One Piece: Trainers on the Straw Hat Pirates

The blazing flames formed a terrifying vortex, which accompanied Sanji as he crashed into Arbok, who was using Protect.

Unfortunately, this is the third time it has used the Guard move in a row.

Even though Arbok is level 63 and possesses combat power comparable to a pirate with a bounty of 5 million, it could only tearfully fall victim to Sanji's attack.

With a loud bang, and without any surprises, Sanji secured his first victory in the Ghost King Challenge.

"Is this the power of evolution?"

"Zoro, the second-in-command position won't be handed over to you so easily!"

Upon landing, Sanji stared in shock at his own hands, his mind involuntarily recalling the scene a few days earlier when Zoro imparted his insights on evolution to him.

Yes.

It can be said that 80% of the credit for his ability to complete the evolutionary leap in such a short time comes from Zoro.

He will not forget the gratitude he deserves.

But he will not back down from the competition that is due!

bake!!!

As Sanji defeated the enemy, flames instantly rose around him, forming the faint silhouette of a giant dragon in the air, emitting a faint dragon roar, as if paying homage to someone.

The battle that followed was also accelerated.

Faced with Sanji's overwhelming strength, even Ghost and Poison-type Pokémon, which might have some advantage over him, were destined to be beaten.

Finally, the battle officially ended when Kikuko attempted to use Gengar to unleash a Destiny Bond move to take Sanji down with her, but failed because Sanji was too fast to catch.

[Congratulations to the player for defeating the Ghost-type Elite Four member, Akiko, and obtaining the special reward: Soul Body.]

[Congratulations to the player for defeating the Ghost-type Elite Four member, Agatha Christie, and receiving a special reward: Ghost Seed.]

"Whoo~"

With a heavy sigh, the fiery red armor seemed to melt away, its blazing light slowly merging into the flames.

Sanji exited his evolved state and returned to his usual black suit, with a hint of fatigue showing on his face.

Clearly, even with the support of scientific power, the energy expenditure on Sanji from that form was still considerable.

If Sanji were rashly sent to fight an enemy that is too strong, and thus dragged into a war of attrition, the outcome would be disastrous.

Upon noticing this, Crimson pondered for a moment, but instead of studying the newly acquired ability, she stepped forward and handed Sanji a bottle of good medicine.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sanji."

"Huh...huh..."

"...Thanks, Crimson."

Sanji, who was still catching his breath, nodded slightly, took the medicine, and drank it down his throat.

Thanks to the magical power of the Pokémon item, his condition visibly recovered.

Sanji immediately turned around and gave Akane a joyful and excited smile:

"I did it! Crimson!"

"You saw that, didn't you!?"

"Anything the green algae-headed guy can do, I can do too!!!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." Crimson smiled helplessly.

Creating an unprecedented evolutionary form should have been something to be remembered...

But when Sanji says it, it sounds like children arguing about who got a higher score on a test.

Clearing the strange sense of déjà vu from his mind, Red immediately asked Sanji some questions that he was particularly concerned about.

"So... what exactly is going on with your evolution?"

"Is it really as Zoro said, a more precise control over Pokémon energy, distributed throughout the entire body?"

"……Um."

When this topic came up, Sanji regained his composure and nodded in agreement:

"Just like that green-haired bastard said, during normal battles, all the Pokémon energy seems to be stored in an unknown space within the body..."

"Although they can be mobilized and used at will, they are always in a strange state of being both inside and outside the body."

"It's very similar to the quantum state you mentioned before, Crimson."

"What I did before I evolved was to extract all the Pokémon energy from the unknown space and spread it throughout my body as if it were a power I already possessed."

"And then... I inexplicably evolved!"

"I see~"

After listening to Sanji's explanation, Red nodded knowingly without making much of a reaction.

After all, he had heard the same words from Zoro before.

And considering what he just observed through waveguide power...

The "evolution" that Zoro and Sanji mastered was not the true Pokémon evolution like the Going Merry before.

Their situation is more like Armed Evolution from Digimon!

That's right.

While it's a bit strange to use Digimon to describe the power of Pokémon, at least in terms of form, Zoro and Sanji's "evolution" and the Armed Evolution in Digimon are remarkably similar!

Considering that Sanji, after evolving, can use both fire and melee attributes simultaneously, while Zoro can only use a single dragon attribute...

Their evolutionary path is quite flexible.

Because Zoro was the first to try this, and because he used the powerful Dragon attribute far more effectively than the Steel attribute in his daily battles, when he tried to evolve, he only turned into the same single Dragon form as before.

Just like in Digimon's Armor Evolution, which also has Human Mode and Beast Mode...

There must be a hidden, untapped power within Zoro's body.

At that time, Zoro, who can flexibly control both dragon and steel attributes, will also enter a complete evolutionary form, just like Sanji did.

And that's something Zoro will have to work hard for himself.

However, Crimson believes that day will come soon.

He speculated that this situation might be related to Zoro's method of swordsmanship training.

Swordsmanship in the world of One Piece is ever-changing and incredibly diverse.

Some people focus on understanding the essence of swordsmanship, some on the agility of sword techniques, some on the power of the strikes, and some on the strength of the swords...

While these are things that a powerful swordsman should consider, there are always some deviations.

Compared to other swordsmen, Zoro probably belongs to the category that values ​​himself more.

His cultivation has always focused on self-improvement.

Swords and blades are currently only an extension of his power, not the entirety of it.

Even without swords, he can still use his body to unleash powerful no-sword techniques!

So even though Akane obtained the Wano Country national treasure, the famous sword Shusui, from Thriller Bark, which was even more powerful than the Sandai Kitetsu and Zacian, Zoro still had no intention of changing his sword.

Rather than simply acquiring a more powerful knife...

He hopes to further refine the Sandai Kitetsu and Zacian, making them even more powerful and renowned swords that will be famous throughout the world!

"Come to think of it, Zoro hasn't tried tempering the sword with steel properties yet, has he?"

"Perhaps this is a way to enhance Zoro's control over the steel element."

Countless thoughts raced wildly through his crimson mind.

Then, however, he began to think about something even more crucial...

That is to name the special evolutionary pattern of Zoro and Sanji.

After all, he couldn't really refer to Zoro and his group's evolutionary method as "armed evolution."

A good name can subtly help partners master this ability more quickly.

After a moment's thought, Crimson finally chose an extremely simple, straightforward, and easy-to-understand name...

[Pokémonized]!

"perhaps……"

"That's the real reason why Luffy's Mega Evolution has never been successful~"

As Crimson pondered, he turned his attention to the new abilities the machine had granted him.

……

……

wow——

A few minutes later, the white light shone again.

Sanji, who was standing next to Akane smoking a cigarette, suddenly transformed into a swordsman wearing a green bandana and with three long swords at his waist.

It was none other than the long-awaited great swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates—Roronoa Zoro!

"Is it finally my turn?"

Zoro, who had been waiting for so long, arrived in the Pokémon world. His eyes immediately lit up, as if flames were dancing within them, and he raised the corners of his mouth and said:

"It's all that lecherous chef's fault for dragging his feet! I was almost falling asleep while waiting!"

As expected, Zoro, upon his first appearance, began by verbally abusing Sanji, as is customary.

Upon hearing his words, a wicked smile involuntarily crept onto his crimson lips.

He offered a malicious reminder:

"You can't blame Sanji for this, Zoro."

"After all, he only recently mastered that ability and defeated two of the Four Heavenly Kings, so it's normal for it to take him a little longer."

"Huh!?" Zoro, who was preparing to fight, suddenly froze. "That ability?"