"Oh! Your name sounds awesome. Kekoa." Luffy said. This made me smile a bit as this was the first time in both of my lives that my name was awesome. Back in my home, the mainland malhini (foreigneres) would find it hard to even pronounce my name, at times, correctly.
Mostly the snobby ones, but nobody ever told me that my name was awesome.
"So why are you here? At our place?"
For a brief moment, I considered inventing some elaborate story. Maybe I was traveling or had gotten lost. Maybe I belonged to some village deeper in the forest. Then I looked at that face and realized there wasn't any need to as he never cared where anyone came from.
Trying to fool him felt strangely unnecessary.
"...I'm alone," I admitted quietly.
Luffy tilted his head.
"No family?"
I shook my head.
"...Not here."
That wasn't exactly a lie.
"I... ran away from Gray Terminal."
The cheerful smile slowly disappeared from Luffy's face.
"...Gray Terminal?" He frowned. "I don't like that place."
"I don't either," I replied with a bitter laugh.
"I woke up there... and some people tried to take everything I had. So I ran and after moving around I found this treehouse, didn't know it belonged to you." I said, adding a bit of lie at the end.
Luffy became a bit silent by the statement but then he asked.
"Then how are you able to change yourself into that yellow delicious thing?"
I couldn't help but sigh. This dude really only thought about food.
"I ate the Zoan devil fruit : Type Pokémon." I lied, since living in this world was a guarantee, it was better to have an explanation about his ability and what better could it be if not mix the lies with truth. I love doing that.
"Pokémon? what is that?"
I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering how in the world I was supposed to explain Pokémon to someone who had never even heard the word before.
"They're... animals."
Luffy blinked.
"Animals?"
"...Kind of."
I immediately corrected myself before he imagined ordinary cows shooting lightning.
"They're creatures from... where I come from. Some are as small as Pikachu, while others are larger than houses. Some breathe fire, others control water, ice, lightning, plants... there are even ones that can move mountains or fly faster than birds."
Luffy's mouth slowly fell open.
"Wooooah..."
"They're all called Pokémon?"
"Yep."
"They're amazing creatures."
The explanation was intentionally vague. There was absolutely no way I was about to explain typings, abilities, evolution, breeding, legendary Pokémon, or any of the countless other things that made Pokémon what they were. That conversation could wait until... well, probably never.
Luffy remained unusually quiet for nearly five whole seconds. That alone was impressive. Then his eyes suddenly lit up with another realization.
"Wait! You said many animals, as in... more than one!"
I immediately regretted opening my mouth.
"...Yeah."
Luffy pointed directly at me, nearly bouncing off the wooden floor in excitement.
"Then can you become another one too?"
"Sigh! Sure."
His enthusiasm was so overwhelming that refusing felt almost impossible. Besides, there wasn't much harm in showing him. If I was pretending this was some strange Zoan Devil Fruit, having multiple forms would simply make it seem like an even stranger one.
"Alright."
"But don't freak out."
"Who did you think I am? I am Luffy, I will be the Pirate King oneday."
"...Fair enough."
I recalled the other Pokémon card and put it on my forehand.
Yanma.
Golden light wrapped around me once again, but unlike Pikachu's warm, familiar transformation, this one felt light and weightless. My body rapidly slimmed down as four transparent wings unfolded from my back with a loud buzzing sound....
"... Yan."
I slowly turned toward Luffy. His jaw had practically hit the floor. The straw hat slid off his head and landed beside his feet without him even noticing.
"WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAA!!"
Luffy launched himself straight toward me.
"You became a bug!"
"A giant flying bug!"
"You've got huge eyes!"
"And wings!"
"You can really fly?!"
His voice echoed throughout the forest as he jumped around beneath me, trying to follow every movement I made. I instinctively hovered backward before darting sideways to avoid his enthusiastic grab, only for him to immediately chase after me with even greater determination.
"Come back!"
"I wanna touch your wings!"
"Hahaha!"
I effortlessly floated above his head while watching him wave both arms wildly.
"You know," I thought with an amused sigh, "most people would panic after seeing a giant insect."
But then again this guy in one conversation with Chopper had to think deeply if catching a huge beetle was more interesting than becoming the Pirate King, so I could understand the enthusiasm. By this time I was out in the open ground below the treehouse where Luffy followed me.
His first instinct was apparently to play tag with it.
After sometime, he finally stopped pestering me and I transformed myself back to human being.
The moment my feet touched the ground again, Luffy didn't even give me a chance to catch my breath. He rushed right in front of me, his eyes shining brighter than I had ever seen before. His grin stretched from ear to ear as he grabbed both of my hands without the slightest hesitation, almost bouncing in place from pure excitement.
"Kekoa! You're amazing! I've never seen anyone who can become so many cool animals!"
His excitement was so genuine that I couldn't help smiling back. There wasn't an ounce of fear, suspicion, or greed in his expression. This is why I always liked Luffy, though that did make him fall into danger into the future.
I wondered when he would set sail.
Then, without any warning whatsoever, he asked the question with the same straightforwardness that only Monkey D. Luffy possessed.
"Will you be my friend?"
"...What?"
"My friend!"
Luffy repeated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"You look fun and can turn into such creatures. I want to be your friend. From now on we are friends."
I could only roll my eyes. His words first started as question and within a second it had turned into utter command, and for some reason I didn't feel weird about. Knowing how he was and now seeing him in reality was a different matter.
Maybe Hawkeye was right. He really did have the greatest power of them all. The power to make bonds anywhere and everywhere.
"...Sure."
A wide smile immediately appeared on my face.
"I'd like that."
"YOSH!"
Luffy threw both fists into the air in celebration before suddenly remembering something else.
"You said you're all alone, right?"
I nodded.
"Then come with me!"
"Huh?"
"You can stay at Dadan's place!"
Luffy answered as though he were inviting me over for lunch rather than into the home of a mountain bandit.
"Dadan complains a lot....but she's nice! And Curly Dadan makes lots of food. You won't have to sleep alone in the forest anymore!"
For several seconds, I couldn't say anything.
I had spent days trying to figure out how to approach civilization through Dadan without drawing attention to myself. Meanwhile, Luffy had solved that entire problem in less than a minute simply by deciding that we were friends.
"...I'd really like that," I answered quietly.
Luffy wasted absolutely no time. The moment I agreed, he grabbed my wrist and began dragging me through the forest with the boundless energy only he seemed capable of possessing. We leaped over fallen logs, crossed narrow streams, and pushed through thick bushes while he happily talked about random things, occasionally pointing out places where he, Ace, and Sabo used to play.
Oh yes, he has already told and introduced about them on the way as I asked about the ASL flag.
I mostly listened, quietly memorizing the route. It wasn't every day that someone willingly guided me to the very place I had planned to locate on my own.
Before long, a weathered wooden cabin came into view, surrounded by several rough-looking men carrying weapons and barrels of stolen goods. The instant they noticed Luffy, a few waved lazily before their eyes landed on me.
Confusion immediately spread across their faces. Luffy, however, didn't give anyone a chance to ask questions.
"Dadan! Everyone! This is Kekoa! He's my friend now! He was alone, so he's gonna stay with us!" he announced proudly.
"What?!" a loud female voice roared from inside the cabin. Moments later, Curly Dadan stormed outside with an irritated expression. "Brat! Do you think this is some kind of orphanage?!"
She glared at me from head to toe before clicking her tongue. I politely introduced myself and repeated the same story I had told Luffy—that I had escaped Gray Terminal and had nowhere else to go.
"...Tch. Fine. One more mouth won't kill us." She looked toward Luffy, whose grin somehow became even wider. "At least that idiot won't be wandering around the mountains alone all day anymore."