Nekomamushi vs Perospero is what I'm waiting for. If Pedro is still being mentioned then I'll keep having faith in the Will of P.
Y'all ever notice there are a fair amount of crews with a cat-themed member?
Buggy Pirates (Richie)
Black Cat Pirates (Kuro, Sham, Buchi)
Moria Pirates (Absalom)
Hawkins Pirates (Faust)
Kuja Pirates (lil Cat Hancock kicked , Bacura, Black Cat Marguerite from Secret Pieces)
Brownbeard Pirates ("Leopard" Centaur)
Big Mom Pirates (Pekoms)
Nox Pirates (Pedro, Pekoms)
Whitebeard Pirates (Nekomamushi)
Roger Pirates (Nekomamushi)
Revolutionaries (Lindbergh)
Beast Pirates (Who's Who and his crew)
World Government (Rob Lucci)
Arlong Pirates (Nami)
Strawhat Pirates (Nami)
Blackbeard Pirates (Avalo Pizarro)
Rocks Pirates (Shiki)
Golden Pirates (Shiki)
And recall the cartoon crew that inspired Oda had an orange cat. A Ship's Cat, though unofficial in One Piece, had its purpose in the real world.
@Ship's:
The ship's cat has been a common feature on many trading, exploration, and naval ships dating to ancient times. Cats have been carried on ships for many reasons, most importantly to control rodents. Vermin aboard a ship can cause damage to ropes, woodwork, and more recently, electrical wiring. In addition, rodents threaten ships' stores, devour crews' foodstuff, and can cause economic damage to ships' cargo, such as grain.
Sometimes worshipped as deities, cats have long had a reputation as magical animals and numerous myths and superstitions sprang up among the unusually superstitious seafaring community. They were considered to be intelligent and lucky animals, and a high level of care was devoted to keeping them happy.
Cats were believed to have miraculous powers that could protect ships from dangerous weather.
Another popular belief was that cats could start storms through magic stored in their tails.
A Ship's Cat fits as a subset of the official position of Ship Guard protecting the ship from vermin and bad weather. Maybe it's only a coincidence the ONLY time Ship Guard is seen as an official position, it's given to two cat-themed pirates being the Nyaban Brothers. A Lookout also fits as a subset of Ship Guard being they protect the ship from incoming dangers. And what do ya know, Pedro, a Big Cat Mink, is the Captain of the Guardians who has displayed numerous times his Lookout abilities and protected the Sunny by sacrificing himself.
Pedro has shown many uses of his tail like holding strong on a branch during an attack on Zunisha, hovering like Tails, and a burst of speed for cutting Tamago. Although amazing feats, no magic was displayed. But these pages from chapter 424 have me thinking a potential outcome for Pedro.
!
A cat monster with two tails! And it was Usopp who said it!! The issue is a cat living for 100 years before the tail splitting. Pedro was "82" before his death as we know it. Still, that is a too close age gap that could be more than coincidence. Plus, we have yet to see Pedro's Sulong Transformation. This could be seen as a deity of sorts with Minks having yokai themes. A Nekomata yokai must be who they are referencing to have two tails.
The World Government Saga is probably next and I'm looking forward to Vegapunk expanding on Kuma and the Paw Fruit. There seem to be potential meta-clues like Kuma connecting to a Ship Guard by protecting the Sunny, a child wearing a Kuma shirt near the new statues on Dressrosa, Luffy imagining a cat statue when leaving Skypiea, and Robin imagining cats when Kuma was explaining the Paw Fruit.