half the ship and thoroughly drenching the mast. Zoro was struck dead-on by the water, the force of which was enough to catapult him off the deck entirely, casting him into the sea.

Once the water had subsided, it was the two other creatures that were first to attack again. Looking up at the bird, Pex, which had flown above the jet rather than duck beneath it, Sanji's eyes widened as he saw the bird begin to move itself side-to-side in the air, creating a hazy afterimage that almost instantly evolved into a dozen clones of the bird, all spread out in the air. And together, the clones all dove down as one, shooting straight towards him from all angles.

Sanji planted his hands flat against the deck and swung himself up into a handstand as he began spinning around rapidly, extending both legs out to kick all the clones as they neared him. Each kick passed through the clone as if it were thin air, as each clone promptly vanished into as soon as it was struck. But while the clones all attacked from above, the real Pex dove under his circle of kicks and slammed straight into his chest with such force that it lifted him off the deck and carried him forwards, slamming him into the ship's mast. Pex, for its part, bounced off of him and tumbled back across the deck, having taken a bit of recoil from the attack as well.

As for Luffy, he hopped back onto his feet with an eager grin, raising his hands to crack his knuckles, only for the canine to suddenly blur as it leaped off the Merry's taffrail and rammed into him hard enough that it caused his body to stretch, his back bulging out momentarily. But then the moment passed, and his body snapped back to normal with the canine being shot back the way it had come to smash through the taffrail, only being saved from falling into the sea by its own quick reflexes allowing it to grab the side of the Merry's figurehead with one hand and pull itself back up.

"Rio… LU!" It dashed towards Luffy once again, with the pirate's grin widening at its approach, and jumped upwards, rearing a fist back to strike him with an uppercut to the chin.

Monkey D. Luffy's body did not stretch this time.

It was far from the strongest blow that he had taken, even before he'd acquired his stretchy body, but the mere fact that he was taking it in the first place was enough for Luffy's eyes to widen as his surprise kept him from immediately retaliating as he easily could have. Usopp's jaw dropped at the sight of Luffy's head jerking up and his body lurching back like an ordinary man's would, and Sanji's eyes widened as he sat up against the mast and witnessed it for himself as well.

"N-No way!" Usopp gasped.

"But how?" Sanji muttered.

Had she been paying attention to Luffy's fight, Nami no doubt would have been astonished by what had just happened, but her focus was elsewhere. Namely, it was directed towards the source of the human voice that had yelled out directions for the three creatures just moments ago. Crouching on the taffrail right beside where she was standing was a young man with hazel eyes and messy auburn hair, wearing clothes with such wear and tear that one could easily assume he had been marooned here on Little Garden.

"WAY TO GO WHISKERS!" The teen cheered, pumping a fist enthusiastically, "PEX, FOLLOW UP WITH AN AERIAL ACE! RIA, HIT HIM WITH A METAL CLAW! YOU GOT THIS GUYS, YOU- Oh, hello there." Noticing that Nami's attention was now on him, he looked at her and lowered his raised fist to give her a wave. The two of them stared at each other silently for a second.

"GET OFF OUR SHIP!" Nami roared, punching him in the face and knocking him onto the deck, where she began kicking him in the side without restraint while he curled himself up to try and protect himself.

"WHISKERS, GET- OUCH- HER OFF OF- ARGH- ME WITH- OOF- BRINE!" He commanded amidst cries of pain.

"DOOOOOS!" Whiskers bellowed, turning its head to align its open mouth with Nami while building up water inside of it.

"I don't think so!" Sanji interjected, leaping to his feet and narrowing his eyes at the sea-serpent. Taking off into a sprint, he hopped up onto the taffrail and bent his knees in preparation for leaping up and striking the monster with a furious kick, but just before he could, he was stopped in his tracks by the sound of a woman's voice.

"EVERYBODY STOP FIGHTING!"

Vivi's shrill scream halted both the crew and the monsters they were fighting in an instant. Ria lowered its hands to her sides, with the glowing silver claws that had been forming on its hands quickly disappearing, while Luffy mirrored the action. Pex perched itself on the taffrail beside Sanji, who stood back up, and Nami stopped kicking the teen so that everyone could turn their direction over to Vivi, who had a steely look in her eyes. Whiskers closed his mouth and stared at her, narrowing his eyes at the sight of her vibrant blue hair.

Zoro was nowhere to be found.

"All of you, stop fighting this instant!" Vivi snapped in a tone that oozed authority, "You're trading blows for nothing! This is all meaningless, and-!"

"DOS!" Whiskers interrupted her as it descended upon the ship, rapidly lowering its head towards where she was standing. The eyes of the crew members all widened at once as they watched the sea-serpent approach her, with Sanji dashing towards her and Usopp- who was standing next to Vivi- beginning to foam at the mouth with terror, while Vivi simply stood there and stared the serpent down as its face stopped just a few inches in front of her.

"Careful Vivi, that thing's dangerous!" Luffy warned, with his comment seeming to incense the teen who Nami had been kicking.

"LIAR!" He screamed, shooting to his feet and pointing an accusatory finger at Luffy, "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A BIG, FAT, JERK-FACE LIAR WITH A STUPID LIAR FLAG!"

"He thinks I'm you, Usopp." Luffy deadpanned to the long-nosed sniper of the crew, before his eyes widened as the last part of the teen's accusation sank in, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY FLAG IS A STUPID LIAR?!"

"YOUR FLAG HAS A GIANT SMILE ON IT!" The teen said, "IT LOOKS LIKE A BIG FRIEND, BUT YOU'RE ALL NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF JERKS!"

Every member of the crew was stunned into silence by what he had just said.

'He's as dumb as Luffy…' was the thought going through all their minds in unison.

"THAT FLAG IS OUR SUPER AWESOME PIRATE FLAG!" Luffy said, "IT'S NOT A LIAR OR STUPID!"

"WELL IF IT'S A PIRATE FLAG, THEN PIRATES MUST BE A BUNCH OF JERKS!" The teen yelled back at him.

'He's even dumber than Luffy!'

"PIRATES AREN'T JERKS, PIRATES ARE THE COOLEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Luffy said.

"STOP SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER!" Vivi interjected angrily, "Shouting, fighting, it's all the same! Nothing is being accomplished, so just stop it already!"

"He started it." Luffy said, pointing at the teen.

"No, he started it!" The teen countered, pointing at Luffy in return.

"I don't care who started it, I'm ending it." Vivi hissed. She let out a heavy sigh, and addressed the teen, "Please, sir, why did you and your pets attack us like that?"

"Why did we attack you? The one who threw the first punch was him," The teen pointed at Luffy with his other hand as well, "Whiskers just came to say hello to you all, and you attacked him! Like a bunch of jerks!"

"Came to… say hello?" Vivi tilted her head and looked at Whiskers, only to gasp as she saw that his lower lip was quivering, and his eyes were tearing up.

"DOS…" Whiskers said.

"Oh dear, you just came to greet us and we attacked you?" She said apologetically, reaching out to rub her hand up and down his cheek, "I'm terribly sorry in that case."

"RADOS! GYARADOS." Whiskers perked up in an instant, leaning into her touch with a goofy smile on his face.

"And for the record, they're not my pets." The teen huffed, "Whiskers, Pex and Ria are my friends!"

"Your… friends?" Usopp, Nami and Sanji said together, looking from him, to Whiskers, to Pex, and then to Ria.

"Oh, so the big red fish is your friend?" Luffy nodded, "Okay then, I'm sorry for punching him!"

'JUST LIKE THAT?' The three thought together.

"If someone punched my friends, I'd get super mad at them as well." Luffy continued, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!"

While Luffy was busy making introductions, Usopp looked around at everyone who was gathered on the deck, human and monster alike, and tilted his head as he took note of one pointed absence.

"Huh… I wonder where Zoro went?" the sniper said to himself.

-O-




​

Unbeknownst to his comrades, the green-haired swordsman had washed ashore on the opposite end of the island from where their ship was. Dragging his thoroughly soaked self out of the water and onto the shores, he sat himself down on the sand and reached down to peel off his white shirt, exposing the gnarly scar that ran across his chest as he bundled the shirt up and began wringing the water from it.

"Damn. I can't believe I let my guard down like that." Zoro muttered to himself, taking a cursory glance at the rest of the shore around him. It was almost entirely barren, save for what appeared to be an angular, blue rock with a bright red arrow attached to it, almost like a nose. The stone was spinning rapidly in place on the sand, kicking up a small cloud of it around it.

"Still, I meant to swim back to the ship." The swordsman continued, paying no mind to the weird rock, "Luffy must have been right about the island moving, that's how I ended up here instead. This is Little Garden, then? That woman made it out like this place was dangerous."

A predatory gleam shone in his eyes as he reached down to unsheathe one of the swords that were bundled together at his hip.

"Good. I'll need to kill something twice as big as that sea-serpent to bring back to the ship and put the swirly-brow in his place." Zoro said sinisterly, completely ignorant to the presence that was approaching him from behind. Something big, getting closer one step after the other, with a shadow that fell over Zoro. Finally realising that he wasn't as alone as he had first assumed, Zoro scrambled to stand and face this new presence, but it was already too late.

"YEARRRRRRGH!"

​

 

[DolphinMan]

"YEAAAARGHHH! MY BACK, OH GOODNESS MY BACK, OH HOW IT ACHES, OH THE AGONY, AAAAARGHHH! CURSE MY FEEBLE, ELDERLY BONES! WOE BE ME!"

As he stood there on the beach and watched the large, elderly man flail about on the sands with both hands reaching back to press against the small of his back, Zoro's eye twitched. He quietly returned his blade- Yubashiri- to its sheathe and slowly began to walk away from the man. Unfortunately, the movement seemed to snap the man out of the pained fit he was in, as in a flurry of movement the man hopped back up onto his feet and dashed over to intercept Zoro.

Now that he wasn't flailing about, Zoro was able to get a better look at him. At his full height, the man was roughly a whole foot taller than him, though his rounder, squishier physique was a far cry from the swordsman's chiseled one. He had on a pair of blue overalls worn over a white shirt along with grey rubber boots. His hair, which along with his wrinkled face were what denoted his age, was white, with a large bald spot at the center of his head and a bushy white beard that reached down just past his neck.

"Can it be?! Do my feeble, elderly eyes deceive me?!" The man exclaimed, leaning down and staring intensely at Zoro. Namely, at his hair.

"What happened to your back pain?" Zoro muttered, recoiling from the man.

"It must be! There's no other explanation!" The man continued, reaching out and cupping the sides of Zoro's head, "Yes, this is it! The legendary Pokemon Shaymin!"

"Get away from me, you old coot!" Zoro grumbled, brushing the man's hands away from him and taking a couple of steps back. The man blinked, his hands still outstretched in front of him, and he slowly tilted his head up and down as if to size Zoro up.

"YOU CAN TALK?!" He gasped, "Incredible! The Pokemon Shaymin is even more legendary than I thought! But wait… no. No, you're not Shaymin at all! You're just a man with green hair!"

"Took you long enough." Zoro said, going to step around the man and head inland.

"But there's nobody here on Iron Island with green hair." The man frowned, "And if you have green hair, that must mean you're a visitor! Can it be?! Does my feeble, elderly mind deceive me?!"

"Whatever." Zoro said, walking past him. Even as he tried to ignore the man, however, something about what he had said didn't sound right for some reason.

"Welcome to Iron Island, green-haired visitor!" The man said, reaching out to where Zoro had been standing before to shake his hand, only to just now notice that Zoro was no longer standing there.

"Wait a second, did you say, 'Iron Island'?" Zoro said, coming to a stop several steps away from the man as he whirled around to face him.

"Hm?" The man blinked and looked around for Zoro, before looking behind him and finally seeing him, "Oh, yes! Welcome to Iron Island! You're our first visitor in… well, in as long as my feeble, elderly mind can remember!"

'Something's not right.' Zoro thought to himself warily, his mind suddenly on high alert once again. First those bizarre monsters that had attacked them back on the ship, and now finding out they weren't even at the island they were supposed to be.

"I'm afraid there's not really much to see here, though." The man continued, completely ignorant of Zoro's concerns, "Still, since you've come all the way here, why don't I invite you back to my shack for a nice seafood lunch?"

-O-

​

​

"I see… so these creatures are called 'Pokemon', and you're their trainer?" Vivi said, glancing over at the Merry's figurehead, which Whiskers had begun to nuzzle affectionately, and then looking back over at the teen- Spruce, he had introduced himself as- and Ria as they sat next to each on the deck with their legs crossed.

"Yep!" Spruce nodded proudly, "These three are my best buds!"

"Riolu!" Ria nodded.

"Sorry that we attacked you like that." He continued, bowing his head, "I just got so mad when I saw you punch Whiskers. He's really a lot nicer than people assume whenever they see him at first."

"Uh, sure." Usopp said, standing with Nami across the deck from them with his eyes flicking back and forth between Spruce and Whiskers, "Why's he cuddling up to Merry like that?"

"He thinks the sheep is cute." Spruce answered, and then looked to Vivi, "And he liked the colour of your hair."

"Oh! Thank you…?" Vivi said uncertainly.

"Anyway, does that mean you guys don't have Pokemon where you come from?" Spruce said.

"I don't think so." Nami said.

"Huh. That's weird. Though since you're our first visitors in forever, I guess anyone different would seem weird." He shrugged.

"What did you just say?" Vivi said sharply.

"I said that anyone different would seem weird." He blinked.

"No, before that." Vivi said.

"Oh. That you're out first visitors in forever? First visitors as long as I can remember, at least. I guess we could have had people sail here before I was born, but I don't think anyone ever has." He said.

"But- but how can that…?" Vivi trailed off as she hurried over to Nami and Usopp and got into a huddle with them, while Luffy, Spruce and Ria all watched them blankly from a distance.

"What does he mean we're the first visitors here?" Nami whispered, "This is the second island on one of the Grand Line routes, they must have had pirates come here in the past."

"Admittedly, Baroque Works had been rather efficient in making sure that pirates don't make it past Cactus Island on that route." Vivi said grimly, "But the operation in Whiskey Peak is far from old enough to have stretched back that long."

"Maybe this guy's just an idiot." Usopp suggested. The three of them all turned their heads to look over at him and saw him staring right back at them. Beside him, Ria narrowed her eyes at them and punched her fist into her palm threateningly. Usopp gulped.

"Ria can hear everything you're saying, by the way." Spruce deadpanned, before looking over to Luffy, "Hey, what does being King of the Pirates mean?"

"It means being the freest person on the sea!" Luffy said eagerly.

"Do you get a crown?" Spruce said, with the question making Luffy briefly ponder it before answering.

"I dunno." He said, "There'll probably be a crown somewhere with the rest of all our treasure."

"That's cool. Whiskers used to have a crown before he grew up, kinda." Spruce said.

"GYARADOS!" Whiskers called out from in front of the ship.

"Hey, hold on a second." Nami said, breaking away from the huddle, "Haven't you heard of the King of the Pirates before? Gold Roger?"

"Not really." Spruce shrugged.

"What about the Marines? Or the World Government?" Nami pressed.

"Are those new things from where you're from? We don't get any news about what goes on in the rest of the world." He said, "That World Government thing sounds important, though."

"That's because it is!" Vivi exclaimed, "It's-!" She cut herself off and looked away, her brow furrowing.

"Shishishi!" Luffy snickered, "This place must be pretty great if you've never had Marines visit!"

"Well, even if we don't have Marines, there are plenty of water-types around." Spruce said.

"Water-types?" Usopp said, "What, like fish?"

"Oh!" Spruce blinked, "Right, without Pokemon, you wouldn't know. See, Pokemon all come in different types, and each type has its own strengths and weaknesses. Whiskers is a water-type Pokemon, and also a flying-type, though he doesn't know any flying attacks."

"Does that mean he can fly?" Luffy asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Kinda." Spruce said, "Not that well, though. He's much better at swimming."

"Was that bird of yours also a flying type?" Vivi inquired.

"Pex? Yeah, he's a normal and flying type." Spruce nodded, "And Ria here is a pure fighting type!" He patted Ria affectionately on the head as she hopped onto her feet and threw a few punches and kicks at the air in front of herself.

"Incredible… and are there more of these Pokemon on the island?" Vivi said.

"Loads!" Spruce said proudly, "If you want, I could take you on a tour of the grove and let you see them!"

"That sounds awesome!" Luffy responded.

"I see. If there's an entire island of creatures with abilities like these, then Miss All-Sunday wasn't lying about the danger." Vivi murmured.

"Eh? Danger?" Spruce raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Before we came here, a woman told us that this island was incredibly dangerous." Nami explained, "So much so that no one who ever steps foot on it leaves alive."

"Well that's just dumb." Spruce scoffed, "Dangerous? Pokemon aren't dangerous."

'Are you sure about that?' Nami, Usopp and Vivi all thought in unison as they looked from Spruce over to Whiskers, focusing in on his glimmering, razor-sharp fangs.

"Sure, they're not the friendliest to humans right now, but they're not dangerous." Spruce continued, "A wild Pokemon would never kill someone of its own volition, and normally their only reasons to get really aggressive are over territory, offspring or…" He paused, and his eyes trailed over every inch of the deck, before he let out a sigh, "Food. Where do you keep the food on the ship?"

"Huh? Why are you asking?" Usopp said.

"Because Pex is unaccounted for." Spruce said bluntly. As if cued by the realization that had just now been publicized, one of the windows on the ship burst apart as Pex came flying through it with bulging cheeks and a morsel of meat clutched tightly in his beak. As shards of glass rained down on the deck, Pex looked behind him, checking if anyone was following him, and it was in that moment that Spruce gave Ria a nod.

"RIOLU!" She exclaimed, leaping up towards the Merry's mast. Bracing her feet flat against the side of the mast, she pushed off of it and brought her fist crashing down onto the top of Pex's head, slamming him into the deck with a great THUD!

"Ravia…" Pex groaned through a mouth stuffed to the brim with food, his eyes seemingly turned to swirls as his beak's grip on the meat slackened and it fell onto the deck. His wings were stretched out, with the feathers all askew, and his body was limp. Ria let out a little huff and turned her nose up at the sight as she sat back down next to Spruce.

"Goodness!" Vivi gasped, "Don't you think that was a little harsh? It was just over food, after all."

"Only an angel as gracious and as beautiful as you could be so kind, Vivi-dearest!" Came Sanji's syrupy exclamation as he floated out of the ship's kitchen after Pex, fluttering over to her and kneeling down with hearts in his eyes, which melted into an irritated glare as he turned his head away from her and scowled at Pex.

"Also he's just faking it for sympathy." Spruce added flatly. Pex's head jerked up and his eyes returned to normal as he looked at Spruce with betrayal in his eyes, who merely reached over and grabbed him by the top of the head to lift him up.

"Staravia!" Pex said defiantly, voice muffled by the food stuffed into his cheeks, which he promptly choked down all in one gulp.

"Sorry about this one. He's a glutton who would rather die on a bloated stomach than live on a full one." Spruce said, levelling Pex with an unimpressed stare as he held him in front of his face for a few seconds longer, and then dropped him, allowing him to fly off and perch himself on the taffrail.

"I've put up with plenty of that kind of attitude since joining up with this crew." Sanji said. Standing back up, he retrieved a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket and took a drag, blowing out a small cloud of smoke as he grabbed the piece of meat that Pex had discarded before, "And since your bird's already contaminated it…" He tossed the meat into the air behind him, and Luffy instantly stretched his neck in order to snag it with his mouth and devour the entire thing in under a second.

"Oh. You have one too?" Spruce said, "You have my sympathies."

"I was planning on restocking here anyway." Sanji said as he pocketed his lighter, "And I'll track down wherever Mosshead got himself lost and bring him back while I'm at it."

"He's around the other end of the island, opposite from where we are now. If you're lucky, you should also be able to pick up some fresh fish there as well." Spruce said almost immediately, "Whiskers can give you a ride around if you want, otherwise it'll be a bit of a walk."

"I'll walk, if it's all the same to you." Sanji said after a pause, taking another drag of his cigarette.

-O-

​

​

Heading up the beach, the old man led Zoro in the direction of a small, wooden shack, built facing the ocean and in the proximity of a battered old pier. The shack itself wasn't much better off, either, with its painted-blue walls being chipped and faded, with distinctly shoddy repair work strewn about that stuck out like a sore thumb. Despite its weary condition, similar to the man who lived in it, it had a homely, welcoming aura to it, helped out some by the clothes that were hanging out to dry on one of the walls and the pair of deck chairs laid out in front of the house.

"I hope you can forgive my feeble, elderly shack. It's not the most lavish place to live, but it's home." The man said as he went over to one of the chairs and sat himself down in it.

'There's something confusing about this island. First the Log Pose, now finding out it's not called Little Garden. I'd better gather more information before meeting up with the rest of the crew.' Zoro thought to himself as he hesitantly sat down in the chair beside the old man, his brow furrowed.

"Now, Mister Swordsman, I hope you'll entertain this old man and his little assumptions," The old man said, "but steel-type, right?"

"Huh?" Zoro said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Or, if not steel, then either fighting or dragon. I'm quite confident." The old man nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro said.

"Oh, was I mistaken? Are you not a trainer at all?" The old man said.

"No, not… really." Zoro said, relaxing himself in his chair a little before adding, "It'll be a long way before I can start calling myself that."

"Ah, yes, I can understand that. I just assumed, with the swords and all… Are they for show, then?" The old man said.

"For show-?!" Zoro sat up in an instant, hopping off the chair and drawing both Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu as he made his way over to the sea, standing just close enough that the ebb and flow of the tide would lightly douse the tips of his shoes at its highest point.

"Oh my, did I say something rude?" The old man said, "I apologise for my feeble, elderly-"

"Two-Sword Style… HAWK WAVE!"

With a sword in each hand, Zoro swung them both in a powerful motion from left to right, rotating his upper body along with it, resulting in a powerful wind that blew over the sea in front of him and sent the water crashing back onto itself. The old man's jaw promptly dropped at the display of sheer power he had just witnessed.

"DO- DO MY FEEBLE, ELDERLY EYES DECEIVE ME, SIR? DID YOU- DID YOU JUST-?!" He gaped, unable to get the words out all the way.

"These swords aren't just for show." Zoro said smugly as he sheathed his blades and sat back down in the chair, "They're the swords that are going to be wielded by the greatest swordsman in the world."

"Goodness gracious! Well sir, however much my feeble, elderly opinion matters to you, I must say you look well on your way to such a title!" The man said. Behind him, the door to his shack flew open and a young girl in a yellow, floral dress came running out, followed by a small, blue and black feline creature with a yellow star on the end of its tail.

"Grandpa! I heard windy noises, is something exciting-" The girl began, but stopped short as she caught sight of Zoro. One hand flew to her mouth, while she pointed at his hair with the index finger of her other hand, "GRANDPA, IT'S THE MYTHICAL POKEMON SHAYMIN!"

"SHINX!" The feline exclaimed, falling back on its rear and extending a foreleg in Zoro's direction as well. The swordman's eye twitched.

"Now, Kiki, it's rude to point and yell." The man- Grandpa- admonished, "You need to respect people's privacy and be polite when in public."

'You weren't any better than her, geezer.' Zoro thought to himself.

"And this isn't the Mythical Pokemon Shaymin," Grandpa continued, "in fact, this right here is a person, like you and me! He's… er, uh…" He blinked, looking over at Zoro, "Goodness gracious, I never asked for your name! And I never gave you mine! Oh, please forgive my feeble, elderly manners."

"I'm Roronoa Zoro." Zoro said.

"A pleasure to meet you! I'm Walter, and this is my granddaughter Kiki." Grandpa Walter said.

"AND THIS IS MISTER CUDDLES!" Kiki yelled, picking up the feline and holding him in front of her to show off to Zoro.

"Shinx!" Mister Cuddles said.

"Named him yourself?" Zoro said wryly.

"Yep! Me and him are the BESTEST friends in the whole WORLD!" Kiki said, nodding her head up and down excitedly.

"Ah! And I just remembered that I brought you back here to eat!" Walter said with a hearty laugh, smacking a palm to his forehead and shifting himself off his chair, "These feeble, elderly legs of mine can always do with a bit of extra rest these days, though. Apologies, Mister Roronoa, I'll go make something- YEEEEEARRRRRGH!"

As Walter had been standing back up, a barely audible crick had sounded out from around his back, causing the elderly man to immediately fall face-first onto the sand and begin rolling around with his hands pressed around the offending area, just as he had done earlier when Zoro first encountered him.

"MY BACK, OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS MY BACK!" Walter howled, "OH THE AGONY, THE LOOMING DREAD OF MORTALITY, HOW IT ACHES AND PAINS ME! HOW I CAN HARDLY BEAR IT! YEAAAARGGGHHHH!"

"Oh, Grandpa…" Kiki sighed, patting Mister Cuddles on the head and setting him down, "Mister Cuddles, use TACKLE!"

"SHINX!" Mister Cuddles said, bounding forwards and leaping forwards to slam himself into Walter's spine. There was a slightly more audible crack, and Walter's howling and screeching died off in an instant. He stood back up and brushed himself clean of sand.

"Goodness gracious, thanks for that, Mister Cuddles." He said as he reached down to pet Mister Cuddles affectionately on the head, who pressed himself happily into the palm of his hand, "Being all feeble and elderly like this is quite a pain, oh yes it is…"

While Walter grumbled and groaned to himself about the inexorable passage of time and the havoc it wrought on the human body, Zoro narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at Mister Cuddles, who hopped up onto the vacant deck chair along with Kiki, who laid down and sprawled her limbs out across it, letting her feet hang off as she idly kicked around at the air.

'She ordered that creature to use an attack, just like what happened on the Merry.' Zoro thought to himself, 'And it didn't look like the normal way an animal would fight, either. This is a good chance to get more information to take back to Luffy and the others.'

"So, Kiki." Zoro said aloud, getting the girl's attention, "What kind of animal is Mister Cuddles?"

-O-

​

​

Back aboard the Merry, the ship was now a crew member down, with Sanji having set off onto the island both to pick up some supplies for whenever they would inevitably leave for the next island, as well as to go find wherever Zoro had wound up. The crew had dropped the anchor near shore, and were now just sitting around idly with their new associate and his three companions, with Spruce and Ria silently having begun some kind of game, while Whiskers went off for a swim and Pex preened his wings. Luffy, Usopp and Carue all watched together as the human and Pokemon periodically threw their right hands out, with Spruce throwing out either a closed fist, an open palm, or two extended fingers, while Ria's hand always remained the same.

"What are you doing?" Luffy asked.

"We're playing Rock-Paper-Scissors." Spruce explained as he threw a rock.

"Really? But your Pokemon keeps doing the same thing over and over again." Luffy pointed out.

"Psssh, shows what you know." Spruce scoffed, "Most humans might not be able to tell what kind of gesture she's making, but she and I have a mutual understanding, and she always tells me what one she chose. We play it whenever we get bored, and we've played seven-thousand and eighty-six games together so far."

"Really? How many have you won?" Usopp asked.

"Two." Spruce said proudly, leaning over to whisper to the long-nosed sniper, "Ria's really good at this game."

Ria turned her nose up at them smugly.

"Heh, well if you think that's impressive," Usopp said, "I was a Rock-Paper-Scissors champion when I was a kid. I faced the world's most powerful psychic at the game, and I beat him ten to one!"

"That's obviously a lie." Spruce deadpanned.

"Huh?! How did you see through it?!" Usopp said, recoiling in shock.

"Things must be really boring around here if you played it that many times." Luffy commented.

"Yeah, there's not much to do other than train." Spruce admitted, "Pokemon aren't great for conversation."

"RIO!" Ria exclaimed indignantly, leaping to her feet and slapping him upside the head.

"YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!" Spruce retorted heatedly, "Can you imagine if I walked around and all I said was 'Spruce, Spruce. Magnus Spruce! Spruce, Magnus Spruce'? Get some variety!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy snickered, "You guys are funny!"

"Say…" Vivi piped up from where she was sitting, "Earlier, when you told us where exactly Zoro had ended up on the island, how were you able to tell? Is there a current of some sort that would have directed him there?"

"Actually, I was kinda wondering about that too." Usopp admitted, "But you said it with such certainty I just went with it."

"Oh, that?" Spruce said, "That's simple, I just felt where his Aura is."

Everyone blinked.

"That makes sense." Luffy nodded.

"NO IT DOESN'T!" Usopp yelled, and then quickly focused his attention back on Spruce, "What do you mean you felt his 'Aura'? What does that even mean?!"

"Felt his Aura…" Vivi murmured to herself, seemingly lost in thought.

"It's not that complicated." Spruce shrugged, "Every living being has an 'Aura', sort of like their life energy. And some Pokemon, like Ria here," he gestured to her, "have the ability to detect that Aura. By sensing Aura, you can find where people are from a distance, gauge how strong they are, predict their attacks, and even tell what emotions they're feeling! Like how you," he pointed to Luffy, "are hungry."

"Wow! I am hungry!" Luffy said, eyes widening, "That's impressive!"

'No it's not.' Nami and Usopp both thought in unison.

"You," Spruce continued, pointing at Usopp now, "are scared of Whiskers coming back and eating you if you try and leave the ship."

"N-No I'm not!" Usopp defended himself, "I just came down with a bad case of 'I-can't-visit-that-island-or-I'll-die-itis'!"

"And you," He pointed at Nami, who was leaning against the taffrail and staring out at the horizon, "are paranoid about me having my Pokemon steal your money while I lower your guards, so you're staying aboard and acting all disinterested while you actually keep an eye on me."

"If there's even a single beri missing when we leave, I will eviscerate you." Nami threatened him darkly, before looking back out to the horizon with a serene look on her face. Ria stared at her intently, and raised a single fist to shake at the navigator as her back was turned.

"Wow…" Usopp said, gulping from secondhand terror at Nami's threat, "You could tell all that just from this Aura thing?"

"Well, half Aura, half context clues." Spruce shrugged.

"And you can even use it to predict attacks?" Usopp continued.

"Well, uh… I can't." Spruce admitted, "Neither can Ria, just yet. But there was a Lucario that could, and he was super awesome!"

"Detecting presence… predicting attacks… Hold on!" Vivi piped up, rising to her feet suddenly, "I've heard of this before!"

"Huh? You know about this Aura thing, Vivi?" Usopp said.

"I don't know very much about it, but I have heard that members of the Marines are trained to use a special ability," Vivi explained, "using this ability, their senses are heightened, and they're able to contend with ability users. Apparently, every Marine with the rank of Vice Admiral possesses this ability."

"Really? I've never heard of water type Pokemon that could use Aura before." Spruce said.

"Not that type of Marine." Usopp said flatly.

"Every Marine Vice Admiral?" Luffy said curiously, tilting his head, "Oh, that means Gramps probably has it as well."

"'Gramps'?" Nami said sharply, looking over at Luffy, "Luffy, are you saying that your grandfather is a Marine Vice-"

"Luffy," Vivi cut Nami off quietly, with her voice firm enough to indicate who had the right to speak at that moment, "Is your grandfather Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp?"

"Yeah, that's gramps." Luffy said. And just like that, everyone else aboard who had the slightest knowledge about the outside world collapsed onto the deck in shock.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god." Nami whispered to herself, slumped over the taffrail and staring dejectedly at the ocean surface.

"We're gonna dieeeeee…" Usopp wailed, curling up into a ball and rocking back and forth as tears streamed from his eyes.

"Luffy, please," Vivi said, rushing over to grab the captain by the shoulders and stare into his indifferent eyes, "is there any way you could contact your grandfather?"

"No. Why do you wanna talk to him anyway?" Luffy said bluntly, "He's boring, and he's mean! He keeps trying to make me a Marine!"

"Is this 'Garp' guy important?" Spruce said, and the question seemed to snap Usopp out of his despair.

"Important- is he important?!" Usopp said incredulously, "He's Garp the Fist! The most legendary Marine in the history of Marines! He's the Marine who captured Gold Roger!"

"That's that Pirate King guy, right?" Spruce said.

"That's the Pirate King!" Usopp said.

"Vice Admiral Garp is one of the single strongest men on the planet," Vivi said gravely, "he's spoken of in the same breath as pirates like Whitebeard. A Marine like that- if I could get in contact with him, even a Warlord like- EEP!" She slapped a hand to her mouth suddenly and stared at Spruce with wide eyes.

"Huh? Warlord? What?" He said.

"Some Warlord Croco-guy is trying to destroy Vivi's country." Luffy explained.

"And he's made it his mission to kill anyone who discovers he's the culprit." Nami ground out, "Which is why Vivi didn't want to say his name and put you in danger."

"Oh." Spruce blinked.

"Oops!" Luffy said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "It's fine, though! Those guys they sent after us before were super weak, and you and your Pokemon seem strong enough to handle them. Especially with that Aura thing."

"Is Warlord Croco-guy dangerous?" Spruce said, "His name sounds dumb."

"Should have expected that reaction…" Usopp muttered.

"It would be a waste of time to sit around and explain the balance of power of the rest of the world here and now," Vivi said, "so suffice to say that yes, Crocodile is very dangerous."

"Don't worry about Croco-guy, though." Luffy said, "Because as soon as we get to Alabasta, I'm gonna beat the crap outta him!"

"Riolu." Ria said with an approving nod to the sentiment.

"So Croco-guy won't be a threat to you," Luffy continued, "Since you're gonna join my crew!"

"Come again?" Vivi said in surprise.

"Here we go again." Nami and Usopp both muttered from their respective parts of the deck.

"I am?" Spruce said confusedly, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Riolu?" Ria said, mirroring his head-tilt.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "Your Pokemon are super cool, and that Aura thing you can do is awesome too! If you use Aura to detect people and have your bird-guy fly over places to look for danger, that makes you the perfect scout!"

"Ravia?" Pex said, briefly pausing his preening at being mentioned.

"If he told you about any danger, you'd just go running right into it anyway." Usopp said under his breath.

"Huh?" Luffy said, glancing over at Usopp.

"Luffy, you wanna be the King of the Pirates, right?" Spruce said somberly, his gaze downcast, "Whatever that means, that would mean that if I join your crew, I have to leave this island, right?"

"Yeah." Luffy informed him bluntly, "If I'm gonna be Pirate King, that means searching all over the Grand Line to find the One Piece."

"Then in that case, I'm sorry." Spruce said, "It sounds like there are so many interesting things to learn about by becoming a pirate, but there's something that I have to do here first, and I can't leave until I've done it."

-O-

​

​

On Iron Island, there were two main hotspots where interested parties could seek out wild Pokemon, not counting the ocean that was home to water types, of course. One of these two sites was the Eterna Grove, a lush area of tranquility where the Pokemon there could live in harmony with each other and enjoy their separation from the humans. The other site was the Oreburgh Cave, a sprawling cave system that had once been a prosperous ore mine, but had long since been abandoned and fallen into disharmony. The Pokemon that dwelled within Oreburgh Cave were ferociously strong, having to be in order to survive, where it was a Pokemon-eat-Pokemon world within the cave's confines.

Only the strongest could survive, and the very strongest of all the wild Pokemon reigned supreme over them, unchallenged since he had defeated the former boss of Oreburgh Cave. This was 'Boss' Golem, a Pokemon whose body was primarily a spherical shell made up of stone plates, with a pair of clawed hands and clawed feet attached to pale brown limbs that protruded from the shell, with a flat-snouted head of the same colour and a pair of red eyes. Boss Golem had earned his title after defeating Boss Rhydon, which had been his one-hundred and fiftieth victory since he first started challenging the other Pokemon of Oreburgh Cave.

"Gol…. Em…" Boss Golem groaned weakly, his entire body sagging limply onto the extended palm of a bipedal, red and grey Pokemon with a pair of puffy, red pants. Golem's eyes were swirls, and as the Pokemon- a Medicham- pulled her hand back, he collapsed to the ground. Various spectators to the battle that had just transpired- wild Pokemon- all stood, gathered around the site, frozen in awe until the Medicham lowered her hand and stared coldly at them, snapping them back to their senses and sending them scurrying for safety.

"Tch. Useless." A woman sneered at the sorry sight, "Return, Medicham."

"Cham." Medicham said, just before her body was struck by a red light that overtook her and drew her back into the Pokeball that was in the hand of the woman who had just spoken. A woman with cold, brown eyes and a mouth that was perhaps permanently twisted into a vicious snarl, and luscious locks of vibrant red hair that cascaded down past her shoulders, the same shade as a person's blood. Her muscular form was shown off proudly by the simple white tank-top she wore, exposing strong arms decorated by a patchwork of scars. Tied around her waist was a sleek, black jacket, and she wore a pair of baggy black pants that were suspended by a belt with two Pokeballs affixed to it. Her belt buckle was a large, stylized 'S', cut out of scrap metal, and with dubious red stains around its edges.

Standing to the sides of the woman from behind, as if to frame her, were a pair of men. One was tall and lanky, with a pale, gaunt face and eyes that were masked behind opaque glasses. He wore a similar outfit as the woman, though his pants were tighter and he wore his jacket done up all the way to his neck. Like her, he carried a metal S-emblem, though his took the form of a badge pinned above his right breast.

The other man was quite a contrast, being a head shorter but with a powerful frame that was nearly a match for the woman. He wore his jacket over his shoulders, though left the sleeves empty in favour of crossing them over his bare, scar-ridden chest at all times, all in the pursuit of coolness. His S-emblem hung from a metal chain around his neck.

"Useless pieces of trash." Team Steel Leader Mercury scoffed as she placed Medicham's Pokeball back on her belt, "Worthless Pokemon not even worth the effort of training them for the grunts to use. I can't believe that old windbag used to tell us not to go chasing trouble here."

"It's to be expected." Team Steel Admin Copper said, pushing his glasses up his face, "You are the strongest trainer on Iron Island by far. It would be more concerning if there were a single wild Pokemon that could challenge you." He paused for several seconds, with the other two seemingly waiting for him to finish, "ACHOO!"

"Psssh, that Golem was a little wimp!" Team Steel Admin Brass said, "The Pokemon here are all garbage because we've caught the useful ones already! Good for us, though, means anyone who has a bone to pick with us only has trash left to catch!"

"Whatever." Mercury said with a scowl, taking off ahead and leading the two behind her in the direction of the cave's exit, "This training expedition has been nothing but a disappointment, and now I'm feeling unfulfilled and hungry. When we get back to the base, I need someone to cook me a nice, hearty meal."

 

[DolphinMan]

Located at the heart of Iron Island, built upon the single highest point there was, stood the base of Team Steel. A building that stretched three stories up into the sky, built on a sturdy foundation of stone and metal that gave it a rather hardy appearance, and exuded an aura of toughness, fittingly enough. As well as the building itself, there was a sizeable garden out the front, sporting a cluster of bushes and trees which were laden with exotic and colourful berries of all different kinds. Behind the base, the flat terrain had been converted into a sprawling battlefield, marked by white lines that split down the middle of the field and made a Pokeball shape.

All of this, from the building to the battlefield to the berry garden, was all enclosed within a looming stone brick wall, reaching up almost half as high as the base itself and lined with spikes running across the top which added to its brutal image. The only way to enter the base was through a thick, wooden gate, which normally took two men to open and close, and with no shortage of effort on their part. At one time, the wall and the gate had been smaller, and above the gate the word 'GYM' had stood proudly in letters of sleek and shiny metal. Now, however, those letters were gone, replaced by Team Steel's own emblem.

At any given time, there would be no less than ten Team Steel grunts posted around the base, lazing about and enjoying the luxuries of their positions, and even that number was the bare minimum. If a grunt wasn't at the base, it was because they were either enforcing Team Steel's authority elsewhere on Iron Island, or they were training against the island's wild Pokemon, and they were complacent enough for such training to be a rarity for those without aspirations of reaching the Admin position. Though they were not 'weak' by any means, as Leader Mercury had no pity to spare for such people. The members of Team Steel were the strongest trainers on Iron Island, and outnumbered any feasible opposition so dramatically that the base was an impregnable fortress.

It was for this reason that when Team Steel Leader Mercury returned from her training trip and found herself standing before the utterly annihilated front gate of the base, with the gate having been knocked off its hinges with such force that its halves had embedded themselves into the front wall of the base, she had no words to spare, and simply stood there in stunned silence, watching as the Team Steel emblem teetered dangerously from side to side, before finally falling off the gate and landing on the ground right in front of her.

Her two Admins were quicker to act.

"GRUNTS? WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!" Brass roared charging ahead into the compound with his arms still crossed, only to gape at the sight of the berry garden that had been harvested almost in its entirety. There were hardly a dozen berries left in total, and not even the really good ones, either!

"This isn't possible!" Copper said in disbelief, following closely behind Brass with wide eyes behind his glasses, "ACHOO!"

One of the Team Steel grunts groaned from his place lying against the trunk of a berry tree, thoroughly beaten up. Like every other grunt, he was dressed in a white shirt, sleek leather jacket, and tight black jeans, with his hair styled into a pompadour, though the pompadour had been firmly stomped in, presumably by whoever was responsible for all this destruction. Hearing the groan, Copper dashed over to his side and knelt down, cradling him in his arms.

"Grunt, what happened here?" Copper asked gravely, "ACHOO!"

At first, the Grunt gagged from the stench of Copper's breath, and then he was splattered by mucus from his sneeze, prompting Brass to stride over and grab Copper by the shoulder, arms still crossed as he did so, and haul him off the poor Grunt. The Grunt wiped his face off on his own sleeve.

"It was… it was a monster." The Grunt declared hauntingly, turning his head over towards the open gate and staring Mercury directly in the eyes as he said it.

​

EARLIER…

​

​

After leaving the Merry and heading ashore, Sanji had quickly located a pathway which led him inland, in the same direction as where Spruce had told him Zoro had gone, though he highly doubted that if the swordsman were there now, he'd still be there when Sanji went and paid that part of the island a visit. For now, he simply followed the path in the direction that it led him, all while eyeing the rocky terrain that the sandy shore had transitioned into as he made his way. There was scant vegetation, save for a cluster of woodland he could make out off in the distance near a cliff overlooking the ocean. Likewise, he had yet to encounter any other people living on the island.

What he did encounter instead were more creatures which, with his lack of experience with them, he could only assume were Pokemon. Staring down at him from atop an elevated bit of ground was a black canine with an orange snout, a pointed tail and a pair of devilish white horns that curled out the top of its head. The canine's teeth were bared, snarling at Sanji, though its reasoning became clear as the chef glanced downwards and saw two smaller canines, the same shade of black with their own orange snouts, standing between the larger canine's legs. He turned his head away from the canines, paying them no mind and simply continuing on as he had been.

Now that he was paying more attention, though, he began noticing more of these Pokemon-creatures around him. While the ones on the ship had more closely resembled ordinary animals, some of the kinds he was seeing before his very eyes- a horde of blue rocks with pointy red noses, a short yellow biped with an enormous, ponytail-esque mouth hanging off the back of its head, and a floating rock with two arms sticking out the sides- very distinctly did not. The Pokemon all kept their distance from him and from the path that he was walking on, though they all watched him with the same animosity as the canine had.

'How would I go about cooking them…' Sanji wondered to himself, though he had the sense not to go about attacking them and trying to find out right at that moment. They proved passive enough to not attack him without him as an instigator, and before he knew it, the path had led him right to the doorstep of a small village. Looking around, he spotted a battered wooden sign which read 'PASTORIA VILLAGE', and which looked like it had been knocked down and re-erected multiple times.

Unlike the barren and intimidating terrain that had surrounded him as he traversed the island, Pastoria Village exuded an aura of gentleness, and he could even see flowers sprouting out of the ground here and there. What he could not see, however, was a single other soul walking about around the village, though he could tell from just a glance that it was far from abandoned. Rather, every resident appeared to be inside their homes, leaving Sanji as the only person outside.

'Maybe the rocky exterior is like an exoskeleton, like a lobster.' Sanji mused, wandering through the village, 'The best way would probably be to steam one.'

"HEY MISTER!" A youthful voice snapped Sanji out of his thoughts, and he looked to his right to see a young, skinny boy with a mop of messy blonde hair poking his head out through an open window to yell at him.

"Oh. Hello." Sanji stopped in place and gave the boy a polite wave.

"IT'S DANGEROUS OUTSIDE, MISTER!" The boy yelled, "MY MUM SAYS WE NEED TO STAY INSIDE RIGHT NOW!"

"Dangerous?" Sanji said, "Did she say what's dangerous?"

"Timothy, what are you doing?" A woman snapped, with another face appearing at the window, that of a young woman with short blonde hair matching the boy's. She grabbed onto Timothy's arm and began to pull him away, before spotting Sanji standing outside, "And you! What are you doing out there like that? Hurry and get inside before it's too late!"

Unfortunately, the part of Sanji's rational mind that would normally have registered her dire warning was being overpowered by the part of his mind that was processing the fact he had just seen an attractive woman, and so the warning fell on ears that may as well have been deaf.

"Oh, thank you so much for being so considerate as to warn a total stranger like me!" Sanji gushed, "The radiance and beauty of your heart is matched only by that of your face, miss, and I hope you will be so kind as to tell me your name. Mine is Sanji."

"Mum, he's being a weirdo." Timothy said to his mother as the ground beneath Sanji's feet began to shake.

"Just GET INSIDE!" The mother snapped, slamming her window shut and yanking Timothy away from it. Sanji's face fell as the mother left his line of sight, though that also allowed the rational part of his brain to take over and direct his attention towards the shaking of the ground, as well as the sound of dozens of thundering footsteps which were rapidly increasing in volume.

"What is that? Some kind of stampede?" Sanji said, his brow furrowing, "Ah, that must be the danger that they were warning about."

A moment passed, with Sanji reaching up to pluck the cigarette from his mouth and blow out a puff of smoke. Then, he began looking around fervently, looking for any shelter immediately available to him, but the sound of wood snapping signaled to him that it was already too late.

Storming into Pastoria Village and trampling the sign yet again, was a stampede of quadrupedal creatures with similar rocky heads to the floating rock that Sanji had seen earlier. They were similar to rhinoceroses, with each one having a horn protruding from the front of its head, though they were of a smaller size, with stubbier legs and a spiked ridge that ran across the middle of each one's back from neck to rear. Their herd was large, and moving too quickly for Sanji to be able to count how many there were, and they were stampeding right towards him.

Sticking the cigarette back in his mouth and both hands into his pockets, Sanji focused on the front of the stampede as he stood completely still. From the window of the house to his right- now to his left, as he had turned around to face the stampede- Timothy watched with wide eyes, even as his mother tried to drag him away to spare him what she believed would be a gruesome sight. Inside their house, the furniture shook and dishes rattled, all as the stampede neared Sanji where he stood.

And then in an instant, a mass of black blurred through the air in front of him. Swinging a leg down, he stomped one of the Pokemon into the ground, pinning it in front of him while he remained firmly in place, not even budging an inch. The mother and her son stared with wide-eyed awe as the Pokemon all split off to the sides as they came upon their pinned brethren, passing by Sanji harmlessly before merging back into one herd behind him, and leaving him unscathed. Among the plentitudes of them that passed by him, one happened to buck a small, purple Pokemon with gems for eyes off its back and onto the roof of Timothy and his mother's house, though neither they nor Sanji noticed it.

Finally, as the stampede finished passing by Sanji and moved onto passing through the rest of the village, sparing the houses and continuing on into the wilds, Sanji lifted his leg off the Pokemon that he had pinned, allowing it to stand back up and scurry past him as it hurried to catch up the rest of the herd. With the danger behind him, literally, Sanji took his hands from his pockets and lightly dusted himself off.

As soon as the tremors were minimal, the front door of Timothy's house was thrown open and the young boy came running out, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he skidded to a stop a few feet beside Sanji.

"THAT… WAS… SO COOL!" Timothy screamed, staring up at the chef, who couldn't help but grin back at the boy.

"Yeah, it was." Sanji said, taking another puff of his cigarette, 'Cooler than whatever that stupid Mosshead would have done in the situation.'

Timothy continued to stare at Sanji with a fiery eagerness burning in his eyes, but he didn't say anything else. Sanji looked back at him, waiting for a couple of seconds to see if he would speak up, only for him to remain silent.

"So, what's-" Sanji began to ask, but Timothy almost instantly cut him off.

"Your eyebrow looks weird." He said flatly, as if he were merely making an observation and not trying to hurt Sanji's feelings. The suddenness of the declaration made Sanji recoil slightly, while Timothy's mother came hurrying over to him.

"TIMOTHY!" She scolded him harshly, giving him a stern look as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "We do not go up to random strangers and tell them that they look…" She trailed off as she turned her head to face Sanji and saw the eyebrow in question that Timothy had been referring to, "Oh, your eyebrow does look rather odd."

"I-I suppose it's a bit different from most people." Sanji said through a forced smile, with his response leading the mother to realise what she had said.

"Oh!" She gasped, "Oh goodness, that was terribly rude of me! I'm so sorry, I just spoke without thinking!"

"It's quite alright, I would never take offense from a breathtaking beauty such as yourself." Sanji quickly reassured her, raising his hands placatingly.

"And I didn't- I didn't mean that it was ugly, or anything of the sort," She continued to ramble, "I just meant it was, well- it was unique! Yes, unique! That's what I meant, but not in a bad way or-!"

Growl…

At the sound of a rumbling stomach- her rumbling stomach, to be exact- her cheeks reddened and she let out a quiet, embarrassed squeak.

"Just look at me, insulting you to your face and then doing something so un-ladylike!" She said nervously, giving Sanji an awkward smile, "You really must think I'm such a bother…"

"Nonsense." Sanji dismissed with a pleasant smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, though not as a result of either Timothy or his mother's actions. Rather, the sound of her hungry stomach had called attention to a detail that he had somehow overlooked until this moment: the clothes which both mother and son were wearing. They were loose-fitting, able to hide the shape of their bodies.

"Well even so, I really am quite sorry for how I've been acting." She apologised, "That stampede just now must have thrown me for a loop! Hahaha…"

"Miss, would you be so kind as to tell me your name?" Sanji said.

"Oh dear, now I've forgotten to introduce myself as well! I'm Tiffany, and this is my son, Timothy." Tiffany said.

"I'm Sanji." Sanji said warmly, "I happen to be a chef, and I was hoping that I might perhaps prepare a meal for you and your son to enjoy?"

"What?" Tiffany said, glancing to the side awkwardly with her cheeks reddening even further, "F-First you try all that sweet-talking nonsense, now you're offering to cook for me? Are you trying to worm your way into my house or w-what?"

"As much as it pains me to say, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to stick around for that." Sanji said, "But that sound your stomach made tells me that you're hungry, and as a chef I have an obligation to prepare food for people who are hungry."

"I-I couldn't ask you to do that!" Tiffany said with a shake of her head, "And we don't have any way of paying you back for it, either!"

"The satisfaction of feeding a beauty like yourself is payment enough." Sanji said suavely.

"Is this how you would talk to any woman you'd never met before…?" Tiffany mumbled.

"We don't have any food in the house for you to cook with." Timothy piped up bluntly.

"Timothy!" Tiffany hissed, taking several steps away from Sanji and dragging her son with her.

'As I suspected.' Sanji thought, "If that's the case, can you tell me where I can find the food on this island?"

"The big castle in the middle of the island is where all the berries grow." Timothy said, extending a hand to point in the direction of the island's center.

"Thank you, Timothy." Sanji said kindly, "You've been a great help. Now just wait here, and I'll be back soon with some ingredients to make you and your mother something nice and filling."

"What are you talking about?!" Tiffany said, "Don't you realise what you're saying?!"

"I'm saying that I'm not going to rest until the two hungry people before me right now have full stomachs." Sanji said firmly, taking his cigarette out of his mouth to exhale a small cloud of smoke, "And there's nothing on this island that could possibly stop me from doing that."

With that declaration, the chef turned and headed off towards the center of the island, leaving the mother and son duo to stare at his gradually shrinking form. Timothy just stared at him blankly as he went on his way, not thinking much of the whole interaction, while his mother was rendered speechless with glowing cheeks and teary eyes.

"He was a bit weird, wasn't he, mum?" Timothy said.

"You shouldn't say such rude things so casually, Timothy…" Tiffany replied, her voice just above a whisper, "That Sanji just isn't from around here, is all…"

-O-

​

​

"This island is ruled by a woman named Mercury." Spruce explained in a quiet voice, with the assembled pirates listening intently, "She's a horrible woman, without a shred of kindness in her entire body, but her Pokemon are incredibly strong, even without her respecting them. Because of her, the bonds between people and Pokemon here have been poisoned, and she and her lackeys, Team Steel, have taken down anyone that could oppose her."

As he spoke, Nami found her hand drifting to the tattoo on her shoulder, while her expression darkened.

"I tried to defeat her with my team, once." Spruce continued, glancing over at Ria, who was staring at the deck shamefully, "But we weren't strong enough. Her team crushed us, and until we can take her down and free this island from her, leaving aboard your ship would be nothing but running away in disgrace."

"How long?" Vivi asked.

"What?" Spruce said, looking up at her.

"How long has this woman been in power?" She said.

"For around eight years." Spruce said.

"And she won't stick it out to see a ninth." Nami piped up firmly, "Will she, Luffy?"

The captain tilted his head to the side, staring off into the distance thoughtfully for a couple of seconds before nodding.

"Is beating Mercu-lady the only thing you have to do here?" He said.

"It…" Spruce trailed off, before shaking his head and rising to his feet suddenly, "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. You- all of you- are so interesting, but once you've found your swordsman friend, you should leave this island."

"We can't leave! You've gotta join my crew first!" Luffy protested.

"Then you're a few years too early!" Spruce snapped, his fists clenching at his sides as he stormed past the lot of them and made his way over to the edge of the ship. Ria and Pex both looked at each other, before hurrying after him.

"I'll beat the crap out of Mercu-lady just like I'm gonna kick Croco-guy's ass!" Luffy said fiercely, rising to his feet and stretching a hand out to grab Spruce's shoulder and stop him.

"No, you won't!" Spruce retorted as he grabbed the hand and wrenched it off his shoulder, "I don't need strangers who don't even know anything about Pokemon butting their noses in and fighting our fights for… us…"

The fire in his voice quickly simmered down as he turned around to address Luffy directly, still grasping onto his wrist, and saw the way that the pirate's arm had stretched an unnatural distance across the deck to reach him without Luffy having to take a step from where he was standing. Spruce stared at the extended arm silently, and Luffy yanked his wrist from his grip and allowed his arm to retract back to its normal length.

"Let him go, Luffy." Usopp said solemnly, looking at his captain with an intensity in his gaze that was quite a rarity for him.

"Fine." Luffy said, "I won't fight Mercu-lady."

"I'll send your swordsman friend your way if I run into him." Spruce said after a pause, finally getting over the bizarre sight of Luffy stretching and raising a hand to his lips to let out a sharp whistle, "Come on, Whiskers! It's time for us to go!"

"Gyarados." Whiskers said as he swam over to the side of the ship, allowing Spruce to climb onto the taffrail and jump up onto the top of his head. Ria followed suit, perching herself comfortably atop Spruce's own head, while Pex flew beside the three of them. Giving merely a nod and a gesture, Spruce directed Whiskers to swim away, carrying the rest of them across the water.

"Why did you just let him go like that?" Vivi protested once the trainer and his Pokemon were out of earshot, "You heard what he said! This island is being controlled by a tyrant, and if you can do something to help-!"

"He didn't ask for our help." Usopp interjected calmly.

"You'd let something like that-!" Vivi said.

"Of course I would!" Usopp cut her off firmly, "Didn't you hear what he said? He already lost to her, and he's obviously been training to try and defeat her! Who are we to come along and trample on a matter of honour like that? They're the ones who've actually had to live on this island! Luffy understands too, don't you, Luffy?"

"Yeah." Luffy nodded, "If I went and beat Mercu-lady up for him when he wanted to do it himself, it wouldn't make him happy, it'd make him mad, and then he'd never want to join the crew."

"Unfortunately, Vivi, I have to agree with them." Nami said, approaching the princess and placing a supportive hand on her shoulder, "I can understand what Spruce is feeling, to a certain degree."

"What about everyone else on the island?" Vivi said, "What if they want your help?"

"We're pirates, not heroes." Nami said curtly, "And considering the state that Spruce was in, I'm not optimistic about the rest of the islanders being able to pool together a sufficient payment for that kind of help."

"Right, pirates…" Vivi muttered bitterly.

"If things are really that bad here on this island, we should probably go track down Sanji and Zoro before they stir up trouble for us." Usopp said, "Since I have a case of I-can't-visit-that-island-or-I'll-die-itis, I'll have to stay here on the ship."

"Really?" Nami said, "You want to stay here on the ship while Luffy, Zoro and Sanji are all on the island, and more sea-monsters like that serpent could show up?"

Usopp stared at her for a moment.

"Good news! My case of I-can't-visit-that-island-or-I'll-die-itis is miraculously cured!" Usopp announced.

-O-

​

​

Approaching the shore on the opposite end of the island and seeing Walter's shack in the distance, as well as a certain green-haired swordsman sitting out in front of it, Spruce reached over and tapped Whiskers on the side of the head.

"Dos… Gyarados?" Whiskers said hopefully.

"Sorry buddy, but I think it'd be better if you hung back for a bit. You did blast him off their ship with Brine, after all." Spruce said.

"Dos…" He said begrudgingly, quickly submerging himself beneath the water and leaving Spruce to swim the rest of the way to shore, with Ria remaining seated atop his head as he did. Pex ascended higher into the sky, and began to circle above the shack as Spruce stepped onto the sands and approached the swordsman sitting in front of the shack, currently finishing off a plate of grilled fish and a bowl of soup. His demeanor was relaxed, but quickly became alert as he took notice of Spruce, sitting up and placing his plate to the side as he reached down to slide one of his swords an inch out of its sheath with his thumb.

"That blue canine…" Zoro said, his eyes narrowing, "You're the one who attacked us on the ship. Who are you? What happened to the rest of my crew?"

At the sign of aggression, Ria hopped down from Spruce's head and darted ahead to stand between him and Zoro. Giving the swordsman an intense glare, she threw several punches against the air threateningly.

"RIOLU!" She said fiercely, staring Zoro down. He smirked back at her in response.

"Calm down, Ria." Spruce admonished as he walked past her and laid himself down on the other deck chair, before addressing Zoro, "My name is Spruce, and I'm not your enemy. Your crew and my team got off on the wrong foot, but we settled everything. Now they're just looking for you."

'Neither of them looks too beaten-up, so he's probably not lying about settling things.' Zoro thought. As his attention was on Spruce and not the plate of half-finished fish he had put aside momentarily, he didn't notice as Pex swooped down from above and scarfed the fish down before shooting right back into the sky and returning to his circling above the shack.

"Just let me finish my food and then I'll go meet up with the rest of them." Zoro said, reaching for his plate, "The fish tastes better than anything that stupid love-cook's ever made."

"Sorry, a flying stomach came and ate it while we were talking." Spruce said as Zoro finally noticed the state of his plate and put it back to the side again.

"Tch. I get enough of that on the ship." Zoro said, moving to get up from his seat, "He doesn't normally fly, though…"

"Actually, before you go, I was wondering." Spruce said, "How did you end up here after Whiskers knocked you into the sea? Did a water-type Pokemon grab you and drag you here, or something?"

"What are you talking about?" Zoro said, "Hold on, how did you know I was here in the first place?"

"Oh, I just felt your aura." Spruce said.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Zoro nodded, rising from his chair, "I'd better head back to the ship. But if it turns out you're lying about not being our enemy anymore… you won't like the consequences."

"Riolu…" Ria muttered darkly in response, while Spruce just relaxed himself in the chair and paid the threat no mind.

"If you're looking to get back to that ship, I can have Whiskers give you a lift." He suggested.

"What, you think I need a chaperone?" Zoro scoffed, "I can get back just fine on my own."

"If you insist." Spruce shrugged, "Do you know where the old man and the little girl who live here have gone off to?"

"They're inside, cleaning up." Zoro answered. As if on cue, the door to the shack opened, and Kiki hurried out, with Mister Cuddles hurrying out after her.

"HI SPRUCE!" Kiki greeted energetically, "Have you already met Mister Zoro? He's super strong, and he can do really cool tricks with his swords! He's kinda dumb too, since he didn't know what a Pokemon is, but his hair looks like a Shaymin, so it's okay!"

The swordsman had basked in the praise, until his face fell at the insult to his intelligence.

"We've met." Spruce said, snickering to himself, "You shouldn't call him dumb, though. He came to this island on a ship with his friends, and none of them knew what Pokemon were, either."

"A SHIP?!" Kiki gasped, "That's so cool! Can I ride on it? Can I, Mister Zoro?"

"Why are you so excited about riding a ship? You ride Whiskers all the time and he's way cooler than their ship." Spruce said.

"The hell are you talking about?" Zoro retorted, "The Going Merry's a hundred times better than that overgrown fish of yours."

"What, are you stupid? or something?" Spruce bit back, the heat rising in his voice as he sat up to glare at the swordsman, "Whiskers would swim circles around that stupid little boat."

The two of them levelled their glares at each other, until Kiki suddenly jumped up and slapped Spruce upside the head.

"NO FIGHTING!" She ordered sternly, crossing her arms for good measure, while Mister Cuddles sat down on his rear and tried to cross his forelegs as well.

"Why'd you hit me and not him?" Spruce grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Grandpa says it's not okay for me to hit strangers, but I can hit you because we're friends!" Kiki explained with a bright smile on her face.

"Shinx!" Shinx said.

"Riolu." Ria added, voicing her agreement.

"Traitor…" Spruce muttered.

"Serves you right." Zoro said, smirking wryly at Spruce.

"Hm? My feeble, elderly ears are picking up a bit of commotion." Came Walter's voice as he joined his granddaughter outside, giving Spruce a friendly wave, "Ah, hello Spruce! I see you're getting acquainted with Mister Roronoa! He's really quite the interesting fellow, you know."

"He's not the only one." Spruce commented, "He came here on a ship with a crew called the Straw Hat Pirates."

"Oh, did he now?" Walter said, "How did he end up on this side of the island, in that case? My feeble, elderly mind might not be all here, but I certainly don't recall any ships on the horizon recently!"

"Why are they called the Straw Hat Pirates?" Kiki asked, pointing at Zoro, "His hair looks like grass, not straw. And what's a pirate?"

"Their captain wears the straw hat." Spruce explained.

"You don't know what a pirate is?" Zoro said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, pirates are just the thing of stories and old history, I would have thought." Walter said, "Older history than me! Hahaha! Pirates are supposed to be an unlawful and unruly lot, I thought, but you've been quite the pleasant guest for a pirate so far!"

"Pirates are outlaws?" Spruce said, "Huh… I thought they were nudists."

"Don't let appearances deceive you, old man, I'm- HUH?" Zoro's face snapped in the direction of Spruce as his jaw dropped, "Why the hell would you think THAT?!"

"Grandpa, what's a nudist?" Kiki asked Walter.

"Luffy said that being King of the Pirates meant he would be the freest person on the sea." Spruce said, "So being a pirate is about freedom, right?"

"Not that kind of freedom." Zoro said, "As I was saying, don't let appearances deceive you, old man. I'm a dangerous criminal. I told you these swords weren't just for show."

"Hahaha! You certainly did tell me that." Walter said, but he quickly grew serious, "But you should be careful with an attitude like that here on this island, Mister Roronoa. What counts for law on this island isn't something you should break recklessly."

"I've already told your captain about the woman who rules over this island." Spruce said grimly, "She and her forces aren't the kind of threat you want to face."

"Riolu…" Ria said dejectedly.

"All that just sounds like a challenge to me." Zoro smirked, "If you should be warning anyone, it's them about us."

"I'm being quite serious." Walter said firmly, "Team Steel aren't a force that someone like you- someone who's never even heard of Pokemon until now- should be provoking. Whatever brought you to this island, you and your friends should wrap it up and be on your way as soon as possible."

"Luffy told me that he wouldn't fight the leader of Team Steel while he was here." Spruce added.

"Did he?" Zoro said, "In that case, it would be wrong of me to go against his word and attack them myself… Alright."

"Their ship is anchored off the shore around Pastoria Village." Spruce said.

"Pastoria Village… a bit of a trek to get there." Walter commented, "I'll go with you, Mister Roronoa."

"I already said I don't need a chaperone. I can get there just fine on my own." Zoro said dismissively.

'Even though this is your first time on the island?' Walter and Spruce thought together.

"Well even so, I'm interested to meet these pirates myself!" Walter said, "If they're anything like you, they must have some exciting tales to share with this feeble, elderly man! Hahaha!"

"Sure you're up for that kind of walk?" Spruce said, his brow furrowing with concern.

"Ooh, can I come too, Grandpa?" Kiki requested, bouncing up and down on her heels excitedly.

"I don't see any harm in it." Walter said, after taking a few moments to consider it, "Want to come along, Spruce?"

"I'll… stay here, if that's alright." Spruce said, "It's better if I don't run into those guys again."

"Rio?" Ria said.

"Figures." Zoro said, with a knowing glint in his eye as he began walking away, "Come on, old man."

"Right, yes!" Walter said, shuffling after Zoro with Kiki and Mister Cuddles trailing after the both of them. The group had barely gotten a dozen feet away from the shack, however, when they were suddenly met by the sight of a man sprinting as fast as he could towards them, a terrified fervor in his eyes. Zoro looked confused by the sudden arrival, but Walter stepped forwards to meet the man's approach, a grave look in his eyes.

"WALTER, IT'S TERRIBLE! IT'S…!" The man trailed off into deep, laboured breathing as he stopped in front of Walter and doubled over. From where he was sitting, Spruce sat up and watched the new arrival closely.

"What's the matter? What's happened?" Walter said, reaching out to place a supportive hand on the man's shoulder and keep him standing upright. The man took a few seconds to catch his breath, and then he spoke.

"TEAM STEEL HAVE SENT AN ADMIN TO ATTACK PASTORIA VILLAGE!"

 

[DolphinMan]

The journey from Walter's shack to Pastoria Village quickly went from being a fun little outing to being a desperate scramble, with Zoro, Spruce and Walter taking off as fast as they could, while Kiki stayed behind to hold down the fort as well as steer clear from any dangerous individuals. Because really, who in their right mind would let a child endanger themselves with the company of villains like the members of an Evil Team? It would be completely irresponsible.

Spruce and Zoro ran alongside each other, with Walter following behind and keeping pace as best he could manage with his body being what it was. Vacating the beach, Spruce led the swordsman up into the barren plains, a desolate landscape populated by pockets of Pokemon whose own fierce territorial tendencies had driven them into isolation from both Oreburgh Cave and the Eterna Grove. With every step they took, both the swordsman and the trainer could feel dozens of eyes, seen and unseen alike, watching them carefully and preparing to retaliate against any slights on their part. Unfortunately, crossing through the plains was the fastest shortcut to get to Pastoria Village, even if it was the most dangerous.

"What's so dangerous about this Admin in the first place?" Zoro asked Spruce as they ran. While Whiskers had been hastily returned to his Pokeball, Pex flew overhead and Ria ran between them and Walter, keeping her senses peeled for any attacks from the rear.

"Out of all the trainers who are part of Team Steel, the three strongest among them are the ones called Admins." Spruce explained with a grimace, "Copper, Brass and Nickel."

"Those names are stupid." Zoro commented.

"But they aren't." Spruce said, "There's no lack of competition for their positions. They've trained their Pokemon for years, battled with them for years, and carefully honed a wide range of attacks to suit their Pokémon's unique strengths. Not to mention that each one uses different strategies, meaning that even if you can manage to defeat one, the exact thing that made it happen can be what makes it so easy for one of the others to crush you. Though that's also looking through the lens of Pokemon battles… since you and your crew aren't trainers, you'll be even less prepared to face them and everything their Pokemon are capable of."

"That goes both ways." Zoro said, "They don't know what we're capable of either."

"What, all six of you?" Spruce said, "Or the three of you that actually fight? There might only be three Admins, and one Leader above them, but their grunts are packing strength in numbers. Your crew's only hope is to be able to evade their initial force and then escape to the sea. There are no boats they could use to catch up, and by that point you wouldn't be worth the effort anyway."

"Wait, you think we're heading to that village so our crew can run away?" Zoro said.

"Do I think that- Yes, I do!" Spruce exclaimed, "I'm already their enemy and I don't have any family they can threaten, so I'll help fight them off. Walter's coming along so he can beg for mercy towards any other innocent people with too much conscience for their own good."

"We're not running away." Zoro scoffed, "If this Admin is really as much of a threat as you say, that means that either my captain or that stupid love-chef are gonna be the one to defeat him. And if it's the latter, that means I need to beat an even stronger enemy than that before we leave. Luffy's probably going to beat the Leader, though, so I'll settle for beating two Admins if I have to."

"Whether you pirates want to stick around and pick fights or not, I will not let you defeat Leader Mercury, no matter what happens." Spruce snarled.

"Why not? Aren't you her enemy?" Zoro said.

"Because it-!" Spruce began, only to be interrupted by a sudden gasp from Walter behind them, quickly followed by a yell from Ria, which prompted the trainer to skid to a stop and whirl around to see the old man having fallen down onto one knee as he clutched his chest with a pained look on his face. Zoro kept on running, leaving them behind and going his own way, with Pex flying after him.

"Walter? GRAMPS?!" Spruce said fearfully, racing over to kneel down beside Walter and place a supportive arm over his shoulders, helping sit him down, "Dammit… I knew you weren't up to this kind of thing-!"

"I'll not have some junior trainer trying to lecture me on my limits!" Walter snapped amidst his laboured breathing, "I just need a second to catch my breath, is all. Damn feeble, elderly lungs…"

"We might not have a second." Spruce muttered, as a trio of Luxio began to circle them from a distance, "And of course the swordsman's gone ahead without us. Does he even know where Pastoria Village is in the first place?"

"I'm sure he'll find his way there. He strikes me as a troublemaker." Walter said, reaching down and retrieving a Pokeball of his own from his pocket, "Maybe going by water would have been faster after all."

"Iron Island is only big enough for the one troublemaker." Spruce retorted as the formation of Luxio began to close in around them, "Ria, you ready to battle?"

"Riolu!" Ria said with an eager nod, beginning to hop up and down with anticipation.

"Alright, then Pex-" Spruce began, only to take notice of the bird's absence, "Oh, he flew off too."

"Maybe he's guiding Mister Roronoa towards Pastoria?" Walter suggested with a slight chuckle.

"More like guiding himself towards someone else's lunch." Spruce grumbled, "Try and actually take one out yourself instead of leaving us to do the heavy lifting."

"Brat." Walter said, "I think Mister Roronoa had better manners than you. Now, how about I show you how a real trainer battles?"

Rising to his feet, Walter tossed the Pokeball out in front of him just as the Luxio all attacked at once.

"SOAK 'EM TO THE BONE, FLOATZEL!"

-O-

​

​

Following the path that led from the shore into the island, the trio of Straw Hat pirates along, with their royal passenger and her duck joining them, headed in the direction that they assumed Sanji would have gone in earlier. Or rather, everyone except Luffy followed the path, as the captain was busy letting himself be distracted by every different species of Pokemon that he saw, much to the annoyance of his crew as they nervously watched him run about and shove his face into them.

"Wow! And look at this one!" Luffy exclaimed, peering down at a purple and cream furred Pokemon with a bushy tail which was currently standing at attention in response to Luffy's proximity, "It kinda looks like a skunk!"

"STUNKY!" The Pokemon in question exclaimed, opening up its mouth to exhale a thick cloud of purple smoke right into Luffy's face. The instant his nostrils picked up the aroma of the gas, he jumped several feet back and began gagging, all while the others continued on their way. They were standing enough of a distance away that they, luckily, couldn't pick up the stench themselves.

"That's odd. I would have thought a skunk would spray him using the other end." Vivi said.

"Whatever he got sprayed with better wash off quick, because I will not get on the Merry with him otherwise." Nami said.

"Did that thing just yell 'Stunky' before it sprayed him?" Usopp said.

It didn't take long for Luffy to shrug off the noxious gas blast, though he at least had enough sense not to pester any Stunky. Instead, it was a bipedal, humanoid Pokemon with blue-grey skin and markings around its pelvic region that gave the impression it was wearing briefs, which drew Luffy's attention. He ran over towards the Pokemon, standing in front of it and turning his head to call out to his crewmates who were getting further ahead. He didn't notice it gagging at his smell.

"HEY GUYS, THIS ONE'S WEARING UNDERPANTS!" Luffy yelled, pointing back at the briefs in question. His statement drew the attention of Usopp and Vivi, who turned around to see what he was talking about.

"Huh… so it is." Usopp said.

"What a pervert, walking around in nothing but underwear!" Vivi gasped.

"Uh, I think this is actually the only one wearing clothes." Usopp pointed out, "So if anything, it's modest."

"Hmm, that is true, actually." Vivi nodded. Meanwhile, Luffy turned to face the Pokemon, a wide grin on his face, only to see that it was baring its teeth at him angrily and winding back a punch. Before he even realised what was happening, the Pokemon threw its fist forward, striking Luffy with an uppercut that send his head shooting up into the sky atop his rapidly stretching neck.

"So that's how it is, huh?" Luffy said with a grin, far out of earshot of anyone else, "GUM-GUM…"

Just as it had stretched like rubber, so too did his neck snap back to its previous length like rubber, bringing Luffy's head crashing back down as he slammed the Pokemon with a headbutt. Though, for all the excitement, he missed the instant where the straw hat atop his head was snatched off his head during its descent by a bird Pokemon.

"BELL!" Luffy finished, snickering to himself as he saw the force of his headbutt drive the Pokémon's own head down into the ground with such force that it actually embedded itself, leaving it flailing around as it tried to remove its head from the hole. Staring at the predicament he had put it in, Luffy began to snicker, before his hand suddenly shot up to his bare head and his eyes widened.

"My hat! Where'd it go?!" He said, looking around him in every direction and managing to spot a black and white bird that looked like a smaller Pex, flying off in the direction of a distant forest, clutching the straw hat in its beak.

"GIVE ME BACK MY TREASURE!" Luffy roared, running after the bird as the other four all watched.

"Is that straw hat really so important to him?" Vivi asked as Luffy quickly shrank into the distance.

"It was given to him by someone he was very close to." Nami explained, "When Luffy becomes the Pirate King, he'll give it back to them."

"It's a man's promise." Usopp added with a nod, "No treasure could be more valuable than that."

"A man's promise…" Vivi murmured, "Should we, er, follow him?"

"Why? We're trying to find Sanji, and he has the sense to follow the path." Nami said, "Unless he went looking for ingredients, I suppose…"

"Well it's just that I thought we were sticking around Luffy as protection against any more of these Pokemon creatures." Vivi said, "So if we split up, that would leave us unprotected."

Nami and Usopp both looked at each other, and then looked over to see the humanoid Pokemon that Luffy had attacked finally managing to rip its head out from the ground.

"Ma… CHOKE!" Machoke yelled victoriously, throwing its arms up in the air in triumph. It quickly set its sights on the three humans and duck, glaring at them as it slowly lowered its hands and cracked its knuckles.

"Though I'm never really unprotected, because I've got Carue!" Vivi added brightly, which elicited a shocked quack from the duck in question along with an incredulous look.

"Maybe we should hurry and go somewhere with less Pokemon." Usopp mumbled, beginning to slowly step backwards and put more distance between him and the Machoke.

"Good idea." Nami said, stepping behind Usopp and positioning him between the Machoke and herself, "Hopefully Sanji didn't get too far."

"WHY ARE YOU HIDING BEHIND ME?!" The sniper said angrily.

"If that thing tries to attack us, you have to buy me and Vivi time to escape because we're cute." Nami said, patting him on the shoulder supportively, "You've got this, right?"

The Machoke cracked its neck, rolled its shoulders, and got down into a running pose.

"NO I DON'T!" Usopp said, turning around and taking off down the path as fast as he could. Nami, Vivi and Carue were all quick to follow his lead, running away from the Machoke, which watched them retreat with a satisfied look on its face. Once they were out of sight, it stood back up and went back to its business.

It didn't take long for the lot of them to come across a village. Usopp slowed to a stop in front of a battered wooden sign that had been knocked to the ground, though which was still legible as saying 'PASTORIA VILLAGE'. Kneeling down, he picked it up and tried to stand it up again, only for Nami to furiously smack him on the side of the head.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Usopp yelled, looking back at Nami as he rubbed the area she had just struck.

"FOR RUNNING AWAY BEFORE WE DID!" Nami retorted.

"YOU WANTED TO USE ME AS A SACRIFICE ANYWAY!" Usopp countered.

"I wonder if anyone in this village has seen Sanji…" Vivi mused to herself and tuning out the other two's squabbling. Grabbing the sign herself, she stood it back up, and then furrowed her brow as she noticed a series of tracks that had been left on it, "These look like the tracks from some kind of animal. I wonder if there was some kind of stampede recently. Oh! Hopefully he wasn't hurt or anything."

"Don't worry about Sanji, he's a monster." Nami reassured Vivi, taking a break from her fighting with Usopp, "I doubt any of those Pokemon we saw could have really hurt him, anyway."

"It was a Rhyhorn stampede."

A new voice suddenly piped up, joining their conversation. It was a young boy's voice, and everyone looked to its source, that being a young boy. He was skinny, with blonde hair, and he spoke with a sort of matter-of-fact voice that ascribed a mundanity to everything he mentioned.

"What?" Vivi said.

"The sign got broken earlier today by a Rhyhorn stampede." The boy said, "There were a bunch of them, but no one got hurt. You have a weird nose."

He pointed at Usopp as he said that last part, and the sniper shot to his feet with a look of outrage on his face. Before the sniper had a chance to retaliate or scold the boy, however, a young woman with matching blonde hair hurried over to beat him to the punch.

"Timothy!" The woman snapped, grabbing the boy by the arm, "You cannot just go up to strangers and insult their appearances like- oh, that is a rather peculiar nose, actually."

"I got this nose from my mother." Usopp mumbled, crossing his arms with a scowl. His comment prompted the woman to realise exactly what she had just said, and she let out a gasp as her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh- oh, goodness!" She said, "That was terribly rude of me! I didn't- I didn't mean peculiar in a bad sense, just in a sense that not many people have noses that look like that!"

"It's fine, don't mind him." Nami interjected with a friendly smile, stepping towards the lady, "I'm Nami, he's Usopp, and this is Vivi and Carue. We're looking for a couple of friends of ours, a green-haired swordsman named Zoro and a blonde man in a suit named Sanji. Have you seen either of them?"

"A blonde man in a suit named Sanji?" The woman said, warmth quickly flavouring her voice, "Oh! Are you talking about that charming young chef?"

'Charming?' Usopp and Nami thought.

"His eyebrow looked weird. It was all swirly." Timothy commented.

"That's him alright." Nami nodded.

"He came around earlier, just around the time the stampede happened. He was quite the sweet talker…" The woman trailed off, her cheeks going slightly rosy before she shook her head and continued, "I'm afraid I haven't seen this Zoro person around, though. From how you described him, he must really stand out in a crowd."

"Can you do cool stuff like he could?" Timothy asked, "He managed to stop a stampeding Rhyhorn with one leg. It was awesome."

"What? He had to use a leg?" Usopp scoffed, "When we first landed here on Little Garden, we were met by a stampede of over a hundred Rhyhorns. And do you know what I, the great Captain Usopp, did?"

"What's Little Garden?" Timothy said.

"With nothing but the strength of my voice, I brought them all to- huh?" Usopp stopped and blinked, "Little Garden? Isn't that the name of this island?"

"Where did you ever get that idea?" The woman said, "This is Iron Island."

"Iron Island?" Vivi muttered, "But Miss All-Sunday said…"

"We can figure that out later." Nami said quietly to Vivi, before speaking up, "Do you know where Sanji went? We just found out some information about this island, and wanted to warn him about it before he did something to put himself in danger."

"Put himself in danger…" The woman murmured, becoming sullen in an instant as she looked shamefully to the side, "He left earlier to go gather ingredients, then came back just recently and started preparing food for the entire village."

"Good thing Luffy split off from us earlier, or he'd eat an entire village's worth all by himself." Usopp said.

"I'll take you to him." The woman said, turning around and beckoning for them to all follow her as she led them into the village, "I'm Tiffany, by the way. And this is my son Timothy."

"It's lovely to meet you, Tiffany." Vivi said kindly, "If I might ask, are these Rhyhorn stampedes common? That sign seemed quite battered from the look of things."

"Oh, they happen on and off." Tiffany said, her voice carrying a tinge of melancholy in it, "Whenever Team Steel goes to train in the Oreburgh Caves, they disturb the Pokemon living there and send the herd of Rhyhorn into a frenzy."

"Team Steel?" Nami said, "We were told about them. They're the ones we came to warn Sanji about."

"To think that they would willingly and continuously endanger this village like that." Vivi said, "How despicable of them!"

"You came to warn him?" Tiffany said quietly, sounding even more sullen as she said it. By now, a rich and exotic aroma combining a myriad of spicy, sweet, bitter and sour scents had filled the area that they were all approaching. Standing out in the open, surrounded by several benches laid out with cooking utensils of all kinds, along with a few large baskets of bizarre and colourful fruits as well as a campfire behind him, was Sanji.

The chef was in the zone, to such a degree that he didn't even react to the appearance of three beautiful women all coming his way, as he exhibited the kind of unparalleled multitasking mastery that could only come from a chef forced to deal with a countless number of rushes in the past. An intense focus burned in his one visible eye, and he had since discarded his jacket, as he prepared a number of different dishes all at once. Once something was finished cooking, it was plated and served in an instant to one of the dozens of villagers all crowded around him from a distance. Those who had been served were digging into their food eagerly, all of them in states of bliss as they each tasted the greatest meal they had ever eaten in their lives. Some of them were even crying.

"How incredible." Vivi said in awe, "I've never seen a chef who could prepare such a variety of food all on their own like that!"

"That's a first-rate chef for you." Usopp said proudly, "But look at those people! You'd think they'd never eaten a proper meal with those kinds of reactions."

"They probably haven't… have they, Tiffany?" Vivi said sombrely, "The boy who warned us about Team Steel described their leader as a woman without a shred of kindness in her body. That's not the kind of ruler who would care to make sure her subjects are well-off and well-fed."

Nami didn't say anything, instead looking to the gathering of villagers with new eyes. Many of them wore baggy or loose-fitting clothes that made their body types hard to discern, but there wasn't a single one among them who could be described as anything more than 'skinny'. A small number of them had gaunt faces. Those were the ones who were mostly crying as they ate.

"Iron Island is not a very hospitable island." Tiffany said quietly, looking to the side and unable to meet any of their eyes- and certainly not able to look Sanji's way, "Most of the land isn't suitable for farming. Fishermen catch fish for us to eat, but most of our diet has to consist of berries. Most households have a plant or two of their own they can harvest a few berries from, but the two main areas where large amounts of berries grow are the Eterna Grove and Team Steel's base."

"I understand why that second one would be a problem, but what's this Eterna Grove?" Nami inquired.

"It's a forest with the most concentrated Pokemon population on the island." Tiffany said.

"Oh… considering the attitudes we got from the Pokemon on the way here, I can understand why you would steer clear of a place like that." Nami admitted.

"Yes… Things were better when the previous Leader was around." Tiffany said, "The Pokemon in the Eterna Grove weren't as hostile towards people, and the harvests from the berry garden in the gym were split fairly between everyone on the island."

"But you said Sanji went off to gather ingredients earlier." Usopp said, "That would have to mean he went to either that Grove or the base? Which one was it?"

"He went to the Team Steel base." Timothy said, "He probably stole all those berries from them and then came back here."

"Timothy!" Tiffany said sternly, before quickly simmering down and becoming sullen again, "Sorry, no, I shouldn't tell you off for telling the truth… Yes, there's no doubt he went and stole all those berries from Team Steel before returning and cooking with them."

"Figures." Nami sighed good-naturedly, "After Luffy was technically the first one to start trouble, it was only a matter of time until Sanji or Zoro did the same."

"I guess a warning would have been pretty pointless with a situation like this." Usopp said, "It's a little problematic if we have to fight them after Luffy agreed not to, though…"

"A little problematic-?!" Tiffany gaped, "You- you're making this sound like some minor inconvenience! He provoked an army of powerful Pokemon trainers, including the four strongest ones on the entire island! And he… he did it because of…"

"I guess you're going to have to end up helping these people even without payment." Vivi said slyly to Nami.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Nami said, "And with how isolated this island is, they definitely won't have any money I can steal that would be worth anything anywhere else."

"I suppose that Luffy only ever said he wouldn't fight that Mercury woman." Usopp mused, "It wouldn't be going against his word if we took out every other member of Team Steel but not her."

"You say 'we' as if you'd be fighting them along with the others." Nami pointed out.

"I CAN FIGHT TOO!" Usopp retorted heatedly, "I once defeated an army of five-thousand rabid bandits all on my own!"

"No you didn't." Timothy deadpanned.

"GAH! How did you see through it?!"

"This is ridiculous!" Tiffany said, letting out a nervous laugh, "Talking about fighting Team Steel… there are only, what? Six of you? Seven? You only have one Pokemon with you, from the looks of things!"

She pointed at Carue, who gave a confused quack at the statement.

"Oh, Carue's not a Pokemon, actually." Vivi said, "He's a duck."

"Then you don't have any Pokemon!" Tiffany said.

"Don't underestimate us just because our numbers are small." Nami said, "Sure, Usopp and I might not be anything that special-"

"Hey!"

"-but Sanji and Zoro? They're both worth one hundred men each, just by themselves. And Luffy? He's even stronger than that. They're the guys who saved the whole East Blue." Nami finished.

"East Blue? Sorry, I've never heard of such a place before." Tiffany said, "But, erm, that does all sound very impressive, what you're saying."

"Alright, looks like Spruce wasn't just stupid." Usopp said quietly, "This entire island's been totally isolated from the rest of the world for whatever reason."

"The only stupid person here is the fool who thought that he could attack Team Steel and walk away unscathed!"

This new addition was a man's voice, one that was snide and rather unpleasant to listen to. It came from a man who was about half a head shorter than Usopp, with a gleaming bald cranium and a bushy silver moustache that was twirled to such a degree that it did three whole loops on both ends. He wore a white tank top with a black jacket, both of which were tucked into the waistband of his pants, which were in turn held up by a belt which had two Pokeballs attached to it. His belt buckle was a stylized metal 'S'.

"An old man?" Vivi gasped. Her comment seemed to incense the man, whose eye twitched.

"I AM NOT AN OLD MAN!" He exploded, his moustache trembling with sheer anger, "I AM IN THE PRIME OF MY LIFE AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-SIX, AND MY HAIR JUST HAPPENS TO BE THIS COLOUR NATURALLY!"

"Already bald at twenty-six?" Usopp said, "I dunno, I think the prime of your life already came and went."

"THIS IS A STYLISTIC CHOICE! I COULD GROW HAIR IF I WANTED TO!" The man roared.

"Usopp, Vivi, that- that man is…" Tiffany began nervously, swallowing before continuing, "That man is Team Steel Admin Nickel, one of the four strongest trainers on this island. You shouldn't antagonize him like that…"

Nickel's outbursts had drawn the attention of the other villagers, who were all quick to disperse at the sight of the Admin. Those who had been served their foot retreated into the safety of their homes, while those who had not yet eaten cleared away from where Sanji was set up, with varying looks of annoyance and dissatisfaction at how events had turned out. With his nose turned up at them all, Nickel strode forwards towards Sanji, who simply continued as he was, though he did slow his pace considerably in order to turn some attention towards the new arrival. The other Straw Hats present watched closely.

"So," Nickel spat, "you must be the monster."

-O-

​

​

"GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID BIRD!" Luffy raged, continuing to chase after the bird with a single-minded determination. His pursuit brought him well away from the path, and past the plains into a forest. Although he tried repeatedly to stretch his hand out in order to grab the bird out of the air, it proved too agile and crafty for him, as it weaved around his limb. As they came into the forest, it began turning the terrain to its advantage, zigzagging around trees and ducking and swooping over branches.

In his pursuit, Luffy recklessly tore through whatever got in his way. He trampled through bushes, blasted trees apart with punches that were like pistol shots, and in a couple of cases outright stomped on Pokemon that were in his path, all trying to nail that damned bird. In his wake, he left quite the trail of very angry Pokemon, which were gradually amassing into a mob following behind him as he ran.

It turned out that the bird had not stolen Luffy's hat merely on whim, nor had it flown away without a clear direction in mind. As it managed to briefly lose him by flying above the treetops and then diving down, it wasted no time swerving around to the right and flying towards its destination. Namely, a tree branch upon which another bird of the same species of Pokemon sat, its beak turned up haughtily as the bird approached it.

"Starly! Starly-Star!" Thief Starly chirped as he landed on the branch across from his beloved Haughty Starly and set the straw hat down between them as an offering. He nudged it forwards with his beak, and then waited expectantly for her reaction.

"Starly?" Haughty Starly said, examining the hat closely and idly prodding at it with her beak.

"Star, Starly-Ly!" Thief Starly exclaimed hopefully, nodding his head up and down.

"Ly…" Haughty Starly said distastefully. She stepped away from the straw hat, and then with a sweep of her wing, sent it careening off the tree branch towards the ground below.

"STARLY!" Thief Starly said with utter distraught as he watched his hopes and dreams crash and burn there in that moment. He threw himself to his feet, prostrating as best as a bird could manage while perching on a tree branch.

"Starly." Haughty Starly said coldly, turning around and flying off and leaving Thief Starly there to stew in his despair and failure as a Starly.

In the meantime, Luffy came to a stop in the middle of the forest, having since lost sight of the bird that stole his hat. He looked around, trying to spot where it had flown off to, only to feel a weight land on his head from above. Glancing upwards, he saw the brim of his treasured straw hat, and quickly reached up to feel that the hat had indeed just landed on his head.

"Phew! I was worried I'd lost this for a second!" Luffy said, laughing with relief, "Well, better go meet up with everyone else now. All this running made me hungry, so I'll have to ask Sanji to cook me something once I find him!"

With a cheerful, innocent grin plastered on his face, Monkey D. Luffy turned around in order to go back the way he came, and promptly found himself face-to-face with a large horde of a few dozen Pokemon of varying shapes, sizes and colours that were all looking at him. Specifically, they were all looking at him with very angry expressions on their faces, as best as one could interpret anger from a creature that did not necessarily speak the same languages as them.

"Hey!" Luffy said brightly, giving the assembled Pokemon a friendly wave, seemingly oblivious to the aura of violence that was wafting off them. Either that or he just didn't care.

"Urs…" Rumbled a large, bear-like Pokemon with a yellow circle on its stomach as it lumbered forwards ahead of the pack, towering over Luffy as it did so, "Ursaring."

"Beedrill!" A large, bee-like Pokemon chittered, following behind the Ursaring. And after the Beedrill came a white and red Pokemon that looked like it was wearing a pair of baggy pants.

"You all wanna fight, huh?" Luffy said, smirking to himself as he reached behind him with his two arms, which began to stretch further and further back, "Okay then. Gum-Gum…"

The sight of Luffy stretching the way that he did was enough to give some of the smaller and weaker Pokemon pause, and it certainly confused the stronger ones that were preparing to all jump him as one, but only a small handful were weak and cowardly enough that the mere sight of a human that would fight back against them was enough to send them fleeing. That handful of them were the lucky ones.

"BAZOOKA!" Luffy finished, bringing both hands shooting forwards so that the palms slammed into the stomach of the Ursaring. There was a CLAP of palm against flesh, echoing all throughout the forest as the Ursaring was launched off its feet and sent flying back.

Instantly, any will to fight died out in the Pokemon that had just witnessed the true strength of their opponent. They were all quick to turn and flee, scrambling to get away from Luffy, who just stood there and snickered at the sight of all the Pokemon being sent packing.

"Hey, Luffy!"

At the sound of Zoro's voice, Luffy's snicker turned into a grin as he looked over to see the green-haired swordsman coming his way.

"Zoro!" Luffy said, "You missed a bunch of cool stuff while you were missing! The guy that attacked us is called Spruce, and those monsters were called Pokemon, and he can do this thing where he senses our Aura, so he's gonna join the crew as our scout!"

"Huh, so he wasn't lying about us no longer being enemies." Zoro said, "Good, that means I won't have to kill him. Does he know he's joining?"

"Yep!" Luffy nodded, "I told him, but he didn't wanna come along. There are some bad guys here that he has to beat before he can leave, but that's okay! I promised I wouldn't fight their boss, so that means we'll have to beat up everyone else and let him beat her instead! Shishishi!"

"He mentioned that." Zoro said, looking around at the forest, "This isn't Pastoria Village, is it?"

"Uh, I don't think so." Luffy said, "This doesn't look like a village. Why?"

"I heard that the people ruling the island sent one of their strongest fighters there." Zoro explained, "I figured either you or the love-chef would probably be the target. If it's not you, that must mean he's the one that'll fight them."

"Oh, that's great!" Luffy said.

"But if he's fighting one, that means you'll still need to fight one too." Zoro said, muttering to himself a bit, "Not counting the leader, there are three, which means two for us to fight. I was planning on fighting two on my own if I had to, but I'll just have to check and make sure I fight one who's stronger than whoever swirly-brow's fighting…"

"Why do you care?" Luffy asked innocently.

"BECAUSE I NEED TO BEAT A STRONGER ENEMY THAN WHOEVER SHIT-COOK FIGHTS!" Zoro answered.

"Oh. Okay then!" Luffy nodded, "Do you know where Spruce went? He'll have to come along so he can beat Mercu-lady."

"We were both heading to the village after we heard the news." Zoro said, "He must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and we got split up."

Luffy stared at him.

"Do you know where the village is?" He inquired.

"No, but it can't be too hard to find if swirly-brow ended up there." Zoro scoffed.

-O-

​

​

For a brief moment, there was silence as Sanji and Nickel stared each other down. The latter had a burning intensity in his eyes, his every cell just bubbling with anger and anticipation for the inevitable fight. In contrast, the former was downright relaxed, regarding Nickel with disinterest as he continued to cut and squeeze and cook his stolen ingredients right in front of the very person that he had stolen them from.

"You could call me a monster." Sanji finally said, breaking the silence, "Though I'd rather be referred to as a first-rate chef. If you'd like something to eat, I'll be happy to serve you, but you've scared off the hungry people I was going to feed before you."

"You broke down our base's gate with nothing but your own brute strength, demanded our berries, and then pummelled every grunt who was at the base when they refused." Nickel said, "They didn't even have a chance to send out their Pokemon first. And all so you could come here and cook for these people?"

"There was a conflict of interest." Sanji said, "These people needed to eat, and your subordinates… they are your subordinates, aren't they? I'm assuming because they all looked identical, somehow."

"I'm Team Steel Admin Nickel, one of the four strongest trainers on Iron Island." Nickel said.

"As I was saying, there was a conflict of interest. These people needed to eat, and your subordinates were the ones with the ingredients necessary to cook for them." Sanji said.

"Surely you didn't think you could do something so outrageous and walk away unscathed, did you?" Nickel snarled.

"I don't get it, where's his Pokemon?" Usopp muttered, "He must have one with him to be threatening Sanji like that."

"Yes, actually. That's how our crew's luck tends to go." Sanji admitted.

"Well I hope you're ready to deal with someone who'll actually put up a fight." Nickel said, reaching down and grabbing one of the Pokeballs from his belt. Before he had a chance to send out the Pokemon contained inside, however, Tiffany suddenly burst forwards, scurrying over to position herself between Nickel and Sanji.

"What?!" Usopp said.

"Mum?" Timothy said.

"What's she doing?!" Vivi gasped.

"No, don't-!" Sanji said, his eyes wide.

"What is this?" Nickel growled, Pokeball still clutched tightly in his hands.

"PLEASE!" Tiffany begged, arms spread wide as if to shield Sanji from danger, "This man- this kind man! Please, don't punish him for his ignorance! Everything that he's done today- everything that's spat in the face of Team Steel- he's done it because we manipulated him!"

"What are you talking about?" Sanji said, brow furrowing, "Manipulated me?"

Tears had begun to stream down Tiffany's face as she continued her confession, "We- all of us here in Pastoria Village- we all manipulated you, Sanji! We preyed on your ignorance of this island's laws because we knew that only you would be punished for it, and not us! The truth… THE TRUTH IS THAT SERVING FOOD TO OTHER PEOPLE IS CONSIDERED A CRIME!"

"Serving food is a crime?" Vivi murmured, "Serving food is a CRIME?!"

Though Sanji did not react verbally, he clenched his fists tightly, so tightly that the berry he had been holding in his left hand was crushed into pulp. It was a horrible waste of a good ingredient, but he didn't even register it in the moment.

"We kept the information a secret from you, Sanji, so that you would cook for us!" Tiffany sobbed, turning her head to look back at him, "Even if you hadn't attacked them to gather the ingredients, even if you had been so kind as to use your own supplies… this all would still have happened! Being served food is not a crime, so we all wanted to enjoy this delicious cooking while we could even though we knew you would end up being punished for it!"

"Tiffany…" Sanji whispered, looking down at the ground ashamedly.

"S-SO PLEASE!" Tiffany said, facing Nickel once again, "DON'T PUNISH THIS KINDHEARTED MAN FOR OUR OWN SELFISHNESS! If Team Steel needs someone to make an example of for what he did… THEN MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF ME!"

Her request hung in the air for several seconds, as she stood there with her arms spread out and closed her eyes, ready for whatever punishment would come her way.

"You want punishment so bad? Then so be it!" Nickel declared, "Go, Golbat! Use Poison Fang!"

The Pokeball in his hands opened up, much to the shock of those present who were not familiar with the workings of these devices, and a stream of blue and white light burst out, materialising in the air in front of Nickel as a blue and purple bat-like Pokemon with an open, gaping mouth and four sharp, gleaming fangs. A Golbat.

"The Pokemon was inside that ball?!" Nami said, "Was that some kind of Devil Fruit ability, or something?!"

"GOLBAT!" Golbat yelled, flapping its wings for a moment before flying towards Tiffany. Its fangs took on a dark purple hue, with droplets of deadly poison beginning to form around the tips of them as it prepared to sink them into her.

"EPAULE SHOOT!"

A mass of blackness came shooting down into the Golbat, slamming into the top of its head and forcing its mouth shut as it was driven into the ground with such force that a small crater was created from the impact. 'Black Leg' Sanji stood in front of Tiffany, a lit cigarette in his mouth and with one dress shoe-clad foot pressing into the Golbat, keeping it firmly pinned against the ground. A look of sheer bloody murder burned in his eyes.

Both Sanji's shout and the subsequent sound of the attack landing prompted Tiffany to open her eyes and see Sanji standing there in front of her, and she let out a gasp at the sight of him.

"You… you saved me?" She said, tears burning at the edges of her eyes once again, "Even after- after what I-?"

"Don't cry." Sanji ordered, "There's not a single person in this village who has done anything wrong today. The only one of us who has anything to apologise for is me… for the unforgivable crime of bringing a beautiful woman to tears."

"G-Golbat?!" Nickel exclaimed in shock, "But how could he- it's not possible!"

"LISTEN CLOSELY!" Sanji continued, raising his voice as he addressed all the villagers present, "THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS WORLD WHO DESERVES TO GO HUNGRY! NOT A SINGLE PERSON! WE ALL NEED FOOD TO SURVIVE, AND IT'S THE DUTY OF A CHEF TO PREPARE FOOD FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT! YOU BEAR NO GUILT FOR ALLOWING ME TO COOK FOR YOU!"

"Then y-you… you forgive me?" Tiffany whispered, "For lying?"

"A real man forgives a woman's lies." Sanji said coolly, "Though I can't deny that it was a terrible mistake for you to not warn me about Team Steel's laws regarding cooking for others."

Tiffany bowed her head in shame.

"Because now I'm going to have to take another trip to their base." Sanji continued, causing Tiffany's head to snap right back up, "If I had known earlier, I could have done it when I went to gather ingredients. Knowing that such an unjust law exists, and that they enforce it… I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO BEAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM SENSELESS SO THAT THEY CAN FEEL A FRACTION OF THE PAIN THEY INFLICT UPON OTHERS!"

"Oh, Sanji!" Tiffany gasped, falling to her knees.

"AND AS FOR YOU, SCUM OF THE EARTH!" Sanji said, lifting his foot up off the Golbat and taking several steps towards Nickel, "Don't you have even a shred of humanity? The homecooked meals filled with love a mother makes for her children, the dinners shared between friends to strengthen their bonds, the gourmet meals enjoyed in order to celebrate the achievements in one's life… FOOD IS LIFE ITSELF! Not even the Devil would be so cruel as to deny people something so quintessential. Kill yourself and atone for living such a worthless life."

"WHO CARES ABOUT ANY OF THAT STUFF?!" Nickel yelled right back, "LOVE? FRIENDSHIP? IRON ISLAND IS THE ISLAND OF THE STRONG! AND THE STRONG ARE THE ONES WHO GET TO EAT! GOLBAT, USE SCREECH!"

Behind Sanji, Golbat lifted up off the ground and flew into the sky, ascending a couple of feet above Sanji for safety, and it opened its mouth back up in order to unleash a shrill, high-pitched shriek that sliced through the air and washed over Sanji. It didn't injure him, but the chef's hands rose to cover his ears as a discomforted grimace appeared on his face.

"What kind of attack is that?" Nami wondered.

"That's screech." Timothy explained, "It's a non-damaging move that lowers the defence of whoever it's used on."

"A non-damaging move?" Nami said, "Oh! Like those afterimages that Spruce's bird used!"

"Nickel seems really distracted…" Vivi noted, "Hey! Why don't we attack him while he's focusing on Sanji?"

"Didn't you hear what Sanji said?" Usopp said, "This isn't merely a fight between two men! Sanji is fighting against the opposition to his very ideology itself! If he wanted us to interrupt, he would ask! But as none of us are chefs like he is, this is a fight he must win on his own!"

"You're not just saying that to avoid fighting, are you?" Vivi said doubtfully, raising an eyebrow at Usopp as she tried to spot any signs of his cowardice.

"No." Usopp said firmly, "Sanji is my precious comrade, fighting for the beliefs that he holds true more than anything else. If he asked me to, I would stand alongside him and fight just as hard as he is!"

"Even though you really don't want him to." Nami said.

"Even though I really don't want him to." Usopp nodded.

"Now, use Mean Look before he has a chance to regret his idiocy!" Nickel instructed as Golbat stopped shrieking, giving Sanji a reprieve so that he could lower his hands from his ears.

"Gol… BAT!" Golbat said, descending a few feet and fixing Sanji with a stern look. Despite how innocuous the 'attack' seemed to the ignorant spectators, something about the look and the way that it bore into his very soul… it caused his entire body to lock up for just an instant. And once that instant had passed, Sanji knew that he absolutely could not run away from this fight. Although, he had never planned on running away in the first place.

"Mean Look prevents an enemy from being able to escape." Timothy explained.

"COLLIER SHOOT!" Sanji roared, leaping up and kicking a leg out in order to try and smash Golbat in the side of the neck. Ordinarily, the attack would be targeted towards his opponent's neck, but that was one body part that Golbat lacked, so he made do the best he could.

"DODGE IT GOLBAT!" Nickel said, and Golbat swooped below Sanji's leg, which only struck the air before gravity brought him back down to the ground.

"AIR CUTTER!"

Flapping its wings faster, Golbat seized the air around it, shaping it into razor-sharp blades of wind that it hurled at Sanji all at once, like a stream of thin white blades. Sanji stuck his hands into his pockets, seeking to protect them as best as he could, while one of the cutting winds sliced the cigarette in his mouth in half. The tensing of his body and the way he gritted his teeth with pain indicated that the attack hurt, but the damage that it actually did to him seemed superficial at best, as it mostly served to shred the clothes he was wearing.

"Is that it?" Sanji grunted once the cutting winds had subsided, and he removed a hand from his pocket in order to remove the cigarette stump from his mouth and toss it away, "Just getting to this island required braving winds a hundred times more brutal than that!"

"Damn chef!" Nickel hissed, "GOLBAT, USE SCREECH AGAIN!"

"Golbat!" Golbat said, once again unleashing its unholy shriek that pierced Sanji's eardrums and dug right into the core of his body. Nevertheless, the chef charged towards the bat, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. As he came close enough to attack, he quickly dropped down to a handstand, and then kicked leg upwards towards the Pokémon's underside. Another attack that he couldn't quite aim at the right place due to a bizarre body type.

"COTELETTE!" Sanji said.

"POISON FANG TO BLOCK!" Nickel ordered hastily.

Like before, Golbat's fangs took on an ominous purple glow, with liquid poison collecting around the tips. Turning itself downward to face Sanjo's attack dead-on, it swerved to the side of his extending leg, and clamped its mouth down around it. Sanji's eyes widened with pain, and he had to grit his teeth to muffle the agonised gasp the moment that the attack made contact. With the momentum from his previous attack, he tried to spin around in the opposite direction and bring his leg with Golbat attached crashing down to the ground, but Golbat released him and flew back before he could, leaving him to strike the ground pointlessly.

"Oh no!" Vivi gasped, raising a hand to her mouth in horror at the sight of Sanji's newly-exposed leg.

After both the cutting wind and the bite, Sanji's pants leg had been reduced to tatters, clearly exposing the skin beneath, and the state he was in after the attack he had just taken. Although Golbat's fangs hadn't broken the skin, and instead only left bite marks, the poison from its fangs lad left a far more noticeable trace. Lines of sickly purple spread out from where the teeth had made contact, looking like veins of poison running through his body.

"Tch. Got a little careless with that one." Sanji muttered, shifting from a handstand to standing normally. As he put weight on the injured leg, his whole body tensed again while he hissed with pain, but otherwise fought through it as he reached into his pocket to retrieve another cigarette to replace the one that had been destroyed before. But then the lines of poison on his leg throbbed and extended, covering more of his leg, and Sanji let out a cry of pain as he fell to one knee.

"Oh no… he got poisoned…" Timothy said.

"Poisoned?!" Nami said.

"A lot of Poison-Type attacks have a chance to poison the enemy." The boy explained, "And the poison does damage until it's either cured, or…"

He didn't need to clarify what the second option was.

"THIS IS WHY ONLY FOOLS ARE HEROES!" Nickel taunted, "A VILLAIN HAS THE BRAINS TO NOT PICK A FIGHT THEY'LL LOSE! NOW SUFFER IN AGONY FOR THINKING YOU SHOULD DEFEAT TEAM STEEL! GOLBAT, USE POISON FANG AGAIN!"

"Suffer in agony…?" Sanji mumbled.

"Golbat!" Golbat cackled, flying high up into the air, before swooping down with its mouth wide open and its fangs glowing purple as it prepared to sink its teeth right into Sanji's shoulder. Tiffany and Vivi all watched with shared looks of distress at the sight, while Usopp and Nami observed resolutely, and Timothy held his breath in anticipation.

Then, in one flurry of movement, there was a mass of black that blurred through the air followed by a brutal impact that echoed throughout the entire village. And now Sanji stood there, the heel of his shoe pressing into a Golbat whose eyes had turned into swirls that almost matched his exposed eyebrow. The chef stared at it with unmitigated disgust in his eyes, as he once again reached into his pocket and retrieved a cigarette, which he managed to actually stick in his mouth and light this time. The poison in his leg throbbed again, and extended again, but he didn't even react.

"G-Golbat…?" Nickel mumbled, blinking repeatedly, "What's- what just happened?!"

"You think this is agony?" Sanji said, taking his foot off Golbat, "You think that being cut and bitten and having poison in my leg is agony? No, this is all euphoric in comparison to what real agony is. Real agony is shrivelling up until your skin is hanging off your bones. Real agony is the nausea and the dizziness and the lethargy that comes with a body that isn't dead but doesn't have the energy to live, either. Real agony is being forced to sit around and soak in your own despair and starvation as you stare out at the horizon and pray that salvation will come."

"No… no, no, no! No human could possibly be this strong!" Nickel said, shaking his head fervently.

"REAL AGONY IS WHAT YOUR INHUMANE LAW HAS FORCED ALL THESE PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE!" Sanji bellowed, "REAL AGONY IS HUNGER! But you don't understand that agony…"

"Don't think this is over! I'm not some worthless hack who can only train one Pokemon!" Nickel said, reaching down to grab his second Pokeball off his belt.

"You don't understand that agony, but you will." Sanji said darkly, turning around and striding over to where he had been cooking until recently.

"Hold on, is he-?" Nami said.

"He is! I think he is!" Usopp exclaimed in surprise.

"COME ON OUT, PELIPPER-!" Nickel began. The Pokeball began to open as he spoke, with bright blue and white light bursting out of it while Sanji grabbed one particular utensil from his bench. Just as the light coalesced into a Pokemon, Sanji whirled around and there was a flash of silver and there was something shooting through the air right towards Nickel's face and…

And then the battle was over in that one moment.

 

[DolphinMan]

With a quivering hand, Nickel slowly reached up to grasp the handle of the utensil that had been thrown at him like a bullet, as a drop of warm, crimson liquid dribbled down his neck and stained the collar of his white top. Tears began to well up in his eyes, and the blue and white bird with a large beak that he had just sent out- Pelipper- landed on the ground and watched him silently, having no drive to attack Sanji on its own without any instructions.

"Why would Sanji do that?" Vivi wondered.

"It's not his usual style." Nami admitted.

"That was weird." Timothy said.

Tears had begun to prick at the corners of Nickel's eyes as he slowly dragged the spoon out of his mouth. His tongue tingled, his mouth flooded by spiciness and sweetness and sourness that had been there and then had been gone all too soon, and he was salivating. How could soup do this to him? How could a single spoonful reduce him to such a state?

"Darkness cannot exist without light. Cold cannot exist without warmth." Sanji droned, picking up the bowl from which he had taken the spoonful from and carrying it over towards Nickel, "Sadness cannot exist without joy. Hunger cannot exist without food."

There was a steely look in Sanji's eye as he stood over the kneeling Nickel, casting his shadow over him. He held the bowl of soup out for the Admin to take, who stared at it with teary eyes for several seconds, both his hands shaking as he seemed to fight himself over whether or not he would take it, because he knew what would happen if he had any more of it.

"Tamato and Salac Soup." Sanji said, "Eat it. Drink it down to the last drop, and then you'll understand that agony perfectly."

Nickel snatched the bowl of soup from Sanji's extended hand, and he didn't even bother with the spoon as he raised the bowl to his lips and gulped it down with all the vigour of a man in the desert coming across water. It was almost boiling, and combined with the spiciness, he felt like the inside of his mouth was on fire, but that pain was drowned out by the euphoria brought about by the divine taste- a perfect blend of sweet, sour and spicy. To Nickel, the soup both lasted an eternity and was gone in a single instant, leaving him with nothing but the burning sensation in his mouth mingled with the lingering aftertaste, not to mention his own tears which continued to stream down his face.

"I-I… Oh, Arc-!" Nickel choked, dropping the empty bowl to the ground in front of him, "I get it now… I get it n-now…"

"That is the joy and fulfillment that food brings into our lives." Sanji said, taking the bowl and the spoon from Nickel and returning to his cooking setup, where he placed them among an assortment of dirty dishes.

"All this time, all these years, this is what we were fighting for…?" Nickel mumbled, returning Pelipper to its Pokeball as he spoke, "This is what we were doing to the people? This is what we were denying them? Violence and malice and endless conflict… it was all pointless! TEAM STEEL WAS WRONG! MERCURY WAS WRONG!"

"All that because of a bowl of soup?" Usopp muttered, raising an eyebrow at the dramatic display.

"Awesome…" Timothy whispered reverentially, watching as Sanji returned to cooking as he had been doing before, seemingly ignoring the poison that still remained in his leg.

"He… he cured the darkness in a Team Steel Admin's heart… with nothing but a bowl of soup!" Tiffany gasped.

"P-Please…" Nickel said, going from kneeling to prostrating before Tiffany and all the other villagers who were bearing witness to this momentous occasion, "PLEASE FIND IT IN YOUR HEARTS TO FORGIVE ME FOR WHAT I HAVE BEEN COMPLICIT IN!"

"Forgive him?" Vivi murmured, striding towards him with a fire burning in her eyes.

"Vivi, what are you-?" Nami began.

"FORGIVE YOU?" Vivi yelled, drawing the attention of everyone present to her, including Sanji, who continued to cook even as he adopted a lovestruck expression at her presence. Nickel raised himself from the ground and looked back at her, only to be promptly met with a slap to the face.

"Vivi-!" Nami said.

"Wow!" Timothy exclaimed.

"A RULER'S DUTY IS TO THEIR PEOPLE!" Vivi raged, "HOW CAN YOU DO SOMETHING AS OBSCENE AS MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR THE PEOPLE TO FEED EACH OTHER, AND THEN REQUEST FORGIVENESS WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING TO EARN IT FIRST?! PEOPLE DON'T NEED EMPTY REASSURANCES, THEY NEED MEANINGFUL ACTION FROM PEOPLE WHO TRULY CARE ABOUT MAKING THEIR LIVES BETTER! THEY… They… they…"

The princess trailed off as her rage began to subside and she actually processed the situation that she was currently in, along with the fact that the majority of the village's residents were all listening and looking right at her. Nickel, likewise, was looking at her with an awestruck expression and a stinging red handprint on his cheek.

"SHE'S RIGHT!" One random villager yelled from amongst the crowd, "IF YOU WANT OUR FORGIVENESS, GET THE OTHER ADMINS TO APOLOGISE LIKE THIS!"

"YEAH!" Another villager chimed in, "IF THAT SOUP WAS REALLY SO GOOD, GET MORE BERRIES SO WE CAN TRY IT OURSELVES!"

"You're right." Nickel said solemnly, turning around to bow his head to Vivi, "Outlawing the kindness that arose in response to our greed… it is not enough to ask for forgiveness, I must work to earn it. I may be the weakest of the three Admins, but…"

He looked up to meet Vivi's eyes through the tears that were being shed.

"BUT I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I HAVE RIGHTFULLY EARNED THE FORGIVENESS OF EACH AND EVERY PERSON HERE ON IRON ISLAND THAT I HAVE WRONGED!" He declared, rising to his feet, "And the first person I must start with… is the chef!"

"Hm?" Sanji said. Nickel placed Pelipper's Pokeball back on his belt, and then returned the fainted Golbat to its own Pokeball and put it away as well, before reaching into the pocket of his pants and retrieving a pink, heart-shaped berry, which he took over to where Sanji was cooking.

"Eat this." Nickel instructed, "It's a Pecha Berry. They're used to cure poison."

Though the chef was slightly sceptical, he took the berry from Nickel and raised it to his mouth. With two bites, he finished the entire thing off, and his eyes promptly widened as the veins of poison on his leg disappeared, and his entire body relaxed slightly in response to the alleviated burden.

"You mentioned having a crew, didn't you?" Nickel continued, "You and that blue-haired girl aren't from this island. Somehow… you overcame that ferocious weather and arrived here."

"We did." Sanji nodded, "I'm the chef of the Straw Hat Pirates, and our captain is 'Straw Hat' Luffy."

"I… I have never been the superstitious sort." Nickel said, "But for the first visitors to come in as long as anyone can remember… for a chef like yourself to be among them… this can be only destiny. Is your captain like you?"

"Like me?" Sanji said with a raised eyebrow, "There's nobody like our captain."

"I… I can't fight the other Admins." Nickel admitted, "But I'm going to go to the other villages, and I'm going to spread the word to every Team Steel grunt I can find. The only way for you to avoid battling the other Admins of Team Steel would be to flee the island."

"No chance of that." Sanji deadpanned.

"No, a man like you would not do that…" Nickel said, "In that case, when you and your crew defeat the leaders of Team Steel, I will be waiting with every grunt who can be made to see the error of their ways. And those who cannot… will not trouble you."

"Do whatever you want, as long as you let people eat." Sanji said dismissively, "Now go away. The only people I want distracting me while I cook are beautiful women."

"Yes, of course!" Nickel said, bowing his head gratefully and beginning to walk away, before stopping and turning back to Sanji one more time, "When we Admins boast about being the strongest trainers here on Iron Island… it's not completely truthful. There are two other trainers who are as strong as we are, and who would almost certainly fight as your allies if you opposed Team Steel."

With that last piece of advice given, Nickel went on his way, taking his leave of the village and heading elsewhere in his pursuit of redemption. In his absence, the two Straw Hats present were quick to approach where Sanji was cooking, along with their royal entourage and Timothy.

"Hello Nami-dear~ and Vivi-darling~!" Sanji gushed, his face going all lovestruck again.

"We, uh, came to warn you." Usopp said, "About Team Steel."

"For all the good it did us." Nami added with a roll of her eyes as she helped Tiffany back to her feet.

"MISTER! THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" Timothy yelled eagerly, standing right in front of Sanji's bench, "IT WAS EVEN COOLER THAN THE COOL THING YOU DID BEFORE! YOU STOPPED THAT GUY WITH JUST SOUP!"

"That's just the kind of effect that good food can have on a person." Sanji said with a smile, "Now, can I interest you and your mother in the next serving?"

"YEAH!" Timothy nodded, "I'm hungry!"

"Timothy!" Tiffany scolded, "Don't forget your manners! You can't just… Oh, what the hell? I'm hungry too!"

"Then I'll feed the both of you!" Sanji declared, quickly getting back into the zone. While he busied himself cooking, Usopp, Nami and Vivi all huddled together.

"That Admin mentioned there were two other strong trainers who we could ally with." Usopp said, "One of them is probably Spruce, but who could the other be?"

"Spruce?" Tiffany interjected, "Magnus Spruce?"

"Huh?" Nami said, "You know him?"

"Makes sense, the island isn't that big." Usopp said.

"Spruce is the reason that the law against serving food exists in the first place!" Tiffany said, "He's the only person on the island who can go in the Eterna Grove without being attacked by the wild Pokemon."

"The Eterna Grove?" Vivi said.

"It's the forest around the western end of the island." Tiffany explained, "It and Oreburgh Cave are the most populated areas with Pokemon."

"A forest around the west…" Usopp repeated, before looking at Nami, "That's the direction Luffy was heading in, wasn't it?"

"It's hard to tell with the Grand Line being how it is." Nami said, "But with our luck, I'd say so."

"One of your friends is going to the Eterna Grove?!" Tiffany gasped, "You have to stop- Actually, they'd probably be fine if your chef is anything to go off."

"Anyway, if Spruce is one of these strong trainers, do you know who the other one is?" Vivi asked.

"If I had to take a guess…" Tiffany began, "The only other trainer on Iron Island who could possibly be on par with the Admins would have to be old Fisherman Walter."

"An old fisherman?" Usopp said, "That doesn't sound like a guy you'd expect to be strong."

"To be honest, he doesn't seem like much nowadays." Tiffany said, "And a lot of people have forgotten how strong he really is. But before Mercury, and before Mercury's predecessor… Walter was the Leader here on Iron Island!"

-O-

​

​

Having since left behind a trio of thoroughly beaten Luxio in their wake, Spruce and Walter both finally arrived at Pastoria Village after having to delay themselves not only to fend of their attackers, but also to not force Walter to overexert himself. His Floatzel had been returned to its Pokeball, though Ria continued to walk alongside both her trainer and her trainer's mentor.

"I can sense the Auras of several members of the Straw Hat pirates." Spruce noted as they walked into the village, "The chef, the long-nose, the violent ginger, the duck, and the blue-haired lady."

"But not Mister Roronoa or their captain?" Walter said.

"No, they're not here. They're probably somewhere else, but I don't have the patience to search… wait a second." Spruce frowned, "I can sense the Straw Hats, I can sense the villagers, but I can't sense any of the Admins here."

"Ohoho!" Walter said, "Unless the Admins are running seriously late, then I think that can only mean that these Straw Hats have successfully defeated an Admin! Must be an entire crew of troublemakers, you'd fit right in with them."

"Don't give their captain any ideas." Spruce said, "He already tried to recruit me earlier."

"Most people would jump at an invitation to get off Iron Island." Walter said.

"Sick of me eating your food, gramps?" Spruce retorted, "You of all people should understand why I'm sticking around."

"With the way things are turning out today, you might get your wish sooner than you expect." Walter said, "I don't think it's a coincidence that the first visitors this island's had since before I was born are stirring up trouble like this."

"When you heard that Team Steel sent an Admin to Pastoria, you were all in favour of shooing them off the island." Spruce pointed out.

"And since then, I've had a minor health scare and quite the long walk to put things in perspective, not to mention they already did away with an Admin." Walter said, "No, I have a feeling in this feeble, elderly gut of mine that these pirates are going to bring an end to these very long, very miserable eight years."

"Would you be okay with that?" Spruce said, "Would you be okay with some brute coming along and just smashing Mercury's face in and being on his way? Just like that? JUST LIKE-!"

"Yes, Magnus." Walter interjected firmly, with the kind of tone a parent might scold their child with, "I know just what it is that you're fighting for… what he fought for… but sometimes, you don't get the perfect happy ending. Sometimes, you have to take what you can get. If Team Steel is deposed, I can be satisfied in that, and I know that he would be as well."

"Speak for your family all you want, you don't speak for mine." Spruce said coldly, "As far as I'm concerned, beating Mercury won't mean anything if we can't beat her poisonous mindset while doing it."

"Don't be so selfish, brat." Walter chastised, "All this ideological warfare doesn't mean anything to the children with empty stomachs."

"Yeah, well-!" Spruce began, only for an energetic and familiar voice to interrupt him.

"HEY, SPRUCE! HEY, OLD MAN!" Luffy yelled as he ran over to them from the opposite end of the village, with Zoro following behind him, and Pex flying above the both of them. At the sight of them, Pex flew ahead of Luffy and over to Spruce, hovering in front of his face and rubbing affectionately against it.

"Ravia! Staravia!" Pex said.

"Looks like I misjudged you." Spruce remarked, "Here I was thinking you flew off to go grab something to eat."

Pex's eyes suddenly widened and he froze up, and Spruce just crossed his arms.

"You did fly off to go grab something to eat, didn't you?"

"Staravia!" Pex said, descending down to Spruce's belt so he could poke his beak against his own Pokeball and return himself. The sight of the ball opening up and the bird being converted into red light elicited looks of surprise from both Luffy and Zoro, though the former seemed to get over it pretty quickly.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "We found your bird eating a bunch of fruits in the forest, and then he guided us here to the village! Also we passed a tree that had these really colourful fruits on it, but they didn't taste any good…"

As the pirate spoke, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a blue fruit that looked somewhat like a very large acorn. Walter and Spruce both stared at it in shock as they noted the very large chunk that had been bitten out of it.

"That's an apricorn, Luffy." Spruce said, "You're supposed to eat it without the skin."

"Oh. That makes sense." Luffy said, taking another bite of the apricorn with its skin still intact.

"Old man, what's the situation with the Admin attacking this village?" Zoro asked, "Did swirly-brow deal with it or what?"

"Erm, swirly-brow?" Walter said, tilting his head slightly.

"As best we can tell, someone defeated the Admin." Spruce said, "But I'd still recommend you get going while you've got the chance."

"Huh? Get going?" Luffy said after he swallowed the piece of apricorn, "Why?"

"So you can leave this island without fighting Team Steel!" Spruce said, "You said that you wouldn't fight them!"

"We can't leave! You have to join my crew first!" Luffy protested.

"Plus, I still need to one-up swirly-brow." Zoro interjected, "Not like we'd run away from a fight, anyway."

"But you said-!" Spruce started.

"I said I wouldn't fight Mercu-lady." Luffy interrupted, "So instead, we're gonna beat the crap out of everyone else in Team Peel and let you beat Mercu-lady yourself!"

"OHOHOHO!" Walter guffawed, throwing his head back with laughter, "Now that is quite the troublemaking attitude! Oh, I'm lucky I didn't have to deal with brats like you all while I was in my prime."

"I already told you that I can't beat her!" Spruce said, "I- I wish that I could, but I'm not strong enough! We're… not strong enough."

"Riolu…" Ria said sadly, bowing her head.

"Tch. So you won't let anyone else beat her, but you're too weak to do the deed yourself?" Zoro scoffed, "Pathetic."

"Well if you're not strong enough, just get stronger." Luffy said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Or let me beat her up for you! I'm gonna be your captain, so you should be able to count on me for that kinda stuff!"

"I CAN'T!" Spruce roared, "I CAN'T LET ANY OF YOU PIRATES BEAT MERCURY BECAUSE IF YOU BEAT HER BEFORE I DO, THEN MY DAD DIED FOR NOTHING!"

The outburst silenced everyone else in an instant. Walter's brow was furrowed with concern as he glanced at Spruce, while Zoro and Luffy both looked impassive. Gazing up at her trainer, Ria pressed herself against the side of his leg in a gesture of comfort and support.

EIGHT AND A HALF YEARS AGO…

​

​

"MACHOKE, USE MACH PUNCH!"

"LUXIO, USE SPARK!"

The battle that was raging between the two trainers and their fighting and electric types was only one of almost a dozen that were all going on simultaneously. Some on the wide battlefield located in the Iron Island Gym's backyard, some going on around it, and a pair of particularly stupid trainers were even battling each other inside and being absolute nuisances who would most definitely be told off for it later.

For now, though, the one who would tell them off was busy overseeing the various battles. A tall and muscled man, with spiky burgundy hair and black eyes. He wore a tattered grey cloak over a sleeveless white shirt along with light grey cargo pants, with his belt having three Pokeballs affixed to it. His name was Jasper, and his title was Leader, and he was the single strongest trainer on Iron Island.

Despite how many there were to keep track of, Jasper nonetheless observed each battle simultaneously, analysing each and every attack and tactical decision made by the trainers, as well as watching to see even the minute details in each Pokémon's responses. The hesitation that came from a Pokemon that thought it knew better, the laziness in a Pokemon that didn't respect its trainer enough to try, the ruthlessness of a Pokemon that would keep attacking past the point of what was acceptable for a simple training battle, he saw all of it. And as he saw it, he committed it to memory and kept a mental track of all the feedback he would be giving, positive and negative alike to the trainers. All of the yelling and the noise melted together into an auditory mush, with only a very select few sentences being able to stand out among them.

"KRICKETUNE, USE FRUSTRATION!"

That was one such sentence.

As soon as Jasper processed what he had just heard, he was off. Moving across the ground with a speed that one could mistake for a Pokemon, his hand darted out and wrapped around the throat of the trainer who had just issued such a command, and he choke-slammed that trainer into the ground without a shred of mercy.

None of the other trainers watching were the least bit surprised. Most of them just kept battling, paying no mind to the idiot who was getting punished for being an idiot.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Jasper roared in the trainer's face, while their Kricketune stopped in its tracks mid-attack. Across the battlefield, a red-haired trainer and her Meditite both crossed their arms in unison and waited for the whole ordeal to be over with.

"I-I told Kricketune t-to use Frustration!" The trainer managed to choke out with the hand around his throat, and his answer led Jasper to raise him up off the ground by his neck, which he then promptly released, only to wind back a fist and punch the trainer in the stomach. Hard.

"FRUSTRATION IS A DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A MOVE!" Jasper bellowed while the trainer doubled over in pain, "TURNING A POKEMON'S OWN DISLIKE FOR THEIR TRAINER INTO AN ATTACK SPITS IN THE FACE OF WHAT BEING A POKEMON TRAINER IS ALL ABOUT! ANY TRAINER WHO'S NOT A BOTTOM-FEEDING WORTHLESS PILE OF GARBAGE WOULD NEVER USE THAT MOVE! ANY TRAINER WHO'S WORTH ANYTHING WOULD BE FRIENDLY ENOUGH WITH THEIR POKEMON THAT FRUSTRATION WOULD BE USELESS!"

"Hey, ease up on him, Leader!" The redhead- Mercury, Jasper recalled her name being- piped up, "He just taught his Pokemon a dumb move, I don't see what you're so up in arms about!"

"DID I ASK YOU TO SPEAK, MERCURY?!" Jasper snapped, turning his attention from the wheezing trainer over to her, "Hrngh. If you can't understand why that attack would make me react like this, you don't understand what it really means to be a Pokemon trainer."

"Really? You wanna bet?" Mercury retorted hotly, as Meditite got into a fighting stance, "You wanna put your money where your mouth is? How about we have a little battle and see which one of us is a real Pokemon trainer, huh?"

While Jasper's discipline hadn't interested anyone, Mercury's challenge did halt most of the other ongoing battles, as the other trainers turned their focus towards her. Sensing the attention, she straightened up slightly and turned her fiery gaze back at them. Some were intimidated, others weren't. Among them, a tall and lean trainer with a gaunt face and a short, muscular trainer whose arms were perpetually crossed shared looks of bemusement.

"She's gonna get her butt kicked by Jasper again." Brass snickered, "What is that? Fifth time this month."

"At least this time she didn't say she wanted to take the title of Gym Leader for herself." Copper replied, "ACHOO!"

Back where he was standing, Jasper just rolled his eyes at Mercury's challenge and reached down to grab one of the Pokeballs from his belt. A lazy toss onto the field out in front of him, and it opened up to release bright light that coalesced into an enormous snake-like Pokemon with a shiny metal exterior.

"STEELIX!" Jasper's Steelix roared. The Kricketune hastily scurried over to its trainer and dragged them both out of the way of the battle that was about to transpire, and many of the other trainers returned their own Pokemon to free up as much room as possible for Jasper.

"Wow, not even your ace?" Mercury sneered, "Meditite, return!"

"I didn't realise we were allowing substitutions." Jasper quipped, "Is this a three-on-three or what?"

"Shut it, Leader!" Mercury growled, "Meditite was already battling that loser Kricketune before, so of course I'm gonna send out a different Pokemon for this one-on-one battle of ours! Burn this trash to a crisp, HOUNDOOM!"

On her end of the field, Mercury sent out a black canine Pokemon with a pair of white, curled horns poking out the top of its head. The instant Houndoom's feet touched the ground, it threw its head back and let out a murderous howl. Jasper wasn't impressed, and neither was his Steelix.

"Hey, one of you." Jasper said, nodding to the trainers who were now spectating this match, "Officiate this match."

"Right!" One of the trainers nodded, running over to stand to the side of the battle, "Ahem! This is a one-on-one battle between Leader Jasper and Trainer Mercury! Whoever can faint their opponent's Pokemon first will be declared the winner! BEGIN!"

-O-

​

​

Strolling down into Pastoria Village, a weary groan escaped Jasper's lips, and he idly stretched his arms out behind him. Steelix's Pokeball had since been returned to its place on his belt beside the other two. At his arrival, the villagers who were flitting about and going about their days all took a moment to give him an enthusiastic wave or other greeting, and he returned them in kind, smiling as he headed for one house in particular.

"Hard day?" Came the voice of Jasper's friend, Percival Spruce. The smith was sat in front of his house in a rocking chair, a chisel in hand which he carefully hollowed out a yellow apricorn with. Percival had a few years on Jasper, with light brown hair that was already thinning, and he was not at all helped by the rather traditional blue gi which he wore.

"Mercury challenged me to a battle again." Jasper grumbled, taking the vacant seat beside Percival and allowing himself to relax into it, "And I had a trainer who taught Frustration to their Kricketune."

"Hmm… Frustration on a Kricketune…" Percival nodded, "An interesting strategy for diffusing an opponent's Counter. Though I'm guessing that such a niche wasn't what the trainer had in mind, was it?"

"Uh… I choke-slammed them as soon as they used it." Jasper admitted sheepishly, "B-But! They were battling Mercury and her Meditite! And it doesn't know Counter! So no, they weren't using it for that reason."

"Oh, you choke-slammed them?" Percival said with a raised eyebrow.

"And then I punched them in the stomach." Jasper added.

"My, what kind of example am I allowing you to set for my son?" Percival said wryly, "For that matter, what kind of example are you going to be setting for your own daughter?"

"I'm gonna be setting a cool example!" Jasper said, "When all the kids are getting in arguments about who has the strongest daddy, she's gonna know she does!"

"Are you sure you're not a fighting-type trainer?" Percival muttered, finally finishing hollowing out the apricorn and setting it to the side in a basket of them.

"Dunno, I guess I was until Riolu evolved." Jasper said, "Where is your son, anyway?"

"HEY UNCLE JASPER!"

"Running right this way, I believe." Percival said, beginning to hollow out a black apricorn. Across the village from where the two men were sitting, a young boy with auburn hair and numerous scratches and grazes to decorate his face sprinted towards them. Jasper grinned as the boy, Magnus, rammed into his leg full-force and promptly fell back on his posterior.

"POKEKEKEKEKE!" Magnus laughed, hopping right back up, "Uncle Jasper! Uncle Jasper! Are you here to give me a starter Pokemon? Can I come train at your Gym with you?"

"Hey." Percival said sharply, snapping his fingers at Magnus, "What did I tell you, Magnus? You have to wait until you're ten years old, just like every other kid does."

"Hohoho!" Jasper chuckled, "You should listen to your father, Mack. Being a trainer is a lot of responsibility."

"My name's not Mack." Magnus said.

"Yeah? Blame your dad." Jasper said, "Really, what kind of name is Magnus, anyway? People under the age of thirty-five shouldn't be named Magnus! It's stupid! It's to be expected from a guy whose parents named him Percival, though…"

"Oh, shut up." Percival scoffed, smacking Jasper in the arm lightly with the chisel.

"I'm responsible, though!" Magnus said, "I always go to bed when I'm told, and I do my chores!"

"Those are bald-faced lies." Percival deadpanned.

"Nuh-uh!" Magnus protested, "It's your fault because I don't hear you the first few times whenever you tell me to!"

"There it is!" Jasper snickered, "Ah, I guess I'll be able to share in your pain soon enough, Percy."

"And since I'm responsible, that means I should get a Pokemon!" Magnus continued, his eyes lighting up, "I want a really strong one! So then I can-!"

"MAGNUS!" His father roared, silencing the boy in an instant with a rage in his voice that no amount of ordinary childish mischief ever elicited from him. Magnus already knew that he had messed up, and so he bowed his head to try and hide the tears that were forming.

"I'm sorry…" Magnus mumbled.

"Geez, I think I'm nicer when I choke-slam trainers." Jasper muttered, leaning slightly away from Percival.

"There are no strong or weak Pokemon, Magnus." Percival said sternly, "There are only Pokemon. It is the duty of a trainer to train their Pokemon to be whatever they want it to be. It is the duty of a trainer to learn and understand battling so they can guide their Pokemon to victory. When we view Pokemon through the lens of battle, we lose them for what they are- our friends. It is only through the friendship and respect shared between people and Pokemon that we can stride towards a better world together."

"Yes, father." Magnus said.

"Go wash up, and put on some cleaner clothes. If you really want to be a Pokemon trainer, there's more studying to be done." Percival instructed, and the boy went inside to do as he had been told.

"Not even gonna ask him what he was up to?" Jasper said.

"By now, it's quite the achievement on his part to come home with an injury that actually surprises me." Percival said, "If I had to take a guess, I'd say that he pestered a Luxio until it got mad and chased him off, and then he tripped and fell through some bushes as he was running away."

"You're lucky most wild Pokemon are willing to leave it at just scratching." Jasper said, "Those ruffians in the Oreburgh Cave wouldn't be so generous."

"Magnus could outrun the Pokemon in the cave." Percival said with a wave of his hand, "Though I suppose I have you to thank that that's the worst he tends to come home with, don't I?"

"Hohoho! Finally, some gratitude!" Jasper chuckled, "There is a bit of method to my madness after all, isn't there?"

"I suspect that if you treated aggressive Pokemon the same way you treated your trainers, this island would devolve into anarchy in less than a month." Percival said dryly, "How did that battle with Mercury turn out, anyway?"

"Ah, total write-off." Jasper said, "Beat her down in thirty seconds and it was all over and done with. She's a smart girl, good at battling too, but she can't train her Pokemon for the life of her. If that Houndoom of hers really cared about her, it could have pushed itself to make the battle at least two or three times longer."

"Sounds like the exact type of trainer I don't want Magnus to end up as." Percival commented, "And you've put up with her this long?"

"You mean that you're conditioning him not to end up as." Jasper muttered, "Mercury's gonna figure it out eventually. She's bashing her head against a wall right now, trying to take my title, but at some point she'll have to get tired and try something else. Once she finally figures out just what it really takes to be a great trainer, I think she might have the potential to surpass me and Pops."

"Is that hope I detect in your voice?" Percival said.

"Is it wrong for a man to want to retire and get to spend more time with his darling baby girl?" Jasper retorted, "This rising generation, Percy… there's just something special about them, I can feel it."

-O-

​

​

Although it may not have been one of the main responsibilities of an institution that was called a 'Gym', it was nonetheless their most vital duty to maintain the expansive berry garden that had been cultivated on their grounds over multiple generations. As the various Gym trainers all busied themselves with their respective tasks, watering and tending to the plants, harvesting the berries ripe enough to be eaten, and then sorting those berries, Jasper made his rounds through the garden, supervising everything while also looking over the contents of the clipboard in his hand.

"Alright, says here we've got a family expecting in Pastoria." Jasper noted as he approached where the harvested berries were being sorted and organised into various packages, all with labels on them listing both which village they would be taken to, as long as which specific household.

"Really? That's great!" One of the trainers sorting the berries said, "Bluk Berries for a pregnant lady, I think. Bluk, Pomeg and Cornn."

"Aw man, the Cornn Berries too?" Another trainer who was picking berries nearby complained, "Copper was gonna make jam outta them!"

"If you'd like extra portions, you could always try eating for two yourself, Mike." The berry sorter quipped.

"Nah, we've already got Reggie eating for three. Don't wanna eat us outta Gym and home." Mike replied, jerking his head over in the direction of another trainer picking berries, who threw a glare back at him.

"Not all of us can burn through calories before we've finished eating." Reggie said irritably.

"Yeah, and not all of us pig out while we're meant to be picking berries." Mike said, "You've got a little something, uh…"

Reggie raised a hand to his chin to flick off the sliver of Oran Berry skin that had been left there. Both Mike and Jasper gave him pointed looks, as well as the Oran Berry tree he was currently picking from.

"Heh… leftover from breakfast?" Reggie suggested nervously, and then swallowed as Jasper's look turned into a glare, "You know, I'm really not that hungry today for some reason! I'll have to, uh, skip out on lunch! Yeah… skip out on lunch…"

"The weather's warming up as well, and we've got Timber and his boys coming along to do repair work later this week." Jasper said, turning his attention back to the berry sorter, "I'm thinking Wepear Berries. Gina?"

"Right, Wepear Berries, I'll make sure we set some aside for them when they show up." Gina nodded, How about some Nanab Berries too?"

"Sure, sounds good." Jasper nodded.

"Because of course everyone else gets considerations for their hard work…"

At the sound of Mercury's signature snide muttering, every other trainer in earshot either groaned or rolled their eyes, or did both, while Jasper let out an exasperated sigh at the complaint that he had gotten far too used to hearing from the exact same person each time. Her voice had come from behind him, so he just stood there for a couple of seconds with his back to her as he debated whether or not to actually indulge her tantrums as he often did.

"If you have any complaints about the way that I run the Gym's berry garden, Mercury, you're more than welcome to fight me for the position of Leader." Jasper said flatly, "Now we can take it to the battlefield, or you can get back to work."

"Back to work cultivating food for everyone on this island except myself?" Mercury snapped, "We spend so much time every day tending to the garden, harvesting these berries, and then we send out all the spoils of our labour to everyone else on the island! Everyone else who didn't do any of the work we did! They get enough to be well-fed, and we get whatever's left after we're done. We get SCRAPS!"

"You get enough to be well-fed." Jasper cautioned, "As does everyone in my Gym. If everyone has the same, and everyone has enough, then you wanting more at the cost of another is nothing more than greed. I won't capitulate to greed."

"Then at least let us go harvest from the Eterna Grove too!" Mercury complained.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Jasper said, "I have told you time and time again why we cannot go about harvesting the berries in the Grove."

"Psssh, dangerous wild Pokemon?" Mercury scoffed, "That's a joke, Leader. Everyone in the Gym is strong enough to defend themselves if they need to."

"But everyone on this island is not, Mercury." Jasper said sharply, "If people invade the Grove and gorge themselves on the berries which the Pokemon have come to view as their own, they will come to view humans as their enemies. Not just you, not just the other trainers here, they will view all humans as enemies, and they will defend their food and their territory and their offspring accordingly from all humans. Children who play in the Grove, adults who have business there, and novice trainers seeking to catch Pokemon will all suffer as a result of your selfishness!"

"So what? If they can't get strong enough to deal with some wild Pokemon, then that's their fault!" Mercury said.

"That's enough, Mercury." Jasper said coldly, "I've made my stance clear, time and time again. If you want to do anything about it, you can challenge me on the battlefield."

"Yeah, maybe that Houndoom of yours can last a whole minute if you try really hard!" Mike jeered, with quickly elicited more jeers and snide comments from the other trainers. Amongst all those spectating, Copper and Brass were both stony and silent, neither one being willing to mock a fellow trainer they agreed with, but also not being willing to speak up and deal with Jasper's abuse themselves.

Mercury, on her part, scowled and clenched her fists, but otherwise just threw herself back into her work and tried to ignore the mockery coming from all around her.

'Soon. Everything's gonna change soon.' She vowed to herself, glancing at the surrounding trainers, and taking note of the two who weren't lambasting her in any way. She smirked.

-O-

​

​

Anyone who had been a part of the Gym for any amount of time could spot Mercury's absence from the battlefield during training hours the way that a person could spot the absence of a limb from someone's body. It was unfortunate that the only time she had to take for herself was the time where she could actually show up every other trainer and make them regret laughing at her, but the sooner she put her plans in motion, the sooner she could make them permanently regret it. And so, under the guise of a training expedition, she'd ventured to the Oreburgh Cave with Copper and Brass in tow, both of whom were curious to hear what she had to speak with them about.

Only when they were deep into the caves, having fought off a whole slew of wild Pokemon to get that far, and confident that there was no chance she could possibly be overheard by a third party (and confident that neither of them would be able to escape if their discussion turned out poorly), did she stop and speak to the two of them.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush with the two of you." Mercury said, "I hate Jasper's guts. He's a self-righteous thug with strong enough Pokemon that he intimidates everyone else into following his dumb self-sacrificial way of living."

"And you're going to preach to us about how you're so much better than he is?" Copper drawled, "That you're not a thug who wants to use her strength to intimidate those around her? ACHOO!"

"HA!" Mercury huffed, "Naw, I said I wouldn't beat around the bush. I wanna pummel Jasper into the ground and then take his place as Gym Leader, and then I'll pummel anyone who disagrees with me. The difference is that I'm not so self-righteous about it. I'm willing to take what's rightfully owed to me, and I'll be willing to let other trainers fight for what they're rightfully owed too."

"Heh. Can't deny that your arrangement does sound better than what we've got going on with Jasper." Brass said, "Might makes right is a stance I can actually get behind. But while we're being all honest, don't pretend that you taking down Jasper is something that'll happen anytime in even the next few years. Maybe if we all battled him together, we could pull it off, but he's got more than enough support from other Gym trainers."

"Obviously if I was going to simply battle him and take the title fairly, I wouldn't have brought us here to talk in secret." Mercury said, "No, as much as I hate to admit it, taking Jasper down from his position isn't going to happen on a regular battlefield. But he's not invincible, and if you both go along with the plan that I've devised, it won't even take a whole year for us to give him exactly what he deserves."

The two trainers listened intently as Mercury laid out the steps of her plan, and neither of them could stop the devious grins from growing on their faces as they did.

-O-

​

​

Days like this were what made Jasper genuinely consider the pros and cons of simply abandoning his post and leaving it for trainers like Mercury to squabble over in his wake. Sitting out the front of the Gym building at his desk, struggling to focus on the people talking in front of him enough so that their words didn't melt into auditory mush, all while trying to project an air of actually caring about the utterly inane conflicts that could be solved without him if the offended parties were willing to act their own age.

"Is it too much to ask for my son's birthday cake- his tenth birthday cake, mind you- to be his favourite flavour?" A haughty mother snapped at both Jasper and at the burly, middle-aged man she was arguing with, "He wants Mago Berry icing! Not Pecha Berry, not Bluk Berry, Mago Berry! Jasper, you understand, right? This is his tenth birthday, he's practically a man! He's getting his starter Pokemon, for Arc's sake!"

Jasper understood, he just didn't care. But saying such a thing would have made things a dozen times worse than they currently were. Luckily, he had the burly man to speak up in his stead.

"Geez, lady? Carry the tyke around on a palanquin, why dontcha?" He said, rolling his eyes, "At least he gets to eat a cake in the first place! May as well teach him now to put up with life not always going his way."

"Excuse you?" The mother said, recoiling in offense at his statement, "I will not have some uneducated brute trying to-"

"UNEDUCATED? I SPENT TWO YEARS AS AN APPRENTICE!"

"-lecture me on how I go about raising my beautiful darling boy!"

"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!" Jasper roared, rising to his feet and quelling the argument in an instant, "I cannot emphasise enough how trite this argument of yours is. If you want a certain type of berry, you put in a request with Gina in the garden and she weighs it against everybody's needs. If you can't get the berry that way, there are other Mago Berry plants in people's houses, and you're welcome to go ask them nicely."

"Exactly!" The man said gratefully, "Damn self-entitled-!"

"I said enough." Jasper interjected coldly, "I should also add that my time is valuable, especially these days for whatever reason. I expect a certain level of maturity from the adults on this island, a level of maturity which neither of you were exhibiting with this petty argument. I am not your father, and I will not baby you like I am."

"I, uh… yeah." The man mumbled, "Sorry about wasting your time, Leader."

"Like, whatever." The mother huffed, only for the man to elbow her not-so-subtly, "I mean, sorry. Sorry for trying to be a loving and doting mother, anyway…"

That last part was said under her breath as she turned and took her leave, but the other two simply allowed her to get the last word in. The man, at least, looked a bit more embarrassed by the whole debacle as he likewise took his leave, and Jasper sat himself back down, collapsing slightly into his chair.

"How many more people are coming to complain to me about stuff?" Jasper asked wearily, looking over to the berry gardens, where Mike was busying himself with work. The trainer glanced over to the leader, and then over to the open gate, and he squinted at the very large line of people who were waiting.

"You'll be happier if I don't tell you the answer." Mike said after a brief pause, and Jasper let out another groan as he sank further into his chair. Had Mike mentioned then that several of the islanders coming to complain to him were Gym trainers, Jasper may well have packed up and decided to call it a day.

"What is it about this time of year that's making everyone devolve into children?" Jasper whined.

As things were, the Leader's visible exasperation was matched by the invisible jubilation of Copper and Brass, who were watching the very first step of Mercury's plan unfold completely successfully, and completely secretly to boot. The answer to Jasper's rhetorical question would have been that the three of them had been stirring up as much conflict as they possibly could on Iron Island, including conflict amongst the Gym trainers.

The embers of conflict that they stoked were growing into an inferno, one which Jasper's typical blunt instrument-style of conflict resolution could only further exacerbate. For every squabble between Gym trainers that he carelessly broke up, he created a dissatisfied trainer who could be brought around to Mercury's way of thinking and turned into additional manpower for the next steps of her plan. And thanks to Jasper being kept busy with the human conflicts on Iron Island, he wouldn't be able to notice those next steps going on right under his nose.

No, by the time that Jasper finally saw what was truly happening to the island, the inferno would have grown into a full-blown wildfire, and those flames would swallow him up whole leaving behind nothing but ash.

-O-

​

​

Just as the embers of conflict were stoked amongst the people on Iron Island, so too did Mercury's plan require them to be stoked amongst the Pokemon- to an even greater degree, too. It was that stage of her plan which brought Mercury, along with a trio of trainers who had been convinced to join up as extra cogs in her machinations, to the Eterna Grove. Most of the time, it would be just the trio or another group like them who carried out the job, as it would be too conspicuous for Mercury herself to venture to the Grove on a regular basis, but today was one of the few times when she could do the job herself.

"LUX! LUXRAY!" The wild Luxray roared defiantly in the face of Mercury and her group, baring her teeth and snarling at them. Behind her, shielding themselves behind her legs, were a pair of small Shinxes, too small to be any older than a few weeks. The mother's shows of intimidation were enough to unnerve a couple of the weaker trainers Mercury had brought along, but she didn't even bat an eye at any of it. Instead, she grabbed a Pokeball and held it out in front of herself.

"MEDICHAM! USE FORCE PALM!" Mercury yelled, with the ball opening up to release her Medicham. The Pokemon manifested out of light on the ground between the trainer and the Luxray, and it wasted no time in charging forwards to thrust a palm out that sent Luxray flying back to crash into a tree.

"Shinx! Shinx!" One of the babies gasped fearfully, and they both tried to turn and run. Whether they were trying to flee the battle, or trying to run to their mother, it didn't matter because two of the trainers accompanying Mercury darted forwards and snatched them both up off the ground. The Pokemon flailed about and clawed at them, but they were too weak to defend themselves. Their mother let out a pained groan as she tried to rise to her feet, only for Mercury's Medicham to dash over to her and thrust a palm out to slam her against the tree. It knelt down beside the struggling Luxray, clamping a hand around the top of its head and pinning it to the ground so that it was forced to watch happened next.

Gripping the baby Shinx tightly- too tightly- by the stomach, one of the trainers turned and swung it face-first against a tree. Ignoring the cry of pain that drew from the youngling, as well as the enraged yell from the mother, the trainer continued to abuse the baby Pokemon right in front of its mother, beating it and bashing it without mercy or remorse, all while the Luxray was pinned and unable to do anything about it. The other trainer holding onto the other baby did the same, brutalising the Shinx with a blank expression on their face.

"LUXRAY! LUX, LUXRAY-RAY!" Luxray screamed, struggling against Medicham with all her strength but ultimately being unable to overcome the fighting-type. As the torture dragged on, its screams and roars of rage became mewls and whines of despair.

"Uh, Mercury?" The trainer without a Shinx in hand piped up nervously, "I know that this is, um, all part of your plan and all. But this, uh… well, it um…"

"It seems cruel? Inhumane?" Mercury said with a raised eyebrow, indifferent to the cries of Pokemon in the background, "That's the idea. After all, these are just a bunch of wild Pokemon. Clearly they're not strong enough to be worth catching, so I don't see why I should trouble myself to care about what I do to them. Do you have an issue with that?"

The trainer swallowed, and looked from Mercury to the other two trainers, who were busy abusing the younglings to care, and then to Mercury's Medicham, which stared back at her with a hint of bloodlust in its eyes.

"No. I don't." They said.

-O-

​

​

The hour was late as Jasper allowed himself to take a seat in one of the deck chairs outside Walter's shack and truly relax into it, staring out at the sight of the tranquil ocean and its reflection of the night sky. Sitting next to him on the other chair was his father, Walter, who looked like he hadn't a care in the world compared to his exhausted son.

"It really is so great being retired." Walter quipped, "So much free time to laze around and not have to do anything, so much free time to go dote on that beautiful little granddaughter of mine, you should really give it a try, Jasper. Maybe then you can spend all your day taking care of your daughter and then coming to relax here with me, instead of spending all day at the Gym and then coming to relax here with me."

"You're so funny, Pops." Jasper deadpanned, "Really, you missed your calling in comedy."

"Maybe I did, but it's too late for a mid-life crisis." Walter said, "Gotta stick with fishing as my old person hobby."

"I just don't get why everything's gone to the dogs all of a sudden." Jasper bemoaned, "It's like all of a sudden, every single person on the island has a fire that they all need to bring to me to put out, day in and day out. I'm beginning to suspect this is some kind of cosmic joke because I was wishing that Mercury would stop pestering me."

"Mercury… that feisty upstart that wouldn't stop challenging you?" Walter said, "Did the fifty-third defeat to you finally make something click?"

"I can only assume so." Jasper said, "These past couple of months, I haven't heard a peep out of her. She just works, does her training, and doesn't complain or try and challenge me for my position. Honestly, I'd go back to the way things were if I could."

"No chance she's finally taking those lessons of yours to heart?" Walter said.

"If I should be so lucky." Jasper scoffed, "Damn right there's no chance she took them to heart. Nothing about her way of training actually changed, she's just clued into the fact that bashing her head against the wall isn't the secret to breaking it."

"Well it's no wonder she hasn't changed her attitude with the way you go about it." Walter said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jasper said irritably.

"Here I thought that I wouldn't have to keep spelling everything out for the younger generation because I was retired…" Walter said, "Perhaps it was my fault as your father and your mentor, but the one thing that you are not, Jasper, is nuanced."

"That does sound like your fault, yeah." Jasper said.

"Brat." Walter said, "After I gave the position up to you, it stopped being my business how you ran that Gym, and you've run it well and you've run it fairly since I retired. What you don't do, however, is approach the nuance in every situation."

"Sometimes things are black and white! When a trainer-!" Jasper began.

"Don't interrupt me." Walter cut him off sternly, before continuing, "All trainers are different. People and Pokemon are both unique, and so you need to recognise that and take a nuanced approach to every problem. No matter how many times you beat Mercury in a battle, it would never make a difference because it wouldn't prove anything to her. You were stronger than her when she became a trainer, and so all she can see whenever she loses to you is that same strength. She can't see that the path to beating you is elsewhere, she just assumes it's longer than she thought. No, if you want Mercury to actually change her ways, she needs to lose to someone weaker than her."

"You're saying I need to train one of the Gym trainers to surpass her?" Jasper said, "That… actually does make a lot of sense. I wish I'd figured it out six months ago when I had the kind of free time for a project like that."

"Make time." Walter dismissed, "Kill two birds with one stone while you're at it and see if you can't groom the trainer into your replacement."

"And here I was thinking that Kiki would replace me." Jasper chuckled, "A strong and courageous Steel-Type trainer, just like her daddy."

"I'm the one who's meant to be senile." Walter said, "Kiki's obviously going to turn into a graceful but ferocious Water-Type trainer like her granddad!"

"You are senile if you think that!" Jasper said, "She'll be the Shining Steel-Type Gym Leader of Iron Island!"

"More like the Wonderful Water-Type Gym Leader of Iron Island!" Walter retorted. The pair glowered at each other, before their glowers collapsed into laughter.

"Probably can't be either of those with a name like 'Kiki'." Jasper admitted, "If I had to peg her for a monotype trainer, I'd guess electric."

"Tell me you're not one of those star-obsessed weirdoes who thinks a trainer's name determines what kind of Pokemon they prefer." Walter grumbled.

"Aren't we proof enough?" Jasper said.

"Can't argue with that, I suppose." Walter admitted.

"Either way, if I do pick up a protégé, it'll have to be someone who can actually call out attack names." Jasper said, "I could always subvert Percy's parental authority and start training Magnus in secret, give him a starter Pokemon early and everything."

"It's better if you pick a trainer who Mercury's familiar with, rather than someone completely new." Walter said, "They can't all be worse trainers than a boy without a starter Pokemon, can they?"

"No, there are plenty of good trainers at the Gym." Jasper said, "I suppose if I have to pick a protégé, I'd probably pick… Gina."

"Never heard you talk about her." Walter said, "Which is probably a good thing, considering what brings you around here most of the time."

"She's a good kid. Maybe even too good in some areas." Jasper said, "Though maybe I'm just too bad in those areas. That's part of why I'm having this problem in the first place, isn't it? Ah, whatever. Once I've managed to organise this mess of a schedule of mine, I'll take her under my wing and whip her into shape to be able to give Mercury a thrashing that will actually get her to change her ways. And if she doesn't, I'll come whine to you some more about it."

"Hohoho!" Walter laughed, "Not like I've got anything better to do these days than listen!"

Jasper grinned back at him, and felt some of the tension in his body actually ebb away. Despite how everything seemed to be burning down these past couple of months, it finally seemed like he had a clear sense of how to go forward. The fires on Iron Island would die out.

 

[DolphinMan]

What could one expect, tempting fate with their arrogant certainty in how better times were to come? What a cruel twist of fate it was for Jasper to only understand the solution the night before all of Mercury's plans came to a head. Now, Iron Island was burning.

Initial reports had only come to the Gym late in the afternoon, shortly before Jasper would instruct the trainers to lock up, and with the time it took those reports to be delivered the reality would only have gotten worse. Wild Pokemon from the barren plains and Eterna Grove alike had attacked Iron Island en masse, with every village being besieged by them. Fire, electricity, poison, all those things and more were turned in their full destructive capacity against the human population. It was the kind of disaster that needed the entire Gym to respond to, and it was Jasper's job to lead that response.

'None of this makes any sense? How could this all happen out of nowhere, so suddenly like this?' Jasper wondered to himself in the midst of splitting the Gym trainers into groups and sending them all off to separate villages. Celestic, Floaroma, Jubilife… Everywhere but Pastoria Village. He would head to Pastoria himself. As much as he wished he could take the whole 'nuanced approach' that Walter had been telling him about, the damage being wrought by the attack demanded that it be stopped without hesitation before anything else could be done. There was something about how things were turning out that didn't sit right with him, either…

Once every trainer had their assignments, that left Jasper with a handful of Gym trainers to accompany him to Pastoria. Mercury was among them, along with some other strong trainers called Copper and Brass, as well as a short bald guy called Nickel. Though Mercury's strength might have warranted her being sent elsewhere, he preferred that she stick close by during the crisis so that he could keep an eye on what she did, even if something about her and the other trainers he was going to Pastoria with rubbed him the wrong way, somehow.

The smell of smoke and the sounds of terrified screams greeted Jasper and his entourage long before the village itself came into sight, and they certainly helped set the scene for the state that the village was currently in. Approaching it from the east, opposite the direction of the Eterna Grove, the sky was quickly being concealed behind the thick plumes of smoke rising from the multitude of houses being swallowed up by raging fires. The villagers flooded out of the village in droves, many of them sporting injuries of their own, and as their screams and terror grew further away, the enraged roars of the wild Pokemon only became clearer.

Amongst all the fleeing villagers were Percival and Magnus, with the former carrying the later securely in his arms as he ran over to where Jasper and the other trainers had just arrived. As he came closer, Jasper was able to note several tears and gashes that had been clawed in his clothing, not to mention a cut on his forehead from which blood was streaming down the side of his face. Despite all that, though, he looked more irritated than anything else.

"This is not natural, Jasper." Percival hissed, "That many Pokemon, attacking in such a large group like that? Something set them off, and it was something that was a long time coming."

"Uncle Jasper?" Magnus said softly, just before breaking out into a coughing fit.

"He inhaled some of the smoke on our way out." Percival added at Jasper's look of concern, "Not too much, but he'll need to see a doctor once this crisis is over."

"A lot of people on the island will need to see a doctor when this crisis is over." Jasper responded, "A lot of people need to see a doctor now. Look, I've got no clue what caused this crisis, but it's pretty obvious this didn't happen randomly. We're directing people fleeing their villages to take shelter in the Gym, so go take shelter there until we return."

"Why are the Pokemon so angry?" Magnus asked, "They've been kinda angry at me for a while now… Is this because of me?"

'Angry at him for a while now? That must be how long this has been building up for.' Jasper mused, "No, Mack. This isn't your fault, the Pokemon are doing this for some other reason, and once we've got them to stop attacking, I'm going to find out what it is and fix it."

"My name's not… Mack…" Magnus murmured weakly, eyes teetering between open and shut.

"It may be worth consulting your father on this matter as well." Percival mentioned.

"Kiki and her mother are visiting his shack today, I don't want to separate him from them, and I don't want them getting anywhere near this kind of danger." Jasper said with a shake of his head.

"And what about you?" Percival retorted, before leaning in closer so as to whisper and not be heard by the other trainers present, "Be wary of the trainers you've brought as backup. Something about them is… off."

"Beggars can't be choosers." Jasper whispered back, "This attack isn't an isolated incident, I've got my Gym trainers all over the island fending off wild Pokemon attacks."

"All the more reason for caution. Whatever happens, Iron Island will need its Gym Leader to resolve this crisis." Percival said, before stepping away and raising his voice to a speaking volume, "I'm sorry that I can't do anything more to help you, my friend."

"Get your son to safety." Jasper said, "The trainers and I can handle this attack just fine, now hurry and go."

"May fortune be on your side." Percival nodded, hurrying past Jasper and the trainers and heading in the direction of the Gym, with Magnus still securely in his arms. With his departure, Jasper suspected that Pastoria Village was mostly evacuated, as the sounds of Pokemon and the destruction they caused drowned out everything else, and a handful of wild Pokemon were even beginning to emerge from the village, presumably in pursuit of human targets they could no longer find there.

"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY!" Jasper spoke up, "MERCURY AND BRASS, YOU'LL BOTH MOVE INTO THE VILLAGE WITH ME. YOU'RE MAKING SURE EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE HAS ALREADY MANAGED TO GET CLEAR. SEARCH EVERY HOUSE, HAVE YOUR POKEMON SEARCH AS WELL. I'LL MOVE AHEAD AND CLEAR OUT AS MANY OF THE WILD POKEMON AS I CAN. NICKEL, USE THAT PELIPPER OF YOURS TO PUT OUT THE FIRES. COPPER, YOU'RE MAKING SURE THAT FLEEING POKEMON ONLY FLEE BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM. IS THAT CLEAR?"

"Clear, Leader." Mercury said seriously, "We'll follow your lead."

Part of him had expected Mercury to complain or to outright disobey him, but it seemed that the severity of the current crisis was such that even she was falling in line to help deal with it. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, he grabbed one of his Pokeballs and tossed it out in front of him, sending out a bipedal canine Pokemon with blue and black fur onto the ground in front of him.

"LUCARIO!" Lucario roared proudly as it emerged from its Pokeball, throwing its arms out to the sides and its head back. It quickly caught sight of the carnage in Pastoria Village, however, and it turned back to look at its trainer.

"The wild Pokemon are attacking, Lucario." Jasper explained gravely, "You and I need to clear them out and send them packing back to where they came from."

"Cario." Lucario said with a nod.

"Alright!" Jasper said, giving a nod of his own to the assembled trainers, before taking off right into the village with Lucario running alongside him. As they left the others in their wake, he could make out the cacophony of Pokeballs all opening in quick succession, promptly followed by the sounds of the Pokemon that came out of them.

Charging into the village only served to intensify the odour of smoke and all manner of things burning- though not people, thankfully- as the air around him likewise grew hotter. Fire usually didn't mix well with his preferred type, but being able to overcome those kinds of weaknesses was exactly what separated a Gym Leader from an ordinary trainer. Likewise, it was what separated a Gym Leader's Ace Pokemon from the rabble that came from the wilds.

"LUCAR!" Lucario bellowed, charging ahead of its trainer in order to strike at the first enemy they had come across. A Drapion that had been swinging its arms around wildly, smashing apart anything that it neared while scattering globs of poison all around it. Without any instruction even necessary on Jasper's part, Lucario clapped its hands together and then pulled them apart in order to reveal a long bone-shaped weapon which glowed with blue light.

"DRAPION!" Drapion growled, lowering the front of its body while raising its tail in order to aim the tip of it at the approaching Lucario. White energy gathered around the claw on the end of its tail, and the energy took the form of a myriad of sharp needles, which it fired as projectiles at Lucario.

Not even faltering in its approach, Lucario hopped to the side and then back again, zigzagging out of the way of the first few projectiles that Drapion had fired, before raising its bone up and spinning it around as it ran in order to block the ones that came after that. Once it was within range to attack, it grasped the bone firmly in its right hand and thrust the tip outwards like a spear, slamming it into Drapion's forehead and then quickly pulling it back to spin it and then swing it into the side of its head, finishing the combo off by grabbing the bone with a hand on each hand, sharply rapping it against Drapion's face and then hooking it around the back of its neck in order to yank its head forwards into Lucario's knee.

It was all one great flurry of attacks, delivered in just a couple of seconds, and then for the finisher Lucario released the bone, allowing it to dissipate into nothingness, and it reeled its fist back to deliver a devastating punch right to the centre of Drapion's body. As Drapion was still reeling from the Bone Rush, the subsequent Power-Up Punch sent it skidding back along the ground, having been thoroughly shocked out of its rampage. It managed to get back on its feet, and for a moment it looked like it was going to continue the fight.

At the sight of Lucario standing there, however, with an aura of red flaring up around it to accompany the increase in attacking power, Drapion rather wisely backed down. With its head bowed, it turned tail and scurried off back in the direction of the Eterna Grove, leaving Lucario to stand there in the aftermath of its victory. Though that aftermath barely even lasted a second.

"LOOK OUT!" Jasper yelled out to Lucario. Reflexively, it jumped to the side, allowing it to avoid a pouncing Luxray and its open jaw with fangs that crackled with electricity. Both Pokemon quickly faced each other, while Jasper shifted himself around to remain standing behind Lucario, and they stared each other down. Despite Lucario's greater strength, it couldn't help but feel some of its attacking strength ebb away at the opponent's intimidating glower.

"Luuuuuux… Raaaaaaay…" Luxray rumbled, right before bounding forwards with electricity crackling around its fangs once again. It leaped up, going to clamp its jaw around Lucario's shoulder.

"DODGE AND USE BONE RUSH!" Jasper instructed, and Lucario jerked to the side in order to avoid Luxray's attack, summoning another glowing blue bone which it whacked Luxray over the head with, following that up with a couple of sharp thrusts before dispelling the bone. The attacks sent Luxray tumbling back across the ground, but it was quick to get back on its feet again.

"LUX… RAAAAAYYYYY!" Luxray roared defiantly. Its mane of black fur crackled with sparks of electricity, which amassed around its face for it to release in the form of a wave, which slammed into Lucario before it had a chance to dodge again. Though it didn't do any damage, the attack nonetheless forced Lucario onto one knee as its whole body locked up and it gritted its teeth. It tried to stand back up, but its movements were slow and sluggish, its whole body stiff while Luxray began to pace from side to side in front of it, showing off its greater mobility.

"BULLET PUNCH!" Jasper called out. Lucario's eyes widened, with its pupils shrinking, and a bright blue glow matching that of the earlier Bone Rushes overtook its fists. In an instant, the effects of the paralysis on its body disappeared, as it rose to its feet and dashed forwards, moving even faster than it had before in order to close the distance between it and Luxray and absolutely pummel it with a series of punches. Lucario landed the finishing blow as an uppercut that sent Luxray flying back through the air. This time, when it got back up, it turned tail and fled. That was two down, with however many left to deal with.

Briefly turning his attention elsewhere, Jasper was able to vaguely make out the sound of water being extinguished some distance away from him. That would be Nickel and his Pelipper, no doubt. Behind him, Mercury had her Houndoom out as she searched around some of the buildings that Jasper had already passed by as he battled his way into the village.

"CARIO!" Lucario yelled, snapping Jasper back to attention just in time to duck and roll forwards so as to dodge the clawed swipe of an Ursaring that had approached with uncharacteristic stealth. Now that it was sighted, though, it was back to loud and proud.

"RING! URSARING! URSA!" Ursaring bellowed, lumbering forwards and raising both hands up in order to slam them into the ground together, with such force that the tremors actually made Jasper stumble.

"LUCARIO, USE POWER-UP PUNCH!" Jasper said, rising to his feet and retreating away from the Ursaring so that Lucario would be closer to it than he currently was.

"Car…" Lucario groaned, and Jasper glanced over to see its body had seized up, preventing it from heeding the instructions Jasper had just given. Likewise, Ursaring noticed the state of helplessness the Pokemon was in, and it charged forwards, one arm taking on a luminous orange hue. It clubbed Lucario in the side of the head with Hammer Arm, launching it off its feet and smashing it right through the wall of one of the nearby houses.

"Dammit." Jasper hissed, reaching down in order to grab another Pokeball and send out someone else to deal with the Ursaring. But just as his hand was about to grab the ball, he was suddenly thrown forwards by an intense gust of wind, knocking him face-first to the ground right over where Ursaring was. He didn't even have a chance to look for the Flying-Type that had just attacked him, as Ursaring snarled at him and raised a glowing arm up to crush him with.

Luckily, after such a heavy attack, its body was slower than usual, and Jasper was able to roll out of the way of the Ursaring's attack, which created a crater in the ground where his head had just been a moment ago. Scrambling to his feet in a matter unbecoming of someone with his title, he went to grab another Pokeball, keeping an eye out for any Flying-Types, but this time it was the sound of Mercury's yell that gave him pause, his hand just an inch away from a Pokeball.

"HOUNDOOM, USE FIRE FANG!"

Her voice had come from behind him, so he figured that she was jumping in to lend a hand and show him up, as embarrassing as that was for him.

And then a pair of flaming fangs clamped down like a vice around his arm, and Jasper screamed.

"DOOM!" Houndoom growled, its flaming teeth digging into Jasper's arm and prying it away from the Pokeball he had been going to grab. A second later, the belt he kept his Pokeballs on was ripped from his waist and tossed away by Mercury coming up on the other side of him.

"Ursa… Ring?" Ursaring said, watching this all unfold. It seemed confused, but then just decided to go with it, and charged forwards in order to attack both Jasper and Mercury, only for the latter's Medicham to leap forwards and strike it down with a powerful Force Palm.

"That's better." Mercury said, stepping forwards to stand right in front of him, while Houndoom gave a sharp tug on his burning arm to force him to his knees.

"What the… hell are you doing?!" Jasper grunted, doing his best not to cry out as Houndoom roasted the flesh on his arm. Over in the house that Ursaring had knocked it into, Lucario rose to its feet and stepped outside, quickly spotting the predicament its trainer was in. Its eyes widened with fury, and it tried to sprint forwards, only for a Golbat to descend from above and unleash a shrill Supersonic cry that made Lucario stumble to a stop and then stagger back, teetering about dizzily. Following the Golbat's appearance came Nickel, strolling over to stand behind Mercury.

He wasn't the only traitor. With Lucario both confused and paralysed, it was completely helpless as a Sudowoodo and Toxicroak ambushed it in unison. Toxicroak pushed ahead, sticking a leg out low and kicking Lucario's feet out, and Sudowoodo followed up with a Hammer Arm of its own that drove the Fighting/Steel-Type Pokemon into the ground.

"Car… Cario…" Lucario groaned weakly, unable to get back up. Brass and Copper joined Nickel in all standing behind Mercury and looking down at their Leader.

"Percy warned me about this." Jasper grunted, as Houndoom finally released his arm and took a step back, leaving him kneeling there before them, "Said I should be careful around you all. Is this how far you're going, Mercury? A Gym Leader's duty is to the people they lead, not the other way around… you'd really let your petty, selfish ambitions take precedence over helping these people during this crisis?"

Mercury didn't say anything at first. She stared at him, as the village burned all around them and the wild Pokemon continued to run rampant. Then she kicked him across the face, hard. It knocked him onto his side, and he clamped his mouth shut to muffle a cry of pain as he landed on his burned arm.

"Shut up." Mercury demanded, "Shut the hell up, you self-righteous, pig-headed, egotistical PIECE OF TRASH! Just shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Jasper opened his mouth to spit out a glob of blood, along with a couple of teeth.

"You were so proud of your power, of being the strongest trainer around." Mercury said coldly, "You were always so self-assured, so completely certain in the ways that you did things, and now that we're HERE after all this time you're still such a COMPLETE MORON! Don't you understand? Don't you get that this isn't just opportunism on my part? This crisis- everything that's been going wrong the past several months- I caused it, Jasper! I incited tensions, got villagers and trainers squabbling, and then while you were busy I built up my following and deliberately provoked the Pokemon living here on Iron Island! I did all of this! Specifically to get here, so that I could kill you and take your title for myself!"

"I should have known when you stopped being a nuisance." Jasper mumbled, beginning to cry from the pain despite himself. And despite that pain and his tears, he also began to laugh. It was a pained, wheezing laugh.

"Something funny?" Mercury snapped.

"I was such an idiot…" Jasper said, rolling over onto his back and staring up at the sight of the sky being blotted out by smoke, "Always doing things my way, always being such a blunt instrument, never seeing the bigger picture until you spelled it out for me…"

"Yes. You were." Mercury said.

"I was such an idiot…" Jasper said, "AND YOU STILL COULDN'T BEAT ME IN A POKEMON BATTLE! HOHOHO!"

In spite of what was about to come, Jasper laughed. No longer a wheeze, he laughed deeply with his eyes closed and tears streaming down the sides of his head and the smell of his own roasted flesh mixing with the smell of smoke. He laid there and laughed right in Mercury's face, as if his pain had simply vanished.

It was about to, very soon.

Mercury's face darkened.

"Houndoom. Use Fire Fang." She whispered. Jasper's laughter stopped a few seconds later, but the echoes of it seemed to hang in the air for minutes to come.

-O-




​

Mercury may as well have sung out in joy for how elated she evidently was when she ultimately returned to the Gym in order to deliver the news of Jasper's unfortunate passing. The story which she and her allies gave was the simple and believable tale that Jasper had been overwhelmed by the might of the attacking Pokemon and was finished off by them. With his headstrong tendencies and the fact that his group of trainers had been the smallest of them all, it was believable in isolation to reality that he had gone out that way. It was cold comfort when Mercury added that they had been able to drive the attacking Pokemon away from Pastoria Village.

With Jasper's untimely passing, the villagers who were holed up in the Gym had all taken a leave in order to give the trainers a chance to discuss privately how they would be moving forwards after the tragedy. The whole conversation was a farce, because not a single trainer among them was brave enough to speak up and voice the lone truth that they all knew without a shadow of a doubt. So instead, they stood around and discussed memorials and funerals and how Jasper's family would be looked after, and Mercury even made suggestions of her own, as if she wouldn't be dancing on any memorial they erected. It was only when the topic of a successor came up that it finally all came out.

"Now that Jasper is dead, it is simply how it is that we need a new Gym Leader to replace him." Mercury said calmly while her eyes shone with glee, "We all know that it's not merely empty boasting on my part to say I was the strongest trainer after Jasper himself, meaning that I am now the strongest trainer in the Gym outright. It is for that reason that I nominate myself as the new Gym Leader of Iron Island."

"Seconded." Copper piped up, "ACHOO!"

"Thirded." Brass added. Murmurs and chatter broke out amongst the gathered trainers as many of them similarly voiced their approval for Mercury as the next Gym Leader. There were a few hushed whispers exchanged between the trainers who hadn't been brought over to her side, but only one such trainer had the confidence to stand up.

"What the HELL are you all saying?!" Mike demanded, "You- we- Mercury killed our Leader! Let's not beat around the bush or pretend otherwise! Whether through abandoning him when he needed help or outright doing the deed herself, Mercury murdered Jasper and now she's standing here in front of us and demanding the title she could never earn herself, and we're all just allowing it?! WHAT IS THIS?"

"That is quite the accusation to hurl at me, Michael." Mercury said coolly, making a show of examining her nails, "Murder? You think I would go so far? Do you have any evidence to back up such an outrageous claim?"

"Evidence?" Mike sputtered, "What kind of evidence? Anyone with half a brain can tell that Jasper didn't just die because of some dumb mistake!"

"Well then it's a good thing most of us have a full brain, and not just a half." Mercury said, "You have no evidence. And really, does it matter whether I did or I didn't? The Gym Leader of Iron Island is the law, meaning that there's nothing to be done about it even if I am guilty. Now, how about we make things simple and have a show of hands for who votes me in as the new Leader?"

Two thirds of the trainers raised their hands, something which made the glee in Mercury's eyes glow even brighter, because only half of those hands were coming from trainers that she had recruited prior to Jasper's death.

"That looks like a clear majority." Mercury said, "In that case, as Gym Leader of Iron Island, I'd like to exonerate myself."

"You… you…" Mike said, "This is madness!"

"Call it what you will." Mercury said, "But the rule of Iron Island has always been that of the strong. The Gym Leader rules because they are stronger than any other trainer, and that kind of mindset is what will lead this Gym going forwards. If you've got any issues with my way of doing things, Michael, you're more than welcome to battle me over it."

She watched him closely to see if he would actually have the balls to rise to the challenge, and was disappointed but not surprised to see him sit himself back down to stew in his own indignation.

"Moving on from that little outburst." Mercury continued, "As Leader, it will be my responsibility to lead this island moving forwards into the rebuilding efforts. But before we discuss any of that, I feel that with Jasper's passing and my rise, this change in the way things are done warrants a change in the way we all view each other. From now on, instead of merely thinking of us as Gym trainers, I'd rather that we all be seen… as a Team."

-O-




​

Standing in the doorway of his half-ashen house, staring at the state that things had been left in after the fires, Percival couldn't even find it within himself to muster up any semblance of gratitude for the fact that the house was still standing in the first place. The Spruce household was one of the furthest away from the Eterna Grove, so it seemed that when the Pokemon came and attacked and the fires started, his house had been one of the last to be touched, and by that point the Gym trainers had already arrived, and so many of the belongings within the house had managed to survive.

"Am I supposed to be thankful?" Percival mumbled, making his way over to a bookcase that stood against the wall, next to which was a hammer and an anvil along with a basket of hollowed Apricorns.

"Didn't I tell you, Jasper?" He continued, bending over to grab one of the Apricorns out from the basket, "Didn't I tell you to be wary of them? Didn't I warn you?"

If he expected some kind of answer, none came. He fell to his knees, Apricorn clutched in his hands.

Then came a rapping on the frame of the doorway. Percival didn't need to look to know who it was, instead hurling the Apricorn over his head in an attempt to strike the visitor with it.

"You know why I am here?" Copper asked as he caught the Apricorn in his hand, "ACHOO!"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Percival retorted, still kneeling and still staring at the singed floor before him, "I didn't quite piece it together at the time, but Mercury and all her cronies were behind the Pokemon rampage, weren't they? You needed that kind of crisis in order to soften Jasper up and get an opening."

"You're smarter than he was." Copper said, "He merely thought it was an attack of opportunism until Mercury told him. ACHOO!"

"And does the glorious Leader of Team Steel think that I'll bend the knee so easily now that the only trainer who could keep her in check is gone?" Percival said, "Does she think that I'll craft Pokeballs to be used by the trainer who killed my best friend?"

"She thinks that you will have no choice. ACHOO!"

"I know what she thinks she can threaten me with." Percival muttered, "That's what happens to the problematic trainers, isn't it? Mike, Gina, Reggie… the ones who agreed with Jasper, and who might get it in their heads to follow her lead? That's the problem with backstabbing, you're always left glancing back every other second."

"Mercury has no plans to kill you if you don't cooperate." Copper said, "However, you will be returning to the Team Steel base with me. I am a trainer, and you are not. And then that will leave your son to fend for himself. ACHOO!"

"Magnus?" Percival said, stiffening slightly, "I see now, that's what you're threatening me with."

"You will not be allowed to leave the Team Steel base under any circumstances." Copper said, "Team Steel will care for your son, however. The more you cooperate, the better he will be cared for. That is the basis of our agreement. ACHOO!"

"Very well. I won't embarrass myself with some futile fit of defiance." Percival said, rising to his feet. Despite his words however, Copper still took one of his Pokeballs out and sent out his Toxicroak, who went over to Percival and prodded him from behind to get him moving forwards. Percival frowned with indignation at it, but nonetheless obliged and followed Copper out of his home. The two walked in silence, with Toxicroak following at the rear, and they made their way to the building that had once been known as the Iron Island Gym, but was now being rebranded as the Team Steel base.

Construction work had begun on the great fence that surrounded the grounds of the base, part of which included a grander gate, but while that work was underway the passage into the base was wide-open for Copper and Percival to enter together. And right as they entered, they were greeted by the sight of none other than Mercury and Walter standing across from each other in front of the main building. Both trainers had a Pokemon out, a Medicham on Mercury's side and a Floatzel on Walter's. Floatzel was currently sprawled out on the ground with swirly eyes.

"Floatzel…?" Walter mumbled, falling to his knees before his partner.

"HA! Man, I can't believe that was the best you could manage!" Mercury jeered, "The great and mighty former Gym Leader of Iron Island, the legendary trainer who retired before any of us had a chance to battle him, and that's what he has to show for all that?"

"This is what I get for retiring, isn't it?" Walter said sullenly, "Leaving that idiot son of mine to deal with upstarts like you while I stuck my head in the sand to everything happening…"

"That retirement didn't do you any favours, geezer." Mercury said, "Did you really think I would be taken down by some feeble, elderly piece of trash who hasn't had a serious battle in a decade?"

"Feeble… elderly…?" Walter murmured, returning Floatzel to its Pokeball.

"The only reason I'm sparing you is because your granddaughter already lost her father recently." Mercury said coldly, "But time heals all wounds and leaves room for new ones. Keep that in mind, in case you ever get too antsy for your retirement again."

She returned Medicham to its own Pokeball and turned her attention away from Walter over to the newly arrived Copper and Percival. At the sight of them, a smile broke out on her face, akin to that of a predator finally catching its prey, and she walked over to the two of them.

"Hello there, Mister Spruce." Mercury greeted with faux-sweetness, "I'm so glad that you're here at Team Steel's base! I know that you did such good work with the former Leader, making Pokeballs for new trainers and all that, so I was looking forward to getting to touch base with you. But before that, I think we should have a couple of the grunts show you to your new accommodations. Once you've settled in, and we've brought over all your old tools, then I think we can get started on a very long and very prosperous business relationship."

-O-




​

Less than a week after Percival had begun his stay in the Gym, he found the door to his smithing room being thrown open by an irate Mercury, who was flanked by both Brass and Copper. She had one of the Pokeballs he had crafted in one hand, and her Houndoom's Pokeball in the other hand. Held beside each other, it became apparent how the red of the newer Pokeball was a couple of shades lighter than that of the older Pokeball, and he knew that time had played no part in such a difference.

"Can I help you, Mercury?" Percival said from where he sat in the corner of the room, currently working at hollowing out an Apricorn.

"You thought you were being so clever, didn't you?" Mercury growled.

"I come from a long line of intellectuals. It's what is to be expected of me, isn't it?" Percival said, "You'll need to specify, however. I am such a clever man that no one instance comes to mind right now."

Rather than answer, Mercury tossed the paler Pokeball towards him, and it landed in his lap. Percival put his tool and his Apricorn down and picked the Pokeball up to examine it.

"Not my finest work, I'll be the first to admit." He remarked, "Though you have been rushing me to make quite a few of these since I arrived here, so it's really more your fault than it is mine."

"I gave you the benefit of the doubt, you piece of trash." Mercury said, "When the first few grunts failed to catch anything, I figured it was their fault. They didn't weaken the Pokemon enough, they should have used status conditions, something like that. And then it kept happening, again and again until I realised that no-one on Team Steel has been able to catch a Pokemon with the Pokeballs you've been making us."

"Well that's not very clever of me, handing out defective products to those who are so generously caring for my son." Percival said, "That would actually be rather stupid of me, wouldn't it? Yes, very stupid indeed, so it is a good thing that not a single one of the Pokeballs I have made for you have been defective."

"Careful Spruce." Copper cautioned, "ACHOO!"

"Oh, they're not defective, are they?" Mercury said, "Then I suppose it was simply some failing on my part, when I threw one at a paralysed Starly that had been beaten within an inch of consciousness and it still broke out."

"As long as you're willing to take accountability." Percival said wryly, which only served to incense Mercury even further.

"I want answers." She demanded, "Explain what exactly you've been doing to make these Pokeballs defective. Then I want an apology delivered on your hands and knees along with fifty Pokeballs that actually work."

"As I said, these Pokeballs I have been providing have not been defective." Percival said, "They are merely of a different design to the standard. Certain Apricorns have certain effects on different types of Pokemon, and we Pokeball smiths use them to create all manner of Pokeballs. Dive, Net, Luxury, so on and so forth. Those special types are a bit too fancy for my tastes, I've always preferred the traditional types, but I did come up with a special design of my own. If I were to christen them, the most apt name would be to label them as… Trust Balls."

"Trust Balls." Mercury repeated flatly.

"Yes, not the best, but Friend Ball was already taken." Percival said, "A Trust Ball is perfectly capable of catching a Pokemon. It can catch any type of Pokemon, in fact! The only stipulation is that the Pokemon must want to be caught, otherwise the ball will fail. With that in mind, Mercury, I believe that any failed attempts to catch Pokemon with these Trust Balls are issues of skill on your part. If that is all, you can leave and allow me to get back to work."

"The Pokemon has to want to be caught?" Mercury scoffed, "What, more self-righteous, sappy CRAP that you want to cram down all our throats?"

"I believe that my years of study and practice have earned me the freedom to self-expression." Percival said.

"You can have your self-expression when you win it from me." Mercury said, "Iron Island is under the rule of the strong now."

"And you rule from a throne of lies." Percival retorted, "You were too weak to beat Jasper in battle, so you schemed and stabbed him in the back. That is not strength."

"It's strength of mind!" Mercury snapped, "Something he was sorely lacking in, but you already know, don't you? You were the one who sniffed us out that day, right there as we were about to do it… but you were too weak to do anything about it. You and him, a weakling and an idiot. Such harmony, don't you think?"

"And yet the idiot was too strong for you, and now the weakling has outsmarted you." Percival said.

"Hey, don't get so high and mighty!" Brass interjected hotly, "We've still got your son in our care! There was an agreement between us, there was, and it's not right that we uphold our end and look after your son while you go around and betray us like this!"

Rather than forcing Percival into submission, Brass' complaint had the opposite effect, as it instead sent him into a fit of laughter.

"Pokekekekeke… POKEKEKEKEKE!" Percival cackled.

"H-Hey! What's so funny?" Brass said.

"Betray you? Uphold your end?" Percival said, wiping a tear from his eye, "What's funny is the sheer ludicrousness for you to speak of such things. I already told you I was a clever man. Do you think I am foolish enough to have trusted your word after you stabbed my best friend in the back? Magnus is not being cared for by Team Steel at all! If you had any intentions of honouring our agreement, you would have given me enough freedom to verify his wellbeing for myself!"

The two Team Steel Admins present exchanged looks, while Mercury just glared at him. After a couple of seconds of silence, Copper spoke up.

"He has us there." Copper admitted, "Truthfully, we have no idea what has become of your son. He could be dead for all we know. ACHOO!"

"And maybe he will die if you don't rein in that little rebellious attitude of yours and start following orders like a good little captive." Mercury said.

"I already know you don't have the stomach to kill a child, Mercury." Percival said, "No, you have… nothing to threaten me with, other than that. You already knew it would have to come to this if your bluff didn't work, though, didn't you? We both know how this is going to turn out. I'm surprised at your restraint, actually."

"It's a waste of good talent, and it doesn't leave me in a good position." Mercury said, "But there's nothing that can be done if you're not going to fall in line, is there?"

"Nothing to be done indeed." Percival said.

-O-




​

The following day was a historic occasion, but not the kind that one could look back on with any semblance of pride in having been there to witness it. But it was history, nonetheless, and so a large crowd of people from all over Iron Island had gathered out the front of the Team Steel base in order to see what was about to happen. Many of them had done so at the firm insistence of Team Steel's members, while others had done so out of a sense of obligation, though they could not possibly explain to who or what.

All of the people gathered were met with the sight of Leader Mercury standing above the closed gates to the Team Steel base. Behind her stood Copper and Brass, the two Admins of Team Steel, and in front of her knelt Percival. What drew everyone's attention, however, was the gallows that had been temporarily erected atop the gate where they were currently standing, with the noose having been looped around Percival's neck.

"PEOPLE OF IRON ISLAND, THIS MAN TRIED TO TRICK ME AND THE REST OF TEAM STEEL!" Mercury announced, silencing what little chatter there had been amongst the crowd, "HE DISOBEYED US, HE DEFIED US, AND NOW THIS IS WHERE HE IS ENDING UP!"

"She does love the sound of her own voice, doesn't she?" Percival muttered to Brass and Copper, whose gazes remained fixed out on the horizon as they pointedly ignored him.

"MANY OF YOU HAVE ALREADY NOTICED THAT CERTAIN TRAINERS WHO DON'T AGREE WITH TEAM STEEL'S WAY OF DOING THINGS HAVE GONE MISSING." Mercury continued, "AND THAT'S PART OF WHY WE'RE ALL HERE NOW, FOR WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN! THERE WILL BE NO DISAPPEARANCE OR AMBIGUITY TODAY! EVERYONE ON IRON ISLAND WILL OBEY TEAM STEEL, OR THIS IS WHAT WE'LL DO TO THEM!"

She raised a foot and went to shove Percival off the platform, but stopped as Brass suddenly spoke up.

"Wait." The Admin said, and he elaborated as his Leader turned to look at him, "He's earned some last words, hasn't he?"

"Oh, should I have been rehearsing?" Percival quipped.

"Fine." Mercury grunted, lowering her foot, "Speak up, you piece of trash."

Percival closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them again, he looked out at the crowd that was here to witness his execution, and there were a hundred different things that he could say which all floated through his mind. But then he spotted a particular someone in the crowd, and he knew in that moment what message he would leave this world with.

"STRONG POKEMON! WEAK POKEMON!" Percival roared with a sudden ferocity, "THIS IS ONLY THE SELFISH PERCEPTION OF TRAINERS! TRULY SKILLED TRAINERS GROW STRONGER ALONGSIDE THEIR TREASURED POKEMON PARTNERS! NO MATTER WHAT HAS HAPPENED TODAY, OR YESTERDAY, OR ANY DAY BEFORE THAT, THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN PEOPLE AND POKEMON IS AS INEVITABLE AND UNSTOPPABLE AS THE SUNRISE ITSELF! TRAINERS WHO VALUE THAT FRIENDSHIP WILL EMERGE, AND THEY ARE THE ONES WHO WILL STAND TRIUMPHANT AS THE STRONGEST OF ALL!"

"What a waste of breath." Mercury spat. Raising her foot again, she planted her heel against his back and shoved him off the platform.

Percival's body fell.

The rope went taut.

Down on the ground below, Magnus Spruce watched with wide unblinking eyes as his father's body went completely still. He was the only child among the crowd, because every other child had at least one parent or guardian who could protect them from bearing witness to such a horrible sight. Magnus had nobody.

The sight of Percival's body hanging from the rope was a sobering one, and much of the crowd began to disperse and return to their respective villages. Many hollow and fearful looks were shared among all of them, though some of them did linger about to watch as Magnus walked out and approached the body. With how long the rope had been, he was about eye-level with his father's ankles. Almost absentmindedly, Magnus reached out and poked his father's feet, making the body sway slightly in the air.

"Dad?" Magnus asked quietly, his eyes still wide and unblinking. Behind him, the remnants of the crowd all muttered to each other.

"…What the heck is that kid doing?"

"…Looks kinda familiar, you recognise who he is?"

"…wonder what kind of irresponsible…"

"…an orphan or a runaway or something?"

"…Percival's kid. Oh Arc, that means he's lost his mother and father…"

"…look after him? He must be all alone if he's here…"

"…just another mouth to feed if I did, and we're struggling as is…"

From where she stood up on the gate, Mercury watched Magnus approach the body and watched the remaining audience as they all talked and shirked responsibility for him. In her left hand, she was clutching a small brown sack, which she promptly tossed down onto the ground, allowing its contents to spill out in the air. Almost a dozen Pokeballs- Percival's Trust Balls- rained down from above around where Magnus was standing. It was a confusing sight, and silenced much of the chatter as the spectators looked up to Mercury as if expecting an explanation, but she merely turned and walked away, making her way down from the platform atop the gate with her Admins following behind her.

"…bunch of Pokeballs?"

"…supposed to use them or something?"

"…kind of paler than a normal Pokeball…"

"…have to join Team Steel if you're a trainer…"

Amidst all the chatter from the confused spectators, Magnus silently walked over to one of the Pokeballs strewn across the ground and picked it up. The ball's red top had a clear finish, allowing him to see his own reflection in its surface as he held it out in front of his face. He looked back at his father, and he smiled.

"Okay, dad! I'll go do all the stuff you told me about making friends with Pokemon!" Magnus exclaimed with a bright-eyed enthusiasm and ear-to-ear grin that contrasted with the tears that were beginning to steadily stream down his face, "And then we'll get really strong together! We'll become the strongest of all, dad! Just like you said!"

-O-




​

On the first day after his father's execution, Spruce ventured out into the Eterna Grove in order to begin his journey to becoming a trainer. The Grove was nothing new to him, it was a familiar landscape which he had run amok all throughout for several years at this point, getting quite a few bumps and bruises and scratches and scuffs in doing so. Many of the Pokemon had regarded him as a sort of harmless nuisance that they would shoo away if need be, or sometimes even tolerate and find some measure of amusement in, up until the past couple of months where they had been downright hostile towards him.

Even that hostility, however, paled in comparison to the sheer animosity that seemed to radiate from every single part of the Grove as Spruce wandered through it, nary a Pokemon in sight. Their absence was, perhaps, a mercy of sorts, as the Pokemon knew exactly how they would react to the presence of any human intruding upon their lands, and so distanced themselves from him in recognition of his age and the restraint that entailed on their part. Mercy and restraint that they had not been shown before.

It was pointless either way, as Spruce bounded through the grove with single-minded determination that shoved to the side all thoughts of hunger or thirst or tiredness, until he finally managed to track down a Pokemon. And with bright eyes and an even brighter smile, he ran over to the wild Luxio that was simply wandering about.

"HEY!" Spruce waved, getting the attention of the Pokemon as he approached, "I'm Magnus! We've met before, when I annoyed you and you scratched me and chased me off, but it's okay that you did that! Do you wanna be my-!"

"LUXIO!" Luxio roared, sparks of electricity flaring up around its mane and striking the ground between it and Spruce. He skidded to a stop and hopped to the side, trying to avoid getting electrocuted, and ended up tumbling across the ground, but kept on with his energy despite falling.

"Okay! I can stay back here if that's what you'd prefer!" Spruce said as he shifted into a sitting position, "Anyway, I was asking you if you wanted to be my friend?"

"Luxio…" Luxio growled menacingly, electricity crackling through its mane once again, though not striking anything this time.

"I can't catch you yet because I'm too young, but it won't be long before I can!" Spruce continued, "Just, um… seven-hundred more sleeps! Yeah, seven-hundred! That's a good number because it's got two zeroes at the end. But until I can catch you, we can just hang out together! There's not really much food in my house, and it got kind of burned in that fire, so I guess I'd just live out here in the Grove with you! How does that sound? Wanna be friends?"

"Luxio… Lux… I… OOOOOO!" Luxio bellowed, generating an even greater amount of electricity and lashing out once again. The electricity struck Spruce, shocking him and enveloping his entire body in a bright yellow glow for several seconds, before finally coming to an end and allowing his toasted form to collapse on the ground. Satisfied with its work and the message that it had sent, Luxio turned and took off.

-O-




​

On the second day after his father's execution, Spruce awoke in the Eterna Grove. After his meeting with Luxio, he'd been beaten up by a Machop, bitten by a Bibarel, stung by a Beedrill and then licked by a Gastly. Such an eventful day had left him far too tired and sore to make the trek back to Pastoria Village and sleep under his own roof. Luckily, the weather hadn't been too extreme, so he had just had to suffer through a standard chilly night before awakening with renewed vigour and the same goal as yesterday.

Before Spruce could go about trying to find a Pokemon to befriend, however, he had a parched throat to attend to. All that running around and chatting up Pokemon until they attacked him had worked up quite a thirst, and so he crept through the Grove, careful to avoid the wild Pokemon lest they attack him, until he came upon a creek which he could drink from.

Kneeling beside the creek, Spruce cupped his hands together and dipped them into the water. Gulping each handful down, his throat was quickly soothed, and the water helped to settle his rumbling stomach as well, so he continued to drink greedily even after his thirst had been quenched. After his seventh drink of water, however, he noticed a blue and black fish beneath the surface- a Finneon. Just as soon as he noticed it, he also noticed that it was swimming upwards, and the Finneon jumped up out of the water and turned itself in the air to face him.

"Hi! My name's-!" Spruce began to introduce himself to the Pokemon, only for the Finneon to open its mouth and release a powerful jet of water. The water splashed him in the face with such force that it blasted him into the air, sending him flying back from the creek to slam painfully against the trunk of a tree.

"FINNEON!" Finneon yelled just before it dropped back down into the water and swam away, leaving a dazed and aching Spruce behind.

-O-




​

The third day progressed much the same as the first day and the second day did, with Spruce seeking out every Pokemon he could find and doing his best to befriend it as he, a child, possibly could. He was bitten and scratched and burned and shocked and sprayed and all manner of things, though he had by then managed to find a comfortable sleeping spot in the Grove. On the fourth day, he decided to shake things up by making the journey from the Grove all the way to the Oreburgh Cave, and the less that was said about his time there, the better.

Now on the fifth day, with a painfully empty stomach, clothes that had been shredded almost to tatters and a body that was riddled with minor injuries, he decided to try taking a different approach. Although the Oreburgh Cave had been a mistake, that didn't mean he should limit himself to just the Pokemon found on the ground in the Grove. It was that way of thinking that had led him to one of the many trees in the Grove, which happened to have a Starly perched atop one of its higher branches.

Climbing trees wasn't anything new to Spruce, and even with both hands he couldn't count the number of times he'd fallen out of one, though he would normally have eaten a filling breakfast in the morning before going out and trying to do such a thing. Oh well, that just meant he would have to make extra sure that he didn't fall.

With one foot braced against the trunk, he sought out one of the lower branches with his hand and grabbed onto it, tugging on it to test how it could support his weight before using it in order to begin his ascent up the tree. He climbed carefully and deliberately, taking his time to make sure he wouldn't fall as he ascended.

Unfortunately for Spruce, the Starly that he had wanted to approach noticed him as he was about halfway up the tree, and it hopped off the branch in order to fly over to him and flap its wings in his face aggressively as it butted into him, trying to do its best to make him fall from the tree.

"STARLY! STAR, STARLY!" Starly squawked, pecking at his face for good measure as Spruce tried to weather it all and not fall.

"Hey- ow! Okay I- ah! I get it, I'll- ouch! I'll climb down, stop- oof! Stop attacking- AAAAHH!"

All of a sudden, his hand which had been clasped firmly around a branch so that he could hold himself to the tree lost its grip and the Starly's flapping its wings and ramming into him managed to knock him from the tree. With a surprised scream, Spruce fell and crashed into the ground below, landing on his back, from where he stared up at the Starly which returned to the branch it had been perched on, looking quite satisfied with its work.

"Ow…"

-O-




​

All of it caught up to Spruce on the seventh day. During all his time spent in the Eterna Grove, he had not had anything to eat, as all the food he was able to find he was forced away from by the Pokemon, and he didn't dare try to pick berries from the great berry garden in the heart of the Grove. Youthful exuberance and sheer determination had kept him going for quite some time in spite of it all, and drinking from the creek helped to settle his stomach, but the energy he was expending every waking moment had to come from somewhere.

There he was, with a weak body and a rumbling stomach and a lightheaded feeling that persisted no matter how long he waited to get his bearings. It was practically impossible for him to run about as he had been doing so before in such a condition, with even walking being an effort, so he sat with his back to a tree, relying on it for support to keep him upright.

'I'm really hungry.' Spruce thought to himself, 'I'm probably gonna have to go to the berry garden to get something to eat. Just a small snack, though, so the Pokemon don't get mad. Once I've eaten, I'm sure I can find one of them who wants to be my friend! Actually, maybe I should take a berry with me to give as a gift. Pokemon like food, so they'd probably appreciate that.'

The thought of it brought a weak smile to his face as his eyes began to droop shut.

'I'm kind of tired, though.' He reflected, 'Maybe I should take a short rest before I go to the berry garden. Yeah, that sounds good. Just a short rest, then I can go get something to eat…'

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to drift off elsewhere after the feeling of drowsiness that was overcoming him. Before he could properly follow that feeling, however, he was startled back into an awakened state as something soft collided with his forehead and his eyes snapped open.

"Huhwha?" Spruce mumbled, reaching up to rub his eyes. Almost instantly, he was able to spot the object that had collided with his forehead, that being a succulent Oran Berry that was now lying in his lap. He blinked, and then rubbed his eyes again, and then picked it up.

'Is this a dream? Where did this come from?' He wondered to himself. Looking around, the first place he checked was above him, to see if it might have possibly fallen from above, though if he had thought more carefully about it he would have known that wasn't possible. Turning his attention straight ahead, he squinted at one of the trees, which had a furry black leg and blue tail poking out from behind it.

"Hello?!" He called out to the concealed Pokemon, "Pokemon behind the tree?"

There were a couple seconds of silence after his call, but then a Riolu stepped out from behind the tree with a curious look in its eye as it gazed at him. In return, his own eyes lit up at the sight of it, and he held the Oran Berry out towards it.

"Hi! I'm Magnus!" He greeted, "Do you wanna eat this?"

His offer seemed to aggravate the Pokemon, oddly enough, as Riolu's look of curiosity became one of irritation, and it scurried forwards in order to plant a paw against the hand he was holding the Oran Berry in, and mash it against his face.

"Riolu! Lu, Lu! Rio Riolu!" Riolu said indignantly, squishing the Oran Berry against his face as it did.

"Huh?" Spruce said, "Oh! Oh, are you the one who gave this to me?"

"Lu." Riolu huffed, lowering its paw and taking a step back, crossing its arms as it did so.

"Thanks a bunch!" Spruce said, "I was really hungry, but the Pokemon here aren't super happy about sharing food with a human here…"

He went to take a bite of the berry, but then stopped at the last second, and gave Riolu a look.

"Hey, Riolu…" Spruce said tentatively, "Let's be friends!"

-O-




​

Five years from the fateful encounter that had truly set Spruce on the path to becoming a trainer, and with two more encounters of a similar type under his belt, he had found himself in front of the Team Steel base. His conditions had improved drastically since that first week he spent in the Grove, which showed itself in his well-fed and athletic condition. But whereas he was physically better off, he was emotionally much worse than he had been all those years ago, because he found himself on his knees in front of the base's open gate, staring with hollow eyes at the sight of Ria- his partner- lying on the ground with swirly eyes before Mercury's Houndoom, which barely looked like it had even been in a fight today.

The two other Pokeballs on Spruce's belt felt ten times heavier as he held Ria's Pokeball out in front of him, silently returning the Pokemon and then returning the Pokeball to its place. Mercury did the same, returning Houndoom to its Pokeball and putting the Pokeball away before crossing her arms and giving Spruce a cocky smirk.

"Did you really think you were gonna come out of that Grove after all these years and take me down with the power of vengeance and friendship, like some kind of storybook hero?" Mercury taunted, "When I tossed those useless Trust Balls away, I never thought that anyone- let alone that trash's kid- would go out and actually use them!"

"I'm gonna crush you in a battle!" Spruce retorted, the hollowness in his eyes being replaced by a blaze of fury, "I'm gonna be the stronger trainer and then I'm gonna beat you so bad that you'll cry about it!"

"HA!" Mercury laughed, "That's cute of you to say, you stupid little brat. Honestly, I usually kill trainers who make a big fuss about trying to take me down because it means I don't have to worry about keeping an eye out for conspiracies."

Spruce froze slightly at her brazen admission.

"Buuuuuut," Mercury continued, "I don't really have the stomach to go around killing kids, unfortunately enough. You're almost out of luck there, brat, but you're squeezing by. You get to live for today, but I reckon you've only got a year or two left before I'll be happy to put you in the ground to join your daddy."

"I will beat you." Spruce whispered, his fists clenching at his sides.

"Better be absolutely sure about that kinda thing the next time you come knocking on that big gate to try and take me down." Mercury warned, "Because if I still manage to beat you into the ground like I just did today, then that'll be where you stay."

-O-




​

"A trainer is supposed to have to bond with their Pokemon." Spruce said bitterly, "They're supposed to respect them and treat them well and care for them. That's what the old Leader believed, that's what my dad always taught me, but I did all of that and I still couldn't beat Mercury! I… I saw how strong you are, Luffy. Is that strength all that matters? Has Mercury been right all along, do I just need to find someone stronger than her who's nice enough to make things better for everyone else?"

The trainer's gaze was turned towards the ground, with tears having begun to blur his vision as he recounted his experiences, so he wiped them away and looked up to meet Luffy's gaze, only to find that the pirate had begun to pick his nose and had his attention focused on Walter.

"Hey, old guy, can you lead me to where Mercu-lady and these Team Thief guys are?" Luffy asked, "I don't think Spruce is gonna lead me."

"Hey!" Spruce snapped, "Listen to me while I'm explaining important stuff!"

"Riolu! Rio!" Ria added, pointing an accusatory paw at Luffy.

"He was." Zoro said bluntly, having walked over to one of the nearby houses to lean against while Spruce had been talking.

"Yeah, I was." Luffy nodded, briefly glancing back at Spruce, "But then you started talking about stuff that didn't matter so I stopped paying attention. Old guy, can you lead the way?"

"You might be better off with that chef of yours guiding you, he can afford to rush where I can't." Walter said.

"Stuff that doesn't matter?!" Spruce said.

"All that stuff about strength and friendship and fighting Mercu-lady." Luffy clarified, "That stuff doesn't matter."

"Riolu?" Ria said.

"That stuff about strength and friendship is why this is all happening!" Spruce said, "It's why I fought her! Why my dad died! Why the last Leader died!"

"It doesn't matter if you're just going to be all stupid about it." Luffy said, "You and Mercu-lady got strong for the same reasons as each other, and the same reason as why I got strong. We all got strong so we could make our dreams come true, so the only thing that matters is who can be strong enough to make their dream happen!"

"Riolu…" Ria murmured, slightly awed by the conviction with which Luffy spoke.

"The only thing that matters is being strong?" Spruce said, his eyes narrowing.

"Everyone has dreams!" Luffy continued, "Good guys and bad guys! There are tons of other people in the world who want to become King of the Pirates as well, but I'm the one who's gonna do it! And that's why I'm strong, so I can beat everyone else and find the One Piece before they can! The only thing you're proving by waiting around and not fighting her is that you're too weak and scared, and so she's the one with the better dream."

"He's right, Magnus." Walter admitted, "HOHOHO! He's got a way of putting his foot in his mouth and then yanking it back out again, but he's quite right with what he's saying!"

"And what happens if I lose, and if I die?" Spruce hissed, "There'd be nobody left on this entire island who would stand up to her!"

"You won't die." Luffy said calmly.

"I won't die?" Spruce said.

"You won't die, because I won't let you!" Luffy said, "You have to join my crew first!"

"It's a waste of time trying to argue over this." Zoro said, "It was already set in stone that Luffy was going to take Mercury down before you and I even met."

"It was?" Luffy said.

"The old guy." Zoro said, gesturing to Walter, "He fed me after I ended up on the shore."

"He fed you?" Luffy said quietly.

"I fed you?" Walter blinked, before seemingly cottoning onto the implications and waving his hands out in front of him, "Oh! Oh, don't think I had to starve myself to scrounge the food up or anything, see it's because I'm a fisherman and so I supply food to the islanders and Team Steel and…"

Nobody paid attention to his explanation clarifying why he had been in a position to easily feed Zoro and why it was not some incredible selfless gesture on his part and merely standard old man hospitality.

"He served me a plate of grilled fish." Zoro said with a deathly seriousness that was almost comical given the subject matter.

"Old guy, you want Mercu-lady to get beaten up, right?" Luffy asked Walter, who was still carrying on with his explanation.

"-and so because of when I met Mister Roronoa, it meant that the fish I fed him would have just gone to Team Steel- Oh!" Walter cut himself off, and he looked from Luffy and Zoro over to Spruce and Ria, "I… Yes, I want Mercury to be stopped. I want her to be crushed, and have everything she has built torn to the ground. These feeble, elderly hands can't do it themselves, but I want her to be beaten until she feels a fraction of the pain she has inflicted on this island."

"Okay then!" Luffy nodded, "We better go find Sanji!"

"Tch. What do you need that stupid love-cook for?" Zoro scoffed, "You've got me."

"You can't cook, though." Luffy said, "After we get done beating Mercu-lady up, I wanna have a really big lunch!"

"I'd be glad to catch some fish to go in that lunch of yours!" Walter said cheerfully.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Luffy said, "Hey, Spruce, you gonna come with us?"

At his name being uttered, Spruce was snapped out of his introspection, seeing Zoro and Luffy both having their backs to him, with the latter looking back over his shoulder expectantly at him. He swallowed, and glanced down at Ria.

"Riolu…" Ria said with a solemn nod.

"Come on, Magnus." Walter said, "Don't overthink it."

Their comments both encouraged him, but didn't quite spur him into action, as Spruce found himself staring into Luffy's eyes, seemingly searching for some kind of answer in them. Luffy was silent as he stared right back, until Spruce finally managed to find the answer he had been looking for after a few seconds.

"Yes." Spruce said firmly, "Let's go beat Mercury up together, Captain."

 

[DolphinMan]

Following the sound but rather unorthodox defeat of Admin Nickel, the mixture of fear and shame that had hung in the air over Pastoria Village vanished in an instant, being banished by an air of jubilation that was flavoured with the aromas of the medley of dishes which Sanji was continuing to prepare for the villagers. It might have been a tall order for an ordinary chef to be presented with so many unfamiliar ingredients and recipes and expected to provide for such a large slew of people, but it was barely a challenge for a seafaring cook like him. It had demanded a certain amount of effort and concentration, at least initially, but with his cooking have fed about two-thirds of the villagers by this point and most of the dishes being done, he was able to slightly relax as he continued to do what he did best. The still-unfed villagers grouped together and watched him, waiting with as much self-control as they could muster for their turns to be served.

It wasn't only the people in the village who were drawn to Sanji's cooking, however. Had he gone about with this undertaking on any other day, then Pastoria would have only had people for him to serve, but he had gone about it today, and there just so happened to be a single Pokemon currently residing within the village that was enticed by the aroma and the earlier display of raw culinary ability. A small, purple Pokemon with a pair of glittering gemstones for eyes, stood up on the rooftop of one of the houses in the village and looked out at the scene below for about five seconds, before ducking down to try and avoid being seen by anyone.

This was not great. It wasn't even good. Happening to get caught up in a Rhyhorn stampede had been bad enough earlier today, but being thrown from the backs of one of the Rhyhorn and ending up on this rooftop was even worse than that. Now, if he wanted to get back to the Oreburgh Caves where he belonged, he would have to climb down from the rooftop and move through the village. That was terrible! What if he ran into one of the humans? What if the human he ran into was scared by him and ran away in fear? If that happened, then Sableye would have to recall that moment every time he was trying to sleep and feel bad about it! A fate worse than being dead, and he would know.

The situation had been bad enough earlier, when he had been contemplating the best way to leave the village unnoticed, but then things had gotten even worse when the freakishly-strong human from earlier had returned to the village and started cooking. Even from up on the roof where he was, Sableye could smell the myriad of mouth-watering dishes that he was preparing, and it was almost impossible to resist the urge to scamper down and go scarf down a plate or two for himself. If it weren't for the food, he could have easily just waited up on the roof for night to come so he could sneak away.

Ultimately, the will of his tastebuds won over the will of his anxiety, and he walked around the roof and hopped down to land beside the house, ducking next to one of the corners in order to try and hide himself from view. Peeking from around the corner, he saw that everyone's attention was either on where Sanji was cooking, or they were chatting amongst themselves and weren't too fixated on their surroundings. Moving quickly, he stepped out from behind the corner and scurried across the ground over to one of the other houses and quickly hid himself in the shadow beside it. It didn't seem like anyone had noticed, and it breathed a slight sigh of relief as it waited for an opportunity to sneak even closer to the cooking station.

As it turned out, Sableye was not the most observant Pokemon in existence, because as soon as he stepped out of the shadows to try and make another run, he found himself being scooped up by a pair of hands belonging to Nami. Greed shone in the navigator's eyes as she picked Sableye up off the ground and held him up in front of her face, peering at the Pokémon's gemstone eyes the way that a predator looked at its prey.

"Well hello there, gorgeous." Nami said sweetly, leaning in so that she could make out her own reflection in Sableye's eyes while paying no mind to the Pokémon's look of fear or the way it was struggling away from her. Behind her, Vivi and Usopp walked over to see what had drawn her interest.

"Is this one of those Pokémon creatures?" Vivi asked, standing beside Nami and reaching over to poke the side of Sableye's head. Her finger pressed into him like she were touching skin, but the texture was far from it, being something completely foreign that she couldn't liken to anything else. Somehow, despite his eyes being literal rocks, Sableye's look of fear intensified as he recoiled away from her touch.

"Sableye!" Sableye exclaimed, oblivious to the death glare he was receiving from a very jealous Sanji.

"Oh!" Vivi gasped, retracting her finger, "I'm terribly sorry, that must have been rather invasive of me!"

"Are those its eyes?" Usopp said, standing on the other side of Nami and squinting at the gemstones which adorned Sableye's face, as well as the smaller crimson gem on his chest.

"I hope not." Nami said, her eyes seemingly having turned into a pair of Beri signs. Seeing the three of them all fussing over Sableye, Tiffany walked over with a plate of berry ratatouille in hand.

"That's a Sableye." She explained helpfully, "They're a species of Pokémon that live in the Oreburgh Caves, and they dig for gemstones to eat, which are where those gems on its body come from."

"They dig for gemstones, you say?" Nami said, a maniacal grin slowly starting to break out across her face.

"Sableye…" Sableye said as his gaze was drawn towards the plate in Tiffany's hands, and he began to salivate a little.

"Yes, and they're quite good at it, too." Tiffany nodded, "Not sure what a Sableye is doing all the way out here in Pastoria Village, though. It's- oh! Oh, the poor thing must have gotten caught up in the stampede earlier and dragged all the way here by one of those Rhyhorn."

"It doesn't seem injured or anything, though. And it wasn't trying to attack anyone, either." Usopp noted, "Why didn't it just go back to the cave it came from?"

"Maybe it's lost, and doesn't know the way back?" Vivi suggested, while Nami observed where Sableye's attention was directed, and followed his gaze over to the plate that Tiffany was carrying.

"I think it stuck around because it wanted to grab something to eat." Nami said. Tiffany looked at Sableye, and then looked down at her plate, and then looked at Sableye looking at her plate.

"It wants my food?" Tiffany said.

"Absolutely not!" Sanji called out furiously, drawing all eyes over to him, with Sableye cowering in Nami's hold slightly, "I prepared that meal with love and care to be enjoyed by a beautiful woman, not some kind of creature that scrounges about for rocks in a cave."

"Eye…" Sableye said timidly, looking downcast at the comment.

"If it wants to eat, I can prepare something else, but it'll have to wait its turn to be served." Sanji continued, which made Sableye perk up.

"You'd better prepare a really filling meal for it, Sanji." Nami said, "Because I don't think that this little guy is going to get the chance to eat any gemstones for quite a while."

"Of course! You can count on me, Nami-dear~!" Sanji gushed, going into lovestruck mode while continuing to cook.

The greed in Nami's eyes had grown into a full-blown aura which seemed to waft off her, focused entirely on the Pokémon in her hands, which caused a bead of sweat to trail down the side of his head. Vivi and Usopp both took a couple of nervous steps away from her. Much to Sableye's relief, Nami was snapped back to normal by the arrival of Luffy and Zoro, who were joined by Walter, Spruce and Ria.

"HEY GUYS!" Luffy greeted as he ran over to where the other Straw Hats were. As he neared them, the aroma of Sanji's food caught his attention, causing him to accelerate and leap into the air and over the heads of several of the villagers present. While in the air, he stretched an arm out towards the food, trying to grab it for himself, only for the limb to be kicked away by an irate Sanji. The sight of his body stretching like it were made of rubber silenced every single one of the villagers, leaving them with wide eyes and gaping jaws, and even Walter's eyes were almost bugging out of his skull.

"Glutton! Wait your turn to be served!" Sanji chastised Luffy, his voice the only sound in the entire village at that moment. Continuing on his trajectory, Luffy landed on the ground behind Sanji's cooking station and hopped right back up onto his feet in an instant, retracting his arm in order to dust himself off.

"Did that guy just…?" One villager mumbled, starting to blink rapidly.

"He must be some kinda Pokémon or something to stretch like that…" Another said.

"No way, you guys all saw that too?!" A third one added.

"First that chef, and now that boy?" Tiffany said, "Are these the kinds of people who come from across the sea?!"

"H-His arm!" Walter gasped, "His arm just stretched several times its own length! My feeble, elderly eyes must be failing me, because I just saw his arm stretch several times its own length!"

"Well, yeah." Zoro deadpanned.

"Shishishi!" Luffy snickered at everyone's astonishment, "I ate the Gum-Gum fruit, and now I'm a rubber man!"

"Gum-Gum fruit?" Timothy said, tilting his head slightly, "I've never heard of a fruit like that."

"Must be some kinda exotic fruit or something." A villager said.

"That's weird, you'd think these people had never heard of Devil Fruits before." Usopp said.

"Devil Fruits? What are those?" Spruce said, causing Zoro's head to snap over in his direction.

"You mean you don't know?!" He said, "Didn't you ever eat a weird fruit that gave you a special ability?"

"No, not really. That sounds weird." Spruce said.

"But- but then- how?" Zoro said, gesturing to the Pokeballs that Spruce was carrying on his person.

"How? How what?" Spruce said, before the realisation finally struck him, "Oh! Yeah, if you don't know about Pokémon, you don't know about Pokeballs either, do you?"

"Never heard of them." Zoro said.

"Pokeballs are what trainers use to catch Pokémon, and we usually keep our Pokémon in them when we're not doing anything with them." Walter said, having finally gotten over his surprise at Luffy's ability. He took his own Pokeball out and held it in front of him, opening it to release Floatzel in a burst of white light, before promptly returning the Pokémon a second later with a beam of red light.

"They can just do that?" Zoro said.

"Pretty much, yeah." Spruce nodded.

With Luffy having explained away his bizarre abilities, some of the villagers turned their attention away from him and over to the trio of people he had brought to Pastoria along with them, and found themselves being quite surprised once again, though not quite as much as before.

"Hey, that kid brought Fisherman Walter with him!" A villager exclaimed, "And that other kid- that's the Spruce kid, the one who fought Team Steel three years ago! That scary guy with them, though, that's- OH! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"Huh? Do these people know Zoro somehow?" Vivi said.

"IT'S THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON-!" The villager continued, only for Zoro to interrupt him.

"SHUT UP, MY HAIR IS NOT A POKÉMON!" Zoro yelled, "The only thing legendary about me is the fact that I'm going to become the world's greatest swordsman! Got that?!"

'He's scary!' All the villagers thought in unison.

"A pair of strong trainers like that plus a bunch of foreigners who can fight Pokémon with their bare hands…" The villager spoke up a couple of seconds later, "It- can it be?! Have you all gathered here because you're about to go and defeat Team Steel?!"

"Yep!" Luffy said, "We're gonna go beat Mercu-lady up along with the rest of Team Bronze!"

"I already took one of the Admins down before you got here, someone called Nickel." Sanji said, "He said he'd try and recruit some of the other members of the Team to back us up when the fight happened."

"The numbers might be nice." Walter said, "Though by my count, there are only three serious threats left who need to be dealt with. Even with some other grunts still in the base, the four of us should suffice to go deal with them."

"I agree. Just the four of you are probably enough to win." Usopp said.

"You can stay here and cook, Sanji." Luffy said, "I'm gonna need a lot to eat once we win! Plus we need to have a big party to celebrate a new member of the crew!"

"Oh, another mouth for me to feed?" Sanji said curiously, looking over at Spruce, "Several mouths, more likely?"

"He's gonna be our scout!" Luffy said eagerly.

"In that case, I'll need to get some recipes for food Pokémon can eat before we leave." Sanji said, "Plus dietary and nutritional requirements."

As the chef pondered the ways that his job would change with this new development, Spruce made his way over to Nami, Usopp and Vivi, with his eyes lighting up at the sight of the Sableye that Nami was holding.

"Wow, a Sableye! Is this guy your friend, Nami? I usually try to steer clear of the Oreburgh Cave, so I haven't seen many of these." Spruce said, gushing just a bit.

"We've only just met, actually, but I think that the two of us could get along very well." Nami said brightly, clutching Sableye close to her chest.

"Eye, Sableye…" Sableye muttered defeatedly.

"That's great!" Spruce said, "There's tons of stuff that I can teach you if you're gonna be a trainer. Having a Pokémon partner is one of the best things ever, so it's really great that you're meeting one for yourself while you're here!"

"Hm. I don't think Nami's the only one, actually." Usopp mentioned, glancing over to Zoro and pointing to the space behind him. The swordsman raised an eyebrow and turned around to see the angular blue rock Pokémon he had encountered earlier today was standing right behind him, currently spinning rapidly in place.

"That's just Spinner, ignore him." Walter said dismissively.

"Oh, okay." Usopp said.

"You've given twirly-brow his orders." Zoro called out to Luffy, "We should hurry up and get going. I don't want this Team Steel to underestimate us because they've only fought him so far."

"You'd better watch out for mosshead, Luffy. The Admins will definitely be too much for him to handle." Sanji cautioned, throwing a glare at the swordsman.

"If you were able to take one down, I won't even need my swords. A strong breeze would probably be enough for them." Zoro retorted, glaring right back at him.

"Okay! We're going now." Luffy nodded, walking back over to where Walter, Zoro and Spinner were. As he did, he reached back behind him, stretching his arm in order to grab one of the berries that hadn't yet been used for anything. Sanji allowed it, and he grabbed a red and yellow berry with two leaves poking out from the top of it.

Giving Sableye an affectionate pat atop the head, Spruce hurried over to go join the other three, with Ria following beside him, and the group headed off. Walter and Spruce took the lead this time, making sure that Zoro was following behind them, and the villagers all watched as they gradually shrank into the distance.

"Such a headstrong attitude…" Tiffany murmured, "Is that the kind of man who can call himself your captain, Sanji?"

"No." Sanji replied in a tone which carried a distinct fondness, "That's the kind of man who's going to call himself the Pirate King."

-O-

​

​

Mercury's leg bounced impatiently. Sitting out in the middle of the berry garden, she watched as several of the Grunts worked together to repair the main gate, now just putting on the finishing touches before the work would be done. Brass was overseeing the work directly, giving directions and instructions, while Copper stood silently behind her.

"Nickel's taking his time." Mercury said irritably.

"You think he's been beaten, don't you?" Copper said, "ACHOO!"

"If that brute who attacked us had the strength to break down the gates and beat the grunts senseless with just his bare hands, how strong do you think his Pokémon must be?" Mercury replied.

"Nickel's always been a weakling!" Brass called out, "You should have sent Copper or me to go after him and make sure the job got done properly!"

"Perhaps you should extend an offer of membership to these foreigners." Copper suggested, "They will have certainly proven themselves if they have defeated Nickel. ACHOO!"

"Might have to rough 'em up first, just to make sure they know who's in charge, but that wouldn't be a terrible idea." Mercury said, "Alright. As soon as the repair work's done, I want the both of you to head down to Pastoria Village and finish the job that Nickel couldn't."

"You heard the Leader!" Brass said, beckoning for the Grunts to hurry things up, "Get the gate done and dusted so Copper and I can go show that weakling how real Team Steel Admins handle things!"

It was exactly one second after Brass had spoken that the gate was blasted off its hinges.

The extended fist of Monkey D. Luffy struck Team Steel's looming gate dead-centre, and immediately undid every bit of work that had gone into repairing the damage Sanji had done. Both halves of the gate were launched backwards by the force of the single blow, sending them both flying back to crash through the front wall of the Team Steel base and just about cave in the front half of the entire building. Brass had been stood to the side of the gate, just barely avoiding being hit by either of the wickets, while Copper ducked down to avoid any damage. Mercury sat completely still, save for a twitching eyebrow, as the gate sailed over her head, and the grunts that had been repairing it were all smashed by the gate and sent tumbling back in all directions through the berry garden.

Wreaking that amount of destruction distracted most of the onlookers present from the fact that Luffy's fist was extended the way it was, and the momentum of his attack carried his fist a few meters into the base, before suddenly snapping back and retracting back to its original length. Mercury, who had been focused on the arm rather than the giant pieces of wood flying through the air, followed the limb's trajectory to direct her gaze on who had actually just thrown that punch. She recognised, to a mixture of dismay and interest, two of the people who had come along as part of the attack party, but not the boy in the straw hat who had thrown the punch, nor the green-haired swordsman who was with him.

"HEY MERCU-LADY!" Luffy yelled, striding on into the base through the open gateway he had just created, "WE'RE HERE TO BEAT YOU UP!"

"I'M RIGHT HERE!" Mercury yelled right back from where she was sitting, "There's no need to shout so loudly. Now, I take it that you're affiliated with the man who came by and attacked us earlier?"

As she spoke, Brass gathered his bearings and made to grab one of his Pokeballs, but Mercury halted him with a finger. Noticing the gesture, Zoro and Spruce both gave Brass threatening looks, with the former nudging one of his swords a couple inches out of its sheath so that the metal glinted in the daylight.

"Yeah, he's my chef!" Luffy nodded.

"Oh, your chef? Now that's interesting. From the looks of things, he's not come with you. Nickel didn't defeat him, did he?" Mercury said.

"No way, Sanji beat your stupid Nicholas guy and now he's preparing a feast for after we beat up the rest of you!" Luffy said hotly.

"So he did fail after all." Mercury sighed, "A little disappointing for one of my Admins to be taken down in such a manner, but it's good that a weakling like him was taken down."

"You're… not mad about it?" Luffy said confusedly.

"HA! Why would the Leader be mad about that sorta thing?" Brass scoffed, "Trash belongs in the trash! All that chef did was clean up our ranks. We're mad at Nickel for failing to do his job, and we're mad at the chef for breaking down our gate and stealing all our food, but we're not mad at the chef for beating up Nickel."

"Nothing but a bunch of thugs, the lot of them!" Walter growled.

"Now, given that you called him your chef, does that mean I'm talking to the guy in charge of all these foreigners suddenly visiting Iron Island out of nowhere?" Mercury said.

"They're my crew!" Luffy said, "The Straw Hat Pirates, and I'm gonna become King of the Pirates!"

As the exchange between Leader and Captain went on, many of the Grunts who had been posted to the base began to amass over near what remained of the base building. Some came from the battlefield behind it, some came out of the garden, and some dragged themselves out from the wreckage itself. None of them had sent their Pokémon out yet, though a few of them had their Pokeballs in hand.

"A pirate, huh? A little storybook-ish, but you've proven strong enough to earn it." Mercury said, "The swordsman is another one of yours, I presume. Pokémon trainers don't carry swords, they've got Pokémon for that. The brat and the old man, though, they're Iron Islanders through and through. Been a while, hasn't it you two?"

"Too long." Walter said.

"Riolu! Rio, Riolu Lu!" Ria snapped while Spruce remained silent.

"See, you're new so you won't know, but I've smacked the both of them down in the past." Mercury said, "It was a shame both times too. The geezer was a really great Pokémon trainer some decades ago in his prime, and Spruce? That kid? Ha! I killed his dad in front of him, and then he went and lived as an orphan in the Eterna Grove for five years before coming back to challenge me! Seriously, how hardcore is that? Only way to top it would be to live in the Oreburgh Cave, but that's just being unrealistic at that point. I hoped that if I ever saw the two again, it would be because they were coming over to serve under me. Unfortunately, it seems like they just might be here to try and defeat me again, and I won't have any mercy to spare them this time."

"Spruce can't join your Team because he's gonna be joining my crew instead!" Luffy said, "After we beat the crap out of you, he's gonna be my scout!"

"Actually, I'm afraid that your band of pirates are going to join up under my Team Steel." Mercury countered, "That's the only way you'll be spared after everything that you've done."

"Nuh-uh. If we joined you, you'd have to be working under me instead." Luffy said, "My crew can't work for you! You're a bully who doesn't respect her friends!"

"Why? Because of what I said about Nickel?" Mercury said, "You have to understand, don't you? That swordsman doesn't look like he carries those swords for show, and you and your chef have proven yourselves already. People like us, we need strong subordinates working under us, not weak ones."

"Strong crewmates? Weak crewmates?" Luffy frowned, "I don't care about any of that stuff! EVERYONE ON MY CREW IS MY FRIEND, SO WE'RE ALL GONNA MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE TOGETHER!"

The declaration hung in the air for seconds after it was made, seemingly stunning not only the members of Team Steel into silence, but Spruce as well, as his words echoed in their minds. Spruce's hands trembled, and a tear began to trail down his cheek, while Mercury rose to her feet with a blank look on her face.

"Riolu?" Ria said, nudging the side of Spruce's leg.

"Luffy?" Spruce mumbled.

"Huh?" Luffy glanced back at him.

"Kick her ass." He encouraged as he wiped away the tear.

"Okay!" Luffy responded with a D-shaped grin breaking out across his face.

That was the signal for things to get going. All the Grunts who had merely been watching up until that moment leaped into action, running forwards as the first wave of offense to soften their enemies up before the leadership had to deal with them. Before a single Pokeball could be thrown and a single Pokémon sent out to fight, however, the charge was met by Luffy and Zoro. The Captain took the ones on the left, while his First Mate took the ones on the right.

Both pirates moved at speeds that nobody present could actually properly follow them at, with the swordsman drawing two of his three swords from their sheaths before running straight into the crowd of grunts. Cold steel shone and the glint of the blades flashed as he moved through the grunts like the wind, limbs flowing like water, and he came to a stop behind them as ten Grunts all promptly collapsed to the ground. Blood spurted from over a dozen different wounds, while Pokeballs fell from limp hands.

In contrast to the silent grace that Zoro had exhibited, Luffy came to a stop just in front of the Grunts on the left and unleashed hell.

"GUM-GUM… GATLING!"

The two fists which he possessed became four, then sixteen, and then it became impossible to actually count. A flurry of blows were launched, striking out in front of him before being pulled back and thrown again, and each one that managed to connect with a Grunt sent that Grunt flying off their feet. Bodies were bruised, bones were broken, teeth were knocked out of people's mouths, and in no time at all Luffy brought an end to his onslaught and stood up straight.

It was hard to tell which group of Grunts had been dealt the more unfortunate hand, but there was no shortage of misfortune between them. Luffy and Zoro both turned around to see not only the Admins and Mercury herself, but even Spruce and Walter, giving them utterly gobsmacked looks.

"They- they attacked the trainers before they'd even sent their Pokémon out!" Walter gasped.

"I didn't even know you could do that!" Spruce said.

"Riolu… Rio, Riolu…" Ria whispered reverentially at the sight of Luffy's Gum-Gum Gatling.

"What a disgustingly dishonourable show of force!" Brass snapped. Walter promptly whirled around and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground while the old man winced and shook his fist. Despite being punched, the Admin's arms remained crossed.

"Feeble, elderly fists aren't meant to throw punches like that." He grumbled.

"Dishonourable?" Zoro scoffed, "Did you forget who it is you're facing? Honour is a worthless concept in a pirate battle."

"In that case, do not expect the Admins of Team Steel to fall so easily before mere brute force." Copper warned as he grabbed a Pokeball, "TOXICROAK, COME OUT AND STRIKE THEIR CAPTAIN WITH POISON JAB! ACHOO!"

"That was a cheap shot, geezer!" Brass said as he held his Pokeball out in front of him, "TIME TO CRUSH THESE LOSERS INTO DUST GOLEM! HEAVY SLAM!"

Both Admins' Pokeballs opened up and released the mentioned Pokémon out in matching bursts of white light. From Copper's Pokeball emerged a blue and red humanoid frog Pokémon, with sinister yellow eyes and a crafty smirk, below which was a bulbous red sac. Its hands were three-fingered, plus a large red claw on each, and the claw on its right hand glowed a deep shade of purple as droplets of poison began to gather around the tip. Moving swiftly, it dashed towards where Luffy was standing and thrust its poisonous claw out, aiming to strike the pirate dead-centre in his chest.

Rather than flesh or cloth, however, Toxicroak's found its attack being met with steel. Charging in from the side, Zoro used the blade in his left hand to catch the attack and parry it to the side, while slashing across Toxicroak's body with the blade in his right. Yubashiri's edge danced across Toxicroak's midsection, digging into the skin, and Zoro followed the attack up by crossing both swords in front of him and performing a downwards X-shaped slash into Toxicroak's chest, with the Pokémon's sac accounting for most of the surface area where the attack struck.

The sheer strength of the attack, coupled with the fact that the blades did no more than simply dig into Toxicroak's flesh as opposed to actually cutting through it, caused Toxicroak to be knocked back. It stumbled backwards, half-skidding across the ground, and almost fell onto its rear but hopped up into the air in order to correct itself and land on its feet. Doing so gave Zoro an opportunity to assess the damage for himself, and he saw that indents had been left in its skin where he attacked, but the skin had not broken anywhere and no blood had been spilled. Droplets of poison clung to Sandai Kitetsu's edge, though, and he flicked his wrist in order to flick the droplets off into the ground.

"Sorry, an insignificant second-fiddle like you isn't even worth our captain's time." Zoro taunted Copper, "You'll have to make do with me instead."

"A shame, steel is not my best match-up." Copper drawled, "Though I think I can make do. ACHOO!"

Emerging from Brass' Pokeball, a powerful Golem's feet touched the ground for less than a second before it had leapt up into the air. It tucked its arms, legs and head in, making itself as much of a sphere of rock as it possibly could as the stones that lined the outside of its body took on a shining silver hue, looking more like metal than rock. Its trajectory would have brought it crashing down into both Walter and Spruce, and Ria bent her legs in preparation for jumping up and knocking the Pokémon away, but Walter moved even faster as he drew his own Pokeball.

"FLOATZEL, TEACH SOME MANNERS WITH AQUA TAIL!"

Walter's own Floatzel, a battle-hardened Pokémon with the kinds of scars and faded fur that gave a clear impression of age, materialised on the battlefield, and didn't waste any time getting to work. Jumping up, a mass of water enveloped the two tails poking out of its behind, and it swung itself around, putting extra emphasis into the hip movement, in order to strike the descending Golem and bat it away like a star baseball player. Golem was knocked through the open gateway and crashed into the ground outside with such force that it created a crater where it landed. Brass scrambled to his feet and ran after it, clearly wise enough not to face down a pair of partner Pokémon without any Pokémon of his own between them.

"Might have softened up that Golem a bit more than I should have." Walter admitted with a hearty chuckle, "Hope that doesn't taint your victory at all, Spruce. I was expecting to deal with the rabble, but those cheeky troublemakers beat me to the punch! HOHOHO!"

"I think I can find a way to cope." Spruce replied calmly, following Brass and his Golem back out the gate and onto the terrain outside the base. As well as them, Zoro had begun to trade blows with Copper's Toxicroak as the two darted about the berry garden, which left just Luffy, Mercury and Walter standing around amidst the chaos.

"Well, seeing as it's a bit cramped here, I hope you'll humour my request for a change of venue." Mercury said, "Copper's the only one of us who can fight here without ruining the gardens anyway… Ironic, given his type proficiency. The battlefield back behind the building should be vacant. Does that work for you, pirate?"

"It doesn't matter where we fight, I'm gonna kick your ass either way!" Luffy said, cracking his knuckles. Still, he allowed Mercury to walk over and past him, and he followed her in the direction of the battlefield she had mentioned, both of them climbing over the wreckage of the base to get there.

"Apologies, Spruce, but I don't think I could forgive my feeble, elderly self if I didn't witness this particular match firsthand." Walter said quietly to himself. He and Floatzel both made their way after the Captain and the Leader, and with Spruce and Brass' fight having moved outside, that left the garden empty save for the clash between Zoro and Copper.

"LOW KICK!"

Toxicroak dashed across the ground towards Zoro, strafing to the side just as it was within his range of attack so that it could duck down and kick one of its legs out, aiming to strike the side of the swordsman's knee and make him lose his balance. Of course, given that Zoro had just heard Copper yell out the directions prompting it to do so, he was able to hop back out of the reach of Toxicroak's kick. He retaliated with a downwards swing of Yubashiri, only for Toxicroak to catch the blade with the underside of its claw and redirect the attack to its side as it rose back up to a standing position.

"POISON JAB!"

The other claw imbued itself with poison energy as it had done so before, and Toxicroak thrust the tip of it out towards his abdomen. Zoro blocked it with the flat of Sandai Kitetsu and shoved the attack off to the side before raising his swords together and then spinning himself around in order to drive them both into the side of its body. They dug deeply into the skin, but were quickly pushed out as the blunt force of the attack launched Toxicroak off its feet and sent it tumbling back across the ground.

Such a sight made Zoro's face twist up with distaste, and Copper noticed his reaction.

"Is Pokémon battling not to your tastes? ACHOO!"

"Swords aren't created to act as blunt instruments." Zoro said irritably, "They exist to cut down the enemies before their wielder. Blades of this quality shouldn't be acting like nothing more than metal clubs."

"I'm afraid that Pokémon are far too resilient for mere pieces of metal to pierce their flesh like that. You can go ahead and put that resilience to the test, if you'd like. Attack Toxicroak with as much killing intent as you want to. ACHOO!"

'He's trying to bait me into some kind of attack.' Zoro noted, 'There must be some kind of a trap involved, but I can't not attack and expect to win. Eh, it'll be easier to destroy a trap if it's sprung anyway.'

Once again, he held his swords out in front of his face and crossed them into an X-shape. Facing Toxicroak directly, where the Pokémon had risen to its feet and was now staring him down with its sac rhythmically inflating and deflating in a way akin to breathing.

A second passed, with both Zoro and Copper's eyes raking in every single minute detail in front of them. The swordsman's muscles twitched, and he moved but-

"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"

The words registered in Zoro's mind as Toxicroak was already in action. Imbued with a swiftness that not even he could process, Toxicroak dashed forwards across the ground, becoming a blur of red and blue and an ominous blackness that enshrouded its fist. That mass of black slammed into Zoro's abdomen before he had even moved an inch, with the claw especially digging into him, and the breath escaped his lungs as his brain was still trying to catch up, not even feeling the pain yet.

And then it hit him a moment later, as Toxicroak's ungodly speed vanished and it became as it had been before. Zoro staggered back off of the Pokémon's limb, winded and with wide, disoriented eyes. Had Toxicroak been any other fighter, it would have pressed its advantage and attacked again, but it simply stood still and waited for another command to be issued. Zoro was, after all, not the only human present who needed a moment to catch up with its speed.

"FOLLOW IT UP WITH POISON JAB! ACHOO!"

Once the instructions finally came, Toxicroak thrust its other claw- imbued with poison, of course- out at the same part of Zoro's abdomen that it had just struck previously, but compared to its attack speed before it was moving just shy of a snail's pace. Zoro caught the claw between his swords, stopping Toxicroak's attack short as poison trickled down the two blades. He shoved the Pokémon back, releasing its claw and spinning himself around once again, though not to attack with a regular slash as he had done before.

"Two-Sword Style… HAWK WAVE!"

With the sheer force that he swung his blades, he mustered up a great gust of wind and hurled it directly into Toxicroak. Whereas before the Pokémon had been able to easily endure the might of world-class blades wielded by a competent swordsman, the wind actually elicited a reaction of serious pain, with Toxicroak's eyes widening as it was knocked back off its feet by the wind and sent tumbling back across the ground.

Such a reaction did not escape Zoro's notice.

Briefly returning his swords to their sheaths in order to free up his hands, he untied the bandana that had previously been wrapped around his arm, and tied it around his head while Toxicroak rose to its feet.

"So that stupid frog of yours can take damage." Zoro remarked, a vicious grin on his face. When he drew his swords again, he drew Wado Ichimonji first, and he grasped the sword's hilt in his mouth to go along with the blade he wielded in each hand. His particular method of wielding three blades at once elicited a raised eyebrow from Copper.

"That is an interesting way of doing combat. Am I to presume that is the norm for foreigners? ACHOO!"

"Nothing about me is the norm." Zoro retorted proudly, "I'm glad to know that you're stronger than the guy who twirly-brow beat, because I'd feel bad about having to put in this much effort if you weren't."

"And I suppose I should thank you for making yourself my opponent." Copper said, "Assuming a hierarchy based on strength, I may very well have bitten off more than I could- ACHOO- with that captain of yours."

"Don't sell yourself short." Zoro said, "You bit off more than you could chew with me."

"We'll see, won't we? ACHOO!"

-O-

​

​

In contrast to the show of speed and skill between a swordsman and a frog, the battle between Spruce and Brass far more closely resembled what one would picture in their heads when they heard the term 'Pokémon Battle'. Once Golem had risen to its feet and climbed out of the crater it created, Brass took his place standing behind the Pokémon while Spruce stood behind Ria, and the diminutive blue canine glared down the walking boulder with a ferocity that could be mistaken for Intimidate. Golem's attack was not lowered in the slightest, though.

"You sure you wanna take this battle, Ria? Floatzel probably really softened him up with that Aqua Tail." Spruce asked.

"Riolu! Rio-Rio, Lu Riolu!" Ria said hotly, bouncing up and down and turning back to Spruce as she made several wild gestures. He nodded along like he understood everything she was trying to communicate.

"Right, yeah. I get it. That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it? Sure, you got this!" He said with an added fist pump of encouragement.

"Damn crazy weirdoes who think they can talk to Pokémon." Brass grunted, "GOLEM, USE ROCK POLISH!"

"GOLEM!" Golem roared. It rubbed its hands along the rocky plates of its shell in a polishing motion as its body took on a bright white glow, which died down a second later to reveal that its body was now much shinier, practically sparkling in the sunlight.

"Make yourself a more obvious target, why don't you?" Spruce deadpanned, "RIA! QUICK ATTACK INTO ROCK SMASH!"

"DODGE IT!" Brass ordered.

"Riolu!" Ria nodded, quickly dashing forwards towards the sparkling Golem at a breakneck pace. She zigzagged, hopping from left to right as she did, before ramming right into the centre of Golem's shell. The attack didn't even faze that Pokémon, but damage hadn't been the main goal of the Quick Attack. As Ria rebounded off of Golem's rocky shell, she reared her fist back while imbuing it with an orange glow, only for Golem to strafe to the side just as she threw the punch. She landed on the ground and swivelled around to keep the Pokémon in her sights.

"USE HEAVY SLAM!"

"CATCH IT WITH METAL CLAW!"

The same as before, Golem's shell was overtaken by a metallic shine, giving the impression of steel rather than stone, though it didn't leap up into the air to perform the attack this time. Instead, it simply threw itself forwards into Ria, aiming to crush her with its weight. A pair of glowing claws with a similar metal sheen grew out the ends of Ria's paws, and she thrust them out to meet Golem's attack head-on. Gritting her teeth and bracing herself against the ground, she dug the tips of the claws into the plates of its shell and heaved Golem off of the ground. Swinging her arms overhead, she lifted the enormous Rock-Type in an arc and slammed it into the ground behind her. Its body dug into the ground, creating an indent, though not quite the crater it had left before.

"NOW USE METAL CLAW FOR REAL!"

"DODGE IT!"

No longer imbued with the power of a Heavy Slam, Golem's shell had returned to normal just in time for Ria to leap up onto it, her metal claws having not yet disappeared, so she scrape them parallel to each other down across the rocky plates.

"GOLEM!" It cried out in pain, planting its hands firmly against the ground and shoving it up onto its feet. The motion jostled Ria off of its shell, and she did a flip in the air before landing on the ground a short distance away. She looked over at Spruce with a hopeful expression, and he gave her a thumbs-up.

"Riolu!" Ria chirped, bouncing up and down gleefully. Such antics seemed to anger both Brass and his Pokémon, as matching veins popped in their foreheads.

"USE STEALTH ROCK!"

"USE METAL CLAW!"

White energy manifested all around Golem's body, shaping itself as tendrils that emerged from between the plates of its shell and shot out in all directions of the battlefield, with no particular target as far as any observer could tell. The ends of the tendrils took shape and materialised into a myriad of small, jagged stones, which both littered the ground they were battling on and even floated in the air, as if immune to the effects of gravity. Some of the rocks appeared in Ria's path as she dashed towards where Golem was standing, claws of metal appearing out of her paws once more, but she easily darted around or over most of them, and used her claws to smash right through the last couple to have wound up in her path.

"ROCK POLISH AND THEN DODGE!" Brass yelled as Ria closed the distance between the two Pokémon.

"Gol… EM!" Golem said, polishing himself once again and causing his body to sparkle even more than it had before. Ria could vaguely make out her own reflection growing larger as she leaped towards it with her Metal Claw attack. Moving with a swiftness that was almost a comical sight given Golem's appearance, the Pokémon leaped to the side to dodge Ria's attack, her warped reflection taunting her as it passed across several different plates on the Pokémon's shell.

"Sending out Whiskers and Pex is probably out of the question with all these Stealth Rocks about." Spruce mused to himself, "That was probably intention with the attack, help cover the numbers disadvantage."

"Riolu!" Ria snapped at her trainer, throwing him a glare from across the battlefield.

"I wasn't gonna!" He defended, throwing his hands up placatingly, "I was just saying. Come on, you know I wouldn't go back on my word like that!"

"The hell kind of insane ramblings are you having now?" Brass called out irritably.

"She got mad at me because she thought I might switch her out!" Spruce replied, "But we decided that I wouldn't do that because Floatzel already weakened Golem earlier, so instead she's going to beat Golem and your next Pokémon as well!"

"Riolu!" Ria nodded confidently.

"In your dreams, you damn homeless nutcase." Brass grunted, "GOLEM! ROLLOUT!"

"GOLEM!" Golem exclaimed. The Pokémon tucked its limbs and head in, retracting them into its shell so that it became as close to spherical as it could, and began to spin rapidly in place. The movement kicked up a trail of dust behind where it was, and after a second to build up speed, it shot forwards like a ball fired out of a cannon. The trail of dust in its wake only grew larger as it sped across the ground right towards where Ria was standing.

"BRACE YOURSELF!" Spruce instructed. Brass' brow furrowed at the command.

'Brace? Not dodge? What the hell is that dumb brat thinking?'

"Rio… Lu… Rio… Lu…" Ria murmured to herself, raising her arms up to shield her face as Golem rolled towards her. Spreading her legs apart and digging her heels into the ground, she glared at the high-speed shell, which had since lost its previous shine, right up into it slammed into her. Plates of stone rammed into her, scraping across her body as she was quickly flung off her feet to sail through the air and land unceremoniously to the side, all while Golem just rolled right on. It continued on its trajectory for several meters, before swerving around and doubling back, singling out where Ria was standing and once again rolling towards her.

For her part, Ria rose to her feet, ignoring the superficial scrapes the attack had left her with in favour of brushing some of the dust off her fur. Once again, she glared at the rapidly oncoming Rollout attack rather than make any attempt to dodge, as she had been given no command to do so. The attack seemed to accelerate as it approached her, kicking a larger amount of dust up in its wake, and she did nothing more than shield her face once again as she was hit. Like before, the attack flung her into the air, but her landing this time was far more graceful, as she rolled with the attack in order to do two whole flips in the air this time before landing. Spruce gave her a double thumbs-up, while two veins throbbed in Brass' forehead.

"CRUSH IT WITH THIS ROLLOUT!" Brass roared furiously, not that he need of bothered, as Golem kept up its speed and momentum and, once again, swerved around to aim itself at where Ria was now standing. And, once again, the attack sped up even more the third time around. Third time's the charm, after all.

Unlike the previous round, however, Spruce actually saw fit to issue a new command this time.

"JUMP UP AND COME DOWN WITH A ROCK SMASH!"

Brass' eyes widened as he cottoned onto the plan he had been ignorantly playing into, but there was nothing he could do but watch as Golem remained locked in its Rollout attack.

Before Golem had a chance to hit her for the third time, Ria jumped up into the air and reared her fist back, which glowed with a burning orange light. As Golem passed by beneath her, she descended and drove her fist down, smashing it into the Pokémon's shell with such force as to stop its Rollout short and drive it into the ground. A crater formed in the ground around where Golem was stopped while the cloud of dust obscured both trainers' vision of the battle.

Neither one said anything until the dust settled, which revealed to both of them the sight of Ria standing atop Golem's shell, her fist still pressed into one of many cracked plates, and none the worse for wear. Golem's limbs and head had emerged from within its shell, all hanging limply and its eyes having turned into a pair of swirls. Even with no referee to make it official, the result was clear.

"Golem!" Brass gasped.

"Great job, Ria! You did really well tanking those hits!" Spruce cheered, an ear-to-ear grin plastered across his face.

"Riolu!" Ria gushed, a matching grin on her face as she bounced up and down on Golem's shell.

Red light snapped both trainer and Pokémon out of their jubilation and returned them to the reality of their battle, as Brass returned Golem to its Pokeball. In contrast to Spruce's glee, he had a sneer on his face as he held the Pokeball in front of his face.

"A useless piece of trash, no better than the ones in the wild. That's what you are." Brass spat before placing the Pokeball back on his belt and grabbing the one next to it.

"That kind of attitude is exactly the reason you're losing this battle!" Spruce said disapprovingly.

"Spare me the self-righteousness and just battle." Brass growled.

"Fine, fine, I'll save the gloating for after I win." Spruce shrugged, "Now hurry up and make this quick! I don't wanna miss seeing Luffy beat the crap out of Mercury!"

"Grnngh." Brass said, "Damn brat, I'll show you! TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL SUDOWOODO!"

He threw the Pokeball high up into the air, and Ria and Spruce both braced themselves for the next stage of the battle, as they knew that the easy part was done, and the next Pokémon they faced would be nowhere near as easy to defeat.

---

A/N: Changed the title to 'An Aura of Freedom' because I was never happy with what the previous title was. It felt too Pokemon-centric with not enough One Piece, and was also kind of lacking in terms of personality. Hopefully this one is a little more distinct and better represents the story I'm writing.

 

[DolphinMan]

As attacks were exchanged and Pokemon faced off against both swordsmen and trainers alike, the two leaders behind the entire conflict found themselves in a moment of tranquility as Mercury led Luffy out onto the base's main battlefield- an expanse of flat, barren terrain that was marked with white rectangular borders painted onto the ground and a line which split it horizontally from the trainers' perspectives and formed a Pokeball emblem in the middle. It was part of the base that had remained since the days that it was as a Gym, and Mercury walked over to one end of it, while Luffy stood himself right on the Pokeball emblem in the middle, having not said a word since they made their way out back here.

They were joined by Walter and Floatzel, who hurried after the two of them so that they could take their places standing a distance away from the battlefield where they would have a good view of all the action, but as Walter saw Mercury and Luffy staring each other down, just about to fight, he quickly shuffled over closer to the field, where he stood by the side of the center. Floatzel remained where he was standing, though was ready to jump in at a moment's notice if his trainer got himself into any trouble.

"THIS BATTLE IS BETWEEN TEAM STEEL LEADER MERCURY AND PIRATE CAPTAIN-!" Walter announced in a booming voice, only to be cut off.

"What are you doing?" Luffy asked, tilting his head as he gave the old man a weird look.

"Huh?" Walter said.

"What are you doing?" Luffy repeated.

"I'm… I'm officiating the battle!" Walter explained, "Announcing the trainers, refereeing the whole thing, and then calling the winner! It was, uh, a gym thing."

"That's stupid." Luffy said bluntly, "I'm not a Pokémon trainer, and I'm gonna win anyway! I don't need you to tell me that, and Mercu-lady won't need you to tell her that because I'm gonna beat the crap out of her."

Mercury let out an irritated grunt at his remark.

"Is it too much for this feeble, elderly man to ask to try and feel relevant?" Walter said heatedly, "I'm forced to watch some foreigner brat- not even the brat I've had some hand in training- avenge my son and save my island! No sympathy for me?"

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Mercury snapped, "MEDICHAM, MAKE HIS BLOOD GO COLD WITH ICE PUNCH!"

Holding her Pokeball in front of herself, Mercury's Medicham burst out and materialised on her end of the battlefield, doing a little dance as the light died down before charging towards Luffy. It zigzagged, hopping from left to right in order to try and make its movements more unpredictable, while it clenched its right fist. The temperature around that fist- not that anyone else could feel it from where they were- plummeted, as small pieces of ice began to form around it.

"FOUL! RED CARD! FALSE START!" Walter bellowed while scurrying several steps further back to make sure he was well out of the way of the fight that had just properly started, and despite all his whining and yelling he found himself with a grin that just wouldn't go away. He watched as Medicham raced towards Luffy, throwing its icy fist out in an attempt to strike him. Without even saying anything, and with the casualness of a person batting away an irksome insect, Luffy weaved around Medicham's fist, turning himself around to stand perpendicular to the Pokémon as its attack moved past him, before reaching out to grab its arm and hold it in place as he repaid the attempt in kind.

"GUM-GUM… PISTOL!"

Stretching his free hand back, Luffy's fist snapped forwards in order to strike Medicham cleanly in the face. The Pokémon's head jerked back with the blow, and he quickly released its arm just as the attack landed so that Medicham could be knocked back. It actually managed to tank the force of the blow pretty well, being knocked a couple of feet back and them stumbling another couple before managing to regain its footing.

Luffy began vigorously rubbing the hand which he had grabbed Medicham's attack arm with, occasionally puffing hot breath onto it as well, as he tried to warm it up in the aftermath of its proximity to the ice attack. In doing so, he took his eyes off of Medicham completely, which only served to aggravate both Pokémon and trainer, who had matching veins pound in their foreheads.

"Yeesh! That was cold!" Luffy commented to himself.

"Treat us like a joke, will you?" Mercury growled, "MEDICHAM, MAKE HIM SUFFER WITH A FORCE PALM!"

"CHAM!" Medicham nodded, charging forwards and thrusting an open palm out straight into Luffy's chest. The yell served to snap the pirate to attention, who attentively watched Medicham's palm slam into his chest with a tremendous Pure Power fuelling the Pokémon's attack.

Monkey D. Luffy's body stretched.

Like pressing a hand into sponge or sand, the area of Luffy's chest that Medicham's attack had actually made contact with formed an impression shaped by the Pokémon's palm. While still standing in place, completely unphased by the attack, Luffy's chest pressed about an inch inwards and held there for a couple of seconds. Then, his rubbery skin snapped back into place and forcefully ejected Medicham's hand back in the direction of its own palm thrust, resulting in the Pokémon essentially backhanding itself with a force equal to its own Force Palm. A Force Backhand, if you will.

"Medi!" Medicham cried out in surprise.

"Shishishi!" Luffy snickered at the antics, before looking past the Medicham in order to address Walter, who was watching the battle go down with baffled amusement, "Hey, old guy! You can officially eat this battle or whatever if you really want, but I still think it's dumb! And I already know I'm gonna win, so no need to tell me when it happens!"

"HOHOHO! I appreciate the consideration." Walter said, "Now hurry up and win so I can announce it!"

"Hurry up and die is more like it!" Mercury said, "USE ZEN HEADBUTT!"

Around the top of Medicham's head, a blue glow appeared. The glow was shaped like a dome, almost like a helmet that the Pokémon was now wearing, and it raced towards Luffy. Leaping forwards, it sailed through the air towards him, with the pirate jerking to the side to try and move himself out of the path of attack, but Medicham predicted such an action, and it kicked its legs out to wrap them around his arm and use the limb as an anchor with which it was able to pull the two of them together. Medicham's head slammed into Luffy's, and his neck was stretched a good distance back in the direction of the blow, while Medicham released its hold of his arm.

The attack had not hurt Luffy very much- or really, at all. At least, it didn't hurt him in the physical sense. It had struck the centre of his forehead, which had been squished somewhat, and his neck had flown back with the momentum from the impact, but blunt force trauma was something that was far from an issue from him, at least in this stage of his journey through the Grand Line. Yet despite the fact that the attack had not hurt him, Luffy had gone completely silent the moment that it struck him, and his face was now scrunched up with a mix of confusion and thoughtfulness. Being released by Medicham, he allowed himself to fall backwards, landing on his back and staring up at the sky while his neck was still stretched.

"ICE PUNCH!"

Mistaking the state that Luffy was in as him flinching, Mercury ordered another attack, but Luffy's body kicked up and flew backwards. Pulled along by his neck retracting to its original length, the body went to the head instead of the other way around, which pulled him out of the way of Medicham's icy fist striking the ground where his body had been just a moment ago. Despite that, he continued to stare up at the sky, and continued to look awfully confused and thoughtful at the same time.

"USE ZEN HEADBUTT AGAIN!"

"CHAM!"

"The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides." Luffy droned, with his comment being mostly drowned out by Mercury and Medicham's combined yelling. The Pokémon dashed towards him, a blue mass of psychic energy once again glowing around the top of its head. Leaning its head back, it leaped forwards and slammed its head forwards directly into Luffy, causing his neck to stretch once again. This time, though, his head came flying right back with the same amount of force that had sent it flying back, and his forehead smashed into Medicham's, sending the Pokémon stumbling back just as its feet touched the ground. All the while, Luffy had a blank stare on his face.

"The volume of a sphere can be found by cubing the radius and multiplying it by four thirds of Pi." Luffy said, droning again just like before. Rather than try to attack Medicham, he just stood in place.

"What the hell is this kid babbling about? Did those Zen Headbutts brain damage him?" Mercury said.

"Cham, Cham. Medicham!" Medicham said, glancing back to its trainer and giving her a shrug.

"Why is he babbling about pie? Is it because he's hungry?" Walter said.

"How fascinating." Luffy said, "The concentration of mental energy applied directly to my cranium appears to have overcharged my brain's functionality. My emotions have been suppressed by logic and information. Interestingly, this logical overhaul has also inhibited my ability to fight, as instead of dodging or counterattacking, I can't help but overthink every attack that is directed towards me. The fact that I just admitted this in the middle of a fight may be another symptom of this condition, or it could be that I have retained my habit of thoughtlessly saying things that cause trouble for myself and those around me."

The word vomit that had just escaped Luffy's mouth earned him stares from both Walter and Mercury, as well as Medicham, none of whom appeared to have any words for the ridiculousness of the situation. Well, other than Mercury's next set of orders for her Pokémon.

"Alright then! So you can't fight anymore? Okay! Medicham, use FIRE PUNCH!"

"Medi… CHAM!" Medicham yelled, as a raging fire suddenly enveloped its fist.

"Using the extension of my body to determine the strength of the blow, and assuming durability and strength to be interchangeable, this Pokémon shouldn't have been able to withstand my previous attack with such a minimal reaction." Luffy mused, seemingly paying no mind to Medicham's oncoming attack. It ran towards him and reared its flaming fist back, punching him across the face with such force it knocked him into the ground and sent him skidding back.

"Pokémon appear to exhibit extreme and varied elemental abilities, almost like Devil Fruit abilities." Luffy continued, which made Medicham take a step back in shock.

"He's just standing around and letting Medicham attack him, and not even showing any signs of getting hurt?" Mercury muttered, "What kind of freak is this brat?"

"Taking into account Pokémon's type-based affinities and categorisation, it would stand to reason that Pokémon would be able to resist certain types of damage based not only on their strength and durability, but also on their type." Luffy said, rising to his feet, "The hypothesis is thus: Medicham possesses a specific resistance to my standard repertoire of blunt force attacks, making it more difficult to defeat it. The plan to overcome this obstacle will be…"

Hurrying over to the white markings which lined the battlefield, Luffy crouched down and began scratching something into them.

"What's he doing?" Walter said.

"FIRE PUNCH AGAIN!" Mercury roared. Medicham nodded, and its fist was once again swallowed up by a ball of fire. Running towards Luffy, it jumped up into the air, swinging its fist out as it descended upon him from above.

"Done." Luffy said, just before his eyes suddenly widened and he shook his head fervently, "Man, what the heck was that?! That felt weird! Huh, it looks like there's something written here…"

Focused on reading the message that he had just left for himself, Luffy only felt the searing heat rapidly descending towards him and reacted at the last possible moment. Rolling out of the way, he watched as Medicham's flaming fist crashed into the ground where he had just been, and the fire burned away the white paint which the message had been scratched into.

"GGFG?" Luffy said to himself confusedly, "I wonder what that means."

Medicham snapped to its feet, the raging flame still burning around its fist, and threw itself at Luffy. The pirate's brow was furrowed, still thinking over those four letters that had been scratched into the paint, as he ducked and weaved and bobbed around every Fire Punch that was thrown his way. With every missed blow, the speed and ferocity of Medicham's attacks increased, and each punch became more feral than the last.

Then, all of a sudden, Luffy's fist shot out and struck the Pokémon right in the stomach. In an instant, the fire around its fist died out, and it doubled over Luffy's fist with its eyes bulging out slightly.

"GUM-GUM… BAZOOKA!"

Pulling his fist back, Luffy allowed Medicham to stagger a couple steps away, still bending forwards slightly, while he reached back with both hands. His arms stretched far back, all the way to the end of the battlefield, before snapping forwards and sending both his palms rocketing forwards in order to slam right into Medicham and send it flying into the air completely. Mercury's head whipped around, following Medicham's trajectory as it crashed into the ground just behind her, looking dazed but still in fighting shape.

"Man, that Medical thing of yours is pretty tough!" Luffy commented, watching Medicham get back on its feet and dust itself off as it walked past Mercury back onto the battlefield.

"Medicham isn't the only one." Mercury said, eyes narrowing at the pirate, "You just completely shrug off every attack that manages to hit you, and then hit back even harder than almost any Pokémon I've ever seen. It's a good thing that the smarter version of you is worthless in a fight, apparently. ZEN HEADBUTT!"

"Oh man, I don't wanna end up like I did before!" Luffy said, grimacing as he watched Medicham amass psychic energy around its cranium once again and come dashing across the battlefield towards him. Spreading his legs slightly, he braced himself against the ground and threw both his hands forwards, extending his arms in order to grab Medicham by both its arms before it could get within headbutting distance of him. Twisting his body around, he swung the Pokémon, lifting it up off its feet and slamming it headfirst into the ground around him, with the Zen Headbutt attack gouging out the path he swung it in. Once Medicham reached the furthest distance from him that its trajectory would take it, he let go of it and his arms snapped back to their normal length.

The blue dome of psychic energy had completely dissipated after being redirected, but Medicham once again got back on its feet, though it did have to plant both hands against the ground to use as leverage in order to rip its head out of the trench Luffy had used it to dig in the battlefield. It looked thoroughly ticked-off at the whole ordeal, and some scrapes and grazes were beginning to show on its body, but it was still in prime fighting condition.

"FIRE PUNCH!" Mercury ordered.

"Fire… Hmm…" Luffy said to himself, clutching his chin thoughtfully as flames ignited around Medicham's fist, "Fire… FFFFFFire… Oh, I get it now!"

Without another word, he threw his hands out, but not in the direction of Medicham. Running hurriedly to the side to put some distance between him and Medicham, which had just rushed towards him with its flaming fist, he grabbed hold of the shirt which Walter was wearing, with both hands grabbing separate handfuls of the fabric.

"Er, is something the matter?" Walter said confusedly at being grabbed all of a sudden.

"Float?" Floatzel said, similarly confused. That confusion, from trainer and Pokémon alike, turned into wide-eyed bafflement as they both watched Luffy tear the shirt apart with his bare hands. His arms snapped back once again, yanking the torn shirt from Walter's body as the old man flushed and tugged his vest closed over his chest, and Luffy wrapped the two pieces of cloth around his fists.

"C-Cham…?" Medicham mumbled, the sight of Luffy stripping an elderly man being enough to briefly stop it in its tracks, while the flames of its Fire Punch continued to burn.

"Is that… supposed to be some kind of distraction?" Mercury said, angling her head to the side and raising a hand to shield her view from the half-naked Walter.

"I'm terribly sorry, but did you really need to rip apart my feeble, elderly shirt like that?!" Walter called out.

"Sorry, old guy, but I needed it for something!" Luffy responded. Throwing his hands out, his cloth-wrapped fists brushed against the sides of Medicham's flaming fist, lingering in proximity to the fire for just a second before retracting back to their original lengths, with the addition of the cloth now having caught on fire. Such an action snapped Mercury and Medicham out of their stupor, with the latter's eyes widening and it beginning to rush towards Luffy again, while the former's eyes narrowed.

"Hold on, he couldn't be- there's no way!" Mercury said. Luffy just gave a D-shaped grin as he watched Medicham come running towards him.

"GUM-GUM…"

Rearing back both fists, Luffy allowed Medicham to come almost close enough for it to strike him.

"FLAME GATLING!"

Just like before, the two flaming fists which Luffy pelted Medicham with became four, and then eight, and then sixteen as the air around the pirate melted into a blur of flame and rubbery flesh. Blazing blows struck the Pokemon brutally and then bounced off only to barrel forwards and blast it again, so fast that they felt almost simultaneous from Medicham's perspective. Mercury watched the whole affair with gritted teeth, knowing there was no use in issuing any further orders. The only sound that echoed out across the battlefield, joining the distant medley of Zoro and Spruce's respective fights, was the crackle of flame and the striking of burning cloth against Pokemon flesh.

Finally, Luffy brought his attack to an end and lowered his hands to his sides. The flaming scraps of cloth wrapped around both his fists unfurled themselves and fell to the ground, and he stepped forwards to avoid being burned by them, paying no mind to Medicham as he did. The Pokemon remained upright for a couple of seconds after the attack, almost as if its body was catching up to the state it was in, but as soon as Luffy stepped past it, it collapsed to the ground with a pair of swirly eyes.

"MEDICHAM IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" Walter declared after a brief pause that was spent coming to terms with what had just happened. He also gave silent thanks for the weather not being too cold or breezy today.

"Tch. I'd call it worthless, but that wouldn't be too fair after I got blindsided by your weird powers too." Mercury said, returning the fainted Medicham to its Pokeball and grabbing a replacement from her belt, "Don't expect your weird-ass powers to get you through my other two Pokemon, though."

"Shishishi! Bring it on." Luffy challenged.

-O-




​

For the first time since his return from Team Steel's base earlier today, not counting when he had been so rudely interrupted by Nickel's arrival, Sanji set down the ingredients and utensils in his hands down on the bench before him and just stared at them while reaching up to idly run a hand across his chin. The chef's brow was furrowed with thought, and the suddenness of his actions didn't go unnoticed by those around him. All of the villagers had been fed by now, of course, as he would never have dreamed of stopping otherwise, but his work was far from being finished.

"Something up, Sanji?" Usopp asked, making his way over to sit to the side of the cooking station. He rested his chin atop his interlaced hands, while his elbows pressed into the tops of his thighs. Vivi, Nami and Tiffany were all chatting a few feet away from the two men, with both Carue and Sableye listening in as well.

"Just thinking." Sanji said. There was no cigarette poking out from between his lips at the current moment. Perhaps his break allowed him to register such a detail, because right after he spoke he had already reached into his pocket in order to find a replacement, which he took a long drag of once one end was lit and the other was in his mouth.

"About Luffy and the others' fight?" Usopp guessed.

"Moreso about what comes after." Sanji said, "I went through most of the berries and other ingredients just cooking for the villagers. Plus, Luffy hasn't had anything but a light snack for lunch, so he's going to come out of this fight with an even bigger appetite than usual."

"We're, uh, not gonna have to starve to feed him, right?" Usopp said nervously.

"You won't need to worry about our stock of food as long as you've got me." Sanji reassured him, "I can ration everything out accordingly if we start running low. No, it's just that I would have liked to prepare some additional dishes for the people in the other villages. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I might have to leave this island with entire villages of people left hungry."

"At least you'll leave knowing they'll be able to feed themselves?" Usopp said.

"It'll be something of a comfort." Sanji nodded. He took another long drag of his cigarette and turned around, going to grab one of the remaining berries in order to get back to cooking, only for his foot to suddenly catch on something behind him that had not been there before, and the chef found himself tripping and stumbling and ultimately falling flat on his rear end in a rather unceremonious fashion. Luckily, his body hit only the ground, and not any of the benches that had been set up for him to cook on. Had his fall ended up knocking any of the ingredients onto the ground, then the consequences for the culprit would undoubtedly have been far harsher.

"Huh? You alright?" Usopp said, confused at the sight of Sanji seemingly falling over nothing- at least from his perspective of things. As well as the sniper, the commotion drew the attention of the chatting ladies, with Vivi hurrying over in order to offer Sanji a hand back onto his feet.

"Goodness! Are you alright?" Vivi asked, concern clear in her voice.

"I'm alright now that I have such a kind and beautiful young woman as yourself caring for me, Vivi-dearest~!" Sanji gushed, overflowing with love as Vivi took her hand in his to help him stand back up, "I'm truly blessed to be able to feel the warmth of your divine hand around mine!"

"He's fine, alright." Usopp muttered at the antics.

"So that's how he talks to all women, then?" Tiffany said, a hint of resignation in her voice as she observed the whole interaction.

"Pretty much." Nami said.

"Er, alright." Vivi said, slightly uncomfortably, and tugged her hand away from Sanji as soon as he was standing, "What happened? It seemed like you just fell down out of nowhere."

"My foot caught on something." Sanji explained, frowning as he thought back to what had just happened himself, "It's weird, because I don't remember there being anything there. What did I trip over?"

Both chef and princess turned their attention towards the part of the ground where Sanji had tripped over, where it appeared that of all things, a tree had just spontaneously grown out of the ground. More accurately, a tree sapling had sprouted out of the ground. It was one that neither of them had ever seen before, having a somewhat bulbous trunk along with three ball-shaped growths around its top.

"Is that a tree?" Vivi said, which prompted Usopp to peer over the bench at the sapling.

"Looks like one. Must be native to the island or something. It wasn't there this whole time, was it?"

"If it was, I would have set up somewhere else." Sanji said, "I don't understand, but it must have sprouted out of the ground recently while I wasn't paying attention."

"There are some weird plant species that grow in the Grand Line, and some I'm familiar with." Vivi said, "Though considering where we are, I'm not so sure this is just a tree."

All this pondering over the nature of the sapling had gotten Timothy's attention, as he shuffled over to see what everyone was talking about. It only took him one look to be able to provide the Iron Island newcomers with a blunt explanation.

"That's not a tree, it's a Bonsly. They disguise themselves as trees."

"BONSLY!" The 'sapling'- really a Bonsly- cried out, and a pair of yellow eyes with black pupils opened up with which she was able to look up to see both Vivi and Sanji staring at her. While the former had an inquisitive look upon her face, the latter appeared much more irritated, though his demeanour would have been far harsher had his tumble caused any food to be spilled and wasted.

"And just what was one of these things doing hiding around me?" Sanji said irritably. His eyes narrowed at the Bonsly, which recoiled away from him, though her eyes couldn't help but drift from him to where some of the food he'd prepared was laid out, ready to be handed off to a certain hungry captain when he returned. Sanji noticed the movement, and following the direction of the gaze clued him in pretty quickly to why Bonsly had been there, which only served to worsen his demeanour. Before anything could come of it, though, tears sprang up in the Pokémon's eyes.

"BOOOOONSLYYYYYY!" Bonsly wailed melodramatically, fountains of tears spurting out from her tear ducts and spraying the ground around her as she hopped up onto her feet and began running around in a circle. The show of distress brought Sanji simmering down in an instant, and he took a step away from Bonsly with an uncomfortable look on his face, while seemingly wrestling with himself as to how he should approach the situation. Usopp wasn't any better suited either, silently backing away from the whole debacle, which left just Vivi to kneel down in front of the crying Pokémon.

"That's enough of that." Vivi chastised Bonsly gently, bringing her to a grinding halt and stemming the flood of tears from her eyes, "Throwing a tantrum like that isn't going to accomplish anything, you know."

"B-Bons… Ly?" Bonsly murmured, some moisture still gathered around her eyes which clouded her vision. Viv reached over to tenderly wipe it away with a serene smile on her face.

"Those fake tears of yours were awfully convincing." She added, "But I've had enough experience throwing tantrums of my own to see through that kind of act."

"That was all fake?" Sanji muttered.

"Had me fooled." Usopp said.

"Bon… Bonsly?" Bonsly said awkwardly, carefully avoiding eye contact with Vivi.

"If you just wanted to try some of Sanji's food, you should have just asked." She said, "I'm sure he would have said yes! But because you thought you had to steal from him, you've made things significantly harder for yourself, and you caused him to trip over you as well."

"Bonsly…" Bonsly mumbled.

"First, I think you need to start by apologising to him for the trouble." Vivi instructed.

"Uh, that's really not necessary…" Sanji said.

"Go on, tell him you're sorry." Vivi pressed. Bonsly bowed her head slightly and turned to face the chef.

"Bon… Bon, Bonsly." Bonsly said apologetically.

"It's, uh, alright." Sanji said, really not sure how he was supposed to feel or react to having a talking baby tree just apologise to him.

"Great!" Vivi said brightly, clapping her hands together and flashing a dazzling smile, "Now, if you just want to try some of the food, then all you need to do is ask him if he'll let you. Sanji, could this Bonsly try some of your food, please?"

"Go… ahead." Sanji said, "It can have that plate there."

Vivi grabbed the plate which he had been referring to, and held it out in front of Bonsly. On the plate there were several slices of different berries which had been lightly grilled and skewered together. She slid the skewer out and placed it to the side, allowing Bonsly to eagerly dig in and gobble down the food with gusto. It didn't take long, and Bonsly was soon beaming at the princess as she held the empty plate.

"Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly said, bouncing up and down from one foot to the other a little bit.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Vivi said, looking over to Sanji with her bright smile still on her face, "Thank you for your generosity, Sanji!"

The double-whammy of the smile and the gratitude in her voice was too much for the chef, who staggered back at the two-pronged attack of love, clutching his heart and falling flat on his rear.

'She… loves me?' Sanji thought, his mind racing.

"It was my… pleasure." He choked out.

"Bon-Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly gushed as she scampered off, heading back in the direction of the Eterna Grove. Vivi watched Bonsly depart fondly, while also ignoring Sanji's antics.

"You handled that pretty diplomatically." Usopp commented, "Guess that comes with being a princess, huh?"

"Really? I felt more like a mother." Vivi said, chuckling sheepishly, "The roles aren't that different, now that I think about it, though I doubt I could get away with talking to other royals and diplomats like that."

"For a second there, I was kind of expecting you to end up taking that thing with you." Usopp said, "Seemed like things were going in that direction."

"I was… actually thinking about that possibility as well." Vivi admitted, "It was a rather cute little creature, but it's alright if it doesn't want to come with me. I've already got the perfect partner in Carue, after all!"

Suddenly being mentioned, Carue gave a start, but then let out an embarrassed quack at the praise.

-O-




​

"TIGER HUNT!"

"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"

Even knowing what the attack meant, Zoro was barely fast enough to move the swords in his hands away from the one in his mouth and instead cross their blades in front of his abdomen, managing to block the blackened claw of the Toxicroak from striking him. The muscles in his arms tensed as he shoved Toxicroak's limb to the side and brought his head down, trying to swing Wado Ichimonji into the side of the Pokémon's head, but Toxicroak ducked under the attack.

"POISON JAB! ACHOO!"

Using its other hand, Toxicroak imbued the claw with poison and thrust it out, stepping to the side and standing up to its full height as it did. Rather than direct the attack at Zoro's body, however, Toxicroak chose to jab at the blade of Wado Ichimonji, trying to knock it out of his mouth. Seeing the attack, his jaw gripped the hilt of the blade even tighter as the attack struck, managing to hold it steady.

While still using Sandai Kitetsu to hold Toxicroak's other hand away, he thrust the tip of Yubashiri out into Toxicroak's sac, knocking the Pokemon back and creating an opening for him to raise and cross both swords in front of Wado's blade. Darting forwards to close the distance he had just created, he swung both swords in a downwards slash straight into Toxicroak before Copper even had a chance to yell out another attack. Just like with every other instance of the blades raking across Toxicroak's body, however, the damage seemed utterly superficial, with the skin still not being split.

"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"

Toxicroak's sac bulged, inflating out right before it opened his mouth and released a stream of viscous, purple liquid. The stream blasted Zoro right in his face, splattering all across it and striking with such force that he was actually thrown backwards, but he managed to raise both swords in front of himself in order to block the flow of poison and divert it around himself, reducing the potency of the attack. Still, though, he was left with a face doused with poison, including his eyes, which were shut tightly.

It wasn't ideal, but Zoro leaped back, distancing himself from Toxicroak as he reached up to grab Wado Ichimonji and take it out of his mouth, allowing him to spit out a glob of poisonous liquid onto the ground. His eyes were still closed, to prevent the poison from getting into them, so it was fortunate that he was fighting an opponent who had no choice but to yell out every attack he wanted to use.

"I finally found something that tastes even worse than the stupid love-chef's cooking." Zoro muttered, wiping the poison off with the back of his arm.

"Then how about some seconds? VENOSHOCK AGAIN! THEN LOW KICK! ACHOO!"

Repeating the attack from before, Toxicroak fired a stream of poison straight at where Zoro was standing, but he managed to duck and roll to the side to avoid it this time. With his face cleaned off, he opened his eyes just in time to see Toxicroak charge towards where he was crouching. Rearing a leg back, it swept the limb out, aiming to strike Zoro from the side, only for the swordsman to block the kick with Sandai Kitetsu and swing it away, knocking the Pokémon's footing out from under it. Without wasting any time, Zoro brought the swords in his hands together to hold them parallel to each other.

"HAWK-!"

"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"

Suddenly overcome with a burst of speed, Toxicroak kicked a foot against the ground in order to throw itself at Zoro as it threw a brutal punch straight at him. A blackened claw struck him, slamming into the center of his chest, and Zoro was knocked into the ground while Toxicroak tumbled past him, scrambling to right itself and get back on its feet.

"The level of resilience you are showing is astonishing." Copper remarked, as Zoro rose to his feet at the same time as Toxicroak, "Not even the previous Leader was able to endure that many Pokemon attacks and continue fighting like that. If the same experiences that honed your strengths were applied to a Pokemon, I shudder to imagine how strong that Pokemon would be. ACHOO!"

"I don't need some pet to be strong." Zoro retorted, right before whirling around and crossing his swords in front of him to slash Toxicroak diagonally across the sac. Meeting the attack directly, Toxicroak met the slash with one of its claws, with the tip of the claw pressing into the exact point where the two blades crossed over so that the attack was stopped in its tracks.

"Toxi… Croak?" Toxicroak said, a distinct teasing lilt in its voice which Zoro thought almost sounded like some kind of challenge. Twisting its claw around slightly, it caught the top of where the swords were crossed and swung its hand down, twisting the swordsman's grip on the two hilts so that the tips of the blades were pointed to the side in opposite directions. Zoro scowled and spread his arms, slashing out right in front of him with both blades, but Toxicroak ducked under the attack.

"LOW KICK! ACHOO!"

Its leg shot out, sweeping Zoro's feet out from under him. Falling to the ground, he splayed one palm against the ground to balance himself, while swinging the other hand out to once again try and slash at Toxicroak with the sword in that hand, but the Pokemon jerked its body out of the way of the slash. Planting his feet against the ground once again, he wrapped the splayed hand back around the hilt of the sword that had been in it and pushed off, rolling back across the ground into a crouched position and quickly rising back to his feet.

'This thing's way too resilient, and there are no signs that I'm managing to wear it down with my attacks either.' Zoro thought to himself, his gaze darting between Toxicroak and its trainer, 'If I could attack sneezy, that might take away its ability to attack strategically, but that Sucker Punch attack seems to have some way of countering any amount of speed I fight with.'

"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"

Darting to the side, Zoro was able to preemptively avoid the stream of poison which Toxicroak spat at him. Spinning both swords in his hands in a circular motion in front of him allowed him to deflect the rest of the attack as Toxicroak turned its head to follow his movement. While the stream of poison was still ongoing, Zoro lunged forwards through the attack and, just as it finally subsided, stopped spinning his swords in order to slash at Toxicroak with all three of his blades. The attack didn't get the same kind of special reaction that Hawk Wave had before, but the sheer power behind the attack was enough to send Toxicroak flying into one of the berry trees. It slammed into the trunk and slid down it, while a couple of heart-shaped, pale pink berries tumbled out of the tree to the ground.

"Three-Sword Style Secret Move: Three Thousand Worlds." Zoro said to Copper after the fact, "Or more like fifteen-hundred, since I half-assed it."

"A ferociously powerful attack." Copper observed, "I should count myself lucky that I am not the one who is being struck by all these techniques. ACHOO!"

"Your time's coming." Zoro retorted darkly.

"Not today, though. POISON JAB! ACHOO!"

Toxicroak shook away the wooziness from Zoro's last attack and stood back up. This time, the poison energy it channeled was imbued into both of its claws.

"Croak." It drawled. Zoro smirked at it in response, and the two charged at each other. The poisoned thrusts and jabs were parried and blocked, clanging loudly against the steel of Zoro's blades as both sparks and droplets of poison flew through the air. The swordsman was mostly on the defensive against Toxicroak's venomous onslaught, with his occasional slash or stab being dodged by the frog, and he was more preoccupied with trying to determine an effective strategy rather than attacking pointlessly.

"LOW KICK! ACHOO!"

His reaction was even faster this time. Toxicroak had barely begun to move its leg when Zoro thrust Sandai Kitetsu downwards, sliding the blade beneath its limb and leveraging it to add to the momentum of the Pokémon's attack. Stepping back as he did so, the Pokémon's kick took its own footing out from under it, and he yanked the sword back and held it parallel to Yubashiri but-

"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"

-but Toxicroak became a blur once again. Slamming its foot against the ground, it whirled around and nailed Zoro with an ebony uppercut. His head snapped back as the attack knocked him back on his rear.

"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"

Kicking off the ground again, he rolled back and out of the way of the stream of poison as he sprang back up onto his feet and spun his swords in front of himself to block when the attack was aimed back at him. He didn't try and turn the defensive move into an attack this time, though.

'There must be some reason why he's not using that Sucker Punch attack constantly.' Zoro thought, 'It could be that he doesn't want me figuring out the best way to defend against it, but there must be something more than that. Think…'

Turning his attention away from Toxicroak over to the trainer that was commanding it, Zoro stopped spinning his swords as Toxicroak stopped blasting poison in his direction, and he watched the way that the trainer watched him in turn. He thought back to how the fight had played out so far.

'The first time he used that attack, he goaded me into attacking first. And the other times he's used it have always been as a reaction instead of the initial attack… that's it!'

"Since I put on such a poor showing earlier, I'll show you how it's really done." Zoro called out, adjusting his stance slightly and beginning to spin his swords in front of him yet again, "Three Sword Style Secret Move…"

"No shot! SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"

"Toxi…!" Toxicroak began, winding back its right hand expectantly, only to falter as the black energy that usually came with a Sucker Punch failed to manifest in its fist. It looked from Zoro, still spinning his swords, back to its unpowered hand, and then looked over to Copper and shook its head.

"Huh? What?!" Copper said, "What does that mean?! ACHOO!"

"Figured." Zoro said smugly. He stopped spinning his swords, only to instead hold them parallel to each other and swing them outwards, hurling a mass of wind straight at Toxicroak. Before the attack even connected, he began spinning his swords again. As the wind slammed into Toxicroak, Zoro rushed forwards and immediately followed the attack up- before it had even moved from where it was hit- and slashed it with the momentum from the rotation of the blades.

Overwhelmed by the combined attacks, both super-effective and not, Toxicroak skidded back across the ground and went entirely still, while Zoro also came to a stop, being bent forwards from the attack he had just used. As he straightened back up, Toxicroak collapsed, with swirly eyes signifying its proper defeat. Copper looked on with grim resignation.

"A very impressive showing, I can't say anything else." Copper admitted as he returned Toxicroak to its Pokeball, "But you've only defeated the weaker of my two Pokémon. Shall we see how you hold up against an even stronger foe?"

"Tempting, but… ONI GIRI." Zoro said. Copper's hand had barely grazed the surface of his second Pokeball when the swordsman burst across the garden over towards him and slashed across his body with all three of the blades in his possession. The eyes of the Team Steel Admin went wide and his mouth opened to allow a silent gasp to escape. Blood flew from where cloth and flesh alike was split by cold steel, and his hand dropped limply from the Pokeball.

Zoro came to a stop behind Copper, and didn't even watch as the trainer fell, instead sheathing his three swords and reaching up to remove the bandana from around his head. Once that was done, though, he did allow himself a glance back, and smiled in satisfaction at the sight of the blood that was pooling beneath Copper's body.

"That's what a sword is supposed to do when it cuts someone." Zoro said approvingly.

-O-




​

Bright white light burst out from within the Pokeball and materialized as a Pokemon that bore a striking resemblance to a tree, with a trunk-like body and two branch-like arms ending in leaf-like green balls. It would have been easy to look at the Pokemon- a Sudowoodo- and mistake it for being a grass type. That's what Spruce had thought when he had first encountered one in the wild, but that wasn't correct. It was also easy to look at its thin limbs and friendly face and assume that it was weak and didn't pose a threat, but that wasn't correct either.

"SUDO… WOODO!" Sudowoodo exclaimed in a high-pitched voice as it took its place standing between Ria and Brass, doing a little jig and shaking its hands as it fully materialized. It was much closer in size to Ria than Golem had been, being a bit shorter and far narrower, though it still towered over her, which was a fact that only seemed to excite the canine Pokémon as she stretched her neck and rolled her shoulders, starting to hop up and down from one foot to the other.

"Most people see me battle and assume that Golem is my ace Pokémon." Brass remarked, gazing upon Sudowoodo proudly, "As if a losing piece of trash like that could ever be my Pokémon! Sudowoodo's not going to have any problems picking apart that entire team of yours! Not even that shiny Gyarados is going to be enough to take us down!"

"You'd better think twice if you think you've got a chance against Ria!" Spruce retorted hotly, "Even if we can't beat Mercury until she cries, that's what we're gonna do to you!"

"RIOLU! LU!" Ria nodded, standing still on both feet and pumping her fists.

"I'm about to show you just what the difference is between some feral brat like you, and a seasoned trainer like me!" Brass said, "USE STONE EDGE!"

"DODGE IT!" Spruce barked, "THEN USE ROCK SMASH!"

"Sudo-WOODO!" Sudowoodo nodded as it raised its hand up. The green balls took on a bright blue glow as it slammed its hand down into the ground, causing a slight tremor which was quickly followed by an explosion of stone bursting out of the ground. Pointed rocks, glowing the same shade of bright blue as Sudowoodo's hand, arose like a wave which raced across the ground towards Ria.

Narrowing her eyes, Ria threw herself to the side just as the jagged stones burst out from the ground beneath where she had just been standing. Almost immediately, she whirled around and jumped towards the glowing stone, grabbing onto a ledge on the side of it to hurl herself up and climb up near the top, from where she was able to scurry across back in the direction of the source. Sudowoodo, having heard the order for her to attack, kept its eyes peeled on the ground around her, as its own Stone Edge attack had obscured its view of her.

After a couple of seconds, the stones began to collapse back into the ground where they dissipated into nothingness, with the collapse following the same wave-like movement as the attack had. Just as she was halfway towards Sudowoodo, the stones in front of Ria receded into the ground, and so she quickly darted down the front of the stone she was on- which itself was quickly shrinking- and leaped off of it towards Sudowoodo, which was just now seeing where she was. Brass, too, was just now getting the canine Pokémon in his sights.

"COUNTER WITH WOOD HAMMER!"

"SUDOWOODO!"

Shooting through the air towards Sudowoodo, Ria drew a glowing fist back, and Sudowoodo mirrored the action by winding up its own glowing hand. Whereas Ria's glowed orange, though, Sudowoodo's glowed green, and both limbs snapped forwards as the Pokémon came within striking distance of each other. Rock Smash met Wood Hammer, and the attacks held for a couple of seconds, before Sudowoodo's strength came out on top. Its hand knocked Ria's fist back right before the attack slammed into her, sending her flying back to skid across the ground. She came to a stop lying on her stomach, grazed and with matted fur, and there was a pained grimace on her face as she pushed herself back onto her feet.

It wasn't a nice sight to see his partner taking a brutal hit like that, but Spruce's focus was on the Sudowoodo more than Ria. Watching the green glow disappear from Sudowoodo's hand, the Pokémon didn't appear any the worse for wear after such a destructive attack- which didn't make any sense. Brass noticed Spruce's brow furrowing from across the site of the battle, and he smirked.

"I bet you're wondering why Wood Hammer didn't inflict any recoil damage!" Brass called out smugly, "That would be because of Sudowoodo's ability Rock Head! It completely negates recoil damage from attacks, meaning Sudowoodo's free to use full-power moves like that without any consequences. That's what makes it the kind of foe you've got no chance of overcoming!"

"Rock Head…" Spruce muttered to himself, 'Even without a Grass-Type boost, a powerful move like Wood Hammer's going to be incredibly difficult to overcome, and an immunity to recoil damage means it can completely control close-quarters combat, which is what Ria's whole move set is built around.'

"Finally realising you're in over your head?" Brass said, "ALRIGHT SUDOWOODO, USE MIMIC!"

"WOODO!" Sudowoodo nodded. A white glow overtook its right hand, which quickly faded into an orange glow that matched the same glow as Ria's previous Rock Smash. Dashing towards Ria, it reared the limb back.

"DODGE, THEN METAL CLAW!"

"LU!" Ria said. She lurched to the side just as Sudowoodo brought its attack crashing down towards where she had been standing, smashing apart the ground which it struck instead, while Ria quickly pounced on it. A glowing silver claw emerged from her paw, and she raked it across the side of Sudowoodo's body, landing behind the Pokémon only to swiftly whirl back around and slash it across the back with the same attack.

"WOOD HAMMER!"

"DODGE!"

The Metal Claw attack knocked Sudowoodo forwards, making it stumble slightly, but it hastily steadied itself in order to swivel around on its feet and throw its hand out, swinging towards Ria. The hand glowed green once again, and though Ria tried to leap backwards to avoid the strike, it just managed to catch her with the attack, smashing her in the side with it. A pained cry escaped Ria as she was knocked away by the attack, but she had enough control over her own momentum in order to land on her feet this time.

"Getting close is too much of a problem with that Wood Hammer attack…" Spruce commented to himself, a little louder than he normally would have, "RIA, GET MOVING AND PUT SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU!"

"Riolu!" Ria nodded, jumping a few feet further back from Sudowoodo and dashing to the side, beginning to run in a circular motion around it while maintaining the space between the two of them.

"Heh, running scared now, are we?" Brass smirked, "We can fight from a distance too, don't forget! USE STONE EDGE!"

"QUICK ATTACK INTO ROCK SMASH!" Spruce called out less than a second after Brass had issued his instructions, and the Admin's eyes widened as he caught onto Spruce's play once again.

In order to carry out the attack it had been told to use, Sudowoodo raised its hand up, imbuing it with a powerful blue glow, and drove that hand into the ground. However, in the miniscule interval of time between the hand being lowered and the hand actually making contact with the ground, Ria's body became a blue of blue and black. A faint white aura appeared around her as she took off across the ground like a bullet and rammed into Sudowoodo.

Even at such breakneck speeds, the attack barely did anything. She bounced off of Sudowoodo without it so much as flinching at the contact. Still, despite her having suddenly closed the distance between them, Sudowoodo continued on as it had been, striking the ground with its hand and causing jagged stones to burst out of the ground in the direction which Ria had come from. But with how close she now was, she was able to step to the side and avoid the attack altogether. Hopping up, she hurled her fist into Sudowoodo's face, striking it with a brutal Rock Smash that smashed the Rock-Type.

The roar of fist shattering stone resounded all across the battlefield for both trainers to hear as Sudowoodo's face was driven into the ground by the force of Ria's attack. A web of cracks running across Sudowoodo's body joined several chips as decoration for this stage in the battle, matching the grazes and scrapes and matted fur that Ria was sporting after all the hits she had taken. Though the Rock-Type's face wasn't currently visible, as it had been knocked face-first into the ground, Ria was sporting a violent grin.

"YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT, SUDOWOODO! PUNISH THEM WITH WOOD HAMMER!"

"BRACE YOURSELF!"

'Again?! Dammit, what's his play this time?!' Brass cursed internally, though hindsight couldn't do anything to change his command.

Exploding to its feet, Sudowoodo returned Ria's grimace with an enraged scowl that was almost comical given the Pokémon's rather goofy face, but which she knew better than to judge like so after the attacks she had taken from the Pokémon. Still grinning, she gritted her teeth and crossed her arms in front of her face to shield herself as Sudowoodo's Wood Hammer struck her upside the head. The attack knocked her off of her feet, and she sailed up into the air before crashing back down into the ground.

Brass scowled as he watched Ria silently, not calling for any more attacks just yet. Even the attack she had just taken hadn't been enough to knock the grin from her face, though the grin was as much a pained grimace as she forced herself onto her front. Her arms trembled as she tried to push herself off the ground and back into a standing position. Despite the condition she was in though, Spruce's attention seemed focused on Brass rather than his own partner.

"You know, moves like Wood Hammer are as much of a danger to the user as they are to the opponent!" Spruce called out, "You can't just use them carelessly because of how that damage can be turned back against you!"

"Weren't you listening you idiot?!" Brass replied, "Rock Head negates recoil damage!"

"I wasn't talking about recoil damage." Spruce said quietly.

Ria rose to her feet a little shakily, still not having lost her grin, and stared down the Sudowoodo, which glared back at her. She took a step towards it, and it raised its hands in front of itself defensively as both Pokémon waited for their trainers to command them. She took another step, and this time she stumbled a bit, almost falling down to her knee but managing to remain upright. Sudowoodo relaxed its stance slightly.

"USE COUNTER!"

'NO! NO GODAMMIT!' Brass screamed internally, and then externally, "DODGE IT NOW!"

"RiiiiiiooooolUUUU!" Ria screamed. Her entire body snapped to attention, with all the shakiness and the stumbling in her movement disappearing. A burning blue flame ignited around her fist, and with a swiftness that almost rivalled her earlier Quick Attacks, she threw herself at Sudowoodo and reared the burning fist back in order to throw it forwards and strike the Pokémon right in the centre of its body. The fist connected, and the blue flame exploded out from the fist in order to flow over Sudowoodo's entire body like a wave before dissipating entirely, leaving Ria standing there with her fist pressed against her opponent.

A second passed. Neither one of them moved.

Air exploded out from Sudowoodo's back, as if launched directly through its body from the point where Ria had struck. With the explosion of air, the cracks around its body shot outwards to cover most of it, and several small bits of chipped rock fell from its body to the ground. Ria lowered her fist and allowed Sudowoodo to fall backwards with swirly eyes. Still grinning, she panted with exertion, and Spruce rushed forwards in order to scoop her up off the ground and into his arms.

"YOU DID IT! YOU DID SO GOOD!" He praised, spinning around with his Pokémon held out in front of him and sparkles in his eyes while Brass was left to just stand in the distance and stare at his fallen Pokémon.

"Riolu!" Ria gushed. Her grin changed into a bright smile, and then changed again into a slightly forced smile as Spruce pulled her in to a tight embrace. Despite how her own injuries were mildly aggravated by the contact, she nonetheless gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder.

"Dammit, Sudowoodo." Brass said, returning said Pokémon back to its Pokeball and placing the Pokeball back with Golem's, "How could you let some damn brat crush you like that? Crush us like that?! A Team Steel Admin can't afford weakness like this!"

"You're damn right that we can't! AIR SLASH!"

With the sudden arrival of a new voice- and one that was calling for a Pokémon attack especially- Spruce's head whipped over in the direction the voice had come from, and his eyes widened as he saw not only a bright blue blade of wind slam into Brass and knock him to the ground, but who it was that had just called for that attack in the first place.

"You're-!"

 

[DolphinMan]

Though her position wasn't optimal, and the turn of events against her had briefly soured her mood, Mercury didn't allow herself to lose her cool head as she swapped Medicham's Pokeball out and tossed the replacement up into the air. It burst open with a great rolling of thunder, a sound which immediately had Walter clenching his fists and Floatzel scowling, and the white light that emerged struck the ground in a manner akin to a bolt of lightning. That light took the form of a blue and black Pokemon with a fierce gaze and a mighty presence, which glared Luffy down intensely.

Luffy had been grinning before the Luxray came out. After overcoming the slight hiccup with its Zen Headbutt attack, his blood had really gotten pumping near the tail end of the fight, and he was just itching to lay the smackdown on Mercury's next two Pokemon and continue on his adventure with his new friend and his new friend's friends.

Luffy had been grinning, and then he had stopped when Luxray came out and glared at him. It wasn't an ordinary glare fueled by hate and anger, but something far more primal and far more regal. Those two eyes- shimmering gold with red sclera- were utterly brimming with strength and raw animalistic brutality. When a Pokemon looked into those eyes at the start of the battle, they were promised pain and suffering and instilled with an intrinsic fear that gripped their body and wrung them of their own strength, forcing them to begin the battle with a decreased attack. They were, to put it succinctly, Intimidated.

Intimidation was a threat. Plain and simple, that was what it was, and that was what Luxray's Intimidate was. A threat, however, was also a challenge which the threatener issued to whoever they were threatening. They challenged the strength and the resolve of their enemy, and in almost every scenario where this ability came into play, it was a challenge that could not be met on the same level. Reverting the effects via the use of stat-changing moves did nothing to change the fact that a stat had been lowered in the first place, and there were only a select few abilities that could protect a Pokemon from the effects of Intimidate. It was unthinkable to imagine that a human existed who could challenge a Pokémon's Intimidate.

When Luxray emerged from the Pokeball and glared at Luffy and its ability activated, it issued the pirate a challenge that he did not process on a conscious level, but a subconscious one instead. There stood a Pokémon with the likeness of a 'Kung of the Jungle' which tried to carve into his spirit with the icy claws of fear and leverage that fear to weaken him before they came to blows. If Luffy had been able to recall that particular event in his life with clear clarity, he may have observed some similarity between Luxray's Intimidate and the glare which 'Red-Haired' Shanks had once used to terrify the Lord of the Coast into submission.

As things were, Luffy's smile evaporated the instant the effect of the ability washed over him and tried to Intimidate him. His face dropped into a blank stare, and then quickly shifted again into an irritated frown before finally hardening into a full-blown glare of his own.

The Captain of the Straw Hat pirates met the challenge which Luxray issued him, and those icy claws of fear were vaporised by a spirit that was as bright and as hot and as unstoppable as the sun itself. Intimidation prodded at willpower, and willpower exploded out through Luffy's gaze, slamming into Luxray and sending it stumbling back several steps. Its mane drooped and its body sagged slightly, while its attacking power was decreased the way that Luffy's was supposed to have been.

It all happened in the span of just a couple of seconds, and Luffy's expression returned to a neutral stare once Luxray backed off in the face of his immovable resolve. He didn't even recognise any of what had just happened, beyond a tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Of course, though Luxray had backed off, it hadn't retreated. Mercury's eyes narrowed, while Walter looked slightly puzzled at what had just transpired before his very eyes.

"You really are… something else." Mercury ground out, "That stretching body of yours, those ridiculous things you talk about, and now this? A part of me just assumed this was how foreigners were, but there can't possibly be anybody else like you in the world."

"Of course there's nobody else like me in the world." Luffy retorted, breaking out into a grin again, "Only one person in the world can be the Pirate King, and that person's gonna be me!"

"Be careful, Luffy!" Walter called out warily, "That Luxray of hers might not be the strongest member of her team, but it's got a dangerous moveset that lets it challenge even especially strong foes!"

"Some 'officiator'!" Mercury snapped, "Feeding information to aid one side over the other? Either throw your hat in the ring and join the battle or keep your mouth shut, you elderly wreck!"

"It's okay, old guy." Luffy said, "I don't need your advice to beat the crap out of her, I can manage just fine on my own."

"You should still heed his advice when he decides to share it, pirate." Mercury said, "As biased as he might be against me, he knows exactly what he's talking about. Even if Medicham landed the finishing hits, that esteemed Floatzel of his took most of its damage from Luxray here, not to mention what it was able to do to your friend Spruce's oh-so-impressive Gyarados when he tried to challenge me before."

"Why are you bragging about winning fights that I don't even understand?" Luffy said, "I don't care if you can beat the old guy or Spruce, I don't even remember what half those names you just used are actually for. The only person you should care about being able to beat is me, but you're not gonna be able to anyway!"

"Hmph. We'll put that little boast to the test." Mercury said, "LUXRAY, TOAST HIM WITH A SPARK!"

"Luuuuuux… RAY!" Luxray roared, standing at attention once more. Its mane flared to life, with electricity crackling all throughout it, and sparks of electricity shot out from its body. They gathered around it, forming a sort of aura, and it charged forwards. With electricity surrounding it, it bounded across the battlefield towards Luffy and leaped off the ground to tackle him in the chest.

Tracking the Luxray's movements carefully, Luffy shielded his face from the attack by crossing his arms to try and block, and Luxray rammed into him with its full electrical might. The force of the tackle knocked him back and made him stumble to the side as Luxray landed on the ground behind him and quickly swivelled around in order to keep him in its sights. Luffy did the same, turning his head and shifting himself to face Luxray, but then he froze. His brow furrowed, and he looked down at himself, at his vest and his arms and the skin around his neck, and then he looked at Luxray, and he looked confused.

"Didn't think one attack would be enough to do it." Mercury admitted, "USE SPARK AGAIN!"

"RAY!" Luxray said, and that same aura of electricity burst out to envelop it once again. It threw itself forwards across the ground, slamming right into Luffy again with enough force to knock the pirate off his feet. The instant that contact was made, the electricity around Luxray's body exploded outwards, swallowing Luffy up in a bright yellow glow which disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared, just like a bolt of lightning. He ended up knocked down onto his back, with the force of the attack having left an indent in his rubbery body, and Luxray landed behind him and immediately began to circle him.

"This is incredible… it's like he's not even human!" Walter said in astonishment, as both her and Mercury took in the sight of a completely unharmed Luffy. He wasn't seared, scorched or even singed by the back-to-back electrical attacks he had just endured. If it weren't for the fact that Walter had seen with the attacks land with his feeble, elderly eyes, he would doubt that Luffy had even been attacked at all since Luxray had come out onto the field.

Mercury was just astonished as the older trainer, but far less happy about it than he.

"What the hell kind of-?" She cut herself off and clenched her fists tightly in front of her face, pausing to take a deep breath before continuing, "Never mind. USE ELECTRIC TERRAIN AND THEN SPARK, ONE MORE TIME!"

"Ray." Luxray snarled. Bolts of lightning shot out from its body and struck the ground of the battlefield around it. From where they struck, additional sparks of electricity arced out, and it all formed a circle around the Pokémon which rapidly grew out to cover the entire battlefield, coating the air in a faint yellow haze. Even when the initial sparks of electricity disappeared, small charges remained, crackling all around. All those present could pick up the pungent scent of ozone.

Such a smell only intensified as Luxray, for the third time, coated itself in electricity and bounded across the ground towards Luffy. Having been knocked to the ground before, he was just now beginning to get up, but he stopped and shifted into a more comfortable sitting position as Luxray pounced on him. Its paws pinned his hands on either side of his head and it glowered at him right before unleashing the full might of its electrical attack. A blinding mass of electricity erupted out of the Pokémon, forcing both Mercury and Walter to shield their eyes.

It was such an intense attack that, once the blinding light had subsided to reveal Luxray and Luffy both still there with the former pinning the latter, several small plumes of smoke were wafting off the field around the both of them. Yet despite all that…

"Huh." The completely unharmed Luffy remarked, tilting his head to the side slightly and staring back at an enraged and very baffled Luxray, "That's weird. Do you suck, or something?"

"There's… No, no, no. No!" Mercury shook her head and threw her hands up in the air, turning around and walking around exasperatedly with no attention on the actual specifics of the battle anymore, "NO! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! IT'S A TRICK! IT'S A DUMB TRICK! IT'S RIDICULOUS! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

"Hold on a second…" Walter muttered, "Luffy! You said that the, erm, Gum-Gum fruit turned you into a rubber man, did you not?"

"Huh?" Luffy looked over at Walter and paid no mind to the electric lion that was atop him, "Yeah! I'm a rubber man! That's how I can stretch."

"It… It's the only explanation!" Walter gasped, "If you're made of actual rubber, that must be providing some kind of immunity to electricity! Rubber is an insulator, it doesn't conduct electricity!"

"WHAT?!" Mercury screeched, her attention suddenly back on the battle as she heard what Walter said, "Rubber? RUBBER?! You're joking! ARRRRRGHHH!"

Walter and Luffy both watched as Mercury reached up to grab fistfuls of her hair and rip them from her head. Luxray looked a little concerned at its trainer's current demeanour, and it pushed itself a little bit back from the pirate it was still pinning.

"Immune to blunt-force attacks, yeah…" Mercury spat, "Strong enough to knock Pokémon out with his own bare hands, yeah… Immune to electricity? YEAH, SURE! I'VE HAD IT WITH THIS STUPID FOREIGNER AND HIS STUPID KIDDY STUPID DUMB FIGHTING! LUXRAY, I WANT YOU TO RIP HIS FACE OFF WITH BITE RIGHT NOW!"

"Oh, we're fighting again?" Luffy said. Before Luxray could even look back down at him, his head jerked upwards and extended forwards in order to slam into the underside of the Pokémon's jaw. It was enough to knock the Pokémon a few inches into the air, freeing Luffy's limbs so that he could thrust both of his palms up into Luxray's stomach. The Pokémon's eyes bugged out as the strike connected, and it was launched even higher up off the ground, sending it sailing through the air to crash in a heap all the way on the other end of the battlefield.

"GET UP AND USE HOWL!" Mercury ordered. Luxray staggered up onto its feet and shook itself off, looking dazed and a little scuffed but otherwise not too worse for wear. Standing firm, it threw its head back and opened its mouth to let out a powerful cry. The sound reverberated all across the battlefield, as a faint orange aura seemed to briefly flicker around Luxray's body which brought with it a slight change in posture. Something about it seemed inexplicably more powerful than it had been just moments ago.

"Howl is a move that increases the attacking power of the Pokémon that uses it!" Walter explained for Luffy's benefit, and the pirate tilted his head to the side with a thoughtful expression on his face. A moment later, he threw his own head back and let out a triumphant roar, screaming with an intensity as if he were trying to shake the heavens themselves.

"RAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHH!" Luffy bellowed, pumping his fists in the air as he did, and the sheer audacity of his scream caused the other two trainers as well as the Pokémon present to all flinch very briefly. He screamed for several seconds, seemingly trying to force out every last trace of air in his lungs, before he finally stopped and grinned.

"Um… are you alright, Luffy?" Walter said.

"Shishishi!" Luffy chuckled, "I guess screaming like that does kinda get me pumped up! I feel stronger now as well!"

"Idiot." Mercury growled, "USE BITE!"

Luxray's eyes narrowed as it dashed forwards, bounding across the battlefield with a newfound vigour. It was almost a blur of blue and black fur that closed in on Luffy in just seconds, and it opened its mouth wide just as it pushed off of the ground and leaped up, aiming to sink its fangs into Luffy's shoulder. Tracking the Pokémon's movement with his eyes, though, Luffy swivelled his body around to the side, leaving air as the only thing that the Luxray was able to chomp down on.

"GUM-GUM… PISTOL!"

A rubbery snap like the crack of the whip echoed around Luffy's fist as it shot outwards and struck Luxray right in the side of the head. His fist smashed into it with a tremendous force, with the knuckles grazing the area of its face just around one of its eyes. Luffy grinned as he watched the punch send Luxray rolling back along the ground, and it rose back to its feet with one eye slightly scrunched up. Nevertheless, it glared Luffy down with intensity.

"Ugh… useless piece of trash." Mercury said with a disapproving shake of her head. Luxray blinked, and it looked back at her with a mixture of surprise and dejection in its eyes, only for her to give it a dismissive wave. The whole exchange only served to confuse Luffy and aggravate Walter.

"Uh, aren't you gonna tell it to do another attack?" Luffy asked.

"No she's not!" Walter snapped, "She's too busy blaming her shortcomings as a trainer on her Pokémon instead of on herself like a novice!"

"Shut it you self-righteous old geezer!" Mercury yelled, "I took you down fair and square!"

"Hmph. After years of not battling anyone properly, but just forget that part…" Walter grumbled, "Luffy, now's your chance to defeat the Luxray!"

"Well okay then!" Luffy nodded and reached behind him with both hands, "GUM-GUM…"

Stretching his arms, he reached all the way back beyond the edges of the battlefield, and an uncertain Luxray just stood there and watched it all take place. Its eyes flicked between its trainer and Luffy constantly, going back and forth and back and forth as every passing moment brought it closer to being attacked. At the very last instant, it jumped into action and threw itself to the side before charging towards Luffy in some last-ditch effort, but the pirate adjusted himself to keep his front to the Pokémon, before letting his arms shoot forwards.

"BAZOOKA!"

Both palms were launched forwards to slam into Luxray and send it flying back through the air. With an impatient scowl, and without even waiting or bothering to assess the condition of her Pokémon, Mercury had Luxray's Pokeball ready as it was still in the air. And just as its body passed by her through the air, she aimed the Pokeball at it and returned it, before swapping that ball out for her third and final one.

"That was kinda dumb of you to just let me win like that." Luffy deadpanned, sticking his pinkie up his nostril as he did.

"It was a poor showing is what it was!" Walter huffed, "Though you're now up on two knockouts to zero! Time for Mercury to send out her third and final Pokémon for the match!"

"We'll see you change your tune soon enough." Mercury said, "I saved the best for last, old man! My strongest Pokémon, the one that actually did the deed and killed that son of yours! COME ON OUT, HOUNDOOM, AND BURN THIS RUBBERY BRAT UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT BUT ASH!"

For the third and final time this battle, white light burst out from the Pokeball in Mercury's grasp and struck the battlefield in front of her like a bolt of lightning. It quickly assumed the shape of her Houndoom, materialising into the Pokémon which was already baring its fangs and growling at its opponent from across the field. Small embers of flame flickered around its mouth, while its tail idly waved around behind it in the air.

"It's the home stretch now, Luffy!" Walter said giddily, "Now finish her off so I can announce it! GIVE HER EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

"You don't need to tell me!" Luffy grinned. He rolled his shoulders back and bounced up and down on his feet a little, watching the new Pokémon carefully, taking note of both the pointed tip of its tail as well as the two curled horns which protruded from the top of its head.

"BLIND HIM WITH SMOG!" Mercury instructed.

"Houn… DOOM!" Houndoom roared. Opening its mouth wide, a massive black cloud of poisonous gas billowed out, swiftly spreading out to fill the area of the battlefield as it did. The cloud rushed forwards towards Luffy, with his nose twitching at the pungent odour of the gas, but simply jumping a few feet away from the approaching gas was enough to evade, as it simply stopped and lingered in the air for the moment. It was a weak attack, but one that served to obscure Houndoom from sight.

"Man, that smoke reeks!" Luffy cringed.

"THEN HOW ABOUT WE ROAST SOMETHING INSTEAD?! USE INCINERATE!" Mercury yelled from behind the veil of the Smog.

"DOOM!" Houndoom barked, and Luffy's head instantly whipped over in the direction that the sound had originated from. He bent his knees slightly, preparing to move out of the way of an attack at a moment's notice, but then seconds passed and his brow furrowed with suspicion. Houndoom's bark had sounded like it came from his left, but when he looked to the right, he noticed the slightest hints of movement coming from within that part of the gas.

The observation came just in time, as from within the black cloud came a ball of raging fire shooting through the air towards him from his right. Luffy leaped to the side to avoid the ball of flames, though he could feel its searing heat and the crackling air as it danced over his skin in the way past. His eyes followed the glow of the fireball, watching it continue on its path for several more seconds before ultimately disappearing into thin air.

"BITE!"

Hot on the trail of the fireball, though, came Houndoom, which leaped out from within the cloud and dashed towards Luffy at an even more rapid pace than Luxray had ever been able to manage. Its mouth opened up wide as it hurled itself onto him and snapped its jaws tightly shut around his shoulder. At the feeling of its fangs digging into him, Luffy let out a pained hiss, but powered on through it in order to reach over and wrap his hands around both its upper and lower jaw.

Squeezing them firmly, he pried Houndoom's mouth open, and the Pokémon went a little bug-eyed at such a feat, and yanked it off of his shoulder. Still keeping his firm grip on its maw, he thrust his hands downwards in order to drive it headfirst into the ground. Houndoom snarled and tried to snap its mouth closed around the hands, but Luffy's hold remained firm as he regarded the Pokémon with a mild frown.

"GET HIM OFF YOU WITH SMOG!"

Another cloud of noxious black gas billowed out from Houndoom's mouth, blasting Luffy straight in the face with enough force behind it to jerk his head back. Both the pungent odour and the poisonous nature of the gas quickly brought tears to his eyes and had him in a coughing fit, and he promptly let go of Houndoom in order to stagger back and put some distance between himself and the gas. Houndoom sprang up onto its feet and began circling him from a distance, while Luffy continued coughing and wiped the tears from his eyes.

Once his vision was clearer, he focused his attention on Houndoom again, and watched as the Pokémon circled him. As well as Houndoom, he also glanced back in the direction where the earlier Incinerate attack had been directed, as well as looking over at the shirtless Walter who was still spectating the whole battle. Mercury was likewise watching him and his movements carefully, scrutinising the finer details as if looking for something in particular.

'The horn-dog does seem stronger than the pants guy from before.' Luffy thought to himself, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration, 'But I can just beat it up whenever it tries to bite me like that. That fire is really hot, so that's what I need to watch out for.'

Suddenly in motion, Luffy threw his hands out and stretched them over in the direction of where Walter was standing. Both Mercury and Walter's eyes widened at the action, while Houndoom tensed up and quickly readied itself to pounce as soon as an order was given, and they all watched as Luffy grabbed a firm hold of both sides of the elderly trainer's pants. Just as he had done before, he ripped the garments apart with his tremendous brute strength so that he was left with two scraps of clothing in his hands as his arms snapped back to their original length.

"M-MY PANTS!" Walter screamed, now left standing to the side of the battlefield in nothing but his vest and his tighty-whities. His legs shivered and he tried to cover himself from sight as best he could with only his bare hands, and Floatzel behind him just shook his head and lowered his face into his paw.

"You- you're just a pervert!" Mercury gaped, both hands raised up to the side of her face in order to completely shield Walter from view, but her rampant disgust quickly morphed into a concealed glee as she watched Luffy wrap the pants scraps around his fists just like he had done with Walter's shirt before.

"Sorry, old guy!" Luffy called out apologetically, a sheepish grin on his face, "I'll try and finish it with just these!"

"YOU'D BETTER FINISH IT!" Walter huffed, "IF YOU STRIP ME ANY MORE I'LL PENALISE YOU! Wait… finish it with those…?"

"NOW HOUNDOOM, USE INCINERATE!" Mercury demanded.

"DOOOOOOM!" Houndoom roared. Rearing its head back and opening its mouth up wide, small embers of red, yellow and orange quickly appeared around the inside of its mouth, which collected into another ball of fire that swiftly expanded to the size of a watermelon. The fireball hovered in front of Houndoom's mouth for a second, before being launched forwards like a cannonball right towards Luffy.

Grinning a mischievous grin, Luffy ducked and leaned out of the way of the fireball as it flew towards him, but as it passed he reached over and allowed the flames to graze the scraps of cloth wrapped around his left hand, quickly setting it alight. While the fireball passed him, he brought both hands together and spread the flame from one scrap to the other, so that both his hands were rapidly being enveloped in masses of fire. He gave the flames just a few moments to grow and spread, before dashing towards the Houndoom.

"GUM-GUM…!"

"DODGE IT HOUNDOOM!" Mercury said with a mad glint in her eyes.

"WAIT- LUFFY, DON'T-!" Walter tried to caution the pirate, but it was too late.

"FLAME GATLING!"

Just like before, Luffy's two flaming fists were thrown forwards at such a velocity that they simply became bright orange streaks dancing across the battlefield. Though Houndoom tried to leap to the side, it couldn't quite compete with the pirate's jaw-dropping speed as he barraged the canine with countless fiery strikes. The roaring crackle of the flames and the consistent WHAM of blows connecting echoed all across the battlefield, until Luffy finally brought his assault to an end and his arms retracted back to their normal sizes. The flaming pants scraps were speedily removed and discarded onto the battlefield as the fires continued to ravage them.

Something was wrong, though. When Luffy looked at Houndoom again in the aftermath of the attack, he did not see damage or pain or his own victory looking back at him. Instead what he saw was Houndoom leering at him and baring its fangs as small flames danced across various parts of its black pelt. All of a sudden, those flames flashed into one enormous raging inferno that enveloped Houndoom's entire body, before blinking into nothingness altogether and leaving just Houndoom standing there.

"Huh?" Luffy said, tilting his head and frowning at the spectacle he had just witnessed.

"Dammit…" Walter groaned, "LUFFY! That was Houndoom's ability Flash Fire! It can't be damaged by Fire-Type attacks! Instead they just make it stronger!"

"HA!" Mercury cackled, "And it's normally such a mediocre ability too! Because only an idiot would decide to try using fire to fight a Fire-Type! Lucky for me that's what I'm fighting, HUH?!"

"So first I have to use fire in order to take out the pants one, but now I can't use fire because it makes it stronger?" Luffy said, "Man, this stuff is way too complicated!"

"Then allow me to make things simple!" Mercury sneered, "INCINERATE!"

"Houuuuun… DOOOOOOOM!" Houndoom roared. Once again it conjured up a great ball of flame just in front of its open mouth- but this time the fireball that it created was distinctly more vicious than the previous two. The whole thing practically vibrated with the newfound intensity of all the condensed fire, like it was just begging to explode into an inferno that enveloped and incinerated everything around them.

Just before Houndoom propelled the attack in his direction, Luffy grabbed the straw hat off of his head and tossed it over in Walter's direction. The old man looked confused, but reached out and caught the hat out of the air just as Houndoom launched its attack towards Luffy. The flames whizzed across the battlefield towards him like a bullet, leaving him without the proper time to dodge as the fireball rammed into him and exploded. It blasted Luffy with its heat and its power as the force of the attack knocked him backwards, skidding across the battlefield looking singed but otherwise fine to keep on fighting.

There were a couple of parts of his clothing that were on fire after the attack, which was slightly more problematic, but Luffy calmly got back up and patted the fires out before they could get too intense. He looked to Walter.

"Old guy! You better take care of that hat while I'm fighting!" He said, "That's my treasure, so it'd be really bad if it got caught on fire during all this!"

"That's quite presumptuous of you to expect me to look after it after getting both my shirt and my pants lit on fire!" Walter retorted, but he nonetheless held the hat close- not too close, though- to his chest for safekeeping.

"USE INCINERATE AGAIN!" Mercury called out.

"DOOM!" Houndoom barked. It opened its mouth in order to muster up another attack, but Luffy proved to be quicker on the uptake this time.

"GUM-GUM PISTOL!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing himself to the side and then sending his fist flying straight towards Houndoom. His knuckles smashed into the Pokémon's lower jaw, slamming its mouth shut just the fireball had began to grow, causing the attack to collapse into a minor explosion right in Houndoom's face as the force of Luffy's punch knocked the Pokémon to the ground and sent it tumbling backwards.

"Even if you're stronger now, you shouldn't expect to beat me if you keep giving me a heads-up for every attack you use!" He teased Mercury, who scowled right back at him.

"USE SMOG AND CREATE A SMOKESCREEN!"

"HOUND!" Houndoom said. Noxious black smoke flooded out from its mouth and quickly spread out to form a veil in the middle of the battlefield that hid it from Luffy's view, and the abhorrent scent of the smoke got Luffy to take a couple of steps away from the Smog as a way of avoiding it. His eyes, though, remained focused on where Houndoom had been standing right before it had hidden itself from view.

"Hey old guy!" Luffy said, not taking his eyes off where Houndoom last was as he spoke, "If I can't hit this thing with fire, then what things can I hit it with?"

"Oh!" Walter said, "Type advantages? Well, because Houndoom is a dual Fire/Dark-Type Pokémon, that means it has weaknesses to Water, Ground, Rock-"

"Rock! Okay, got it!" Luffy nodded, "Thanks!"

Turning his attention downwards, he clenched his fists and drove them both into the battlefield. Cracks exploded out from around where his fists struck as they embedded themselves several inches into the ground, digging in deep right before Luffy wrenched the limbs back out of the ground in a scooping motion. Chunks of the ground were flung in all directions, with Floatzel leaping up and slapping one particularly large one away from Walter.

Both of Luffy's hands had found themselves clutching onto a large chunk of rock each, which he appeared to be able to lift and swing around effortlessly. He bounced them up and down a little in his hands, getting a feel for the weight, before focusing back on his foe who was still concealed behind a cloud of pungent smoke. He listened, and he waited.

"USE INCINERATE AND BURN HIM TO A CRISP!"

As soon as he heard the syllables slip past Mercury's lips, Luffy flung both his hands back, stretching his arms far past the length of the battlefield in preparation for what was about to happen. Walter and Floatzel both watched with bated breath, the former's hands trembling in anticipation.

Over to the side of the battlefield, a flood of new arrivals trickled in. Both Zoro and Spruce, with Ria sitting atop the latter's head, followed by the former Team Steel Admin Nickel and a dozen grunts, with the lot of them all promptly captivated by the sight of the climactic showdown between Captain and Leader. The Pokémon trainers watched with no shortage of awe, while Zoro regarded the whole affair with smug satisfaction.

"GUM-GUM…"

Luffy spoke just before Houndoom had revealed itself. An instant later, the veil of Smog parted to reveal that Houndoom and its Incinerate attack were positioned on his left. As soon as he had eyes on the Pokémon, he hopped to the side and shifted the angle of his attack, making sure it was lined up properly to strike both his targets. Houndoom moved its head, keeping its own attack aligned with him and letting the furious fireball fly.

"ROCK BAZOOKA!"

The fiery power of the Incinerate was absolutely quashed as both of Luffy's rock-laden hands flew forwards, smashing through the attack altogether and ramming the stones into Houndoom hard enough to crush them into pieces. The attack lifted Houndoom off of its feet and carried it back across the battlefield, even with the dust from the crushed stones beginning to rain down in its wake, and Mercury's eyes widened as Luffy's Bazooka kept going and Houndoom crashed into her with the full might of Luffy's blows behind it.

There was a crack as both trainer and Pokémon were catapulted back into the wall around the base, soon followed by the sound of stone brick being blasted apart as the collision caused a cloud of dust to appear and obscure them both. Seconds that felt like hours trickled onwards, with the spectators all leaning in to get a better view as the dust finally settled and revealed…

A trainer and her Houndoom lying in an unconscious heap with matching swirly eyes. Cheers and cries of shock instantly broke out amongst the grunts, only to be just as quickly silenced by a sudden cry of distress from one particular grunt.

"THAT OLD MAN IS NAKED!" The grunt screamed, pointing at Walter.

"He's in his underwear!" Another grunt squealed, "What a pervert!"

"Huh." Zoro said, raising an eyebrow at Walter's current state, "What a pervert."

"N-Now hold on just a second there!" Walter defended himself awkwardly, "There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this!"

"OF COURSE THERE IS!" Nickel roared, striding over to stand beside Walter proudly.

"The Ex-Admin is defending this old pervert?" One grunt muttered.

"Figures. They must be old person friends." Another commented.

"I'M IN THE PRIME OF MY LIFE AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-SIX!" Nickel snapped. He stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself, before reaching up and grabbing two fistfuls of his shirt. With a furious roar, he ripped his shirt open and tossed it to the ground along with his jacket, before doing the same to his pants, leaving him standing there in his underwear the same as Walter.

"HUH?!" Walter gaped.

"He's a pervert too!" A grunt gasped.

"Don't you understand?!" Nickel cried, "In order to atone for all our wrongdoings as Team Steel, and to wash away the filthiness of the island, we have to cast aside the very image of Team Steel itself! Our uniforms are nothing but embodiments of everything wrong with Iron Island! Stripping is the first step on the path to righteousness!"

The grunts all stared at Nickel. Walter stared at Nickel. Zoro and Spruce both stared at Nickel. Ria and Floatzel, who were nudists by default, didn't care. Luffy wasn't paying attention to the whole debacle and was instead picking his nose again.

"He's right." One brave grunt piped up nervously. All eyes were on them in an instant, and the grunt awkwardly shuffled out of their clothes in front of everyone until they were also standing there in only their undergarments.

"Yeah… if we want people to forgive us for being Team Steel, then we need to show how we've grown!" Another nodded encouragingly. Following Nickel's lead, they ripped apart their uniform and joined the others in undress, and just like that the floodgates had opened. There was a cacophony of clothes being ripped and torn and unceremoniously dumped on the ground, and within just a few seconds the entire gathered group of former grunts along with the former Admin were all standing around in their underwear proudly.

"This is your fault." Spruce told Zoro.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" The swordsman retorted.

"You pirates brought your nudism here." Spruce said matter-of-factly.

"Like hell! This was all that old pervert's doing!" Zoro bit back.

"HEY! OLD PERVERT!" Luffy interjected, getting everyone's attention. He looked over at Walter and held his hand out expectantly, gesturing towards the straw hat the old man was holding onto with a nod of his head.

"YOU'RE CALLING ME A PERVERT NOW?!" Walter said indignantly. It took him a couple seconds of being affronted to realise what Luffy was beckoning for, and he gave an awkward cough and tossed the hat back over to the pirate, who returned it to its place on his head.

"Shishishi! Thanks for holding it onto me!" Luffy said, "Isn't there something you're meant to do now?"

"Something I'm meant to… OH!!" Walter gasped, and stood up straight in an instant, "YES! Er… Ahem! HOUNDOOM AND MERCURY ARE BOTH UNABLE TO BATTLE! THE WINNER IS MONKEY D. LUFFY!"

-O-

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A constant chorus of cheers echoed all across Pastoria Village as the festivities were in full-swing. In the heart of the village roared a raging bonfire in which the smashed and diced up pieces of Team Steel's old gate had been fed to as tinder. It bathed its surroundings in a warm, orange glow that seemed to bring out the joy plastered across the faces of everyone present. Children and adults alike danced and sang in a circle around it, following the lead of an especially exuberant Luffy, while the other Straw Hats all found themselves the idols of the villagers.

Though he had at first tried to just watch the celebrations from off to the side while enjoying his food and drink, a gaggle of children had crowded around him, with Kiki being the one leading the charge in calling for him to show off his swordsmanship. The words of the children were honeyed, with Kiki especially emphasising how impressive and strong he was, and he eventually caved and drew his blades in order to make a show of the speed and grace with which he could wield them. As he danced his swordsman's dance and displayed his level of mastery for them, several of the children began to mimic him, picking up sticks and trying to copy him as best they could. Even Mister Cuddles hopped around, trying to follow along even without any sticks or swords of his own, while Spinner span nearby.

It wasn't just the swordsman who had the villagers enthralled either, as Usopp had also mustered up an impressive crowd of his own who he could regale with tales of all the crew's past exploits in the East Blue. Half of the things that came out of the sniper's mouth went completely over the heads of all the listeners, but they were nonetheless wrapped up in the way that his words and manner of speaking could bring his stories to life.

"AND THEN!" Usopp said, puffing his chest out proudly, "Who else but the great Captain Usopp could take down the dastardly Arlong, using nothing but a single shot from my trusty slingshot? Him and his army of one-thousand fishman pirates were no match for me, of course, but I only had the one shot left, so I had to line it up just right…"

"So Marines are fish people…" Spruce murmured from where he was standing, a short distance away from Usopp and his audience, "Huh, that's really cool! I've never heard of a species like that."

"That's… not what they are." Nami said, standing across from him with Sableye securely in her arms as he had been since she had first scooped him up earlier in the day, "Fishmen are something different entirely."

"Oh, okay then." Spruce said, "But they're still fish people?"

"Mhm." She nodded.

"Well then that's still really cool!" He smiled. She didn't say anything, instead just giving Spruce a look of amusement that was intermingled with something harder to describe- a halfway point between resignation and regret. As if seeking out the cheerier imagery around her, she turned her attention over to where Vivi and Carue were, standing quite a distance away from the rest of the party- mainly to accommodate for Whiskers' own significant size, as the serpentine Pokémon stood beside the two with a goofy, wide-mouthed grin that might have looked threatening if not for the presence of a half-dozen children taking turns using his body as a slide.

Both the children and Vivi laughed in unison at the spectacle, and the sight of it did bring a faint smile to Nami's face. Sableye glanced up at her, a curious glint in his eyes at the smile, before following her gaze over to Vivi and Whiskers, and he tilted his head slightly, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Sableye…" He said.

It was a nice sight for Spruce too, getting to see his Pokémon enjoying themselves. Pex and Ria weren't being as active at the moment, as they were instead both hovering around Sanji's cooking station and pigging out on the food he was serving them. A lot of Oran Berry-based dishes in particular, which he knew Ria needed to help her recover from the battle, with some others mixed in there as well.

Team Steel had actually kept a reserve of medicinal berries at their base, as they tended to have a far longer shelf life than other types, and Nickel had practically demanded that the berries be redistributed among the villagers. Two-thirds of them ended up redistributed inside Luffy's stomach, but that was just the price of getting saved.

In the middle of digging into a delicious pie, Ria's ears suddenly twitched, and she set the plate of pie down in front of her to turn her head in the direction of the Eterna Grove. Pex eyed the newly-abandoned pie, and then looked at Ria, and then back to the pie. He waited for a second before scooping it towards him with a wing and scarfing the whole thing down in a second. Even still, Ria seemed more interested in the Grove, and from where he was standing, Spruce noted the sudden interest and looked over in that direction as well.

Both of them were the first to see as a Bonsly came toddling into the village. It was a mostly insignificant thing, and with Bonsly being so small most people didn't even notice her. Vivi was one of the few who did, and her eyes lit up at the new arrival. What followed soon after Bonsly's arrival, however, served to draw far more attention and even bring the party to something of a grinding halt.

A dozen Pokémon trailed after Bonsly, walking in single file one after the other. They all hailed from the Grove, and ranged in terms of size and typing. Some, like Ursaring and Luxray, brought an air of unease with them into the village as they walked in a straight line towards Sanji. Luffy and Zoro both went quiet at the new arrivals and watched them closely as they approached. Looking more closely, they noticed that the Pokémon all appeared to be carrying something each.

Neither Spruce nor Ria showed any sign of unease with the arrival of the Pokémon, instead looking on with vested interest as the whole thing transpired. Bonsly stepped to the side and allowed the Pokémon to continue on over to where Sanji was. As they drew nearer, Pex suddenly perked up, and his head whipped around in their direction as a small trail of saliva began to trickle down the side of his beak.

All at once, the Pokémon set down what they had been lugging around: food. A few dozen berries, with even some more pedestrian fruits mixed into the assortment, were all laid at Sanji's feet. For Pex in particular, it was a tantalising sight that had him shaking, while Sanji raised an eyebrow at the sudden delivery.

"Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her feet before scurrying in Vivi's direction. The princess smiled at the Pokémon, and walked over to kneel down in front of her.

"Did you and your friends bring all these fruits because you wanted Sanji to prepare a meal for you?" She asked warmly.

"Bon-Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly nodded eagerly. The other Pokémon all voiced sentiments of agreement from over by Sanji.

"You brought quite a lot of food, probably too much for just you to eat alone." Vivi observed, "Are you going to share it with everyone else as well?"

"Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly nodded again. Luffy licked his lips at the idea, while several of the villagers looked amongst themselves, and then looked over at Sanji.

"I could go for seconds." One villager piped up nervously.

"Uh, yeah. Me too." Another said. Pex nodded along aggressively to the sentiment, though he was far beyond mere seconds. Sanji looked at the wild Pokémon, and then at the villagers, and then finally at Luffy who had begun salivating at the thought of more food, and set down the ingredients and utensils in his hands.

"A chef's work is never done." Sanji said with a melodramatic sigh, going over to the assortment of fruits and berries that had been delivered to him and beginning to sort through them. The Pokémon all cheered.

"Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly said, bouncing up and down happily. She scuttled forwards and bumped directly into the kneeling Vivi, poking and prodding at her with the bulbs on her head.

"This Bonsly seems to like you." Spruce observed as he shuffled over to where the two were, and Ria hopped up and dashed over to stand beside him. Nami likewise followed after him, curiously watching the whole thing.

"Oh, we actually encountered her earlier while you were attacking the base." Vivi explained with a smile, "She was drawn in by Sanji's delicious cooking, though she did need a bit of a lesson in manners."

"Riolu? Rio, Lu. Riolu." Ria said to Bonsly.

"Bon-Bonsly. Bonsly, Bon-Bonsly." Bonsly replied.

"Riolu! Lu!" Ria retorted, pointing up at Spruce and then crossing her arms proudly over her chest and sticking her chin up at Bonsly.

"I see. Do you want to catch her, then?" Spruce asked.

"Erm, 'catch'?" Vivi said, her brow furrowing, "I'm sorry, is that some kind of Pokémon term?"

"Oh, yeah." He nodded, "Catching a Pokémon means throwing a Pokeball at it and having it be captured. If you succeed, it becomes your Pokémon and you become its trainer. Then you can carry it around in the Pokeball and train it and become friends with it!"

"This whole 'catching' affair actually sounds somewhat forceful." Vivi said uneasily, "If you're capturing the Pokémon, then does that mean they don't actually want to remain with you? Is it some kind of- of abduction from their natural environment?"

Every single Straw Hat, plus Carue, all stared at Spruce in that moment.

"Nah!" Spruce said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Catching a Pokémon is super normal, and the Pokémon go along with it too as long as you're nice to them! And if you use these Pokeballs, then Bonsly will only let herself be caught if she wants to stay with you."

"That certainly sounds like an easy resolution to an ethical dilemma." Vivi muttered.

"Here." Spruce said. He reached into his pants pocket and retrieved a pair of small Pokeballs- Trust Balls, like the ones he used. With a press of the button on the front, both Pokeballs were enlarged to their normal sizes, and he handed one to Vivi and held the other one out for Nami to take.

"It's astonishing to think that the Pokémon somehow fit inside of these things." Vivi said, starting to fiddle with the device as she tried to figure it out, "Is there a mechanism? A trigger of some kind?"

"Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly exclaimed. She rammed her face directly into the Pokeball, causing it to suddenly open up. Vivi and Nami both watched in astonishment as Bonsly's body was broken up into white light and sucked into the interior of the ball, which snapped shut around her before beginning to shake in the princess' hand.

Once… twice… three times… click.

Sparkles flew off the Pokeball as the button on the front flashed green, and Vivi raised the ball closer to her face to examine it curiously. Behind her, Carue waddled over and looked over her shoulder, but then jerked back as the ball suddenly flew open and Bonsly manifested in front of Vivi once again.

"Bon-Bonsly!" She chirped.

"Did- did that work?" Vivi said, looking to Spruce for confirmation, "Have I caught her?"

"Yep! You're her trainer now." Spruce said brightly. His other hand was still outstretched towards Nami, with the offered Pokeball not yet having been taken.

"If that's the case then I should… name her, shouldn't I?" Vivi said thoughtfully, "All your Pokémon have names other than just what they are. Right?"

"Some trainers give their Pokémon nicknames." Spruce clarified, "But most Pokémon are fine with whatever you want to call them. Nicknaming them is cool though, because it makes them extra special! It doesn't matter how many Riolu there are in the world, because there's only one Ria."

"Rio!" Ria nodded, nuzzling up against Spruce's leg affectionately.

"I understand." Vivi nodded, "In that case. Hmmm… Oh! How about Bonbon?"

"Bon-Bonsly!" Bonbon nodded, "Bon-Bon!"

"Are you gonna catch that Sableye too, Nami?" Spruce asked, turning his attention over to Nami and the Pokeball she still hadn't taken, as well as the Sableye in her arms. She eyed the Pokeball warily.

"Well… this whole catching thing just sounds like a massive commitment." Nami said, "I've already got my work cut out for me navigating for the crew, so I shouldn't just make a serious decision like this on a whim."

"That is true, actually." Vivi said, a hint of guilt suddenly creeping into her tone.

"You don't need to worry about that!" Spruce reassured her, as bright as ever, "I can help you out with anything that's hard to do, and it's way easier to look after Pokémon than you think!"

The reassurances did seem to appease Nami somewhat, and she found herself looking down at the Pokémon in her arms and mulling over her decision. Sableye craned his neck to look up at her nervously, and she gazed deeply into his eyes. Those glimmering… sparkling… shining… enchanting… expensive eyes of his…

In a sudden burst of movement, Nami snatched the Pokeball from Spruce and pressed it against Sableye's head so fast that the Pokémon didn't even realise what was happening until he was being drawn into the Pokeball as a mass of light. The ball vibrated in Nami's hand, and then shook itself once before there was the click and green light on the button that signified a successful capture.

Nami blinked, and then stared at the Pokeball- her Pokeball- that she was holding, like she herself couldn't actually believe what had just happened. Vivi and Spruce both looked elated at the whole affair, though.

"Gems… jewels… Beri… treasure…" Nami whispered, a smile slowly breaking out across her face with each passing second that she stared at the ball, "Julius sounds like a good name for you. Oh, we're going to do so much together…"

She brought the Pokeball close to her chest and hugged it tight, and Sanji muttered something under his breath about how he wished that Nami would catch him, with only the nearby Pokémon hearing and giving him weird looks.

"You're both Pokémon trainers now!" Spruce grinned, "Congrats!"

"YEAH!" Luffy cheered from over by the bonfire, "We've got even more people on the crew now too! Come on, we've gotta celebrate!"

At his call, the cheers and merriment from all around the party suddenly intensified tenfold, now having the wild Pokémon join in. Zoro smirked wryly at it all, and took a moment to throw a glance over in Spinner's direction, while Sanji shook his head and muttered to himself about all the extra mouths he had to feed- though he did so with a smile on his face- and Usopp's brow furrowed as he looked at the trio of trainers he was now sharing a ship with.

"DOOOOS!" Whiskers hollered, snaking across the ground and flicking his tail out in order to ensnare Spruce, Vivi, Nami, Ria, Bonbon and Carue all in one tight- almost crushing- embrace. Carue quacked indignantly, while Vivi just laughed and patted Whiskers' scales, and Nami panicked over making sure that the Log Pose on her wrist wasn't crushed on accident.

For Spruce, the party was the single greatest time of his life.

-O-

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​

Spruce found himself being awoken from the best night's sleep he had ever gotten by a rubbery hand giving him a hard shake. Opening his eyes, he looked around to see that he had lain down to sleep sometime during the celebration, with some of the other villagers having done the same while most of them retreated to their own residences to enjoy the restful slumber that came from such change. The Straw Hats, Vivi and Carue were all awake and ready to move out, with Nami in particular being fixated on the compass-like object on her wrist. The princess had stored the Pokeball containing her new partner in her pocket, keeping it out of sight but within reach, while the navigator had shrunken hers and affixed it to the bottom of her Log Pose's strap.

"It looks like the Log Pose has finished recording." She reported to everyone else.

"That's a relief. There'd be no frame of reference to know how long it might have taken otherwise." Vivi remarked.

Eyes still bleary, Spruce felt around his belt for his three Pokeballs, and once he had verified that they were where they were meant to be, he rose to his feet and reached up to wipe the lingering sleep away.

"What's a Log Pose?" He mumbled through a yawn.

"I keep forgetting you don't know anything." Usopp remarked. Vivi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Neither did any of you until you actually got here." She pointed out.

"The Log Pose is the tool we use to navigate the Grand Line." Nami said, "It locks onto the magnetic field of an island and points us towards it. Then once we arrive, it takes time to record the field before locking onto the next island, leading us to our next destination."

"Oh, okay then!" Spruce said, "That sounds really important."

"It is." She replied, "So don't get careless and break it by accident."

That bit was said with a stern glare directed towards both Sanji and Luffy. The former bowed his head shamefully, while the latter wasn't even paying attention.

"Alright! Time to get going." Luffy announced, clapping his hands together and walking off in the direction of the shore where the Going Merry was anchored. The rest of the crew followed behind him, with Nami seizing Zoro by the wrist and dragging him behind her for a reason that Spruce couldn't quite understand. The swordsman scowled and glared at her for it, but otherwise went along with it.

Leaving Pastoria Village and heading out on the path back to the shore, there were a handful of Pokémon they saw in their periphery as they walked. Stunky and Skuntank, Machop and Machoke, even a pack of Luxio all watched them as they made their exit from the island, and Spruce couldn't help but feel that the Pokémon looked distinctly happier than they had been the day before. Seeing all those Pokémon, however, suddenly made him realise something, and he stopped in his tracks.

"Luffy, wait." Spruce said, and the Straw Hats all stopped where they were and looked over to him.

"What?" Luffy said.

"There's… there's one more thing." Spruce said, "Just one last thing before I come with all of you…"

"Do you need to say goodbye to someone?" Vivi asked.

"No, that's not it." Spruce shook his head, "It's about Pokémon. Look, Luffy…"

"Yeah?" Luffy said.

"I don't know what's gonna happen when I leave Iron Island with you. I don't know what we'll find, or who we'll meet, or what life will be like. Everything all sounds so strange, but no matter what happens, no matter where we go or what we find, I need you to promise me one thing. One very important thing."

"Sure, okay!" Luffy said, "What do you need?"

"Promise me that you won't eat any Pokémon, Luffy." Spruce requested.

The eyes of every Straw Hat suddenly widened. The cigarette between Sanji's lips fell from his gaping mouth to the ground, Nami let out a shocked gasp and let go of Zoro, who promptly fell over face-first, and Usopp's eyes practically bugged out of his skull. Vivi blinked and looked around confusedly at everyone else's reactions, while they were all fixated on Spruce and Luffy.

"Aww, but why?" Luffy whined.

Spruce stared at him.

"It's fucked up. You can't do it." He answered.

"Not even a little bit?" Luffy pleaded.

Spruce shook his head.

"Not even if it's a really mean one?"

Spruce shook his head again.

Seconds passed with the two of them just frowning at each other, neither one having anything else to say. Then, Luffy's eyes narrowed and he whipped his head over to face the direction of a nearby Luxio, which he stared at intensely. His fists clenched at his sides and he gritted his teeth as a revolted expression slowly appeared on his face. He stuck his tongue out in disgust and retched, and then he suddenly snapped back to normal and nodded to Spruce.

"Okay, I promise." He said. With that, he, Vivi, Carue and Spruce all continued on their way towards the coast, and the other Straw Hats scrambled to follow after them after overcoming their shock. Sanji in particular let out a melancholic sigh as they walked.

'All those recipes, completely useless.' He lamented.

Once the Straw Hats actually came upon the shores of the island, they found themselves greeted by three familiar individuals as well as an assortment of stuff that said trio were standing in front of.

"You're a brat through and through," Walter said to Spruce as the Straw Hats came to a stop before them, "trying to leave Iron Island without saying goodbye to your old teacher? The nerve!"

"What's the point in saying goodbye?" Spruce said, "I'm not going away forever, not unless you don't think you can live long enough for me to come back, that is!"

"HOHOHO! Someone's getting a big head after beating an Admin." Walter guffawed, and he nodded to Luffy, "You keep this troublemaker safe, now. And keep that ego of his in check too!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy snickered, "Sure!"

The other two members of Walter's group dashed forwards, the two of them both seeking out a particular Straw Hat to come to a stop in front of.

"SANJI!" Timothy gasped, gazing up at the chef with wide-eyed admiration, "If you ever come back to Iron Island, I'll… I'll cook you a delicious meal! COOKING FOOD FOR OTHER PEOPLE IS THE MOST AWESOME THING IN THE WORLD!"

"It absolutely is." Sanji agreed, giving the boy an affectionate pat on the head, "I'll be sure to savour every bite when that happens."

"ZORO!" Kiki squealed, "If you ever come back to Iron Island, I'll show off how good I am with swords just like you! SWORDS ARE THE MOST AWESOME THING IN THE WORLD, EVEN MORE AWESOME THAN COOKING!"

"Don't ever let anyone say you can't do it." Zoro said with a nod of approval.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Timothy growled, turning his head to glare at Kiki.

"I said swords are more awesome than cooking." Kiki replied, looking back at Timothy with a smug smirk, "AND I'M RIGHT, KITCHEN DUMMY!"

"SWORD DUMMY!"

"KITCHEN DUMMY!"

"SWORD DUMMY!"

With each yell, the two stepped closer towards each other, until they were literally butting heads, and Walter gave an awkward cough as he pried them apart and stepped between them both.

"I didn't just come to say goodbye." Walter said, gesturing behind him to the various stuff that had been laid out on the beach, "You can't just leave without the proper supplies! As thanks for everything you've done, these are our gifts to you!"

On that note, Nami and Usopp were first in line to hurry past Walter and examine everything before them. To the former's slight disappointment, none of it seemed like it was especially valuable, with half of the stuff just being various small trees. More interesting amongst the assortment of stuff was the anvil and set of tools that came with it, which drew Usopp's attention, along with a collection of old, weathered books. Most enigmatic of all, though, was the flat, silver disc which sat atop all the books, being donut-shaped and seeming to catch and reflect the light in a particular way. Its simple outward appearance deceived the true inner complexities of its workings, Usopp could immediately tell.

"Berry trees, to help feed all those new mouths you're picking up." Walter said, getting a grateful look from Sanji, "Plus an Apricorn tree and all the necessary tools for making Pokeballs. They used to belong to Percival, and were gathering dust in the Team Steel base until now."

"I see…" Spruce murmured, walking over and running a hand idly across the top of the anvil.

"Percival made plenty of those Trust Balls that you're using." Walter noted, "Special things they are. You have to be the only people in the entire world who have any, but they'll run out as surely as anything does. It wouldn't be a terrible idea to figure out how to make more."

"Those things come from this?" Usopp said, looking from Nami and Spruce's Pokeballs over to the Apricorn tree.

"Those books are old. Even older than me! HOHOHO!" Walter said, "There's information in there. Legends, records of Pokémon not found here on Iron Island, and information about the ones already in your possession."

"What about that disc?" Luffy asked, pointing at the object in question.

"There are a handful of those to be found here on Iron Island, and they're even older than the books." Walter said, "That one's a prize to commemorate your victory over Mercury. Even I'm not entirely sure of its actual function."

"So you're saying that it's rare?" Nami said, suddenly perking up. Before Walter could reply, she had already grabbed the disc and pocketed it for herself.

"Thanks for all the stuff, old guy!" Luffy said gratefully.

"HOHOHO! It's all a token of our gratitude towards you and your crew, Luffy." Walter said, before nodding to the rest of the crew, "Just some feeble, elderly wisdom from this old coot before you set off on your adventures. The world is a brutal, unfair place for everyone with even a shred of decency that lives in it. But nothing gets done just standing around condemning it! Young, old, big, small… if you can see that there's a problem that needs to be fixed, it's up to you to roll up your sleeves and fix it! Pokémon trainers, Gym Leaders, pirates- it goes for all of us!"

"I couldn't agree more." Vivi said passionately, overcome with a look of determination.

"None of this mess would have happened if I'd not been such a lazy old man." Walter said wistfully, "But the past is the past, the future is the future, and the present is the only thing we can do anything about! My retirement days are over, and Iron Island has a hardy, seasoned Gym Leader looking after it now. You'd better go strong with this group of troublemakers, Spruce, because the next time we meet, I'll be giving you a battle with nothing held back."

"You'd better not hold anything back if you want to stand a chance." Spruce retorted cheekily.

"HOHOHO!" Walter bellowed, "You troublemakers go on and get out of here and take this brat with you."

"Thank you for everything!" Vivi smiled, waving to him as he shuffled off with Kiki and Timothy both hurrying after him.

"Thanks for the berries!" Sanji added, also waving.

"And thanks for the tools!" Usopp said. They all waved to him as he took his leave of the beach, and once he was gone, everyone looked to all the stuff he had left for them. A moment passed.

"Hold on a second," Zoro said, "Now that he's gone, we're the ones that have to actually load all this stuff onto the Merry!"

From off in the distance, a faint "HOHOHO!" could be heard.

-O-

​

​

Two days after the departure of the Straw Hats, Walter still found it difficult to stay away from the shore where they had said farewell. The sun had since crested the horizon and was edging its way up across the sky, though there was still some of that early morning air hanging over the beach as he sat himself down in his deck chair and stared out at the ocean. The ocean had always projected a feeling of welcome to him, being a Water-Type specialist and all, but ever since the Going Merry had departed upon those tides, he had found himself struck more and more with every passing moment by a distinct hopefulness imbued in that water.

It was an odd thing. For most of the village, the ocean was a symbol of isolation and- in the worst-case scenarios- a symbol of death. What a twist of fate for the tool of their imprisonment upon the island to be what delivered them their salvation. There was an irony to it, he felt. An irony which heralded a momentous change of what the ocean would mean to the people of Iron Island in the future.

"Percival… Cecelia…" Walter murmured, imagining two figures standing just beyond the horizon, "Are you watching over him? Will you be proud of what he accomplishes? Those troublemakers will keep him safe in your stead, so please rest easy."

A chilled beverage would have made the current moment perfect, but there was only so much relaxation he could allow himself in the midst of all the repairs and restructuring that was being done. Every second he was bombarded with reminders of why he had retired from the position in the first place, and it was only when he looked upon the ocean and thought of that hopefulness that the Straw Hats had brought that he remembered exactly why he couldn't do such a thing this time. Mornings spent on the tranquil beach were one of the things that made the stress and all the years being knocked off his lifespan worth it in the end.

Listening to the sounds of the ebb and flow of the tides washing over the sand, the symphonies of the shore were suddenly joined by the sound of energetic footsteps coming from tiny feet as a young girl and her Pokémon both bounded across the beach towards him, completely brimming with energy from head to toe. Walter smiled as he thought of another reason why being the Gym Leader was all worth it.

"Good morning Kiki, and Mister Cuddles too." Walter greeted warmly, adjusting his posture in his seat to be more upright as she and Mister Cuddles both approached.

"GRANDPA! GRANDPAGRANDPAGRANDPAGRANPA!" Kiki screamed, practically throwing herself onto the chair and climbing over to kneel between his legs, "GRANDPAGRANDPAGRANDPA!"

"Yes, I am your grandfather." Walter chuckled, patting her affectionately on the head while Mister Cuddles climbed up the side of the chair and laid himself over his knee, "You're awfully excited today, did something happen?"

"A SHIP!" Kiki said, "A SHIP HAPPENED GRANDPA! A BIG SHIP!"

"Oh, did it now?" Walter said, nodding along before he suddenly blinked and looked at her confusedly, "I'm sorry, did you say a ship happened?"

"There's a ship coming, Grandpa! A big ship that's coming this way over on the other side of the island! Come on! Come on! Let's go see it!" Kiki said. She stood up and jumped down back onto the sand, with Mister Cuddles following suit, and she bounced up and down while pointing off into the distance.

For several moments, Walter was stunned at what she had just said, but then he just threw his head back and laughed as he, with a bit more reservation than Kiki had shown, shuffled off of the chair and stood up. Without wasting a single moment, Kiki and Mister Cuddles took off running, leaving Walter to stroll on after them. Just before he left the beach, however, he took one last look at the sea and admired the beauty of the ocean's surface.

Hope indeed.

 

[DolphinMan]

"What… is this?"

At the sound of the chef's voice, Spruce craned his neck in order to look up at Sanji standing over him. He and Ria were currently sat across from each other on the deck of the Merry, enjoying the peacefulness that he had been told was only afforded the crew as a result of their proximity to Iron Island. After an early-morning departure and a day of being at sea, the sun was edging the horizon, a hair's breadth away from dusk proper, and that had been the cue for Sanji to get started on preparations for the crew's dinner.

From what Spruce could tell, looking at the bowl of thick brown pellets he was holding in one hand, Sanji had prepared a bowl of Pokemon food as part of those preparations. And from what Spruce could tell by looking from the bowl in his hand to the chef's face, with tightly pursed lips practically crushing his cigarette, something about the results had displeased him. Ria glanced from Spruce to Sanji, then back to Spruce, and grimaced at the situation.

"Pokemon food!" Spruce answered brightly, a matching smile on his face. The instant after the words had been uttered, one of the Pokeballs on him shook before bursting open to reveal Pex, who shot towards the bowl of food like a bullet fired from a pistol, only for Sanji's leg to swing up in an arc and catch the Flying-Type in the side, knocking him into the deck and pinning him there, all while the chef's focus remained on the trainer sitting before him.

"And it's supposed to look like this?" Sanji asked, his gaze flicking over to the bowl and a look of distaste appearing in his eyes.

"I think so." Spruce said, "I visited the Gym one time a few years ago, and the Pokemon were all eating stuff like that out of bowls. Is there a problem?"

"You think it's fine for me to just drop a bowl of this in front of the Pokemon and call that their dinner?" Sanji said.

"Um… yes?" Spruce said tentatively, "Ria, you'd be fine with that, right?"

"Riolu!" Ria nodded, licking her lips as she stared at the bowl. With a slight begrudging sigh, Sanji grabbed one of the pellets from the top of the bowl and dropped it into her paws, a ghost of a smile dancing across his lips as she happily scarfed it down.

"What if I just served you a plain loaf of bread and called that a meal?" Sanji said. He then blinked as Spruce suddenly lit up at such a suggestion.

"That sounds great! I love bread, and I bet you can make really great bread!" He said, "Ooh, are we having bread for dinner?"

Before Sanji could offer a reply, a rubbery hand made its presence known as it suddenly lunged towards the contents of his bowl and grabbed a handful of pellets. Now with the desired handful, the hand zipped back along the elongated arm it had been attached to, bringing the handful up to the mouth of Luffy all the way over from where he was sitting on the ship's figurehead. He crunched down noisily on the pellets, with the grinding and chomping audible even from that distance.

"That food wasn't for you, you glutton!" Sanji chastised the captain loudly, "It wasn't even for the other people on the ship!"

"TASTES FINE TO ME!" Luffy called back, flashing a disgustingly toothy grin along with the partially-chewed contents of his mouth.

"AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED WHEN YOU EAT!" Sanji snapped. Luffy obliged, closing his mouth while hopping up and walking over to where the others were, with the chef's eye narrowing as it focused on both of his hands.

"Why does it matter what it looks like?" Luffy asked, "Everything you make tastes great, and that's the only thing that really matters!"

"Because a chef needs to put love and care into every aspect of how their food is prepared!" Sanji said, "From the condition of the kitchen and the kitchenware to the way the food is actually laid out on the plate, a chef needs to ensure that everything is up to the standard of quality they hold themselves too!"

"Well…" Spruce leaned his head back and clutched his chin thoughtfully, "I guess that being a Pokemon trainer is kind of the same in a way. A good trainer doesn't just make sure their Pokemon is strong, they also make sure that they're happy and healthy too."

"Sure, let's go with that." Sanji said, "As long as you can see- wait. WAITNO-!"

It was too late. The eyes of the three humans and the two Pokemon who were listening all widened in unison, with Ria and Spruce cringing just a second before a hysteric cry exploded from down beneath the deck.

"BOOOOOOOOOONSSSSSSSSLYYYYYYYY!"

They all looked down towards the source of the sound, which was quickly followed by rocky footsteps thundering about erratically and the distressed quacking of a particular duck.

"It's okay, Bonbon!" Vivi exclaimed desperately from below the deck, "There's no water here! It's all outside, and it can't get in here! Completely dry! It's completely dry! Dry like a desert!"

"BONSLY! BON-BON-BON-BONSLY!" Bonbon screeched, running around all over like a headless chicken in spite of Vivi's attempts to calm her down. Spruce and Ria grimaced to each other and just tried to tune it out, while Luffy used the commotion as a chance to grab another handful of Pokemon food from the bowl and stuff it in his mouth. Sanji didn't even tell him off, instead just looking deeply ashamed of himself for what had just happened.

"I'll… get back to preparing dinner." The chef sighed. With his head hung in defeat, he shuffled back into the kitchen and shut the door behind him, returning to his culinary work while Luffy munched down on what he had been able to steal. The now-free Pex watched on enviously.

"MMM! Po'emo foo ih goo!" Luffy said.

-O-

​

​

Not all leisure time on the ship was spent just lazing about and eating food not meant for human consumption, though. As the sun hung high up in the sky overhead amidst a clear blue sky, Spruce stood to the side of both Ria and Pex and watched with a steely gaze as the latter flapped his wings fiercely, mustering up the strongest winds he could and directing them towards the former. Ria, for her part, stood her ground and braced herself against the deck to stand up to the wind while punching at it repeatedly with a look of determination on her face.

As well as the trainer in question, the exercise also had a spectator in the form of Zoro, who was himself taking a break from his own training to both relax his body as well as watch how the Pokemon trained theirs. Sitting back in a chair, his brow furrowed as he watched Ria continuously throw punches into the wind, obviously to no effect.

"What's the point?" Zoro asked.

"Huh?" Spruce looked over at the swordsman, while Ria and Pex both remained focused on what they were doing.

"What does this kind of training accomplish?" Zoro elaborated, sounding more curious rather than judgmental, "Is it to build power?"

"Power… not really." Spruce shrugged, "If I wanted Ria to build power, I'd have her battling more seriously. I'd probably get Whiskers involved instead of Pex, too. Nah, I'm trying to teach her a new move."

"Oh?" Zoro said interestedly.

"When we were fighting Brass and his Sudowoodo, I realised that Ria's moveset only covers close-range attacks." Spruce explained, "So if we're fighting an enemy who's really dangerous in close-range, it's really troublesome for us."

"So this new attack is wind-based?" Zoro guessed, looking from Ria to Pex, "You're having her punch the wind to strengthen her punches so that when it's not windy she'll be strong enough for those same punches to hurl the air towards her opponents?"

"Yeah!" Spruce said, "That's exactly it. I guess I'm also trying to get her used to feeling the wind around her fists too, so she'll be able to get a better idea of how to actually do the attack as well."

"That makes sense." Zoro said, rising to his feet from where he was sitting, "I could give you a hand with that kind of training, if you wanted. I have an attack that does something like that."

"Really? That would be great!" Spruce grinned, and Ria's eyes lit up as she briefly stopped her punches. The sparkle in her eyes mixed with a look of hunger as she watched the swordsman draw two of his swords from their sheaths and walk over to stand below where Pex was hovering. The bird Pokémon descended and perched himself on the taffrail to the side to watch.

"Normally this attack isn't any good for handling strong opponents, it's better for dealing with groups of weak ones." Zoro remarked, "It seemed to be particularly effective against that frog that Sneezy was commanding, though."

"Frog? Oh, you mean Copper's Toxicroak." Spruce said, "I guess that a wind attack would be super-effective against a Fighting-Type Pokémon like that."

'Wind was effective, but my swords sure weren't.' Zoro thought to himself as he took up his stance, 'Would that man have been able to cut through that damn frog if it had been him fighting on the island? He would have had to be. These things are weird, but if I can figure out that weirdness for myself and how to overcome it, it'll be a step towards surpassing him.'

"Two-Sword Style… HAWK WAVE!"

With a superhuman force behind them, the two blades smashed through the air and hurled it right towards Ria as a powerful gust of wind. The Pokémon's eyes narrowed as she drove a fist straight into the oncoming wind, focusing on the feeling of the air warping around and pushing against the limb, and exactly how much force there was behind Zoro's attack to be able to create such a gust of wind. Her feet slid back across the deck as the wind pushed against her, and she teetered and wobbled slightly before managing to right herself and remain upright.

Both swordsman and Pokémon alike shared a slight smirk as the wind subsided, and Zoro took up his stance again in preparation for a repeat performance. Before the training could continue, however, a new arrival halted them in their tracks.

"Is something the matter?!" Vivi exclaimed worriedly, scrambling over towards the group from below the deck where she had been until just a moment ago, "Why are you fighting?"

"Hey Vivi!" Spruce greeted with a friendly wave. From off the starboard side of the ship, the glimmering crimson form of Whiskers broke through the ocean's surface in a great show of his own majesty, with his body rising from the water in order to stand upright with his head towering above the deck.

"DOOOOOS!" Whiskers roared, leaning his head down towards where Vivi was standing.

Momentarily, the princess was taken aback by the suddenness of the whole thing, and she flinched away from Whiskers as any ordinary person would when faced with a giant sea-serpent suffering from resting monster face getting up close and personal. Once the moment passed, however, she straightened up and reached out to pat the side of Whiskers' face affectionately with a smile on her face.

"And hello to you too, Whiskers!" She said brightly. A wide and toothy grin broke out across Whiskers' face, and he nuzzled against the hand for a second before rising back up, and then diving beneath the ocean's surface again. With his return to the sea, Vivi focused back on the trainer and swordsman.

"As I was saying, is something the matter?" She said.

"No, I don't think so." Spruce said, looking to Zoro for confirmation, "Nothing's the matter, right Zoro?"

"No complaints here." Zoro said.

"Yep! Zoro was just helping with Ria's training." Spruce said, "Which was really nice of him. I'm trying to teach Ria a new move, so he's attacking her with wind to help us figure it out."

"Oh, that… makes far more sense." Vivi admitted, "I suppose that the fighters on this ship would have particular training regimens, wouldn't you?."

"And how's Bonbon doing?" Spruce said.

"As if we can't hear that for ourselves." Zoro muttered.

"She's doing well." Vivi replied, "As long as nothing sets her off, she's perfectly happy below the deck, and she seems to be getting along with Carue well enough. Though I wish that someone had warned me in advance how much the s- er, how much the… how much the environment would distress her."

She gave Spruce a very pointed look. He stared back at her.

"No-one on Iron Island ever sails." Spruce said, "Or, well, no-one ever sails and comes back again, so how was I supposed to know that a Bonsly wouldn't like the- ahem! How was I supposed to know that Bonbon wouldn't like this environment?"

"It's certainly not helping me feel any less impulsive about bringing her along to hear that excuse." Vivi said.

"If she really hates being on the ship, can't you just keep her in that ball thing?" Zoro suggested.

"For the entire voyage?" Vivi gasped, "That's- that would be awful! Er… wouldn't it?"

Looking to Spruce for confirmation, the trainer just shrugged.

"Some Pokémon hate being in their ball, some don't mind. If Bonbon really hated how much you were keeping her in one, she'd just start coming out on her own volition." He explained.

"Riolu. Rio." Ria nodded.

"There." Zoro said, "That damn tree was the one cozying up to you in the first place anyway."

"It's good of you to want to keep her outside her ball, though." Spruce added warmly, "A trainer can't become friends with a ball! If you want her to be happier with the environment, though, you should try and keep her busy so she's not thinking about it."

"Riol! Lu, Riol." Ria mentioned, eliciting a thoughtful look from Spruce.

"Ooh, you think so?" He said, "I guess that could be a good idea… Yeah! Hey Vivi, why don't you and Bonbon join in on training with us?"

"Oh?" Zoro raised an eyebrow, and glanced at the princess in question, sizing her up.

"Training… with you?" Vivi frowned. She looked uneasily from Spruce, then to Ria, and then finally to Zoro and the two swords in his hands. The blades shone threateningly under the sunlight.

"Yep! We'd start off easy, just figuring out what Bonbon's moves are, and then we could try some practice battles." Spruce said, "Or maybe just work on move training for now. Julius is the only Pokémon available who'd be a fair training partner for Bonbon at this stage, to be honest…"

"Oh!" Vivi said, "You meant training Bonbon… well, as grateful as I am for your offer, I'm afraid I have to decline. I don't really have any interest in having her fight, is the thing."

"Are you sure?" Zoro said sceptically, "You're not exactly useful in a fight as you are, and you've seen what these things can do."

The bluntness with which he dismissed her skills made Vivi cringe slightly, but she couldn't actually dispute what he was saying. Was that something she should be proud of or ashamed of?

"While fighting might not be my strong suit, that doesn't mean I want to force it onto others." Vivi said, "I'm… not completely blind, I know that violence is sometimes unavoidable. But there's a difference between wanted criminals like this crew, or even a troop like Carue, being drawn into a fight, and taking in a creature from the wild and shaping her into an instrument of violence. Doing something like that would just feel so terribly… distasteful."

The way that she spoke was almost regretful, and her words washed over Spruce as his brow continually furrowed and he mulled over everything she was saying. With the last word, he didn't say anything, instead choosing to instead sit himself down there and the deck and share a look with Ria. Neither had to actually say anything to the either, before Spruce finally spoke back up.

"Well, everyone takes care of Pokémon in their own way." He commented, "And if that's how you want to take care of Bonbon, then that's fine too!"

Though it sounded perfectly benign coming out of his mouth, Vivi couldn't help but feel that there was some sense of judgement in what Spruce was saying. She pursed her lips and, with only a nod, left the lot of them to their training and returned to below the deck.

-O-

​

​

"LITTLE GARDEN!"

Nami's sudden, frantic scream had all of the Straw Hats scrambling to their feet and to their stations in preparation for the arrival of the ship at their next destination, as they all looked out at the ocean surrounding them to try and catch sight of the island for themselves, only to be met with nothing but a wide expanse of blue. And looking around the Merry, Nami wasn't anywhere to be found on the deck either.

"Little Garden's the name of that place you thought Iron Island was, right?" Spruce muttered to Usopp. The sniper gave him a nod.

"It's meant to be the second island on the Grand Line for us. Whatever the deal with Iron Island is, there's a chance that Little Garden is still gonna be our next destination."

"What was she doing yelling and making a fuss over it?" Zoro grumbled, a scowl on his face.

"Nami can yell and make a fuss whenever she wants! It's a welcome relief from having to hear your grating voice the rest of the time!" Sanji called out heatedly.

"I'm surprised you can hear anything over the sound of all your pathetic pining." Zoro retorted. His blades flew from their sheaths an instant later, meeting Sanji's approaching leg directly and stopping it in its tracks as the two of them began snarling at each other.

"Maybe it's called Little Garden because it's so little that we can't find it?" Spruce suggested to Usopp, ignoring the scuffle going on in the background.

"Rio." Ria deadpanned.

"It was just a suggestion." Spruce defended, "How would you know that it can't be that small? Have you ever been anywhere other than Iron Island?"

"Isn't it your job to check it out for yourself if that's the case?" Usopp pointed out.

"I KNEW IT!" Nami's voice drew everyone's attention once again, as they saw her walk back out onto the deck clutching an old, thick leather-bound book in her hands. It was open, and she flipped swiftly through the pages until suddenly stopping and jabbing her finger into it.

"Little Garden! I knew I'd heard of that island somewhere!" Nami explained, "It's written down in this book here! And the reason that it's called Little Garden is that-!"

"NAAAAAAAAMIIIIIII!" Luffy cut the navigator off with a loud and obnoxious whine, slumping against the taffrail and throwing his hands up, "Don't spoil the next island!"

"I… I beg your pardon?" Nami muttered.

"What are you talking about, Luffy?" Usopp said.

"I don't wanna go on an adventure where I know what's gonna happen before it happens!" Luffy protested, "I want it to be a surprise! There are a bunch of things that we could find at Little Garden, and I don't know which ones we're gonna find!"

The statement served to distract Sanji and Zoro from their clash, with the chef lowering his leg and the swordsman sheathing his swords so they could both give their captain a rueful grin.

"So you're saying you don't wanna find out about stuff before you run into it?" Spruce, the crew's new scout, asked Luffy, speaking very clearly and making sure every word was clearly enunciated so his question couldn't be misheard.

Usopp and Nami both peered at Luffy closely as he mulled over what Spruce asked him, clutching his chin thoughtfully, until he finally grinned widely and nodded.

"Yeah! I want it to be a total surprise!" Luffy said, "Some stuff can't be a surprise, like going to Vivi's country, but other stuff can! And that's the stuff I want to stay a surprise."

Spruce nodded along very seriously to what Luffy told him, while Nami and Usopp both let out long-suffering groans as they slumped to the deck. The former spared a glance at the Log Pose that was on her wrist in order to check they were still on course, before slamming the book shut which she had brought out with her.

​

-O-

​

​

Once the ship did finally arrive at the destination of the so-called 'Little Garden', Spruce found himself awestruck at the sight of the island which rapidly approached them from the horizon. An enormous mass of land, even larger than Iron Island was, packed so densely with foliage that the great spread of green was ginormous even from where they were. And behind that green was a stark white mountain of some kind which stretched far up into the sky.

Reactions were mixed among the crew as the Merry ventured inland, surrounded on both sides by massive trees that loomed overhead with their leaves casting shadows over the ground below. Other than the general sense of excitement that came from finally arriving at their destination, some of them seemed far more cautious than others.

"We've got to be careful." Vivi commented. For the first time since they'd set off, Bonbon stood beside her on the deck, gazing out at the surrounding foliage in astonishment while seemingly paying no mind to the water they were moving across.

"I'm worried about what Miss All-Sunday said." She added.

"Y-Y-You mean there are monsters?!" Usopp stuttered, taking a step towards the centre of the ship and away from the island around them.

"I dunno. Could be." Sanji said nonchalantly, "We'd better find provisions while we're here, though. We never stocked up in Whiskey Peak, and even those fruit trees the old man gave us won't feed the entire crew for a sustained voyage."

At the mention of provisions, Spruce closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Beside him, Ria did the same, and the appendages on the side of her head floated up until they were perfectly straight, pointing both left and right from where she was facing. After a brief moment, both their eyes snapped open in unison, bearing a matching blue glow that quickly faded away.

"Well that's disappointing." Spruce sighed, crossing his arms.

"Rio…" Ria said dejectedly, doing the same. The two plopped down on the deck next to each other.

"Huh? What's disappointing?" Luffy said.

"There aren't any Pokémon on the island." Spruce said, "Not one."

"Really? Not one?" Luffy said, suddenly leaning and grabbing Spruce by the shoulders, "Definitely?"

"You can tell all the way from here?" Usopp said, leaning in and also grabbing Spruce by the shoulders.

"Yep." Spruce nodded, "Pokémon have Auras that feel totally different from people, and from animals too."

"YEAHHH!" Luffy cheered, jumping back and throwing a fist up into the air in celebration, "That means everything that looks tasty is on the menu!"

"Phew… at least there are no more of those things…" Usopp mumbled, breathing a sigh of relief and sitting down.

"Nami, you know what's on this island, don't you?" Vivi asked their navigator, and Usopp instantly straightened up.

"I do." Nami said, "But…"

She beckoned to the cheerful Luffy, who was quick to remind them, "NO SPOILERS!"

"I can share with everyone else once Luffy's out of earshot." She finished.

"Riolu." Ria pouted, prompting Spruce to give her a reassuring pat on the head.

"Hey, it's okay." He soothed, "Just because there aren't any Pokémon to battle doesn't mean there aren't other cool things for you to fight! You heard Sanji, we need to stock up!"

"Other cool things to fight…?" Usopp mumbled nervously.

The suggestion had the desired effect of perking Ria up, and she was quick to jump to her feet and scurry over to the edge of the ship, hopping up to peer over into the trees.

"GAW-GAW!"

"AHHHH!" Usopp screamed, jumping up and hiding himself behind Sanji as he looked up at the sky, where the shrill cry had originated from.

"What are you freaking out over?" Sanji said flatly to the sniper, "It was just a bird."

A creature with blue and purple plumage flew over the ship, so high up that only Luffy and Ria seemed to notice its presence at all. It was massive, with a lizard-like mouth that bore a row of razor-sharp fangs, and sets of vicious talons on both its legs as well as on its wings like a pair of hands.

"A lizard?" Luffy said.

"Riolu…" Ria murmured, before her attention was suddenly snagged by something she saw over on the island, "RIOLU! RIO!"

Her yells got the rest of the crew's attention, who crowded around her to see what she was fixated on.

A mighty tiger which stood at a size which would have towered over any human on the ship, stood by the edge of the water. Its mouth was partially open, showcasing the teeth that could have ripped them apart if it had the chance, while it let out a low and rumbling growl.

"Is that a tiger?!" Usopp said, still trying to hide himself behind Sanji. Almost as if on cue, the tiger suddenly keeled over right before their eyes with blood gushing out of numerous wounds that were now on display for them all to see.

"Rio?" Ria said, tilting her head at the sight.

"NAMI?!" Usopp shrieked, "T-T-That was a tiger! A TIGER! They're kings of the jungle, what kind of monster could have killed one of THEM?!"

"What comes after a king?" Spruce said, "A super king? Whatever did that must be the super king of the jungle."

"Rio." Ria said excitedly. Spruce chuckled and reached over to ruffle the top of her head.

"Someone's eager." He teased.

"I… I don't think we should set foot on this island…" Usopp said quietly.

"Well, you're certainly not wrong about that." Nami admitted, "But a certain someone has other ideas."

She jerked her head in Luffy's direction as he leaned over next to Ria, grinning broadly from ear to ear and looking out at the entire island that was before them. Usopp groaned pitifully.

"Sanji! I need a lunchbox!" Luffy announced.

"A lunchbox?" Sanji said curiously.

"Yep! A pirate lunchbox!" Luffy said, "I smell adventure!"

Obliging the request, Sanji headed into the kitchen in order to get the desired lunchbox ready.

"A-A-Are you sure, Luffy?!" Usopp said, "It really seems like we should just stay on the Merry and wait for the Log Pose to finish recording!"

"Nope!" Luffy said brightly, "Nami's made this place sound too exciting! Wanna come along with me?"

"I'll pass…" Usopp said weakly, bowing his head in defeat and stepping back. From beside Vivi, Bonbon shuffled over towards Luffy and threw herself into his leg, bouncing off and beginning to hop up and down next to him.

"Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonbon said.

Walking over, Vivi scooped Bonbon up in her arms. She gave the Pokémon a surprised look, while Bonbon vibrated with excitement in her hold. Luffy grinned at the both of them.

"How about you?" He asked.

"Bonbon seems awfully eager to set foot on solid ground again." Vivi remarked, "And I'll do nothing but brood if I just sit around and wait for the Log Pose to reset. Keeping busy will help keep my mind off everything for the time being."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea." Nami cautioned, jerking her head in the direction of the fallen tiger.

Vivi's brow furrowed slightly at that as she thought over what Nami had said, before finally looking over at Spruce.

"Well what does the scout think?" She inquired, "How dangerous is this island?"

"Huh?" Spruce said, "Oh. Dangerous? Uh… I don't think there's really anything that would be a threat to Luffy, Sanji or Zoro. Does that sound right to you, Ria?"

Glancing to his partner, he received an affirmative nod, which he repeated to Vivi.

"You're sure about that?" Nami said emphatically, "There's absolutely nothing that you think's a threat?"

She was giving Spruce a very intense look, to the degree that he scooted back across the deck and away from her. Frowning slightly, he closed his eyes and took a breath, and then opened them again to reveal that brief flash of blue, which had Zoro in particular rather interested.

"Mmm… Yep!" Spruce nodded again, "Nothing that would be a danger to those three! If you or Usopp tried leaving the ship on your own, it might be trouble, but as long as you've got Sanji and Zoro around to protect you, you're fine!"

"So it's the same as always." Zoro said bluntly. Nami almost seemed like she was about to object, but stopped herself.

"Then that settles it." Vivi decided, "If I go with Luffy, it should be safe enough. Plus I have Carue to protect me!"

"QUACK?!" Carue quacked, his eyes wide and beak agape.

"That duck's squared quack-less." Nami deadpanned.

The door to the kitchen opened, and Sanji poked his head out in order to say to Vivi, "I'll prepare you a lunch with love, princess~!"

"Could you give Carue a drink too?" Vivi requested, "And make sure to prepare some for Bonbon as well, please."

"Bonsly!" Bonbon chirped.

"Of course!" Sanji said, before addressing Nami, "And you don't have anything to fear as long as I'm here, Nami-dear~!"

With that, he stepped back into the kitchen. Once the lunches had been prepared, and the ship had dropped anchor, and a container of water with a straw poking out was slipped around Carue's neck, the party of captain, princess, duck and faux-sapling all departed the ship, stepping onto the grassy terrain before them. At the sensation of the plant life beneath her feet, Bonbon began running in eager circles, while Luffy and a Vivi-carrying Carue set off ahead into the jungle.

"LET'S GO!" Luffy cheered.

"See you when we see you!" Vivi called back to those still aboard the ship, giving a wave as she and Luffy vanished into the trees.

"She sure is brave." Usopp commented.

"Bonsly?" Bonbon said, coming to a stop and looking over in the direction where the other three had gone off in. With a startled gasp, she sprinted after them, hurrying to catch up, which Spruce and Ria both shared a chuckle at. Once Bonbon was likewise out of sight, Spruce turned his attention slightly higher, peering out at the treetops and what laid beyond them.

"Hey, guys?" Spruce said, rising to his feet and stretching his back as Ria did the same.

"Hm? Something the matter?" Sanji said.

"Those Devil Fruit things… is there one that could allow someone to get really big?" Spruce asked, "Like, bigger than the Merry? Bigger than Whiskers on top of the Merry?"

"Now he decides to bring it up." Nami said under her breath.

"Well, there very well could be an ability that exists like that." Sanji admitted, "There's only one Devil Fruit that I'm particularly familiar with, so I don't know what kind of limits there are on what they can do."

"Wouldn't be any weirder than the ones we've run into before." Zoro said.

"What makes you, uh… ask?" Usopp piped up nervously.

"You sensed the giants, didn't you?" Nami said bluntly.

"GIANTS?!" Usopp screeched.

"Giants, eh?" Zoro said, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"Giants?" Spruce said curiously, "Well they were pretty gigantic, yeah. The two of them were the first thing I noticed, actually. How about you Ria?"

"Riolu… Riolu." Ria replied, giving a so-so gesture with her paw.

"Oh, I suppose those other things are pretty big too." Spruce said.

"OTHER THINGS?!" Usopp screeched, this time ducking behind Sanji and pointing an accusatory over his shoulder at Spruce. Nami let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose before speaking up.

"The full name of the island is Little Garden, Land of Giants." She explained, "Get it? To a giant, all these trees are like a 'little garden'."

"Oh, that does make sense!" Spruce nodded cheerfully.

"I repeat." Usopp ground out, "What OTHER THINGS?!"

"The animals. Some of them are really big." Spruce said casually.

"That's good to know, we should be able to stock up plenty while we're here then." Sanji chimed in thoughtfully.

"Those 'animals' you're talking about are dinosaurs." Nami said flatly. A high-pitched squeal slipped out through Usopp's lips as he collapsed into a heap, with a faint white smoke seemingly escaping from his mouth as he laid there on the deck.

"I see." Spruce said, seriously this time, "And dinosaurs are… not normal, right?"

"No, Spruce, they are not." Nami sighed, "They're extinct everywhere else in the world, in fact."

"Oh! Well then it's a good thing this island is here, then!" Spruce said, "Though… now I feel kind of bad about possibly killing and eating them."

"Don't." Sanji reassured him, "There's no way we could hunt the animals here into endangerment while we're here, even with Luffy's appetite."

Something about such a casual exchange snapped Usopp out of his stupor, and he flew to his feet to look at everyone else incredulously. Frenzied, he threw himself at Spruce and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"YOU SAID IT WASN'T DANGEROUS!" Usopp raged, shaking him furiously back and forth.

"I did say that." Spruce said, blinking at Usopp's reaction.

"WHAT PART OF GIANTS AND DINOSAURS DOESN'T SCREAM DANGER TO YOU?!"

"I said that they'd be dangerous to you and Nami, since neither of you are very strong." Spruce said, "Vivi too, but she's with Luffy anyway. That was just the dinosaurs, though. The giants didn't seem like a threat at all."

Releasing his hold on Spruce, Usopp stopped for a moment to take a breath, before pointing an accusatory finger at the other three crew members.

"And you all are being WAY TOO CASUAL ABOUT THIS!" He said hotly. Zoro raised an eyebrow, Sanji tilted his head, and Nami crossed her arms.

"Dunno. Doesn't seem like a big deal." Zoro shrugged.

"It'll be interesting to see what the best way to prepare a dinosaur is." Sanji added, beginning to mutter to himself about the merits of roasting versus grilling.

"I already knew what was waiting for us here." Nami said bluntly, "If there were any way to change course, I would have, but the Log Pose forced us to come here."

"Riolu. Rio." Ria grumbled quietly, tugging on the side of Spruce's pant leg to get his attention.

"Something the matter?" Spruce asked, lowering himself down to her level.

"Riolu!" Ria urged, grabbing his shirt and tugging on it as well as she bounced up and down and pointed in the direction of the jungle.

"Well, we'll be heading off as well." Spruce announced as he stood back up, "I think Ria wants to try testing herself against some of these 'dinosaur' things."

"Lu!" Ria nodded, grinning to herself as she punched at the air.

"Try and bring some back to the ship with you when you're done." Sanji said.

"Yep, will do!" Spruce said, giving the chef a thumbs-up. Reaching down, he ran a hand across his belt to check his Pokeballs, while Ria jumped and climbed up his back in order to perch herself atop his head. With everything in order, he made to debark the ship, while Zoro spared a glance out towards the jungle.

"I've got time to kill, too." Zoro commented, "I think I'll take a walk."

"TAKE A WALK?!" Usopp said incredulously. The swordsman likewise disembarked the Merry, stepping onto Little Garden's grassy surface and strolling deeper into the island.

He and Spruce walked in opposite directions from each other, with the latter giving the former a friendly wave, which earned him a polite nod in return. As Zoro walked off, however, Spruce found himself suddenly stopping and looking off to the side, and then back in the direction of the ship.

"HEADS-UP!" Spruce yelled, "YOU'VE GOT A VISITOR COMING THIS WAY!"

With the warning given, he turned back around and headed off into the jungle himself, paying no mind to Nami and Usopp's shared looks of terror at the revelation. Leaving the Merry behind, he likewise never caught a glimpse of the enormous silhouette which began to emerge from within the jungle, revealing itself to the trio that had stayed behind.