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"Wow! Golden Legend!!!"
"Finally, something good!"
As the prompt message slowly faded away, Red clenched his fists and waved them excitedly.
Nami, crouching beside him, remained unfazed by his occasional mood swings. She continued gathering the Pokémon coins scattered around them—courtesy of her Pay Day.
Ever since she had tested that move, her love for it had skyrocketed.
To increase her proficiency, she had been using it frequently in battles throughout the day. After two hours of intense fighting, she had successfully reached level 19, with her experience bar already more than halfway full.
If nothing unexpected happened, she would hit level 20 by tomorrow.
In the East Blue, that officially placed her among the strong.
While Nami focused on collecting coins—bowing down for the sake of a mere hundred Poke Dollars—Red pulled up the move learner interface on Reflect and checked its details.
[Move: Reflect]
[Type: Psychic]
[Category: Status]
[Power: —]
[Description: Uses Pokémon energy to create a magical transparent barrier that resists or weakens physical attacks from opponents.]
"Reflect? A high-level defensive move?"
"A rare Psychic-type ability! But..."
Red's crimson eyes reflected his deep thoughts as he clicked on the move learner. Immediately, the list of Pokémon that could learn it appeared—only one name was marked as "Learnable."
Luffy.
"Just as I thought," Red murmured.
His earlier speculation had been correct—Dragon-type abilities were the result of a fusion of multiple powerful attributes.
Similarly, Fairy-types, which were also unique in their racial classification, must have overlapping traits with other types.
However, while Dragon-types specialized in combat and destruction—allowing powerful Dragon Pokémon to learn attacks from other typings—Fairy-types leaned toward adaptability and trickery.
And that had many similarities with the ever-changing Psychic-type techniques.
That was why most Fairy-type Pokémon could naturally learn certain Psychic moves.
"A Headbutt for power, a Seismic Toss for some control, and now Reflect for defense..."
"Luffy just needs a solid long-range attack now."
"If I remember correctly, the department store in Celadon City sells a TM for Hyper Beam… but it's expensive."
Red checked his funds. The total barely reached 50,000 Poke Dollars. He frowned.
Even though he had been saving as much as possible—avoiding unnecessary purchases at friendly shops—this amount wasn't enough to buy every move learner he wanted.
"It looks like Nami's Pay Day is going to be a permanent fixture in our strategy," he sighed.
There was no other choice. A man is nothing without money.
If he weren't so short on funds, he would have stocked up on Poké Balls and caught every Pokémon in sight!
Wild Pokémon might not drop useful items often, unlike those received from NPCs that came with guaranteed TMs...
Most of the time, they only dropped berries.
But there were so many wild Pokémon that, statistically speaking, it was bound to pay off eventually.
Even a lowly Rattata might end up dropping a high-tier Dark-type move if luck was on his side.
"What a shame~ What a shame~"
At that moment, Nami finished collecting the last of the coins and handed them to Red.
Without wasting any more time, the two resumed their journey toward the end of Route 5.
Since they no longer needed to search for Abra, they picked up the pace and rushed ahead.
They completely ignored low-level Pokémon or those with insignificant EXP rewards—there was no point in wasting energy on them.
After all, after two straight hours of battling, both Red and Nami were running on fumes.
Finally, just before game time ended, they successfully reached their destination.
And there, standing before them, was one of the most unique buildings in the Pokémon world—
The Pokémon Daycare!!!
Compared to the small house seen in the original games, the daycare in front of them was on an entirely different scale.
Calling it a "house" would be ridiculous.
It was more fitting to call it—
A Pokémon Breeding Facility!
Though not as massive as a gym, it was comparable in size to a well-established kindergarten.
Through its large glass windows, they could see various breeding zones—each designed to accommodate Pokémon of different typings.
"The daycare..."
Red murmured as he took in the sight before him.
Then, without hesitation, he stepped inside.
The moment they entered, an elderly man and woman standing behind the counter caught their attention.
As Red approached, the old lady's dialogue prompt was triggered.
The old woman at the counter immediately launched into an explanation, her tone as automated as any other NPC:
"This is a Pokémon Breeding House that helps trainers raise their Pokémon."
"Leave a Pokémon here that won't be participating in battles, and it will gain 200 experience points per hour of game time."
"If you wish to retrieve your Pokémon, you must pay (training hours × 100 berries). Any duration under an hour will be rounded up."
"Can I assist you?"
As soon as the NPC finished speaking, a system prompt appeared in front of Red:
[Store Pokémon]
Without much thought, he selected the option with his mind.
The screen shifted, and a Pokémon selection interface popped up instantly.
All of Red's current Pokémon were available for storage—except for Buggy, who was too far away.
Luffy, Zoro, Nami…
And now, the newest addition to his Pokémon list—Usopp!
"A place to passively gain experience? The mechanics are slightly different, but the overall function remains the same!"
As that thought crossed Red's mind, he instinctively scrolled down and selected Usopp.
The detailed attribute panel for Usopp immediately loaded:
[Pokémon: Usopp]
[Level: 16]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)]
[Type: Bug/Grass]
[Ability: Run Away (Always escapes successfully from battle)]
[Moves: None]
[Experience: 136 / 1020]
[HP: 64]
[Attack: 36]
[Defense: 36]
[Sp. Atk: 42]
[Sp. Def: 54]
[Speed: 52]
Red couldn't help but sigh.
As expected of the great Usopp—his stats were some of the most bizarrely mismatched Red had ever seen!
A timid nature that lowers his attack power…
A Bug typing, widely regarded as one of the weakest in the Pokémon world…
A Grass typing, which wasn't exactly known for overwhelming offense either…
And an escape-based ability that contributed nothing in actual combat.
Everything about him screamed "non-combat unit."
And yet—
That same timid nature boosted his Speed, making up for the mobility weakness common among ranged fighters.
His Bug typing gave him natural stealth, and his Grass typing improved his survival rate.
Combine that with an absolute escape ability, and suddenly—
A weak yet untouchable support unit was born!
"It's you!"
Without hesitation, Red tapped the [Select] button.
The reasoning behind his choice was simple.
Luffy and Zoro could gain 200-300 experience points daily just by training in the real world, even when not logged into the game.
Nami leveled up alongside him, keeping pace through their shared battles.
But Usopp?
His strength relied solely on crafting specialized ammunition.
Even though he could hold his own with the right tools, those external enhancements did little to improve his base stats.
Plus, lately, Usopp had been obsessing over Nami's Clima-Tact, constantly working on modifications.
So, as the Straw Hat Crew's "support specialist," Red figured he should experience what all great assistants must endure—
The grind.
A flash of light enveloped Usopp.
The next moment, he materialized inside the Pokémon daycare's designated training area, now separated from Red and Nami by a guardrail.
As soon as he regained his bearings, Usopp's eyes darted around in confusion.
"Red? Nami?"
Spotting them just outside the barrier, he quickly stepped forward.
But—
His path was blocked by an invisible force, trapping him inside.
He blinked in shock, reaching out toward the barrier.
Meanwhile, Red simply grinned.
"Good evening, Usopp."
"I'll explain everything later."
"For now, just sit tight and enjoy yourself."
He turned to Nami.
"Let's go."
"Huh?! Wait—!"
Usopp stood frozen in disbelief, his hand still pressed against the invisible wall.