"Hey, Joey."

  It had been two days since Luffy arrived. Assuming everything was the same, today was the day when all hell broke loose on the Baratie. The Day of Reckoning, as Joey liked to call it.

  Right now, though? Joey was trying to sleep. This, he learned, was rather difficult when you had a hyperactive seventeen-year-old in the same room as you. What happened last night only cemented that- now Luffy would never leave him alone.

  Joey rolled over, burying himself in his blanket. "Mmmwhat," he said, yawning.

  "Have you decided yet?"

  Joey closed his eyes, trying to sink back into a peaceful slumber. He was dreaming about poké puffs- yet another thing he might never get to see again. "What time is it?" he asked.

  "Six in the morning. Why?"

  He shuffled around a bit, trying to get back to the same comfortable position he had been in a minute ago. "It's too early for this," he grumbled.

  Yesterday evening, Luffy had walked in on his aura practice.

  Up to this point, Joey had only been practicing aura when he knew Luffy wouldn't be around- it required a tight focus that wouldn't be possible with him nearby. That night, however, he had been so absorbed in his training that he hadn't noticed when Luffy's shift ended, and was in the middle of an aura-charged punch when his roommate had entered.

  "Woah, that's so cool!" Luffy said, running up to him. He paused, studying the dissipating wisps of blue light. "What is it, though?"

  Joey, who saw no reason to lie in this case, started to explain what aura was and how he could control it- then remembered that Luffy had the IQ of a coconut. "Uh…" he said, trying to think of a way to describe it that the pirate would understand. "It's like… magic… that I can use to do… uh… cool stuff. Like punching hard, or making a shield." It was possible to make a shield with aura, though it wasn't something Joey had learned how to do yet. Most of what he knew were offensive powers.

  Luffy nodded like some sort of all-knowing shaman. "So it's mystery magic."

  Right. How could he have expected anything less from the child prodigy.

  "I guess," he said. Luffy paused then, and looked at him intently for a few seconds, like a judge on a cooking show.

  "Join my crew!"

  Joey had no idea how to react. Even though he had kind of expected him to ask this as soon as he saw him use his aura powers, it was still an insane decision to make- or was it even much of a decision, given that Luffy was as stubborn as a Mudbray?

  "I- uh-" he stammered. "I'll get back to you on that."

  It had been nearly a half a day since then, and he still didn't know what to do. Considering his options, going with Luffy did seem like a pretty safe path to take- he'd be allied with a lot of powerful people, be able to witness some of the most epic fights and powerful moments from the manga, and go on a new adventure in a completely different place. Traveling around Johto was peanuts compared to the Grand Line- though, of course, he'd also be putting himself in the direct line of fire of many just as powerful opponents, and he was barely capable of fighting. The most he had going for himself was foreknowledge and what little aura powers he could use.

  Joey sighed, turning back towards Luffy. He was overthinking this.

  "Hey," he said. "You already have a first mate, right? And a navigator, and a sniper… and probably a cook soon, if you're trying to recruit Sanji. What would I even do if I were on your ship?"

  Luffy thought for a moment. "Are you a musician?"

  "No."

  "Uh… hm… I know!" he said, punching his hand triumphantly. "You can be the… uh… headsman! The guy who steers the ship!"

  "You mean helmsman," Joey said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Not that it matters, given that I've never steered a ship in my life."

  Luffy shrugged. "It's not that hard. I can do it just fine. Except that one time I hit an iceberg," he paused for a moment. "And that other time I hit an iceberg. Oh right, and the-"

  "I get the point."

  "Come ooooon," he whined. "It'll be fun."

  "I said I'd think about it. Not that I wouldn't do it."

  "Hm," Luffy responded, pouting. Joey lay back in his cot, turned around, and pulled the cover back over his head. Even if he couldn't get to sleep, he could at least stay in here for a little while.

  'Ah, right- Don Krieg.' Talking to Luffy had almost made him forget. What should he do about that whole mess? He could just hide in his cabin the whole day, but that was no fun. Joey went over what he remembered in his head.

  'Don Krieg shows up and begs for food, everyone gets kinda pissed off at him, Chef Zeff and Sanji decide to feed him- and then everyone starts fighting.'

  He vaguely recalled Mihawk being there, too, and some sort of gas bomb, but apart from that, he was mostly drawing a blank. In the end, he couldn't really come up with any sort of concrete plan, so he defaulted to just winging it- he wasn't exactly one for well-thought-out strategies, anyways.?

  "Hey, kid. Can you cook?" Chef Zeff asked, looming over Joey.

  Joey paused, still holding on to a broom handle. "A little bit. Why?"

  The head chef grunted. "We've got more orders than we can handle right now. The cleaning can wait- get to work in the kitchen."

  "Uh… alright," Joey said, heading towards the kitchen doors. He quickly scurried inside, and took a look at the dishes he would have to make. He sighed when he saw the barely legible chicken scratch that he assumed belonged to Luffy- taking orders was one of the only things he could do without making a huge mess.

  'The first dish is fried rice. Easy enough,' he thought, trying to remember the recipe. He grabbed the rice, butter, and eggs without incident, then paused. If he were back home, he would have used tamato, rindo, and ginema berries, but no such things existed here. In the end, he just took whatever looked the most similar- a handful of slender green pods called 'peas', a spiky red fruit called a 'pitaya', and a leafy light green ball that he didn't see a name for. Joey gulped as he began to prepare the dish- he had a feeling he was going to fuck this up.

  A little while later, and the food was done. Things went surprisingly well- Joey hadn't burnt anything, and the end result looked somewhat decent. Satisfied with his work, he turned around, hoping to get approval from Sanji, only to find that he wasn't in the kitchen- probably outside, trying to hit on ladies.

  'Ah well,' Joey thought to himself. 'Guess I'll just take it out-'

  The sound of breaking glass rung through the air, silencing all the nearby chatter.

  "THAT'S DON KRIEG'S PIRATE SHIP!"

  Joey's blood ran cold. He knew what was coming next, and he nervously walked into the dining room, still holding his plate of fried rice. Passing by Patty and Carne, he began to hyperventilate, remembering that he still had no fucking idea what to do.

  "A great galleon, ravaged to that degree… that wasn't the work of men," he heard Sanji say. "They must have sailed through a typhoon."

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  The patrons whispered among themselves, casting worried glances out the window. Then, the door opened, and a large, cloaked man walked in. Joey's breath hitched, as he instantly recognized the shape.

  "Please…" the man said, gasping for breath. "May I have some food and water?"

  Don Krieg looked pretty roughed up- to think that Grand Line could do that to one of the strongest men in the East Blue… Joey found the thought both frightening, and oddly exhilarating. Gin was somehow holding him up, dwarfed in the shadow of his captain- how heavy was that armor of his, anyway?

  The don collapsed on the floor with a loud thud. Gin crouched over him, the fear in his eyes clearly visible. "Food, water! Please!" he yelled. "The don's on the verge of death! If you don't help him, he's doomed!"

  Patty let out a long, booming laugh. "How rich! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! This bum is the great pirate Don Krieg?"

  Joey stared incredulously at him. Even weakened like this, it was stupid to mock such a dangerous person.

  "This time I've got money!" Gin said. "We're here as paying customers!"

  Brushing him off, Patty pointed at one of cooks. "Alert the marines! He's finally weak enough to be captured- this might never happen again!"

  As the cooks continued to talk, Joey noticed Sanji approaching him. He looked down in surprise as he took the plate from his hands. "Odd choice of ingredients," the man observed. "But I'm willing to give it a chance."

  "W-what?" he stammered, as the sous chef walked back towards Don Krieg.

  "Out of the way, Patty!" Sanji shouted, kicking him square in the face. He was knocked to the side, and lay crumpled up on the floor- though not severely injured. Joey found it slightly amusing how a deadly blow in his world was only a minor injury here.

  "Here, Gin," Sanji said, handing him the plate. "He can eat this."

  "Thank you," Krieg said, wolfing down the food. Joey remained standing by the kitchen door, still shocked that Sanji had given the don food he had made. Either he was going insane, or his cooking was secretly amazing- The disgust on Don Krieg's face gave him a pretty good idea which it was.

  "Which one of you…" he growled, looking up slowly, "cooked this disgrace." Joey noticed that he had still finished the food- which meant that, unfortunately, he was probably back to full strength.

  He paled in terror as Sanji pointed at him, and began stepping back into the kitchen. He prayed that, by some miracle, he wasn't about to be brutally murdered- but all hope of that happening was lost when Don Krieg lunged forward and grabbed him in a chokehold.

  "Fool," he spat. "You thought you could poison me. Eh?"

  Unfortunately, Joey was unable to respond, as he was more preoccupied by the sudden lack of air. Luckily, Sanji stepped forward, and spoke in his stead.

  "That dish was perfectly fine. Dragon fruit in fried rice is a strange choice, sure- but it's not worth wasting food over."

  Don Krieg shot him a venomous glare, and tightened his grip on Joey, whose face was turning red. He tried to scream for help, but all he could get out was, "Glarghhhhh."

  "You said you wouldn't, Krieg!" Gin shouted. "You swore you wouldn't hurt anybody if I led you here!"

  The don frowned, and stepped forward, letting go of the now thoroughly rattled pokémon trainer. He looked around, then smiled threateningly. "You know what…" he said. "This is a nice restaurant. I think I'll take it."

  Customers immediately began rushing to the doors, in a desperate attempt to escape. Don Krieg was a very threatening man- when he made a statement, it was made with such finality that you could feel the power behind it.

  "You'll do no such thing!" Patty yelled. He rushed towards Krieg, who clotheslined him before he could throw a punch.

  "My ship's a wreck," he said, eyeing the chef with contempt. "I need a new one. When I'm finished with you, I'll dump you."

  Joey groaned, trying to sit up. His head still ached, but he didn't hurt quite as much as he had expected- he didn't even seem to have any broken bones. The number of bruises he had managed to develop, however, was impressive. Still recovering, he could do nothing but watch as Don Krieg continued to announce his ultimatum.

  "I have about a hundred men on my ship who still draw breath," he said, standing over Patty menacingly. "They're dying from wounds, hunger, and thirst. They need a hundred rations of food and water- you will prepare them."

  Patty began objecting to this, but was shut up by Don Krieg, who smashed his head in with an armored sole. Joey cringed- that had to hurt.

  "As I was saying," Krieg continued, "Some of my men have already starved to death. There's no time to waste."

  "You expect us to feed a hundred pirates, so they have the strength to take over our ship?!" Carne yelled. "We refuse!"

  The don's face grew dark, as he glared at the crowd in front of him. "I thought I had already made myself clear- this isn't a request. It's an order! Do not defy me!"

  Joey shuddered- the man certainly made an impression. 'Though', he thought, 'It does make sense. You don't get to such a high position without being at least somewhat intimidating… Unless you're Luffy, of course.'

  "Well, I'm off to the kitchen," Sanji said. "I've got a hundred meals to prepare."

  Needless to say, this comment wasn't taken well- it didn't take long for a group of cooks to surround the sous chef, pointing pistols at him. It took Joey a moment to recognize the firearms- smaller guns were outlawed in most regions. Even criminals tended not to use them, as they were ineffective against a lot of pokémon. He did vaguely remember them being used in One Piece, but had, for the most part, not payed much attention to them.

  By now, his injuries had started to get to him, so he slowly stood up and made his way back to the kitchen, looking for an ice pack. As soon as he entered, however, he heard Chef Zeff calling for him.

  "What?" he asked, walking over to the old man.

  Zeff handed Joey a large sack. "Fill this up with as many vegetables as you can. Got it?"

  "I- uh… okay." Following the head chef's orders, he began taking veggies out of the pantry, dumping them into the bag. A couple of minutes later, and it was nearly full.?

  Joey stood next to Chef Zeff, as the two of them dropped their bags on the floor. Zeff cleared his throat, and addressed Don Krieg, whose armor was now fully revealed. "There's food for a hundred. Take it to your men."

  Krieg stood there in silence, ignoring Joey- to the latter's relief. "Zeff…" he said, staring at the chef. "Did you say Zeff?!"

  "Chef! Chore boy! What are you thinking?!" one of the cooks yelled. "If we feed all those pirates, they'll come and overrun us!"

  Zeff glanced back at the crowd. "Unless they're all spineless dogs."

  "You went to the Grand Line…" he said, looking at Krieg again. "But you ran scared, eh? The tyrant of the eastern seas, who commands fifty ships… couldn't handle the Grand Line."

  The don wasn't listening to any of this, his mind focused on something else. Finally, he spoke up again, but by this point, Joey was the one not paying attention to the conversation- partially due to already knowing what was meant to happen, and partially due to his injuries. He checked his bruises again, disappointed to see that they were still fresh. While he had already seemed to have picked up on some of the durability people here possessed, the faster healing clearly hadn't carried over yet.

  Hearing gunfire, he quickly darted to the side, and focused back on the action- Don Krieg was firing bullets from his armor. "Puny fools! No one can defy me- you've already seen that I'm the strongest of them all!"

  Actually, Joey could list at least thirty people stronger than him in Paradise alone- not that he wanted to piss the guy off, but he did deserve to be knocked down a peg. Alas, he had no reasonable way of explaining how he knew the names of countless people in the Grand Line, so he settled for listing them in his head.

  'Crocodile, Robin, the two giants, that weird pear-shaped guy in Thriller Bark…'

  "Hold it!"

  Luffy was standing in front of Krieg now, pointing at him menacingly.

  "I'm going to be king of the pirates!"

  Joey paused. When Luffy said those words, something struck a chord in him- the pure conviction in his voice was intangible, yet fully there. It was almost as if he was stating a solid, unshakable fact. He stood there for a few seconds, taken aback by the gravity behind the statement- eventually, however, he snapped back to reality, hearing Zoro's voice.

  "Time to fight, Luffy? I'll lend a hand."

  "Zoro, Usopp. You guys are here? Nah, I can handle this."

  Don Krieg began laughing. "Hah! That's your crew? Pretty thin, ain't it?"

  "Wrong!" Luffy responded. "There are three more!"

  "I haven't said yes," Joey reminded him. 'At least, not yet…'

  Sanji gave him a look, as if to say, 'you too?', and he nodded. The two shared an awkward glance towards the future pirate king, then each returned to their own thoughts. Finally, the don picked up the two bags, scanning the crowd.

  "Now listen carefully. I'll give you a chance- I'm taking this food to the men on my ship, then I'm coming back."

  A chill went up Joey's spine, and before he could react, Krieg snapped his hand out, grabbing him once more. He grunted in surprise as his wrist was held in an iron grip.

  "All I want is the captain's log and the ship. But if you're still not willing to cooperate with me… You can say goodbye to your chore boy. Consider this… repayment, for the excellent meal."

  Joey, however, was having none of it. He wasn't sure if he had grown numb to the world, if he had finally adjusted to his situation, or if he was just batshit insane, but he didn't feel scared anymore. Quite the contrary, in fact- he wanted to punch this smug bastard's lights out. He concentrated on the well of power within himself, and balled up his free hand, charging it with aura.

  In retrospect, he would consider this to be one of the stupidest decisions of his life.

  "Let go of me," he spat.

  And with that, he smashed his fist directly into Don Krieg's face.