>>55225585
I passed all the credit to our fair Captain, however, making it sound like she had trained me instead. This gave her an increasingly fearsome reputation by proxy alone, and many of our enemies would surrender from her presence and stage acting alone. God, I would kill for that kind of luck and charisma.
So that's how things went. We sailed the Grand Line together, fighting and drinking as we pleased. The Rosewater Pirates became more and more like a family to me. They really were my friends and my companions. I actually introduced them to my Pokemon crew, and they got along equally as well. The world is full of strange and funny things, so I wasn't questioned on it too much. Captain Rosewater became a better fighter to match her own charisma, though she was always a bit behind me…understandable, since she hadn't had a real teacher up until this point, and I wasn't sure what was fueling my constant power-ups.
I never really crossed paths with the Straw Hats, personally. We had a few close-calls with some of the Admirals of the Navy, though. The ocean is a big place, after all. But as the era changed, we would survive and thrive in our own little pocket of the world. I hear Captain Rosewater was considered a minor-major player in the events, but she was sure to avoid things that drew too much attention to us. Kind of disappointing for me, but it'd be harder to keep up the act if we kept tossing ourselves into the fire.
Soon, the decade was about done. It would be time for me to say my goodbyes to my friends as they lived the rest of the good life as pirates, free and on the seas. I announced I'd be stepping down as first mate and settling down somewhere. Everyone protested, of course, but I let them down gently and agreed to go on one last heist. And we did. The crew insisted I take the haul with me and use it to live comfortably, and that I would always have a place on their ship.
…n-no, I'm not crying. Shut up. You're lying.