In the end, Aokiji accepted this military funding from pirates on the Navy's behalf with a perfectly clear conscience.
After all, Red had already told him that given the World Government's current state, there was a good chance that before long, they wouldn't even be able to pay military salaries anymore.
Rather than waiting until that day came—when Navy soldiers and officers might grow disillusioned over financial issues and lose faith in justice—it was better for him to swallow his conscience now and accept support from the Straw Hat Pirates in advance.
At the very least, that way he could still lead the Navy in maintaining stability across the Four Seas.
What was more...
After chatting with Red for so long, he had no idea how much progress he had already fallen behind on.
And the strategy Red mentioned wasn't exactly something difficult to discover. Given enough time, someone was bound to notice the map situation behind Viridian City.
He had to hurry and raise his Vanillite's level before that happened.
This kind of thrill—raising and nurturing something from scratch—was something he had never experienced before.
It was downright addictive.
"So even a Fleet Admiral like Aokiji couldn't resist getting hooked on gaming. That's seriously absurd."
Watching Aokiji hang up in a flustered rush, Red silently snarked to himself.
After learning that it would be difficult to use wish power to create anything truly useful in the short term, he no longer intended to stay in the server room.
After greeting Vegapunk, Red stepped straight out of the room.
But now that his companions—and most of the familiar faces in the Pokémon Sea—were all inside the virtual game world, Red suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do.
"Forget it. Since everyone's already lying there like corpses..."
Swish—
A ripple of space appeared, and Red's figure vanished in an instant, teleporting directly back to his bedroom.
Fortunately, not all of his companions were busy playing virtual games.
"Merry, Laboon, get ready. In a bit, I'm taking you two on an adventure in the real Pokémon World!"
Two waves of psychic thought spread out at the same time, sharing Red's intention with Merry and Laboon, who were both asleep.
Because of their differences in biological form, the daily routines of those two little ones were very different from most of the Straw Hat crew.
So in most situations, Merry would enter her ship form, reducing her active thought simply to avoid boredom.
Laboon was much the same, except that as a deep-sea giant by nature, long periods of sleep were already one of his habits.
And with Red's single call, the sleeping ship spirit and ship pet instantly opened their eyes.
The next moment, their consciousness followed Red and descended directly into the world of Pokémon: Sword/Shield.
"Red, are you finally going to help Laboon and me level up?"
Little Merry, suddenly summoned over, looked delighted. She immediately transformed into her ghost form and floated up beside Red.
Though they had been pulled into the Pokémon world without warning, neither Merry nor Laboon felt the slightest dissatisfaction. On the contrary, both of them looked full of anticipation.
For quite some time now, Red had been busy with one miscellaneous matter after another, almost never getting a single peaceful moment across all twenty-four hours of the day.
Even when he occasionally found time to bring companions into the Pokémon world to grind levels, he always prioritized people like Chopper and Nami—those whose strength was just below that of Navy Admirals and who had no clear direction left for improvement.
Naturally, Merry and Laboon had been pushed far down the list.
But level was level, and battle power was battle power.
Merry, who possessed Pluton technology, and Laboon, who wielded the power of multiple Devil Fruits, both had combat value no less than that of an ordinary Navy Admiral.
So Red had never really been in any hurry to level them up.
Still...
"That's right!"
Red smiled and nodded, then continued:
"And judging by the current situation, for quite a long time from here on out, I'll probably be the one taking you on adventures through the Pokémon world!"
"Yay~! That's amazing!"
Little Merry burst into excited laughter.
Though sensible enough to know that her leveling priority wasn't high, who would ever refuse the chance to become stronger?
Little Laboon beside her was just as excited, though unable to speak human language, he could only let out a cheerful cry:
"Eeng~!"
"Hahaha~ Alright then. Since you're both so eager to grow stronger, let's not waste time standing around here."
As he spoke, Red turned around and looked toward the enormous stadium behind him, shaped like a blooming lotus.
This was Wyndon of the Galar region.
And the place where Red and the others now stood was the entrance to the Champion Cup battlefield—Wyndon Stadium.
During the previous stretch of time, Red had led his companions through Spikemuth and Hammerlocke one after another, defeating the Dark-type Gym and the Dragon-type Gym in those two cities, claiming the Dark Badge and the Dragon Badge.
And through the achievement rewards triggered by those badges, the machine had granted Red two more moves: Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse.
A small but useful increase to his combat options.
And before leaving the game world the last time, Red had brought his companions through trial after trial, cutting down every obstacle in their path as they cleared the Champion Cup semifinals in Wyndon Stadium, along with a bunch of minor cannon fodder that popped up during the subsequent plot.
Now, just one step forward remained—the moment Red would obtain the Galar Champion title and half-clear the world of Sword/Shield.
Originally, he had wanted to find some time to bring Luffy in and let him sweep through the Champion challenge as well.
After all, Red still remembered that after taking the Champion throne, the game still had an additional story segment...
Chairman Rose of the Galar Pokémon League had predicted that the energy allowing Pokémon to Dynamax in the Galar region would run out in a thousand years.
So he intended to awaken Eternatus—the source of Galar's Dynamax energy—thus triggering a whole series of battles and incidents.
Eternatus was a top-tier legendary Red had already promised to leave for Luffy to handle.
So he had even planned to let Luffy experience the thrilling moment of ascending to the Champion's throne together with him.
Who would have thought that now Luffy no longer wanted to be a Pokémon and had decided to become a Trainer instead?
In that case...
Before the battle against Eternatus, every fight from here onward would be left to Merry and Laboon, so they could gain precious experience for their strength growth.
"Let's go, Merry, Laboon!"
With a sweep of his hand, Red strode directly toward the interior of Wyndon Stadium.
Merry and Laboon hurried after him at once, shouting their agreement.
Very soon, they entered the reception lobby inside the stadium.
Since this wasn't his first time here, the plot NPCs stationed around the area did not forcibly come forward to speak with Red.
Taking the elevator straight to the top of the stadium, Red moved with practiced ease and stepped directly into the competitor's passageway reserved exclusively for him.
"Oh, right."
As if suddenly remembering something, Red's lips curved upward. He turned and smiled at Merry and Laboon behind him as he reminded them:
"Even though you two have seen plenty of big scenes before, when you see what comes next... don't get too excited, alright~?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Red swiped his identity card across the device beside the metal gate.
Pssh...
With a deep hiss of air pressure, the gate slowly opened.
In the next instant, a tidal wave of cheers crashed in like a mountain-roaring sea, instantly filling the entire competitor's tunnel.
Swish!
A dazzling spotlight shone directly in front of Red, illuminating a path of light leading straight to the center of the arena.
And what appeared before Red's eyes at that moment was an open-air green battlefield the size of several football fields.
Surrounding the field were tens of thousands of dense, packed spectators.
The moment Red took his first step and set foot onto the field, the roar of cheers throughout the stadium became even more heart-shaking, gathering together with such force it felt as if it might scatter the clouds from the sky.
"Even knowing all this was designed by the machine, no matter how many times I come here, it still makes my heart pound."
"Yeah. I can absolutely copy this into Pokémon World later. The Indigo Plateau stage for the Indigo League absolutely cannot use the traditional Kanto-style arena. That would be way too low-class."
"And since it's the very first Pokémon tournament, naturally the grander the better!"
"When the time comes, the sky, the sea, lava, outer space—multiple battlefields rotating one after another. We'll take the presentation value straight to the max!"
"It's all just code anyway. As long as the visuals keep up, the rest isn't a problem."
Already used to this sort of thing, Red quickly steadied his mindset and walked step by step toward the center of the field.
There, several finalists had already struck their poses, waiting for the true protagonist to arrive.
Unlike Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the Galar region did not have a traditional Elite Four.
Its Champion Cup was, in truth, a contest where the challenger had to face several Gym Leaders again on a stage built for challengers and fight for first place.
And whoever claimed that first place would earn the right to challenge the Champion.
Behind Red, little Merry and Laboon—entering such a massive arena as competitors for the first time—visibly grew tense.
Even though they knew the surrounding environment was virtual, not truly real—
for the first time experiencing an atmosphere this overwhelming, they were inevitably affected by it.
"They really are just like children."
Seeing that no matter how much they experienced, Merry and Laboon could still preserve such pure hearts, Red smiled knowingly.
If Luffy stayed forever naïve and never matured, Red would undoubtedly find that a major headache.
But if it was Merry and Laboon...
Then being a little innocent was fine, wasn't it~?
"Thank you all for waiting! The Champion Cup finals are finally about to begin!"
Just then, the announcer's voice suddenly rang out from the speakers high above Red's head.
And this also signaled that the first main run of Pokémon: Sword/Shield was finally about to draw to a perfect close.
Under the announcer's passionate buildup, Red's first opponent quickly appeared—and she was even an old acquaintance.
The Gym Leader of Hulbury—the Water-type master, Nessa.
Of course, Red was familiar with her for far more than just having challenged her before.
A bigger reason was that Nessa practically carried half the Pokémon doujin scene on her shoulders, preserving the love normal people with proper tastes still had for Pokémon.
At the same time, she was one of the rare dark-skinned female characters in anime who could truly be called breathtakingly beautiful.
"We meet again, Red!"
At the announcer's signal, an enormous battle field abruptly spread outward, enveloping the entire arena.
At the same time, it granted Nessa her normal personality and intelligence.
"Yeah, it's been a while~"
Red exchanged pleasantries with deliberate theatrics.
Though the two had never truly interacted before, the way they got along was like that of old friends.
By now, Red was long since used to such situations.
After the two traded a few words, threw down their challenges, and expressed their determination to compete for the Champion title, the real battle officially began!
"Go! Golisopod!"
A level 62 Golisopod suddenly appeared in front of Nessa.
At the same time, she shouted loudly:
"This time, I'll use my Dynamax to gather towering waves and blast you straight into the sky!!!"
"Golisopod, Dynamax!!!"
Boom!!!
The water-blue band on Nessa's wrist suddenly erupted with a burst of dark purple energy.
Still holding Golisopod's Poké Ball, she abruptly recalled the Pokémon on the field.
In an instant, mysterious energy surged wildly through her hand and poured into the Poké Ball.
The Poké Ball, which had once fit in one hand, instantly expanded into a gigantic sphere that required both arms to hold.
Nessa's lips curled upward, and with an excited laugh, she cried out:
"Go! Dynamax Golisopod!!!"
Swish!!!
Light flashed.
Above the open-air stadium, swirling black storm clouds suddenly surged into existence, covering Nessa's side of the battlefield.
At the same time, the Golisopod that re-emerged from the giant Poké Ball had transformed into a terrifying giant bug nearly thirty meters tall.
Its bladed armor was sharp, its eyes ice-cold. Without making any extra movement, Dynamax Golisopod stood there like a gigantic mechanical lifeform, body stilled as it waited for Nessa's next command.
And when he saw that Nessa had opened with a Dynamax Pokémon, a sharp gleam flashed through Red's eyes.
"Oh? Going straight into Dynamax right from the start?!"
"In that case, I choose you!"
"Go, Laboon!"
He did not use any Poké Ball at all.
After all, his Pokémon weren't stored in Poké Balls to begin with.
Laboon, who had been floating behind Red the whole time, wagged his tail as though struggling to swim through midair before finally gliding onto the battlefield.
"Hm? What kind of Pokémon is that?!"
When Nessa saw Laboon, her first reaction was curiosity at his species.
But immediately after, she placed her hands on her hips and smiled confidently.
"But it's useless!"
"In front of my Dynamax Golisopod, any Pokémon you send out will be taken down instantly!"
"Don't speak too soon, Nessa."
At that moment, Red's voice suddenly rang in her ears.
And then Red continued:
"Alright, Laboon!"
"Drop the Mini form!"
"Since we have the rare chance, let this true native of the Pokémon world get a proper look at what real gigantification is!!!"
"Activate Float Form!!!"
"Aooooh—!!!!"
A deafening roar like the cry of a dragon suddenly burst from Laboon's tiny body.
In the next moment, his body expanded at an astonishing speed.
After switching Fruit abilities, without the Mini-Mini Fruit maintaining his miniature state, Laboon's size instantly returned to normal.
In that instant, the very sky above the entire stadium darkened.
(End of Chapter)