It had been a few days since Ash showed off dragon summons to the kids of Grand Jipang. Luffy, Ash and Pikachu were traveling down the streets of Grand Jipang. "It's been about a week since you arrived in Grand Jipang," Luffy pointed out. "Have you enjoyed what's here so far?"

"I have," Ash replied. "There's plenty of places I haven't been to, but the people are friendly and helpful."

"At least… and there's a few more places in the city to explore."

"I can't wait. Maybe I can go find more places to eat."

"You can, but nothing beats the Pinwheel."

"Yeah, that place where you have an insurmountable tab?"

"I don't think about a tab when I think about food."

"Yeah, the same with me and Pikachu."

("We can't help but want food,") Pikachu giggled. As they approached the Pinwheel, they saw Robin approaching from another street.

"Ash!" she called out. "Boss!" Luffy, Ash and Pikachu turned to see the bodyguard arriving to their sides.

Chop-Chop! Kabuki Buggy Strikes!

"Were you on your way to see Ocarrot, Ash?" asked Robin.

"Well… not necessarily…" stuttered Ash. "Pikachu and I got a little hungry, and we have some ryo Berries."

"Ah, so that's what's going on," Robin understood. "Did you show off more of your summons to those kids?"

"No, they weren't around," Ash admitted. "Maybe I'll show them my summons that can fly next time."

"Other than Dragonite, right?" guessed Luffy.

"Yeah, my Pidgeot and Unfezant are a couple of summons I have," Ash confirmed. They soon reached the Pinwheel. "Onami wanted to know of my cooking skills?"

"I bet she wants to know how you're able to stay in shape," Luffy teased.

"Pretty much," Robin agreed. As they reached the entrance, Ocarrot hopped out and tackled Ash as Pikachu leaped onto Robin's head.

"I missed youteia!" she cheered. She happily nuzzled Ash via the cheeks.

"This is a warm welcome," Ash shyly giggled.

"Ocarrot, we mustn't do that to our customers," Omao advised. Ocarrot stopped and helped Ash back on his feet. She then gave Ash a kiss to the cheek, the same cheek that she nuzzled. Ash blushed at the kiss. They entered where Onami stopped Luffy.

"You're not eating anything until you pay up," she scorned. Luffy whined to the denial. Inside, Brook sat at a table while holding up a cup of tea in his bony hand.

"Ash, I hadn't seen you around for some time," he realized… in a sense. "Well, I can't see anything without eyes!" He laughed at his own ridicule.

"Apparently, a sense you still have is a sense of humor," Ash joked.

"Ooh, good one!" laughed Brook. Sanji came out to see the Summoner.

"Ash, humor me," he started. "When you were traveling from the temple to Grand Jipang, did you cook for yourself and Pikachu?" Ash sat down at a table and recalled his travel.

"All I could ever do was Onigiri," he admitted. "In fact, when we helped some of the villages along the way to Grand Jipang, they fed us some of their food. I even used some of the leftovers into my Onigiri to add flavor." Sanji cupped his chin with the hand holding his pipe.

"Pikachu would've also been eating the Onigiri as well," he assumed. "I'd like to see how you make the Onigiri."

"Of course," Ash accepted.

"And who knows," Omao spoke up as she stood behind Sanji. "It may help either one of you improve." Sanji grinned to Omao's thought.

"Omao, you're speaking my language… and I like it!" he cheered.

"What language is that?" asked Luffy. "Something I don't know?"

"Boss, you're not going to know without making a dent on your long overdue bill," Onami warned. However, laughter from outside caught everyone's attention. Everyone came out to see a few silhouettes.

"And now, making his flashy appearance…" a voice sounded. Soon enough, images of a pink-haired man with his face painted white with lavender streaks around the eyes, forehead and mouth that looked to have been coming from or to the red circular nose. He wore a black vest which had a skull and crossbones on each side, the same red nose on the skulls. Under it was a red robe with the trousers fitted with skirt-like cuffs. There was a raven-haired woman wearing a black robe with a pink sash around the waist. Her hair was long, curly and shimmering. There was a white-haired rotund man with circular ears by the crown of his head. He also wore a white robe and blue trousers. Lastly was a golden brown rotund lion with a pink mane and a wore a yellow and orange checkered garment with a circus collar.

"Kabuki!" gawked Ash.

"Great, it's Buggy," Sanji groaned.

"It's nice to see that my old adversaries are here," Buggy sneered. "Now, we heard that the Summoner is in Grand Jipang."

"Lord Buggy," the woman spoke as she stood just behind them. "It has to be him." She pointed to Ash and Pikachu. Buggy looked, only to scoff. Sanji and Brook awed and whistled at the woman's young appearance.

"Alvida, now isn't the time to poke fun at a kid," he dismissed. "Though, that rat is something that none of us have seen before, even Richie wouldn't know about it." The rotund lion chuffed to the claim.

"I've heard about kabuki from my sensei," Ash whispered. "I thought I'd go to a stage for one of them."

"Well, that's not what Buggy is," Onami corrected. "He's a crime boss that goes around Grand Jipang." She looked to the rotund man. "Of course… what happened to Mohji?" The rotund man looked away in shame.

"Tell me about it," Sanji noticed. "It looks like he found a land of food that would supply Boss for a day."

"And that tiger might have eaten off more than he could chew," Omao muttered.

("So depressing…") mulled Pikachu.

"Look, what happened to Mohji is none of your business!" shouted Buggy. "All I'm here for is the Summoner!" Ash stood forth to face Buggy.

"And what would you want with me?" he asked. Hearing Ash identify himself, Buggy's eyes twitched in an unnerving state.

"This whole time, the Summoner was him?" he questioned. Pikachu boarded Ash's shoulder, confirming the moniker.

"My oh my," Alvida hushed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd actually have him as a son of mine." The thought made Brook's bones shake.

"I mean, I can kind of see where she's coming from," he pondered. "Both are raven-haired and have a distinct charm." Sanji nodded to Brook's claim.

"You're not wrong," he sided somewhat. "She does possess a motherly instinct that I wouldn't mind helping out on." Onami groaned to the thoughts of Sanji and Brook.

"Like Ash would be a child to a crime lord," she nagged. Buggy decided talking was over.

"Anyway, we came for the Summoner," he growled. "And take his summons with us!" Ash, Luffy, Sanji and Brook prepared for a confrontation. Buggy soon came apart by the torso, neck and shoulders. Ash and Pikachu gawked to the sight of the crime lord who was literally in floating pieces.

"First, it's Luffy," Ash listed. "And now, the kabuki?"

"And he ain't the only one!" called out Alvida as she held a studded club. She swung, flinging a liquid at the group. The young men and Brook cleared out as Ash and Luffy brought out their jitte. Ash also brought out another scroll.

"Looks like I'll have to reply in kind," he groaned before unrolling the scroll. "Thriving in the darkness, his eyes spell demise to those who find it. COME FORTH, NOCTOWL!" The flash from the scroll lasted a couple of seconds, but it brought forth a yellow owl with black triangles on its chest and red wings.

"All of these summonses, it makes me wonder what else he can have," Omao awed. Richie stumbled after trying to jump after Noctowl. He couldn't get a few feet from the ground when he jumped. Ash took advantage. "Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Pikachu rushed and crashed into Richie, launching him back to Mohji. The lion bounced off Mohji before rolling on the ground, dizzy.

"Richie, are you okay!?" he worried. Richie couldn't respond. Buggy's body parts flew around with the kabuki laughing to the befuddled looks of everyone.

"Soon, I'll take you and your summoning scrolls to be part of my group to overrun the lords!" he plotted. "It'll be just like how you dismantled Nelson's castle!" The hands flew after Ash who swatted them away.

"The castle was to save the village that was robbed!" he corrected. "Don't get the motives mixed up!"

"But we can dominate together!" shouted Buggy as he flung his hair with a flick of his head. The hair produced diamond-like daggers.

"Noctowl, use Air Slash!" commanded Ash as Alvida rushed in after the Summoner. Noctowl flapped its wings so hard, blades made of air slashed the hair from the head. Buggy gasped at the hair being cut.

"Careful, we don't want him to be bald," Sanji teased. That's when Pikachu saw the hands fly after the severed strands and catch the daggers.

"You won't cut me short of my wishes!" yelled Buggy. Luffy smashed the hands down with stretched out arms that nailed the hands without touching the daggers. Those hands struck Alvida's hands holding the club, fumbling it. The club clocked her in the head before she fell unconscious. Buggy and Mohji gasped to Alvida's act.

"ALVIDA!" they cried. Sanji bashed Luffy on the head.

"YOU IDIOT!" he yelled. "WHY DID YOU HIT HER!?" Buggy turned back to Noctowl who seemed ready to attack.

"What the-" gawked Buggy before Ash replied.

"Hypnosis!" ordered Ash. Noctowl's eyes were glowing before it lulled Buggy's head.

"Oh, this is…" he murmured. That's when Noctowl stopped before Buggy's head started to fall as he drifted to sleep. "Maybe it won't be so painf-OOH!" The yell came at the same time Ash punted Buggy's legs… in the crotch. Buggy's eyes just about bugged out of his falling skull. The women turned their bodies and covered their faces in pain while the men cringed but sheepishly laughed. With the head falling onto the ground, Buggy seemed to have lost all control of his bodily functions. "My- My b- My ball- Balls… My- hurt…"

"Seems like the the nose isn't the only body part that's red," Ash joked. He came over to Buggy's head as Noctowl flew down to Onami.

"Such a colorful owl," Omao cooed. Noctowl didn't mind the petting. Ash picked up Buggy's head as he slowly recovered.

"I want you to listen good," he started. Buggy started to refocus. "My dealing with the lords is my own. If I see you do anymore crime in Grand Jipang, I'll make sure that nose isn't so round." Buggy growled to the threat.

"Sounds like your beef with them is personal," he whispered, still in pain.

"It's still something I don't want to talk about," Ash quietly warned before throwing the head back to the rest of the body. Buggy soon reassembled himself as Alvida started coming back around.

"Allow me," Luffy offered as he blew into his thumb. His hand grew several sizes. "Gum-Gum… Elephant Gun!" He fired his giant fist and bashed into all of Buggy's crew.

"WE'LL BE BACK!" they shouted. After the struggle, Ash was in the kitchen and making some Onigiri. Stirring the rice, he worked in shaping the rice balls while Sanji, Onami and Omao watched on.

"Interesting…" studied Onami. "He put egg and dried meat into the Onigiri."

"He must be using the yolk runoff to give the Onigiri texture," Sanji observed. "Not to mention the protein that goes into it."

"But he lets the egg cook for some time before he breaks the yolk," Omao added.

"And he doesn't waste any ingredients," Sanji pointed out. "Something I encourage…" Robin saw Ash's cooking from the other side and smiled.

'This is… a new feeling for me,' she awed in her mind. 'I wonder… why do I feel this connection? Is it… love? Not a love to have with a grown man… What is this that flows into me?' Ash soon completed the Onigiri and everyone had a chance to try it.

"I'm starving!" cheered Luffy as he reached for the rice balls.

"Only one, Luffy," Ash scorned. "I want everyone to have a chance at this."

"Don't worry," Luffy assured as he stretched his arm out and grabbed a ball.

"This might go with my diet of carrots," Ocarrot warned. "But if it's good, I may ask for something else in them." Everyone took a bite into the rice balls.

"Not bad…" gulped Sanji.

"I'll say," Robin hushed.

"The meat's got enough juice to keep it flavorful," Luffy noticed. "Or is it the egg?"

"I'm guessing it's the egg," Omao pondered.

"I'll admit, it did take some trial and error to make it," Ash admitted. "Sensei even said that cooking isn't an overnight talent."

"Truer words never said…" agreed Sanji. "Maybe if you come by more often when you're not busy with patrolling, I can help you with cooking." Ash nodded, accepting Sanji's offer.

("Can I as well?") asked Pikachu. Hearing, Ocarrot turned to the mouse.

"Wait, did I hear youteia right?" she teased. "Youteia want to learn to cook with darling?" Pikachu felt found out.

"A mouse that can cook?" repeated Sanji. "That will be something." Everyone giggled to the thought of Pikachu being able to cook. That night, Ash and Pikachu traveled with Robin on the streets.

"You informed Shakky?" guessed Ash.

"I did," Robin said. "I wanted Ash and Pikachu to have you around my flat. I wanted to know what it's like having a young man like you around me."

("Why is that not sounding so creepy?") wondered Pikachu. Robin itched Pikachu by the ears.

"It'll be alright," she assured. They headed to the flat as another day in Grand Jipang closed…

TO BE CONTINUED...