One Piece 638 Recap: As B Block of the Dressrosa Coliseum tournament came into conclusion, the one who walked out as the victor is Bartolomeo, a super rookie and the captain of the Barto Club pirates.
In this episode, he finally showed why he became a notorious pirate in just a year and getting a bounty of 150 Million Beli in his head. In fact, he won the match without a single scratch and beat the likes of Hack, a fishman karate master, the crowd favorite, Bellamy the Hyena, and Elizabello II of Prodence Kingdom.
How did he do it? Bartolomeo ate the Bari Bari no Mi, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit which allows him to be a Barrier Human. He uses his Devil Fruit powers both to protect himself and attack his opponents. The barriers are seemingly very durable, as attacks from powerful individuals such as Hack and Bellamy had no effect and in turn even ended up damaging themselves. One of them even managed to block Elizabello II's "King Punch" attack.
He can also use his barriers to attack his enemies. This is seen when Bartolomeo used a technique called "Barrier Crash" to crush Elizabello II at the end of his group's battle royale.
At the end of the match, he mentioned that he will dedicate the Mera Mera no Mi, also known as Flare Flare fruit eaten by the late Portgas D. Ace, to "that person".
*If you are not reading the manga, do not continue reading. Spoilers ahead*
In a preview of the next episode, he is seen startled. That's because he heard the name "Strawhat Luffy". Turns out, he is the number one fan of the main protagonist! He was at Loguetown and witnessed the "miracle", where Buggy was about to behead Luffy, he shouted that he will be the pirate king and a lightning bolt struck down the field and he managed to survived. Bartolomeo was so moved and decided to follow Luffy's footsteps.
In later chapters, he helped Luffy and Zoro to the best of his abilities and even took orders from a mystery guy who swapped with Luffy in the tournament in the finals of the tournament.Fans say that this arc is intended for Luffy to gain allies for his upcoming battle with a Yonkou, probably Kaido. With the ways things are working out, Bartolomeo is poised to be one of Luffy's most trusted allies and will definitely play a key role in Luffy's campaign of becoming a pirate king.
