I'm pretty sure it was never stated directly that Vegapunk will meet the Straw Hats, but everything points to it. I doubt all we'll get to see of him are scenes of him in his lab, experimenting. I wouldn't be surprised if we got to see him meet the SH's and recognize Franky using his own technology.
What Oda did say in an SBS was this:
What Oda did say in an SBS was this:
That's at least the only time I remember Oda talking in an SBS about Vegapunk showing up. And as usual it's not very revealing to the story.Reader: Excuse me!! May I pose a serious question to the typically-vulgar SBS?? In Volume 46, Usopp said that the same power doesn't exist twice. But this doesn't make sense with what you said in the Volume 45 SBS... If the Gomu Gomu Fruit was in a book of fruits, then Luffy HAD to have eaten at least the SECOND known example of the fruit! Now, most beautiful and intelligent Ei-chan, explain it all! ✩ P.N. Takafi
Oda: Very sharp of you. But I'm cool. I haven't made any mistakes. As a hint, let me rephrase what Usopp is saying. "The same powers don't exist twice AT THE SAME TIME." How's that? For more detail, you'll just have to wait for a certain professor to make his appearance in the story, and explain exactly what the Devil Fruits REALLY are... Eventually.

), how the Supernovas are doing, the race for Pirate King, and anything else that could have changed dramatically.

