Author Notes
Zane: "And so, we return. You should know the disclaimer at this point, so no need to say it again, hopefully."
GammaTron: True. True. Let's get this show on the road!
Chapter 4: "Romance Dawn: The First Voyage of the Strawhat Pirates!"
Luffy, now seventeen, was shaking in his sandals as he waited for the door to open. Over the years, Luffy now wore a red vest held close by a single button with a kanji on the right side and gold lining the vest. His wrists and waist now had black belts held by a gold buckle on each. He wore baggy blue shorts with large pockets and gold lining on them. His straw hat now had some string on it to keep it from flying off his body.
"Luffy, just how long are you going to stand there?" Franky, now 34, asked.
Franky now had a complete star on each arm, two blue lines on each of his hips, a cherry-colored open Hawaiian shirt with green stars on it, gold rings on his legs, a blue pair of speedos, and a gold necklace with a blue jewel in the pendent on it.
"Until Ash opens it," Luffy replied.
"Yet again," Franky replied dryly, recounting the day he and Brook first arrived in Pallet Town
"He wishes to give his brother a hug," Brook said, drinking a cup of milk, "Ash went off to the Kalos Region for his last bit of being an normal Pokemon Trainer."
"Hey, remember when Misty struck you with her mallet because of you asking to see her panties?" Franky asked, chuckling.
"It ruptured my spleen and broke a few bones from that hit," Brook said, "BUT I'M A SKELETON, SO I DON'T HAVE A SPLEEN! YOHOHOHO! SKULL JOOOKE!"
"SKULL JOOOKE!" Luffy laughed.
The doorknob turned and Luffy paid close attention to it. The door slowly opened to reveal Ash and Pikachu. Luffy pounced.
"ASH!" Luffy cried in joy.
Ash closed the door as he noticed a snail on the nearby plant beside the door. Luffy kept going, however, and flew face-first into the closed door.
"A-A-A-Ash…" Luffy stammered as he opened the door, revealing the large bump on his head and tearing eyes.
"Hey, Luffy," Ash waved, "How'd you get that big bump on your head?"
"Welcome home, Ash," Franky greeted as he posed, "It's SUPER that you're back!"
"It warms my soul to see you again, Ash," Brook waved.
"So… you guys ready?" Ash asked.
"You bet!" Luffy grinned.
"Monferno!" (That's right!)
He banged fists with Pikachu before the two jumped on their owner's shoulders.
"Great! But first, Professor Oak told me over the phone to visit his lab before we go. He said you should come, too, Luffy," Ash explained.
"Yosh! Let's go!"
"It's so great to see you in person again, Ash," the professor happily greeted. He hadn't aged a day since the last visit, but at his age, it really didn't show anymore.
"Same here, Professor Oak," Ash replied just as cheerfully; Luffy stood next to him with his hands behind his head, nodding in agreement.
"Come on, come on!" Luffy whined anxiously. "I've been waiting for nine years for this day. I wanna set sail right now!"
"Alright, here's the reason I called for you both."
Professor Oak pulled out a circular device painted in the colors of Luffy's hat. The center had a blue sphere. The sphere glowed before a holographic screen appeared. In his other hand was a red and black version with a green sphere.
"These Pokedex have been specially made using all the data gathered by the previous Pokedex Ash has taken with him on his journeys. The Grand Line is a big place that circles around the entire world, and as such, has Pokemon species from nearly every existing region and even a few native only to it. Ash, Luffy, I want you both to take these with you as you sail on your journey."
"Sugoi!" Luffy cheered as he took his, Ash showing the same enthusiasm when his was handed to him.
"One more thing," Oak added as he reached into his pocket and handed Ash two Pokeballs, "As you wanted, Bulbasaur is ready to join you on your quest. Unfortunately, Officer Jenny could not send Squirtle to join due to a string of brushfires that the Squirtle Squad needs him to deal with."
"Oh, that's okay," Ash said, looking at the two spheres happily. "But then, who's in the other ball?"
Oak chuckled before pressing the button on it, releasing a white light that formed into the blue, little turtle pokemon. It let out a yawn before pulling its head and limb inside its shell and fell asleep.
"While I couldn't get your original Squirtle back, I decided to give you this little guy from the latest generation in Kanto starters to make up for it. Think of it as a late starter gift from when you started your journey. You said you wanted to head out into the Grand Line with your old Kanto trio, after all."
"Wow, Professor, thanks," Ash replied, touched by the kind gesture. He bent down and scooped up the turtle, holding it out in front of his face as he said, "Come on, little buddy. How about a hello for your new trainer?"
The Squirtle drowsily poked its out of its shell and looked at the grin on Ash's face, before spraying him with a Water Gun attack and returning to its home. The whole display had Luffy rolling on the floor in laughter while even Oak couldn't help but awkwardly chuckle.
"Presenting the Mugiwara Pirate Crew's vessel…" Franky began as he and half of the men in the village pulled on a large piece of tarp.
The trap fell off the ship and the crew and everyone there awed at what was under it.
"Wow!" Luffy gasped with star-like twinkles in his eyes. "It's…so…cool! What's it called?"
"Ah, it took me all night to come up with the name," Franky beamed proudly, "but inspiration dawned on me with the rising sun. It's called…"
"I know! The Thousand Sunny!" Ash blurted out.
"…Super Battle Franky - 37 Lion Champion!" Franky concluded, though ignored by the rest of the group as they went over the ship.
The Thousand Sunny was a Brigantine Sloop. The ship had a lawn on it's deck, complete with a swing and a slide, as well as an observation tower for a crow's nest. The masts were huge, and helped make the ship extremely maneuverable. The figurehead was an animal's head specifically a lion's with its mane in the shape of a flower's petals. There was a giant "1" on the sides of the ship. The crew went on the deck.
"What a brilliant name, Ash-dono," Brook complimented the half-dragon. "Where did you come up with such a name for our vessel?"
"Well, Franky said the dawn inspired him, and the figure head kinda looks like a smiling sun, so inspiration hit me, too," he explained.
"No, that's not-" Franky started, but was cut off and ignored again.
"Look! It has a lawn!" Luffy cheered as he, Monferno, and Brook began to dance on it.
"I bet we can make a flower garden here," Ash said.
"Dude…what the hell is wrong with you?" Franky asked.
"I made a promise to a friend of mine," Ash explained, "I promised him that if the ship I would sail on had a lawn, I would make a flower garden in honor of him and his kind."
"Oh. Was this friend a certain psychic girl?"
Ash's left eye twitched as he reeled his left fist back. It grew along with the sleeve as black scales covered it and his fingers became emerald claws.
WHAM!
Ash blew on his normal fist as he walked away from the knocked-out Franky.
As the ship sailed off, the Straw Hat crew waved to the people on the port.
"Looks like they're finally heading out," Professor Oak said.
"I still think that it's a disgrace to the town," the Mayor scoffed, 'Good luck to you all.'
"Will you be okay, Delia-chan?" Makino asked.
"I'll miss my boys," Delia admitted, "But I know they'll do a good job out there and make the town proud."
"Ah~... Now this is great!" Ash cheered as he stretched.
Luffy nodded from his spot; the lion figurehead.
"Heh-heh. This is just like being on Merry's head," Luffy laughed.
Ash nodded. Quite few years ago, when Ash and Luffy were kids and before Ash began his journey, their own little hideout was a park that had a small boat-shaped sandbox. Luffy would always sit on the ram-shaped head when they went there. When Ash came back from his journey one time, this group accidentally destroyed it with a large machine. You can pretty much guess what Luffy did to the ones who destroyed the sandbox. After that, Ash and Luffy loaded the remains on a boat and gave it a Viking Funeral.
"So what is the first order of business, captain?" Franky asked.
"Set sail for a chef!" Luffy ordered.
Suddenly, the Gyarados from nearly a decade ago broke through the surface of the waters, roaring as it locked eyes with the crewmates onboard. It had been waiting for this day to come.
"Heh. Our local sea monster," Luffy smirked, "I've been waiting to meet you again."
The sea beast pulled its head back before throwing it forward and releasing a concentrated stream of sea water at the boat. Ash stepped forward though, slipping back into his half-dragon form before unleashing his own stream of fire. The two attacks collided, evenly matched and reducing both to mere steam.
Outraged at its first attack being negated, the Gyarados roared as it charged at the Thousand Sunny.
"Gumo-Gumo no…" Luffy began to as pulled his arm back.
He shot it out, slamming his stretching fist right into Gyarados' face, sending it ten miles away.
"…PISTOL!" Luffy shouted.
"Alright, Luffy!" Ash cheered.
"SUPER!" Franky posed.
"Well done! Well done!" Brook applauded, "Excuse me."
He farted.
"BROOK!" Franky roared.
"Oh dear…" Brook muttered as he ran away from Franky and all around the deck while Ash, Luffy, Pikachu, Mi, Zuuta, and Monferno laughed at the sight.
It was a bright cheerful day for the Mugiwara Pirate Crew. Brook was running away from Franky due to a Skull Joke (wearing a heavy coat to hide from the sunlight), Luffy was fishing with Monferno, and Ash and Pikachu were up on the mast. At the top of the mast was a large gym. Inside, Ash pulled out three Pokéballs.
"Let's go, everyone!" Ash shouted.
The spheres opened and released their lights. One took on the form of a Charizard, a man-sized orange dragon with two protruding horns from the back of its head and a flame on the end of its tail. One became the cute blue turtle with an orange-brown shell, Squirtle. And the last became the small green-blue dinosaur with a green bulb on its back with red eyes, Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur!" (Ash!) The dinosaur said in hidden joy.
"Squir ~ tle," the cute turtle yawned.
Charizard opened his mouth and shot flames at Ash. The flames stopped and Ash was now covered in soot. He opened his mouth to release a large amount of smoke.
"Good to see you guys, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charizard," Ash smiled as he shook the dust off his body, "Welcome to the Thousand Sunny's Gym. We'll train here to get stronger and take on the Grand Line League!"
Most of the Pokemon cheered, but Squirtle just lazily glanced at them before pulling back into its shell.
"Oh right, I forgot to introduce you," Ash said to his other Pokemon. "This Squirtle was a gift from Professor Oak I got before we left. I'm calling him Kame."
Bulbasaur tried extending one of his vines to the shelled turtle as a handshake. Squirtle's response was to blast it with another Water Gun attack, not even popping out of its cozy, little shell to do so. Bulbasaur staggered back from the surprise attack before shaking the water off.
"Bulba-Bulba Saur-Saur?!" (What was that for, you brat?!)
"Maybe I should've also mentioned that attitude problem of his," Ash noted sheepishly with a sweatdrop, watching as Charizard and Pikachu had to hold back the tiny dinosaur, before Pikachu tensed, "Something up?"
Pikachu ran over to a window and growled, his cheeks turning yellow as they sparked a little.
"Pika…" (Pirates…)
Ash looked out and gasped.
"PIRATES OFF THE STARBOARD BOW!" Ash shouted.
On the deck, Franky stopped chasing Brook as Luffy laughed.
"Alright! Our first fight!" Luffy cheered.
"YOU IDIOT!" Franky barked, grabbing Luffy and dragging him away from sight.
Brook did two jumps and landed in the Crown Nest Gym. Charizard screamed and hid behind everyone else.
"Charizard…" Ash sighed, shaking his head, "I thought you got over that!"
Ash looked out the window to see the enemy ship. It was a galleon with the head of it resembling a swan with hearts for eyes. It was painted pink with white railings. The sails all had hearts and the pirate flag was a skull looking to its left, revealing a heart-shaped hole on the side of its head, the crossbones, and hearts on it. One notable thing about the ship was that everyone was…cleaning the ship from top to bottom. Ash, the Pokemon, and Brook all fell on their faces. Franky and Monferno both fell over, twitching, and Luffy just laughed.
(ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!) Charizard roared.
"FERNO?! MON-MONFERNO MON?!" (WHAT THE HELL?! THEY'RE CLEANING THE DAMN THING INSTEAD OF ATTACKING?!)
"Bulbasaur-bulba…" (Those bastards got my hopes up for a fight…)
Unsurprisingly, though, Squirtle was unconcerned and snoozing inside its Pokeball.
"Pikachu pi-pika-Pikachu…" (Now seeing those guy cleaning that, I have to say that's just wrong on so many levels…)
"You said it, Pikachu," Ash agreed, "Brook?"
"On it," Brook said as he pulled out two skeleton-decorated Pokéballs, "Mi, Zuuta, spy."
The two spheres opened and the Haunter-Duskull duo flew onto the other ship, undetected. They came back after a few minutes as the crew of two cursed humans, a living skeleton, a Cyborg, and Pokemon got together at the bottom of the mast.
"Did you two find anything?" Brook pondered.
Both nodded. Before talking with Pikachu and Monferno. Both nodded and jumped on their owner's shoulder.
"Pika-chu-pika."
"Mon-mon-ferno-Monferno!"
"WHAT?!" Ash gasped as he turned to the Haunter, "Are you guys sure you saw that?"
Both nodded. Ash gritted his teeth.
"A friend?" Luffy asked.
Ash nodded. Luffy grinned.
"EVERYONE, PREPARE TO BOARD!" Luffy shouted.
"All done," Franky said as he hammered the last nail in place, "I could have used a better design for the rails, but this works fine."
The crew turned to see Franky had built a marvelous bridge with the sides shaped into dolphins and water Pokemon from marble. The two crews all stared at the sight in shock. Charizard pressed a stopwatch.
(Dang… He made that in fifteen seconds!) Charizard roared as he saw the time.
"CHARGE!" Luffy shouted.
The crew ran across the bridge onto the other ship. The other crew was still shocked at Franky and now seeing a living skeleton with an afro and were now being clobbered. After a few minutes, nearly everyone on the other crew was out like a light.
"Now this is so much fun~," Brook sang.
"You said it, skeleton man," Franky said, posing.
"These guys ain't human…" one man whimpered.
"YOU BASTARDS!" a voice barked.
A fat lady in a pink shirt, a blue vest, white pants, a cowboy hat, and a giant mace with spikes coming out of it stomped out followed by two boys. One was fourteen with pink hair, a bit pudgy, and was as tall as the other boy. The other was twelve with blue hair, green glasses, a green shirt, and brown shorts.
"Ah! Ash!" the younger gasped.
"You know them, Max?" the other asked.
"They're my friends, Koby," he replied, "They're here to help us."
"Hey, Max!" Ash and Luffy waved.
"HOW DARE YOU BOARD MY SHIP AND WRECK MY CREW?!" the fatty demanded. "Hey, Max…" Ash began.
"Who's that tough-looking old biddy?" Luffy finished, pointing at the fatty.
The enemy crew screamed in fright.
"LUFFY! ASH!" Max shouted as he and Koby ran over to them.
"DON'T CALL ALVIDA THAT!" Koby added.
"SHE'S A…A…"
The two became quiet at that.
"I tell you one thing," Franky said after a moment, "She's uglier than a Sea King and fatter than a Wailord."
Alvida roared at them.
"ALVIDA IS THE UGLIEST THING IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE!" Koby and Max shouted.
Luffy and Ash fell over laughing as stream erupted off of her body.
"YOU TRAITOROUS BASTARDS!" Alvida roared as she swung her iron mace down.
"Good job, Max, Koby," Ash said.
"We'll take it from here!" Luffy stated as he took his hat off.
Luffy took the iron mace to the head.
"AH! LUFFY!" Max and Koby screamed.
Luffy smirked as he pushed the iron mace off his head.
"That tickled," Luffy chuckled.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Alvida gasped.
"Now it's our turn!" Luffy laughed.
"Jemu Kobushi (Gem Fist)," Ash said.
His hands fell off and turned into sapphire shards, shocking nearly everyone. The sapphire shards coated Luffy's left arm.
"Gomu-Gomu no…" Luffy reeled his sapphire coated arm back.
HE let it stretch, slamming into Alvida's face.
"…JEMU PISTOL!"
Alvida was sent into the sky. Her crew screamed and, after the Mugiwara Pirates along with Max and Koby got on the Thousand Sunny and Franky and Charizard put the bridge on the boat, chased after Alvida.
"YATTA!" Luffy and Ash cheered, banging that fists with each other, "WE RULE!"
"So why were you two on that old biddy's boat?" Ash asked as the group sat in the Thousand Sunny's Aquarium Bar.
"We got on the wrong boats," both replied.
"Does May know you're alright?" Ash asked.
"Yeah. I managed to send her a letter with a Wingul that I managed to get with a net," Max replied, "I also told her that I wouldn't be coming back anytime soon."
"And you?" Franky asked.
"I was going to go fishing, but I got on Alvida's boat by mistake," Koby replied.
"You must have a bad sense of direction then," Luffy and Ash stated.
"NI BAKA! LIKE YOU TWO ARE ONES TO TALK!" Franky barked.
"So who are these guys?" Koby pondered.
"They're old friends of mine," Max replied, "They're more like a family in my opinion."
"Aw shucks…" Franky began to cry, "Shut up! I'm not crying!"
"Well that's Franky…" Max laughed.
"So we going to head for Hoenn to take Max back home?" Luffy asked.
"Wait," Max said, "Can you take Koby and me to Shell Town?"
"Shell Town?" Ash asked.
"It's on a small island between Cinnabar Island and the Seafoam Islands." Max explained.
"Huh? Isn't there a Marine Base there?" Franky asked.
"Yeah. I want to join the Marines," Koby said, "That way, I can capture the bad pirates in the world."
"Same here," Max nodded.
"I thought you wanted to be a Gym Leader," Luffy said.
"I do. But I want to work for the Marines as well for a few years, like my dad did before he met mom and became a Gym Leader," Max replied, "But I wish you guys luck on the Grand Line."
"WHAT?!" Koby gasped, "THEY'RE HEADED FOR WHERE?!"
"The Grand Line," Luffy replied, "But we'll stop at Reverse Mountain so Brook can do something first before heading on out."
"I'm heading there to become the Pokemon Pirate Champion of the Grand Line while Luffy is after One Piece and the title King of the Pirates," Ash added.
"ONE PIECE?!" Koby gasped, "BUT THAT'S IN THE GRAND LINE, THE PIRATE'S GRAVEYARD! YOU'LL DIE ON THE FIRST DAY! I JUST KNOW IT!"
WHAM!
"You were freaking out," Luffy argued as he rubbed his smoking fist.
"Sorry. I guess I earned that," Koby chuckled, a large bruise on his head with blood coming out of it, "But you'll still need a strong crew."
"I say around twenty will do," Luffy replied.
"Say, we could try and recruit one of the guys in the Marine's custody there," Ash suggested.
"What?!" Koby gasped.
"That's a SUPA idea, Ash!" Franky posed.
"Indeed," Brook added, "Excuse me."
He farted.
"SKELETON!" Franky roared before chasing him out along with Mi and Zuuta, "GET BACK HERE SO I CAN POUND YOU INTO DUST!"
"Trust me, Koby," Max said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Don't argue with them."
He turned to Ash and Luffy.
"There's one guy I know that will be perfect for the Mugiwara Pirates," Max said, "His name is Roronoa Zoro, The Santōryū Master."
"ARE YOU CRAZY, MAX?!" Koby demanded, "HE'S A PIRATE HUNTER! HE'S A DEMON! HE'S A…A…"
"…He's going to be on our crew," Ash and Luffy stated stubbornly.
"Trust me, only a girl with periwinkle hair that can 'talk' with Pokemon that Ash likes can make Ash change his mind," Max joked.
"M-Max! I don't like Anabel! We're just friends!" Ash replied, blushing madly.
"Suuuuure you are," Max chuckled.
"I swear!" Ash said.
"And I never said her name was that of the Salon Maiden's," Max continued with a smirk and adjusting her glasses.
"...Why you little...!" Ash began.
"Okay. SET SAIL FOR SHELL TOWN AND OUR NEW CREWMATE!" Luffy shouted.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, HE WON'T JOIN YOU!" Koby barked.
GammaTron: Not bad. Not bad at all.