One Piece: Trainers on the Straw Hat Pirates

"Logically speaking, if it's just about transforming the will of a fruit into a Pokémon, it shouldn't take this long, right?"

"Could it be that Red forgot about Luffy's penchant for parties and didn't expect us to start a party right away!?"

"How could that be?" Nami leaned back, crossed her arms over her chest, and explained calmly:

"Among us, Red knows Luffy best. How could he not have thought of these things..."

"Nami, you really understand me."

Just as Nami's voice fell, a sunny male voice suddenly rang out from behind her.

At the same time, a crimson figure suddenly appeared behind Nami, giving everyone an apologetic chuckle.

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting."

"You're finally back, Crimson!"

Upon hearing Akane's voice, Luffy instantly looked up excitedly and even pulled out the chair next to him for Akane.

Because there were outsiders present, and the Straw Hat Pirates were also attending the banquet, the seating arrangement was somewhat elaborate.

As the first mate, Crimson was naturally assigned to the position closest to the captain.

As the main guest at the table, Jinbe was seated on the other side of Luffy, demonstrating the Straw Hat Pirates' respect for him.

This is also one of the Straw Hat crew's open schemes!

Despite having only spent a few days together, Nami and the others had already figured out Jinbe's personality.

For someone as righteous and loyal as him, all the kindness you show him will be firmly remembered in his heart.

So even though there's no immediate opportunity to invite Jinbe to join the Straw Hat crew, Red had already reminded the Straw Hats to be sufficiently friendly towards Jinbe...

Perhaps one day in the future, when he feels he is no longer able to repay the Straw Hat crew's kindness, he will entrust his life to them as a bargaining chip.

Just like in the original timeline, he was willing to turn against the World Government for the sake of Whitebeard's friendship in protecting Fish-Man Island.

However, the main character of today's banquet is destined not to be Jinbe.

The moment Crimson sat down, a sphere emitting pink light also flew out of the Merry's cabin and affectionately nuzzled against him.

Red extended his finger, letting little Nika land on his fingertip.

"Let me introduce you all. This is the Devil Fruit will within Luffy, Nikka."

"However, it has now become a completely independent entity, so there is no need to worry that it will cause problems with Luffy's soul again."

"Luffy..."

After sitting down, Red turned his gaze to Luffy and then smiled:

"How about we make little Nika our partner from now on, and let her join us on adventures!?"

"Of course!!"

Upon hearing Red's suggestion, Luffy immediately raised both hands in agreement.

Then, under everyone's gaze, he extended his palm towards little Nika and smiled:

"Little Nika, we became friends after a fight, but from now on, we're partners in the same boat!"

Welcome to the company!

"Ni~?"

Little Nika tilted her head, somewhat bewildered by Luffy's words.

After all, it has only been two and a half hours since it gained self-awareness.

However, sensing the "kindred spirits" emanating from Luffy, it inexplicably developed a fondness for Luffy, second only to its trainer Red.

After glancing back at Crimson and receiving an affirmative look, Nika immediately extended an energy arm, roughly the size of Luffy's palm, from the sphere of light, and then shook hands with Luffy in a similar manner.

Nika is a free spirit!

The reason it maintains its current state is simply because it has been like this since it was "born," so it is simply regarded as its normal form.

Freedom is a word that cannot be defined!

If possible, Nika can transform into any form in a matter of minutes, including various Pokémon or creatures from the One Piece world!

It can be said that, apart from not being able to use all Pokémon moves, its transformation ability is exactly the same as Mew's in the Pokémon world.

Of course, if one wants to become a very large being, it will still put some pressure on Little Nika's energy consumption.

But that's about it.

With the improvement of both Nika's level and strength, Crimson believes that it will soon become a true "Dream"!

Luffy and Nikka's "formal establishment of diplomatic relations" by setting aside their past grievances also laid the foundation for the theme of this banquet.

Luffy, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately picked up the drink on the table and laughed loudly:

"Guys, to celebrate Nika joining us..."

"The banquet is officially beginning!!!"

"Oh—~!!!"

A joyful atmosphere instantly filled the entire main table.

The Straw Hat crew, who had also been hungry for a long time, immediately started eating.

Of course, everyone's attention never left Nika during this time.

The purpose of the banquet was fully demonstrated at this moment.

As everyone took turns introducing themselves and interacting with Nika, the little guy, who had just been born, became thoroughly excited.

Perhaps in its view, making more friends is more interesting than learning combat moves and techniques.

Even the ship spirit of the Merry, Little Merry, only showed up because of the appearance of Little Nika.

After leveling up, the Going Merry in its ghost form can now move a certain distance away from the ship and engage in other activities.

Although this distance is only about ten meters, it's practically the same as not having any distance at all.

But this gave little Mary the opportunity to attend the banquet.

After all, the Straw Hat Pirates couldn't possibly hold every banquet on the deck of the Going Merry, even though the Going Merry's deck was huge enough to fit hundreds of people without any problem.

But for Mary, that was enough.

In any case, her friends never forget her at any banquet.

After everyone has eaten and drunk their fill, Luffy and his crew will definitely run to the vicinity of the ship and perform all sorts of funny and silly dances.

And so, the banquet, both ordinary and extraordinary, slowly came to a close amidst the laughter of the crowd.

However, after the banquet ended, Jinbe, King Neptune, and others who had been invited as guests were stunned, as if their brains had been overwhelmed by too much information, and could not shake it off for a long time!

A pirate crew that dares to challenge the authority of the World Government, a fighting force so powerful that even Jinbe, a Shichibukai, feels fear, the ability to extract the will of a Devil Fruit from a human and turn it into a crewmate, and a ship spirit that suddenly appears and participates in the banquet...

Each and every one of these things was more outrageous and shocking than the last.

Even after Jinbe vaguely followed Neptune back to Ryugu Palace and suddenly remembered that he still had the task of teaching the Straw Hat Pirates and Robin Fishman Karate, they had not yet recovered from their shock.

In just a few short days, the Straw Hat Pirates have given them so many shocks.

……

……

However, what seems incredibly absurd to outsiders is already commonplace for the Straw Hat crew.

Early the next morning.

The Straw Hat crew seemed to have forgotten what happened yesterday and immediately threw themselves back into their training.

After agreeing with Luffy to take him to challenge Mewtwo that night, Red, who was with Nikka, called out to Chopper and Usopp and led them to a quiet room.

"Crimson, is something the matter?"

Usopp, who was researching the Zerg breeding formula, entered the room and immediately asked questions out of curiosity.

Chopper, following behind him, also wore a puzzled and adorable expression as he entered the room.

"Please sit down first."

Faced with their questions, Crimson calmly pointed to the two chairs opposite him and said:

"I called you here today mainly because there are two things I want to discuss with you."

"One good thing, one bad thing."

"bad thing!?"

Usopp didn't stand on ceremony with Red, plopping down on his chair. His expression of confusion deepened, and he quickly pressed for an answer:

"What bad thing happened!?"

No wonder he was in such a hurry.

After all, if something can be called a bad thing by the "omnipotent Crimson", then it must be something serious!

"This matter is actually related to Chopper," Red said directly, without keeping them in suspense.

"You all saw the whole process of Luffy's fruit awakening yesterday."

"I'm sure you've all realized that... the process of awakening Zoan-type Devil Fruit abilities might not be as simple as we imagine!"

"It is very likely the result of the fusion of the Devil Fruit user's soul and the fruit's will!"

"so……"

The crimson gaze shifted to Chopper, who had just leaped onto the chair.

Upon hearing this, Chopper's expression changed drastically.

Usopp frowned instantly.

"Red, are you saying that as Chopper's strength increases, when he reaches the point of awakening his Devil Fruit power, he will also face the same crisis as Luffy!?"

"But...didn't you and Brook already successfully resolve the issue of fusing the fruit's will?!"

"Why not just use the same old trick again and extract the Devil Fruit's will from Chopper's body?!"

Having witnessed Red and his crew's success firsthand and having absolute faith in him, Usopp clearly couldn't understand why Red was so nervous about this matter.