The gigantic creature's head snapped violently sideways before its entire body was blasted back into the ocean. It soon disappeared beneath the waves with a final frightened roar. For several long seconds, the ocean remained completely still.
"Hehe.. I ain't the same anymore." Luffy said, and then turned to me. "Hey, how come the Sea King was so fearful looking at you?"
I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows. Luffy could be many things, but battle idiot was definitely not one of them. He noticed it already.
"It's from my Pokémon Gyarados." I admitted. Until this time I never spoke of Gyarados to him as I felt there was no point, and he would definitely throw a tantrum.
"Oh! The how did you not show me before?" Luffy asked.
"Because it is a water type." I replied. Luffy's eyes immediately lit up again.
"A new Pokémon?!"
For a brief moment, I could practically see stars shining in his eyes. Then my last sentence finally registered inside his head.
"...Water type?"
"Yeah."
His excitement visibly deflated as though someone had poked a hole through it. He scratched the back of his head before letting out a disappointed sigh.
"Oh... I thought it was gonna be another cool one like Pikachu or that sword guy."
I couldn't help chuckling.
"It is cool. It just isn't the kind you can run around with on land. Gyarados belongs in the sea." I said as I showed him the Gyarados card, which made his eyes shine for a bit. But knowing that he wasn't compatible as he tried, made him a bit more sad.
But that was only momentary. It was Luffy we were talking about. But then another question came to his head.
"...Wait. I thought Devil Fruits users hated the sea."
"They do," I answered.
"But Gyarados doesn't."
"So... your weird Devil Fruit thing made a Water Pokémon... that's actually strongest in water?"
"Pretty much."
For several long seconds, Luffy simply stared at me with a completely blank expression, clearly trying to make sense of something that refused to fit inside his understanding of the world.
"...That's weird."
"It is."
"I've never heard of a Devil Fruit that likes the ocean."
"Well mine is different, I presume. The world is large, maybe there are Devil Fruits like that around." I replied, though I wasn't sure of my own words.
He accepted the explanation with far less difficulty than I had expected. Then again, Luffy barely knew anything about Devil Fruits beyond the simple fact that people couldn't swim after eating one. As far as he was concerned, mine was simply another strange ability in a world already filled with strange things.
A heartbeat later, his thoughts had already wandered elsewhere.
"So..."
He leaned over the side of the Menehune, peering eagerly into the water below.
"Do you think there are giant fish around here?"
I let out a helpless sigh.
"We left the village less than half an hour ago."
"So?"
"I'm hungry."
"...Of course you are."
I simply shook my head before unfolding the sea chart Boro had given me. The old shipwright's lessons echoed clearly in my mind as I compared the coastline, the wind direction, and the movement of the surrounding water.
For the first time in my life, a map wasn't just meaningless lines drawn across paper. It was a language I could actually understand. Every current, every reef, and every dangerous stretch of sea had its own signs if one paid enough attention.
Oh god, I miss Google maps.
"...Luffy, grab that rope," I suddenly said, my eyes narrowing toward the starboard side.
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
He shrugged and obeyed without questioning me further. Several hundred meters ahead, the ocean looked perfectly ordinary to an untrained eye, yet I noticed the subtle circular movement of the surface and the way floating seaweed kept disappearing toward a single point.
"...A whirlpool."
Thanks to Gyarados, I was able to sense the water around, and not be a total klutz.
Without hesitation, I pulled the tiller hard while loosening the mainsail slightly. The Menehune responded beautifully, her hull cutting diagonally across the current instead of fighting it directly. Boro had repeatedly drilled into my head that a sailor who challenged the sea head-on was merely asking to drown. Sometimes surviving meant respecting the ocean rather than overpowering it.
Moments later, an enormous whirlpool finally revealed itself in its entirety. Water spiraled violently downward into a dark abyss large enough to swallow ships many times the size of the Menehune. The edge of the current brushed harmlessly beneath our hull before we slipped safely past it, leaving the terrifying natural disaster far behind.
"WOOOAH!" Luffy leaned over the railing with sparkling eyes instead of fear. "That was huge! Good thing you saw it! We would've gone right into it!"
"...Knowing you, you probably would've called it fun."
"No.. No... I can't swim in water." Luffy protested. I could only roll my eyes. I knew how he was.
The ocean gradually became calm once more, leaving only the steady sound of waves against the hull. While Luffy busied himself imagining what would happen if someone actually fell into a whirlpool, another question entered my mind.
"...Luffy."
"Hm?"
"How many people do you actually want in your crew?"
"At least ten!" He spread both hands dramatically before grinning from ear to ear. "And the first one has to be a musician! Pirates need music!"
"...You're unbelievable."
"What?"
"We have exactly two people. Neither of us can cook properly. Do you wish to live by Poke Blocks for the rest of the journey. And your first priority is finding someone to play songs?" I pointed toward the barrels of provisions stacked beside the mast. "Those won't last forever. Once they run out, we'll be relying on whatever fish you catch. And unless you want to eat burnt fish every single day, we need someone who actually knows how to cook. And not just Poke Blocks."
Luffy fell strangely silent. A second later, he slammed his fist into his palm.
"You're right! We'll find a cook first! Then a musician!"
"Now that's a plan I can agree with."
Before either of us could continue discussing our future crew, the wind carried something unexpected across the sea.
BANG!
Then another.
BANG!
Luffy and I immediately turned toward the sound, spotting two distant ships near the horizon. Even from this distance, frantic shouting and the unmistakable sound of gunfire drifted across the waves.
"...Looks like our first adventure has found us," I murmured, as the moment I saw the two ships I knew what it was. It was Pirate ship of Alvida and the merchant ship. It was also at this moment the realization hit me that this really was the voyage to the the legendary One Piece.
The one that would decide the fate of the world.
I was also surprised that even after so much preparation I still landed on Alvida and Coby. I specifically charted my route to Shells Town, but even then I still came across them.
Luffy's eyes practically exploded with excitement the moment the distant ships came into view. The cries for help, the smoke drifting into the sky, and the occasional gunshot only made his grin grow wider.
"Pirates!" he shouted happily, already climbing onto the railing. "Let's go check it out!"
"...I was going to suggest the same thing," I admitted before tying the Menehune securely to a huge stick of the merchant ship. Satisfied that our boat would remain nearby, I glanced toward the merchant vessel one last time.
"Ready?"
"Hehe.. Of course. Off to our first adventure."
The distance between the two ships would have been impossible for ordinary people, but neither of us qualified as ordinary anymore. Luffy stretched his arm toward the merchant ship's mast before slingshotting himself through the air, while I kicked off the surface of the sea with Gyarados-enhanced strength, landing only a heartbeat behind him with a heavy thud that shook the wooden deck.
The scene before us matched the original story almost perfectly. Pirates wearing mismatched armor and filthy bandanas were dragging terrified passengers across the deck, kicking open cargo crates, stealing valuables, and laughing while several merchants desperately begged them to stop. A few sailors lay unconscious nearby, while others could do nothing except watch at sword point.
"...Looks like we found the bad guys," I muttered.
One of the nearby pirates finally noticed us.
"Oi! Who're you two brats supposed to be?"
Another pirate laughed loudly while resting an axe across his shoulder.
"Did two kids get lost at the boat?"
Several more turned toward us, ugly grins spreading across their faces as they casually surrounded us from every direction. Luffy answered first.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! And I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"
"...Idiot," I sighed.
The pirates burst into laughter.
"The Pirate King?"
"Listen to the little runt!"
One of them swaggered forward before reaching toward Luffy's straw hat.
"Let's throw these kids overboard."