One Piece: Luffy is My Pokemon

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"Merry."

Looking at Merry, who was somehow radiating a sense of sadness, Red immediately stepped forward.

"Don't worry, Merry!"

"Since I've come to this world, I'll never let that happen to you again."

Though his tone wasn't particularly passionate and his voice wasn't very loud, at that moment, standing under the night sky, Red exuded a magnetic charm. Above his head, the Silver Inspection Mirror still emitted a strange red light.

"Well! I believe you, Red!" Merry turned her head, stood on her tiptoes, crossed her hands behind her back, and smiled sweetly.

"So..." Red suddenly extended his palm, inviting Merry with a gesture:

"Want to be my Pokémon, little Merry!?"

Since Merry had already accessed his memories, Red didn't bother pretending anymore. When she heard Red's invitation, little Merry immediately displayed a look of surprise and doubt.

"Pokémon!? Can I really do that too?"

As the manifestation of the Straw Hat Pirates' memories, Merry certainly understood what being a Pokémon meant. However, after she was born, she became an independent entity and no longer shared memories with the Straw Hat Pirates. She would simply continue absorbing everyone's scattered emotions and mental energy to strengthen herself.

These powers allowed Merry to create a physical form that could interact with reality or control the actions of the ship. Although no matter what activity she performed, the energy in Merry's body would dissipate quickly, this was the essence of a ship spirit's existence!

But if Merry could enter the Pokémon world like Red's other partners and obtain the power granted by the machine... would she still be just a special ship spirit? Could she, when strong enough, laugh and party with everyone like a normal person?

"I don't know if it will succeed," Red said, not giving a definitive answer, but encouraging her with a slight smile. "But if you don't try, you'll never succeed, right?!"

From the fact that Merry could ask such a question, it was clear that even though she knew about Red's special ability, she had never dared to hope for such a possibility.

Merry, formed from memories and emotions, understood better than anyone how terrifying emotional power could be. If she allowed herself to hope but didn't achieve the desired result, the feelings of loss and regret would eventually overwhelm her entire being. Over time, she would either completely dissipate or transform into a ship spirit who resented the crew.

To avoid such a fate, little Merry had cut off these thoughts at their root. This was also why most ship spirits were reluctant to have too much contact with their crews. This behavior was part of the racial characteristics of ship spirits, something Red naturally didn't know.

Looking at his outstretched hand, a trace of hesitation flickered across little Merry's face. But soon, she stepped forward and grasped Red's palm.

"Let me be your Pokémon! Trainer!!!" she suddenly declared.

The next moment, a relaxed and relieved smile appeared on Red's face.

"As you wish, little Merry!" Red said softly.

A dazzling light instantly filled their vision. When they opened their eyes again, the two had successfully entered the Pokémon world! They were standing in front of the Pokémon Center in Golden City.

"I did it! I actually did it!!!" Looking at this scene that had previously existed only in memories, little Merry jumped up excitedly.

After a moment, she seemed to suddenly remember something and asked Red:

"By the way, Red! Quick! Show me my attribute interface!"

Because she carried Red's memories, Merry wasn't unfamiliar with the Pokémon world at all—in fact, she was even more familiar with it than the other Straw Hat Pirates.

"Don't worry," Red replied with a smile, then clicked on the Pokémon interface to display Merry's attribute screen.

[Pokémon: Going Merry (Ship Spirit Form)]

[Level: 5]

[Gender: —]

[Personality: Naughty (+ Attack - Special Defense)]

[Attribute: Ghost]

[Feature: Float (Can float freely in the air and easily avoid attacks from the ground)]

——

[HP: 27]

[Attack: 18]

[Defense: 13]

[Special Attack: 20]

[Special Defense: 14]

[Speed: 20]

——

"Ship Spirit Form?"

After reading Merry's attribute list, Red was stunned for a moment. Realizing something, he looked at Merry curiously and asked:

"Merry, can you... still transform back into a ship now!?"

"Of course I can. Why do you ask!?" As a ship spirit, Merry was momentarily confused, then answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Although ancient legends described ship spirits as magical beings born from a ship's hull, in reality, while the ship spirit and hull appeared to be separate entities, the ship spirit's consciousness existed in both simultaneously.

"What's wrong!?"

Hearing Merry's casual answer, Red began to wonder if she had truly inherited the memories of herself, Luffy, and Usopp!

That's a ship! A ship! How amazing would it be to have a ship as a Pokémon?!

Red was eager to find out: "Quick, Merry! Show me your other form!"

"Eh? Here?" Little Merry grabbed both sides of her hood, looked around, and showed a little embarrassment.

"But... it's too small here~!"

Despite her hesitation, the next moment, Merry still revealed her "super transformation form" to Red!

In an instant... a light sailboat that normally carried the Straw Hat Pirates across the ocean suddenly appeared before Red!

"Holy crap! It actually works!!!" Seeing this, Red couldn't help but swear.

The next second, he eagerly opened Merry's attribute interface again.

[Pokémon: Going Merry (Ship Form)]

[Level: 5]

[Gender: —]

[Personality: Naughty (+ Attack - Special Defense)]

[Attribute: Normal]

[Feature: AR system (Can change attributes by loading items with different attribute energy)]

——

[HP: 27]

[Attack: 19]

[Defense: 15]

[Special Attack: 17]

[Special Defense: 16]

[Speed: 17]

——

"AR system!? What is this feature?" Red was stunned when he saw an unfamiliar ability. After reading it, he immediately looked up at Merry, but received no answer.

At that moment, the ship-shaped Merry in front of him transformed again, instantly reverting to her ship spirit form.

Merry said regretfully:

"I'm sorry, Red. I still have too little energy right now—even answering your questions is difficult... let alone controlling such a huge body! I'm still far from being the Merry in your memories!"

"I see."

After listening to Merry's explanation, Red's expression showed sudden understanding.

That made sense. The Straw Hat Pirates had just passed the second island after entering the Grand Line. In such a short time, even the gifted little Merry wasn't able to develop so quickly.

But that didn't matter.

Red suddenly grinned and said:

"I roughly understand what's happening. Don't worry, little Merry! Since you've entered the Pokémon world, you should know... in the coming days, you'll make rapid progress!!!"

Although a lot of electricity had been used to obtain the Silver Inspection Mirror, Red wasn't completely drained. The remaining time was only enough to support about half an hour of gameplay... but that would be sufficient!

Ten minutes later, Red brought Merry to the wilderness. Without hesitation, he plunged into the tall grass, carrying out ruthless destruction upon each cute Pokémon they encountered.

With the high influx of experience, Merry's level improved dramatically. In just half an hour, she successfully reached level 9—a full 4 levels higher!

This was the benefit of Red becoming stronger... he could directly overpower Pokémon, providing a fast track for new partners to strengthen and get through the difficult beginner phase.

Of course, all this was inseparable from Luffy and Zoro's help. Without them, Red wouldn't have been able to find this leveling area that, while not too challenging, still provided decent experience.

With another level 26 Raticate fainting on the ground, little Merry's level improved further, reaching level 10. Though not a massive jump, it made little Merry several times stronger than before!

"Red, I feel like I've gotten much stronger!" Merry exclaimed in surprise after leveling up.

She suddenly waved her hand, releasing a dark energy sphere directly from her palm, then hurled it toward a large tree in the distance.

It was the only move Merry could learn in her ship spirit form—[Shadow Ball]!

Whoosh!

BANG!!!

When the undulating shadow ball struck the tree trunk, a huge explosion erupted. The scale wasn't very large, just the power of an ordinary shell fired from standard artillery. But even so, it was enough to delight Merry.

"It's just as you guessed, Red! The power of Pokémon has merged with my ship spirit abilities! And I can clearly feel the energy in my body slowly recovering! This is completely different from the ship spirit power that I usually develop silently! I don't think I'm just a ship spirit anymore!!!"

The excited little Merry expressed her indescribable joy to Red.

Seeing this, a satisfied light gleamed in Red's eyes. He reached out and lovingly patted little Merry's head:

"This is just the beginning! You must become stronger quickly, little Merry! We're all counting on you to take us across the sky and sea, and travel around the world!"

"Yeah!!!" Little Merry nodded earnestly and replied with determination.

A night of silence passed.

In the blink of an eye, it was early morning the next day.

As the first ray of morning sun shone on Going Merry's bow, Robin, who had recently "joined" the Straw Hat crew, rose early. She walked quietly to the ship's railing on her slender legs, gazing at the newly risen sun in the distance, her expression distant, lost in thought.

"You're up early, Robin."

At that moment, Red's voice suddenly came from behind her.

Robin seemed to have expected this. Before turning around, the words had already left her lips.

"You too, Mr. Vice Captain."

She turned, her dark hair gleaming like silk in the morning sunlight. Paired with Robin's charming smile, it was impossible not to take a second look.

But facing Robin's allure, Red's expression remained unchanged. He mirrored her smile, also leaning against the ship's railing, and retorted:

"You're wrong about that, Robin~"

"It's not that I woke up early—I didn't sleep all night! Perhaps my special ability is not needing to sleep!"

"Though I don't quite understand it, that sounds quite powerful," Robin blinked slightly, displaying an impressed look.

Just as she was about to say something more and extract additional information from Red...

A small figure wearing a cloak suddenly appeared beside him.

It was none other than Little Merry, the ship spirit!

As soon as she appeared, she immediately said to Red under Robin's genuinely shocked eyes:

"Red, there seems to be a strange submarine that looks like a hippopotamus not far ahead! And there's a pirate flag flying above it!"

"Submarine? Pirate flag!?"

After hearing these key pieces of information, Red's mind instantly recalled plot fragments from the pirate world.

The next second, he turned to look at little Merry.

Though ship spirits didn't have visible eyes, their faces hidden by their cloaks were their permanent form. But at that moment, Red could still sense endless anticipation emanating from little Merry!

Because they were familiar with the storyline, they both knew... that pirate submarine most likely contained the Wapol group, who had been scared away by Blackbeard and had abandoned the citizens of Drum Island!

And who was Wapol? He wasn't just the former king of the Drum Kingdom, but also the current captain of the Tin Pirates. Most importantly, he possessed the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit!!!

Even Red, with his unique advantages, couldn't help but covet the Munch-Munch Fruit's abilities—a truly broken power!!!

In Red's opinion, neither the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika nor the Dark-Dark Fruit compared to the Munch-Munch Fruit that could swallow anything and convert it into power!

False god-level ability: Rubber powers, difficult to defeat.

True god-level ability: Swallow unconscious beings or objects that have eaten Devil Fruits, and integrate all their abilities into your own body!!!

Of course, since the Munch-Munch Fruit already had an owner, Red didn't have the ability to claim others' Devil Fruits...

So after encountering Wapol, there was only one thing he could do!

"Merry, activate the AR system!"

"Yes!"

Little Merry suddenly saluted seriously, then instantly vanished.

The next moment, a strange device mysteriously emerged from beneath Red's feet—a cylindrical contraption that seemed to protrude from another dimension. In the middle of the device was a pure black concave depression designed to hold objects.

Red retrieved it and immediately placed the Fire Stone, originally intended for Usopp, into the device.

The next second...

As the Going Merry sailed across the sea, a ring of eternal flames ignited inexplicably, resembling the life-fire on a Charmander's tail!

Immediately afterward, without anyone's control, the Merry turned on her own, tilting slightly so that the ram-headed bow pointed downward toward a specific spot beneath the waves.

Terrifying energy began to condense before the ram's head. If Luffy and the others had witnessed such a scene, they would definitely have shouted in surprise:

"Holy crap! It's the Hyper Beam!!!"

But soon, the beam they were familiar with began to change its appearance. The flames burning on the Merry suddenly intensified, adding fire power to the energy fluctuations... instantly transforming it into a fire-attribute attack.

Red approached the bow and gazed at the flames illuminating the sea with a crimson glow. He suddenly laughed knowingly:

"Come on, Merry!!! Let everyone see that you can protect them too!!! Let your power shine at this moment!!!"

BOOM!!!

The mighty energy blast suddenly erupted, forming a blazing beam that penetrated the seawater and rushed toward the submerged pirate ship not far away...