January 17th, the third day of the Trainers' Fair in Alliance City.
"Hey, hey~ You've got to be kidding me. How many people is that today?"
Walking down Central Avenue, Kuzan scratched his curly hair, looking utterly annoyed.
Since entering Alliance City that morning, Kuzan had been challenged by at least thirty trainers.
At first, he happily accepted a couple of battles, easily defeating his opponents, but soon he was overwhelmed.
As the crowd of onlookers grew larger, more and more people wanted to challenge him.
This was largely due to Kuzan's fame. Unlike Ro and Morty, who had recently risen to stardom in the trainers' circle, Kuzan had been famous since the previous era and was still well-known.
Not just in the trainers' circle—wherever you go, Kuzan was a big name.
With such fame, it was no wonder other competitors wanted to challenge the "Aokiji."
"Roar."
Floating beside Kuzan was a large, tired-looking head.
It was Glalie.
An Ice-type Pokémon, known for its rather fearsome appearance.
Imagine encountering such a giant head floating in the air in the middle of the night—wouldn't it be terrifying?
Although the Pokémon Island environment was comfortable for Glalie, it had already fought two battles today.
Moreover, many trainers had never seen a Glalie before, and upon seeing it, they couldn't resist stopping for pictures.
At first, Glalie enjoyed the attention, reveling in the feeling of being a celebrity.
But soon, it became tired.
"We're almost there, almost... I think."
Kuzan replied lazily.
He still needed to head to the Alliance base's main hall to sign up for the tournament and didn't have time to waste on this road.
"Come back for now, Glalie. I'll have Mamoswine take me the rest of the way."
Kuzan, feeling lazy, decided he couldn't walk any further.
"Roar, roar~"
Glalie weakly responded, nodded, and obediently returned to its Poké Ball, which was hanging from Kuzan's waist.
This so-called second-generation Poké Ball was a slight modification of the first-generation one, designed by Monet.
It looked just like the common red-and-white Poké Balls from the Pokémon world.
However, there were two major changes to the second-generation Poké Ball.
Firstly, now Pokémon could enter their Poké Balls at will, whereas before they could only exit on their own but not enter.
Secondly, the internal environment of the Poké Ball had been optimized, making it much more comfortable for Pokémon to stay inside.
Afterward, Kuzan tapped another Poké Ball at his side.
In the next moment, a large Pokémon appeared in front of him.
Piloswine, a second-stage Pokémon that had yet to evolve into its final form.
Though Piloswine had a warm appearance that seemed unrelated to Ice-types, it was actually an Ice- and Ground-type Pokémon.
To evolve into Piloswine's final form, Piloswine would need to learn the move "Ancient Power."
Despite many attempts, Kuzan had been unable to teach Piloswine"Ancient Power." In fact, he didn't even fully understand what "Ancient Power" was.
One of Kuzan's goals in joining the tournament was to address this issue.
By placing in the top 16, he could choose a move from the Alliance's move library and have Dak help his Pokémon learn it.
Kuzan wasn't sure how Dak managed to guarantee a Pokémon would learn a move, but he wasn't particularly curious either.
As for this ability, it came from the "Technical Machine," a game item.
Dak was currently working with Monet to see if they could replicate the Technical Machine. This was the main project of Monet's research lab.
Kuzan's other goal?
To become one of the "Elite Four."
Yes, this was Kuzan's little secret—he was planning to switch jobs.
He would still be working for the Alliance, still working for justice, but instead of being one of the Navy's Three Admirals, he would become one of the Elite Four.
Why?
Because the perks were better!
Not only was there a base salary of 1,000 gold coins per month, but there were also five days off each month, full benefits, holiday pay at triple the rate, and two weeks of paid leave during the New Year.
Oh my goodness, what a fantastic deal—who could resist?
Kuzan was mainly tempted by the vacation days. He'd have more days off in one year than he had in ten years with the Navy.
And why not become the Champion?
Because after subtly asking Dak, he learned that the Champion had much more work to do, while the Elite Four had a much more relaxed schedule. The main differences between the two were fame, status, and salary—there wasn't much difference in terms of vacation.
So Kuzan figured it would be better to become one of the Elite Four—no need to trouble himself by becoming the Champion.
No one could stop him from getting the Elite Four position.
Thinking about his future relaxing holidays, Kuzan suddenly felt immensely strong, carrying Mamoswine on his back and running 30 or 40 meters ahead.
The onlookers and trainers who had been about to challenge him were stunned into silence.
Carrying a Pokémon like Mamoswine for 30 or 40 meters on Pokémon Island—what kind of challenge was that? You'd have to try it to know.
Everyone could only marvel at how even on Pokémon Island, one of the Navy's Three Admirals was still far stronger than the average person.
...
Elsewhere...
A skeleton with an afro walked down the road, carrying a purple cane, drawing countless stares.
"Yohohoho~ What a charming and harmonious city! If I could live here forever and raise a family, that would be wonderful... though I can't have children! Yohohoho~"
This was none other than Brook, a member of the Straw Hat Pirates and former acting captain of the Rumbar Pirates.
The Rumbar Pirates...
They were even more gentle-natured than the Straw Hat Pirates. More accurately, they were an adventurer band made up of musicians, much like Jewelry Bonney's Bonney Pirates.
Not only did they refrain from causing trouble on the seas, but they often fought against other pirate crews to protect the people, earning themselves a fierce reputation.
The Rumbar Pirates' motto was: "Make crying children laugh."
The Bonney Pirates' motto was: "Steal treasure from bad guys."
As Brook laughed, his mood sank, as he realized there was nothing to laugh about—he really was quite pitiable.
"Gen-Gengar~"
Suddenly, a purple fat figure emerged from Brook's afro, clutching its belly and laughing.
It was Gengar.
One of the Alliance's top starters, Gengar was a Ghost- and Poison-type Pokémon, and quite popular among trainers.
"Enough, Gengar! If you keep laughing at me, I'll get really mad!"
A vein popped on Brook's skull.
"Squeak-squeak~"
Brook's words only made Gengar laugh harder, and another Pokémon emerged from his afro—a grey doll-like Pokémon.
Banette.
A Ghost-type Pokémon, Banette was rumored to store a vast amount of cursed energy within its body, making it quite fearsome.
Ghost-type Pokémon weren't very popular in the pirate world.
Their eerie appearances and strange abilities often terrified many trainers. Some even believed that Ghost-type Pokémon could harm their trainers.
This wasn't entirely baseless, as Ghost-type Pokémon did have a reputation for being the most likely of the 18 types to harm their trainers. Their origins often weren't the happiest, leading to a buildup of negative emotions.
In Pokémon academies, teachers openly advised students not to raise Ghost-types until they had more experience with Pokémon.
Weaker trainers might even have their life force drained by their Ghost-type Pokémon.
The Pokémon themselves often didn't even realize it and never meant to do it, but it could still slowly sap away their trainer's life force.
However, Brook felt great affinity for Ghost-type Pokémon.
It was as if they were kindred spirits, natural companions.
Likewise, Ghost-types were highly fond of Brook and quickly took a liking to him when they met.
"Stop laughing! It's getting dark, and we need to hurry to register. Who knows if some ghost will jump out of the shadows."
Brook shuddered as he looked nervously around, unable to stop himself from trembling.
"Gengar?!"
"Squeak?!"
Gengar and Banette clung to each other in fear, nervously looking around.
When they saw the passersby staring at them as if they were ghosts, they felt a chill down their spines.
Could the ghosts be nearby?!
The two Pokémon couldn't take it any longer and immediately retreated into their Poké Balls.
Sabo, who had been walking by and witnessed the whole scene, couldn't help but sweat nervously at Brook's words.
He really couldn't understand why Brook and his two Ghost-type Pokémon were afraid of ghosts.
Wouldn't ghosts be more afraid of them?
Sabo shook his head, and with his vast knowledge, quickly deduced that Brook was a Devil Fruit user.
Therefore, he wasn't afraid of Brook or his Ghost-type Pokémon.
On the contrary, he was quite intrigued by this trainer, who seemed to be a humorous Ghost-type specialist.
At this point...
All eight Torchbearers, selected by the Gym Leaders, had arrived in Alliance City.
(End of Chapter)
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