Chapter 7: Achievement: Badge Collector
As expected…
Without any intention of underestimating the opponent, Red let Luffy go all out.
Against Luffy's level 46 strength, the level 15 Onix didn't even get a chance to use Dig to evade, it was instantly knocked to the ground by Luffy's brute force, its eyes swirling as it fainted, completely losing its ability to battle.
"As expected, it's pretty much impossible to get anything above an average command rating at this stage."
Watching the system notification slowly fade away along with the battle arena, Red silently sighed in his heart.
But soon, he shifted his focus back to Brock across from him.
With the final Pokémon defeated and the battlefield disappearing, it seemed that Brock's consciousness was once again stripped away.
Originally still shocked by Luffy's strength, Brock now wore an appreciative smile and strode confidently up to Red.
"That was truly an exciting match!"
"I seem to have underestimated you. As a reward, here's ₽2000 for you."
Boom! Jackpot!!!
As Brock reached out his hand into thin air, Red was surprised to see his deposit balance increase by another ₽2000, breaking through the ₽6000 mark.
He's way more generous than those wild trainers.
"What a great guy! Such a stand-up dude!"
Red couldn't help but rejoice in his heart.
But Brock's rewards weren't over yet.
"To prove that you defeated me, I'll also give you this official Pewter Badge, certified by the Pokémon League, the Boulder Badge!"
"And this…"
With a theatrical sound, Heflicked his hands through the air, and two items appeared in Brock's hands.
One was a badge carved from stone in the shape of a diamond top, and the other was a shiny disc.
As he handed the two items to Red, Brock explained:
"This is the TM for the move 'Headbutt.' With this, you can teach a compatible Pokémon the Normal-type move 'Headbutt.'"
"Alright, alright,alrighttt!!!"
Without bothering to question why a Rock-type gym was giving out a Normal-type TM, Red quickly took the two items from Brock's hands.
In an instant, a string of messages popped up on the machine inside his body:
[Congratulations, player has obtained the first badge, achievement unlocked: Badge Collector.]
[Badge Collector: Each badge the player obtains grants a physical enhancement corresponding to the badge's type.]
[Congratulations, player has obtained the Boulder Badge. Reward: Randomly receive one Rock-type Pokémon move.]
[Would you like to draw a Pokémon move now?]
[Yes] / [No]
Several notification messages appeared one after another on the console's screen, representing rewards that came not from the game, but from the console itself.
After skimming through all the messages, Red was bursting with excitement, thrilled beyond words.
"I knew it! I knew my cheat wouldn't abandon me and give all the benefits to Luffy!"
"Achievement rewards? Badge bonuses?"
"My journey to getting stronger has finally begun!"
Although he wanted to immediately check out the machine's rewards, considering the limited battery, Red decided to refocus on the game world after his initial excitement.
The machine was inside his body anyway, it wasn't going to run away.
Handle the game world first!
Back in the game, Red looked up to see Luffy running over excitedly.
Luffy examined the badge and TM in Red's hand from left to right, but still couldn't make sense of them.
Moments later, Luffy looked at Red in disappointment:
"What the heck? Red, didn't you say beating the gym would get us awesome rewards? Why are there just these two weird things?"
"You can't even eat them, what's the point?"
"Eat!? All you think about is eating!"
Red gave Luffy an exasperated glance.
"Don't underestimate these things!"
"They're priceless treasures!"
Although he hadn't had time to study them closely, the moment he received the Boulder Badge, Red felt a mysterious power surge through his body, strengthening him all over.
He guessed that was the benefit of the Badge Collector achievement.
"Priceless treasure!?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion, still unable to understand what value a little badge and a round disc could have.
Seeing this, Red stopped teasing and simply picked up the Headbutt TM, waving it in front of Luffy.
"You can't tell by looking, you need to experience it yourself!"
With that, he tossed the Pewter Badge and TM into his backpack.
With a thought, the game interface appeared before Red's eyes.
Opening the Bag menu and selecting TMs, the brand-new Headbutt move appeared.
Clicking it, a description popped up:
Move: Headbutt
Type: Normal
Category: Physical
Power: 70
Description: Charges at the opponent with the head, sometimes causing the opponent to flinch.
Below was a Use button.
"Power 70?" Red thought to himself. "In the game, power represents the strength of a move, 70 power isn't exactly top-tier."
"I wonder what Pokémon moves will look like in the real world."
"But… at the very least, this should make Luffy's head a lot tougher, right?"
The intelligence route was hopeless anyway, maybe focusing on durability was worth a shot!
With a thought, Red instantly pressed the [Use] button.
And naturally, the only Pokémon available was Luffy!
Seeing the [Can Learn] label below Luffy's character icon, Red's eyes lit up with anticipation and he clicked again.
[Monkey D. Luffy has learned Headbutt.]
"Huh? That's it!?" Red was slightly stunned by the brief message.
No fancy special effects, no complicated steps.
"Feels kinda anticlimactic…"
Closing the game interface, Red immediately turned his gaze to Luffy.
He soon noticed Luffy staring wide-eyed in confusion, scratching his head.
"Red, my head feels itchy… like… something's growing!?"
Luffy scratched his head, unable to figure out why his head suddenly felt so strange.
To this, Red just chuckled softly:
"Don't worry, Luffy."
"Didn't I tell you before? This world is one where we can get stronger quickly!"
Pointing at a rock formation in the distance, not caring that they were inside someone else's gym, Red gave the command:
"Luffy! Use Headbutt on that!"
"Huh? Headbutt!? What's that!?"
Hearing the command, Luffy still looked confused.
But just then, his body suddenly surged with energy, concentrating around his head.
Mysteriously, Luffy's gaze shifted toward the rock pile, and his neck suddenly stretched, his head launching straight toward the target.
BOOM!!!
A loud crash echoed through the gym, and a cloud of dust instantly engulfed the rocks.
Whoosh!
Luffy's head suddenly snapped back from the cloud, bouncing back to its original position.
A few seconds later…
As the dust slowly settled, the once-tall rock formation had crumbled into a pile of rubble.
"Wha… what just happened!? Did my head turn into stone!?"
Luffy widened his eyes, incredulously touching his forehead.
In the past, Luffy had often used his head as a weapon with great success.
But most of the time, he relied on the rubber fruit's elasticity to increase his head's momentum.
Yet just now, after smashing through that hard rock pile, his head didn't hurt nearly as much as he expected.
In fact, it was… completely fine!
It was as if some mysterious force was protecting his head.
And that impact had clearly exceeded his usual power level.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Luffy turned to Red with surprise:
"Could this be… that Armament Haki you told me about!?"
Armament Haki, the hallmark of a strong fighter!
Over the past two and a half years, he had heard Red mention it countless times.
But without formal training, Luffy still didn't know how to awaken it.
And just now, the mysterious power felt very much like what Red had described as Haki.
But to Luffy's delight, Red had to throw cold water on the idea:
"If only it were that easy to learn Armament Haki."
He continued explaining:
"What you just used wasn't Haki, but a type of Pokémon move!"
"Pokémon move?" Luffy repeated in confusion.
Red said:
"Just like when Geodude used Rollout or Onix used Rock Throw, those are applications of Pokémon moves, a technique that channels energy!"
"And Luffy, now you're just like them, you've learned how to use a Pokémon move."
"That's one of the rewards we get from beating a gym."