After Kaido Meow had basically mastered his Devil Fruit ability, Sherwin and several combat-type cats sparred with him on the island for a while.
This was both to gain a clearer understanding of his current exact strength and to help him become more familiar, as quickly as possible, with the two newly acquired powers of Haki and Devil Fruit abilities.
Although Kaido Meow combat talent might be the strongest among all the cats, and his special physique greatly made up for the Felyne innate lack of strength, he had only just arrived in the pirate world after all.
Not to mention comparing him with the original Kaido—even without using his Devil Fruit ability, he didn't have many good ways to deal with Jinx.
And even after using his ability to transform into the strongest half-dragon, half-cat beast form, Kaido Meow still couldn't handle Seijuro Meow and the others…
The difference between having Observation Haki and not having it was still huge.
However, whether it was because he had eaten the Sakura Dragon Fruit, or because Kaido Meow himself, like his prototype, possessed extremely strong defenses, despite being unable to deal with Seijuro Meow and the others due to lacking Observation Haki, Seijuro Meow and the rest likewise couldn't break through Kaido Meow defense after he had learned Armament Haki—and was improving at an astonishing speed.
Of course, if Seijuro Meow and the others used big moves like "Sky-Soaring Cat Flash," they would definitely be able to injure Kaido Meow, but since they were only sparring, there was naturally no way they would use overly dangerous techniques.
And conversely, it was the same—if Kaido Meow unleashed AOE attacks in his Sakura Dragon form, even with Observation Haki, it wouldn't be easy for Seijuro Meow and the others to dodge every single attack.
In addition…
That little schemer Haibara Meow even directed Shirley to launch a Satan Potion gas attack at Kaido Meow.
As a result, she became the first cat in the research team to definitively defeat Kaido Meow…
That stuff—let alone Kaido Meow—even if Sherwin were to get hit by it accidentally, there would be only one outcome: getting sunk.
"Time to eat, meow!"
Wearing a tall chef hat, Sanji Meow appeared at the bow of the Dodo Advance and called out to Sherwin, who was still sparring with Kaido Meow—mainly helping him awaken Observation Haki.
"Let stop here for now, meow. Observation Haki can't be rushed."
Sherwin parried away Kaido Meow kanabo, then hopped back to disengage from the fight and said, "Perfect timing—this is a good chance to let you try Sanji cooking. It definitely better than any chef cat you've met before!"
"Meowrorororo… actually, compared to good food, I prefer drinking alcohol, meow."
Kaido Meow put away his kanabo and spoke as he followed Sherwin toward the ship.
The moment his words fell, Suika Meow appeared before them like a ghost.
"You like drinking too? Then how about a cup, meow?"
(●ω●)つ︺
The little drunk cat skillfully lifted her large sake dish and held it out in front of Kaido Meow.
Even Kaido Meow couldn't resist Suika Meow already near-conceptual level of persuading people to drink.
He smoothly took the sake dish—which was a bit too large even for his size—then tilted his head back and drained it in one go…
Well, it couldn't exactly be said that he drank it completely dry.
After all, a cat mouth shape is rather special, and drinking this way causes quite a bit of leakage. At least a third of the sake ended up being "drunk" by the thick mane around Kaido Meow neck.
"Meowrorororo! What great booze, meow… eh?!"
Kaido Meow wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth and around his neck with his arm, then laughed and praised it.
But just like everyone who was being urged to drink by Suika Meow for the first time, once he realized what had actually happened, he froze on the spot.
"Don't worry about it. This is Suika special ability, just like Link 'way of chatting,'" Sherwin patted Kaido Meow on the back and explained with a smile.
"Since an Palico as big as you can exist, having one that good at urging people to drink isn't anything strange, right?"
"Meorororo… you're right!" Kaido Meow burst out laughing, then stretched the wine bowl in his hand toward Suika Meow. "Give me another cup, meow!"
"Meowhahahahaha! I've finally got myself another drinking buddy, meow!"
As a full-fledged drunkard cat, Suika Meow could tell from Kaido Meow state while he was drinking just now that his alcohol tolerance was definitely not low.
She raised the Ibuki gourd in her hand and said excitedly, "This time I'll let you taste a fine wine that I made with my ability, meow!"
And then…
"Waaahhh—! Blaze, you died such a miserable death, meow!"
(=QДQ=)
The completely drunk Kaido Meow clung tightly to Sherwin, wailing loudly, while smearing all his tears and snot all over Sherwin body.
Sherwin: "..."
He had actually suspected that Kaido Meow drinking manners might be just as bad as his prototype, but ever since this big Maine Coon had been summoned over, he had maintained a mature and steady demeanor the whole time.
So Sherwin hadn't stopped him from having a drinking contest with Suika Meow.
Another reason was that at this stage, Kaido Meow strength was at its weakest.
Even if he really went berserk while drunk, they would be able to restrain him fairly easily.
It was a good chance to figure out his drinking habits and roughly gauge his alcohol tolerance, to make some preparations for the future.
What he hadn't expected was that after getting drunk, Kaido Meow didn't really go berserk at all.
He just kept crying, and even became extremely clingy—more precisely, clingy toward Sherwin, this "Blaze."
From the content of his wailing, it was actually possible to roughly infer why this was happening.
"There, there, there, don't cry," Sherwin said helplessly as he stroked Kaido Meow big head, coaxing him like a child. "I'm right here."
"Wow… when Brother Kaido cries, it even more intense than Sister Shirahoshi, meow."
(=OωO=)
Klee Meow was clearly stunned by the stark contrast between Kaido Meow behavior before and after getting drunk.
She was so shocked that she didn't even have the presence of mind to complain about him stealing her Brother Sherwin.
"I—I haven't cried in a long time either!"
Shirahoshi puffed out her cheeks and retorted, then looked at Kaido Meow, who had finally stopped wailing and was now sniffling while acting spoiled toward Sherwin.
With some concern, she said, "Brother Kaido seemed so heartbroken just now. Before being summoned by Boss Sherwin, he must have gone through something very painful, right?"
"In our world, although there are no Celestial Dragons or pirates, we are under the threat of Elder Dragons at all times, meow…"
Haibara Meow recalled what she had experienced before being summoned, and her mood also sank. "I wonder how Granny Cat and the others are doing now, meow."
"Sister Ai, don't be sad, meow! We're so strong now. When we go back someday, we'll blow all those annoying monsters away, meow!"
(=`ω=)
"…Can we really go back?"
Haibara Meow looked at Klee Meow in surprise as she was being comforted.
The little doll nodded as if it were only natural. "Brother Sherwin will definitely have a way, meow!"
Sherwin, who was busy soothing Kaido Meow, felt his eyelid twitch violently…
Although Klee Meow trusting him like this truly moved Brother Sherwin, still…
This kind of thing was really something Brother Sherwin could not do!
In order not to disappoint the little doll, Sherwin could only pretend he hadn't heard the conversation between the two little Meows and continued rubbing the head of the big Maine Coon in his arms.
But…
Going back to the Monster Hunter world?
Come to think of it, Purah Meow didn't seem to have responded to a summoning at all, but was instead "transported" over while developing a teleportation device.
If they really wanted to find a way back, perhaps they would have to start from that angle.