At dawn, a small boat left Syrup Island alone.
After setting up the sail, Kuro steered his boat in the direction agreed upon with the Black Cat Pirates.
The first ray of sunlight in the morning shone on the sea in front of the boat, reflecting a sparkling golden light, as if foreshadowing a bright future for Kuro.
"Fuuu~"
Looking at the beautiful scene before him, Kuro took a deep breath.
After tearing off a piece of cloth from his suit to fix his broken arm, he took out the red and white Poké Ball.
With the rising sun, he seemed to see his new destiny, and murmured with emotion:
"Let this beautiful scene be our shared memory!"
Inspired by the trainers he had seen in his visions, Kuro approached his first meeting with the Purrloin with a sense of ceremony.
"Come out, Purrloin!"
he shouted.
The red light flashed, and a small cat with a graceful figure appeared before Kuro.
The Purrloin stood up, put its hands on its waist, and shook its smart tail. After looking at Kuro, it meowed coquettishly:
"Nya~"
Though it was a cute little cat, its cunning emerald eyes and strange calls gave Kuro an inexplicable sense of mystery.
"Good morning, Purrloin!"
Kuro imitated the trainers in his visions and greeted his Pokémon warmly.
"From today on, I am your trainer!"
Facing Kuro's friendly greeting, the Purrloin smiled, stretched lazily, and responded coquettishly.
"Nyaa~."
Though Kuro couldn't understand Purrloin's language, its expression conveyed happiness.
In an attempt to appear more intimate, Kuro picked up the Purrloin.
Before he could speak, the Purrloin started meowing,
"Nya nyaa.".
As Kuro wondered what the Purrloin was saying, Mobile Rotom suddenly flew in front of him and asked in a mechanical voice:
"Captain Kuro, let me remind you that I also have the function of translating Pokémon languages. You can always contact me if you need it."
"What!? Such a magical function exists!?"
Kuro exclaimed in surprise.
This Mobile Rotom was incredibly versatile, explaining why Leo had urged him to rent one.
"In that case, I can communicate with the Purrloin!"
He smiled.
"Mobile Rotom, please help me translate what the Purrloin means!"
Kuro was so excited about communicating with Pokémon that he didn't notice the sudden change in the Purrloin's expression.
Mobile Rotom took a deep breath and then yelled loudly:
"You stupid trainer! You woke me up from my sweet dreams so early in the morning just to say something dumb!? Why are you wearing glasses to look cultured? Enjoying the scenery? Do you even understand what the scenery means?"
"Heh! Stupid human, I'm insulting you right to your face, and you still call me cute!"
"Damn it, who gave you the right to hug me? If you're that strong, take better care of your broken arm!"
Kuro: ? ? ?
Purrloin: "..."
"Nya, nya!"
Purrloin, feeling bad about being held, yelled angrily and stretched its claws to grab Mobile Rotom.
However, Mobile Rotom, which had the floating property, easily dodged the Purrloin's claws and continued to translate diligently:
"You idiot, who told you to translate my words! Shut up!"
Purrloin: "..."
The Purrloin, failing to catch Mobile Rotom, turned back.
Man and cat looked at each other.
"Ha...haha..."
Kuro laughed awkwardly.
"Nya..."
The Purrloin also meowed awkwardly, looking embarrassed.
Rotom said at the right time: "Silly...trainer, you are so handsome..."
"…"
"..."
The morning sun was still climbing the sky, bringing warmth to the world.
But on the small boat in the middle of the sea, it was so quiet that it seemed as if winter had arrived.
At this moment, Kuro just wanted to ask the heavens loudly:
"Can I return the goods after they are sold?!"
...
...
The morning air was fresh and slightly cool.
Under the noise of a long-nosed boy, the village of Syrup was full of vitality for a new day.
At this time, Usopp, the future sniper king of the pirate world, was hiding behind a rough log on the top of the mountain, watching as the villagers, unable to find him, went back silently.
He immediately sneered, made a grimace, and mocked:
"You think you can catch the great Captain Usopp? I am Captain Usopp!"
After saying that, he picked up a piece of hay, held it in his mouth, and leaned against the tree with his hands behind his head.
"The daily lying task is completed. So what should I play today?"
At this time, Usopp had not yet met Kaya.
And his three little followers in the plot, the three Onion brothers, were only four years old this year, and even walking was a bit difficult.
So now Usopp was alone.
However, after his mother's death, he had long become accustomed to such a lonely life.
Living alone, he did not become despondent.
On the contrary, because of his ingenuity, he often helped the villagers make small tools, which endeared him to them.
Every time Usopp helped them, they would kindly reward him.
Of course, liking and disliking aren't mutually exclusive.
Under Usopp's noisy and annoying behavior early in the morning, every villager wanted to catch him and beat him up.
As a result, Usopp and the villagers of Syrup Village, who did morning exercises every day, ended up in great shape.
At this time, Usopp, who couldn't think of any interesting games, sighed silently:
"Sigh, forget it. I'll just continue practising slingshot shooting today. Nothing interesting has happened recently."
As if to cooperate with him,
Just as his voice fell, a rustling sound came from the depths of the woods.
Usopp, curious, quickly hid aside.
After a while, a group of armed guards in suits emerged from the woods, looking extremely embarrassed.
Several guards started talking.
"What should we do? According to the traces, the bastard has left the island. We can't catch him!"
"It's over. We'll be scolded again when we get back. I guess this year's bonus is gone."
"There's nothing we can do. It was indeed our negligence this time."
"Alas, we can only hope that Miss Kaya can appease the president's anger."
"But then again, that thief was able to quietly pass our guards and run so fast. Even if we catch up with him, can we really beat him!?"
"..."
"...…"
As the last guard spoke, the others suddenly quieted down and looked at him with resentment.
They were all mercenaries who exchanged their lives for money.
Just from Kuro's footprints, they could see that his strength was far superior to theirs!
Everyone just tacitly didn't say anything about this.
After all, they had to follow the rules of their profession. Since they had taken the money, they had to complete the task faithfully.
Despite the guards' lamenting, they were more fortunate they didn't catch up!
Otherwise, if things went wrong, forget this year's bonus; there'd be no bonus in this life.
The guards, hanging their heads, prepared to be scolded, and walked listlessly towards the manor.
They didn't notice that not long after they left, a little head popped out from the bushes.
"Manor? Is it the big villa on the edge of the village!? I heard from the villagers that their family is very rich, but I didn't expect a thief would break in!"
Curious Usopp immediately had an idea.
"Dare to act wild in Captain Usopp's territory? Let me deal with you today!"
...
...
Soon after, Kaya's father's roar echoed through the villa in the manor.
"What a bunch of good-for-nothings! You chased a petty thief all night and couldn't catch him! What do I need you for?!"
As the president of a large chamber of commerce, although he had no power, money itself was a kind of power.
Under his angry eyes, the guards didn't dare to raise their heads.
At this time, outside the villa,
Usopp lightly stepped over the fence and quietly went around to the back.
As soon as he got there, he immediately found the window that had been broken by Kuro.
"Huh? Did the robber break in through the window!?"
Curious Usopp treated all this as an adventure game and wanted to investigate.
After looking around, he decisively found a big tree with lush branches and leaves.
Although it was a little far from the master bedroom with the broken window, it allowed him to see more clearly.
"Let's go up and take a look!"
Usopp, in a playful mood, did not hesitate at all and climbed up the tree trunk in a few steps.
Stepping on the thick and stable branch, he tried to stick his head to the right to see clearly inside.
But suddenly, a delicate shout rang beside him:
"Who are you!?"
(End of this chapter)