53 Chapter 53

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The next day, the elderly gentleman who had purchased a white-talented egg indeed arrived. Under the witness of everyone, a somewhat timid Oddish hatched from the green egg.

Shy from birth, it hid behind the old man's legs, not coming out.

The old man seemed very fond of it, treating it as his own grandson.

Dak shared some tips about Oddish's habits with the old man before sending him back home. It was a small interlude.

A week quietly passed, and the latest edition of the newspaper flew across the world.

Deep in the New World, aboard the Moby Dick.

Newgate was as relaxed as ever, sitting at the prow of the ship. However, his attention was no longer solely on his foolish sons but on his beard.

On that large, curved white beard hung a pink, oval creature, clutching the beard and flapping about, causing Newgate to sweat profusely.

Little Luck Egg was quite the handful.

Sometimes, waking up in the middle of the night to find its pebble gone would lead to ear-shattering cries, loud enough to penetrate walls.

Imagine thousands of pirates, turning on lights and searching the floor for a stone in the middle of the night. But the stone was nowhere to be found, so they had to get another from Blenheim.

Over the week, Blenheim lost eighteen precious stones.

There was no choice.

The weather in the New World was bizarre, with frequent thunderstorms and large waves that could tilt the ship. Little Luck Egg, with its short legs and propensity for falling, often dropped its stone into the sea.

And it would dive after the stone, leading to a bunch of people jumping in after her, sometimes even devil fruit users adding to the chaos in their rush.

In the end, they always got another stone from Blenheim.

In short, with Little Luck Egg around, life for the Whitebeard Pirates took on a different flavor, but no one complained. Instead, it added a dash of vitality to this group of old timers.

"Hey! Old man! Something interesting happened at sea."

Marco suddenly flew down from the crow's nest, holding a newspaper.

"Marco!"

Seeing Marco, Little Luck Egg immediately stretched out her tiny arms for a hug.

Little Luck Egg got along best with Marco, as he always cleaned up her messes.

Marco was the only member of the Whitebeard Pirates whom Little Luck Egg would lend her pebbles to, though they had to be returned, or she would cry. It was just a temporary gift for a hug.

"What's up?"

Newgate deftly caught the falling Little Luck Egg, then turned to Marco.

"The existence of Pokémon has been discovered! It seems a very remarkable Pokémon appeared at the Mystery Hatchery House. I wonder where Dak got them from."

Marco spread the newspaper out for Newgate to see a photo.

It was a strange, upright green creature with an exaggeratedly long tail, like a small tree.

"Don't you remember? The Mystery Hatchery House claims to connect to other worlds. Though the manager said only people from our world can enter, he never mentioned he couldn't go to other worlds. Perhaps those came from another world," Satch speculated.

"Gurararara, Pokémon couldn't possibly remain unnoticed. I knew from the first time I met Dak he would do something big," Newgate chuckled, not surprised by the news.

He just didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

Pokémon were destined to cause a stir in this world.

It might not be huge, but people would take notice.

...

Marineford.

At the Marine base, Sengoku looked at the newspaper on his desk, his expression dark.

He had hoped Pokémon wouldn't be exposed so soon, planning to use their power to form a special secret squad.

But he knew Dak, as a businessman, wouldn't just sit by and watch his shop be ignored.

Now, the power of Pokémon was revealed to the world for the first time.

Surely, some organizations would want to contact this power, depending on how many believed it all.

"How are Crane, Gion, and Buneary doing?" Sengoku turned to Tsuru, sitting on the sofa, feeling a bit anxious about Dak's sudden publicity stunt.

According to Dak's conditions, the Marines must prove they could successfully raise a Pokémon from an egg to adulthood.

Only then could they start a comprehensive collaboration with the Mystery Hatchery House and massively recruit Pokémon to form an army.

"Not bad. Buneary is very energetic and growing quickly, likely to be earlier than Dak mentioned. Conservatively, I'd say a week," Tsuru recalled Buneary's condition carefully.

"Good. Take ten people from the Logistics and Research Departments to form a team specifically for Pokémon service. When Dak brings those Pokémon in a few days, I'll try to hire him as a technical advisor for a while," Sengoku nodded, his gaze firm.

Dak could never have imagined his publicity plan would solidify Sengoku's idea of forming a Pokémon squad and accelerate the process.

"Sengoku, this Pokémon is obviously Grass-type," Tsuru noted.

"Indeed, but does that make a difference? Types..."

"You don't actually believe what Dak said about types being irrelevant now, do you?" Tsuru cut him off.

Tsuru and Sengoku saw things differently.

Sengoku had to oversee all Marine activities, constantly dealing with various matters and the World Government, hardly having time to consider Pokémon intricacies.

But Tsuru was different, her mission always being to capture "Corazon" Donquixote Doflamingo.

With no Doflamingo intelligence, she had plenty of time to think about Pokémon.

"What do you mean?"

Sengoku furrowed his brows at Tsuru.

"Remember what we saw at the Mystery Hatchery House? Those Water-type Pokémon in the water and the Flying-type Pokémon that could take to the skies. Have you forgotten what it means to be able to fly and battle at sea in this world?"

Tsuru's words made Sengoku realize the significance.

In a world where most lack the means to fly and where ability users roam the Grand Line, having the ability to fly or fight at sea was terrifying.

"Dak said there are eighteen types in total. How do you know some of the types we haven't heard of won't have their own unique characteristics, like that Darkrai?"

Tsuru's gaze was profound; she felt she had uncovered everything.

The idea that types aren't important is utterly wrong!

It's crucial!

"You're right," Sengoku nodded, reassessing Pokémon types, "Pick another ten from Logistics to study types."

(End of Chapter)