Haki (1)

Today, Partys Bar's dining area was filled with customers who were either eating their meals or relaxing with their friends. Some people were shopping at the Pokemart while others were using the PC service.

Since this was Okami's rest day, he opted to stroll in the village to enjoy the scenery. He went outside the Partys Bar and saw a huge crowd at the battle arena, which was right in the middle of the town square. Curious, he quickened his pace and approached the area filled with spectators, just in time to witness the two porters, Jack and Seraph, having a pokemon battle. He walked through the crowd and realized that Cherry was present among the watchers.

"Hello, Cherry." Okami greeted her as he moved closer and asked, "Who did you bet for?"

Cherry smiled vibrantly. "A good day to you, Okami. I'm leaning towards Jack because I particularly wanted him for my friend, Lydia."

"I can't understand what you are saying. What's the connection between Lydia and this particular battle?"

"Well, you know very well that both of them wanted to court Lydia, right? To end their rivalry once and for all, she decided to have a date with whoever wins the battle."

Okami laughed. "That's hilarious. Anyway, what rules are they using this time?"

"The three-pokemon rule. For now, Seraph's losing because this is already his 3rd pokemon while Jack's first pokemon, Pidgeotto, keeps on winning. And from the looks of it, Seraph's Metapod is bound to lose as well."

"What other pokemon did Seraph used earlier?"

"Weedle and Goldeen."

Okami chuckled. Two weak basic pokemon against a Pidgeotto? That was no contest at all. "Well, it looks like you are right. Metapod will surely be destroyed. How much did you bet?"

"A thousand Beli for Jack to win the fight."

"A wise decision."

Meanwhile, inside the battle arena, Jack flexed his arms on his chest, his smile becoming wider. "Surrender now, Seraph. Your Metapod has no chance against my lovely Pidgeotto."

Seraph gritted his teeth and shouted, "Metapod, use Harden!" Metapod was covered with bright light and his green skin became darker.

Jack laughed and pointed at Metapod while saying, "Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack."

Pidgeotto dived toward Metapod and slashed her hardened wings against the poor bug. The impact blasted the cocoon bug a few meters away before fainting.

Seraph ran toward his pokemon and carried him on his arms. He did not speak at all and moved away from the battle arena. Based on his direction, he was going to the Partys Bar to heal his pokemon.

Jack petted his Pidgeotto. "Very good."

"Caw!"

After feeding her with worms, Jack returned her inside the Pokeball and attached it on his Pokebelt.

"To the victor goes the spoils," Okami said and bid goodbye to Cherry. The result was kind of expected because Seraph's line-up was weaker compared to Jack's. Two weak bugs against a strong flying type would surely spell his doom.

Okami went back to the Partys Bar and saw Seraph waiting at the lounge area. He approached the man and decided to talk to him. "Hello, Seraph. I've seen your battle with Jack."

Seraph snorted. "Are you here to mock me?"

Okami sat beside him. "Nope. It's just that you should have understood your pokemon weaknesses before deciding to fight against him. Your pokemon stands no chance against his Pidgeotto."

"I should have trained my pokemon. I did not expect his Pidgey to evolve into Pidgeotto before the fight. That was his only strong pokemon."

Okami thought of something and executed his plan right away. "Well, if you are interested, I can teach you to become a good Pokemon Trainer."

Seraph gave him a curious gaze and asked, "How? If you can help me, I'll make sure to comply with any of your requests, as long as it is within my capabilities."

"It's just a simple thing. Help me find another building for sale. I intend to start a Pokemon Trainer School. If you do that, your tuition fee will be free."

Seraph knew that despite Okami's young age, he had the greatest knowledge in this village when it comes to Pokemon. He was aware that he was the reason why the villagers were enjoying the benefits of owning a pokemon. It would be a great blessing for him if he could learn from the best. "Don't worry. I'll inform you when I find one."

Okami gave him a handshake. "I'm waiting for a positive result."

"No problem." Seraph looked at the countertop and realized that his pokemon were already healed. He stood up and said, "I'll be going now. My pokemon are ready for pick-up. See you."

"Sure." Okami saw him walking toward the Healing Machine. He was about to leave when he heard the creaking sound of the saloon doors. As soon as he saw who entered the bar, his eyes lit up. "Hey, Shanks. When did your crew arrive?"

Shanks scanned the place, his face visibly confused with the current set-up of the bar. He headed toward the lounge area and replied, "I just docked a while ago and my crew is still on the ship. What happened to this place?"

Okami stood up and invited him to eat at the dining area. He ordered a few bottles of sake from Mackie and brought it to the empty table. As soon as everything was set, he began his explanation. Shank's facial expression constantly changed from time to time but he did not stop him even once. When he found out that Okami was the new owner, he could not help but shout in surprise.

"What?! Seriously?!" Shanks looked at him in bewilderment, his eyes glimpsing at Makino and the rest of the workers.

Okami shrugged his shoulders and leaned on his chair. "That's the truth."

Shanks whistled in amazement and chugged another bottle, before saying, "I'd like to buy Pokeballs. I'm kind of interested in catching a pokemon."

"Sure. Just approach Troy at the Pokemart. Remember, you can find them easily at the Pokemon Safari if you don't have time searching for them in the wild. You may contact a locale here to guide you, but make sure that you pay the entrance ticket and you're good to go."

"I will do that."

Okami remembered something and asked, "Are you going to leave this place for good?"

Shanks nodded. "I've done what I came here for and it's time for me to go to North Blue."

"Oh. Then can you help me with something before you go?"

"What is it?"

"Please teach me a thing or two about Haki."

Shanks frowned. "Where did you hear it from?"

"From the marines when I visited Shells Town back then," Okami lied blatantly. "Well, one of them said that Haki is needed if one wants to survive in the New World."

"He is right for saying it. Indeed, you must be a Haki practitioner if you want to protect yourself when you visit the New World," Shanks said matter-of-factly. "Are you planning to go there?"

Okami slightly nodded. "I want to learn about them before I embark on my journey to the New World."

Shanks reminisced the words his previous captain once said when he was just starting to learn Haki. Since he felt sympathetic towards the kid, it did not bother him to spare some of his time teaching such things to him.

"Presence...Fighting spirit...Intimidation. Haki is a mysterious power that is found in every living being in the world. Even though it is not different from the typical senses, most people do not notice it or fail to awaken it. Broadly speaking, there are two types of Haki available to everyone, given the proper training, but there is a third type that only a certain group are said to possess."

"What are the three types of Haki?" Okami asked.

"The first one is the ability to sense and predict spiritual energy, which is called the Observation Haki. This means that the user will have sort of a sixth sense of the world around them and limited precognitive abilities used to detect the presence of people. Others would use this to sense the strength of their enemies while other Observation Haki users could feel other's emotions. Some would even take it to a higher degree and could see a short period of the future. You need this if you want to become a very nimble fighter."

Shanks noticed Mackie carrying a tray filled with bottles of sake and waited for him to arrive. When the drinks were served, he immediately drank one of them and moaned in satisfaction. "Where was I? Oh, yes, Haki. The second type is the Armament Haki. It is a form of Haki that allows the user to use their spirit to create, in essence, an invisible armor around themselves, providing potentially incredible offensive and defensive capabilities. Notably, this can also be used to injure Devil Fruit users, particularly the Logia users who are mainly immune to physical attacks. In higher levels, you can use it to blast enemies without using a medium."

"The last one is the Conqueror's Haki. It is useless to tell you this because it can't be trained. Through facing deadly encounters, one might awaken this Haki, which can dominate the weak-willed and even tame animals. Mostly useful in intimidating the cannon fodders, which can spare you from a lot of easy battles."

Shank's explanation was the same as the original plot, indicating that the other information about Haki in the anime and manga should be true as well. Okami wanted to verify if his claims were correct and asked, "You've said that the other two forms of Haki can be awakened. Can you please elaborate further?"

Shanks leaned on the chair and smiled. "Curious kid, aren't you? Anyway, Armament Haki is the easiest one since it only requires heavy torture on the user's body to possibly awaken it. Once you're done, you can then train it by gathering your Haki to your body parts or weapons time and time again. Constant practice is the key. On the other hand, Observation Haki is a little bit tricky. You're lucky if you are born with it but most of the time, it is awakened when one faces a traumatic experience. There is a special case wherein someone stayed in a dark cave, blindfolded, for a long period. The only thing he did the entire time was to sense the presence of his companions while they are attacking him and his Observation Haki was awakened. Not a foolproof solution but at least, it serves as your guide if you want to awaken your Haki."

Okami cheerfully smiled and gifted him Pokeballs. "This is for you. Thank you for teaching me this stuff."

Shanks waved his hands. "It's nothing. Have you finally decided to become a pirate?"

"Nope. I plan on creating a merchant ship that travels the Grand Line and the New World. I'm still looking for crew members that serve as my employees as well."

Shanks lifted a bottle of sake in the air. "Just like Gran Tesoro? Cheers to you."

Okami was not familiar with Gran Tesoro because he had not seen that part of the anime. "What's Gran Tesoro?"

"Gran Tesoro is a massive ship with a large entertainment city built on it. Such a very rich ship owned by Gild Tesoro, a Devil Fruit user."

"Interesting." Okami could use Gran Tesoro as the model for his ship but a massive one required a great amount of Beli. He decided to increase his time bounty hunting when he became stronger. "Well, I think it's time for me to go. Thank you for your time, Shanks."

Shanks nodded and continued with his drinking spree.

Okami was about to leave when he remembered something and turned around. "Ah, can you tell me where I can find an island filled with dangerous creatures?"

Shanks paused for a bit before answering, "The nearest one is at the Liger Island, a nearby island east of Goa Kingdom. As the name suggests, it is infested with creatures that have bodies of a tiger and head of a lion. It's easy to locate because of the obelisk right in the middle of the island. You can't miss it because going there is pretty straightforward."

"Thanks." Okami went outside the shop and summoned Pidgeot. He rode on her back and instructed her to fly east of the Goa Kingdom. At once, the bird soared higher and zoomed toward the east. This time, his mission was to search for Liger Island, his intended training place to awaken his Haki.