Why do I have more ATT without a weapon?

Without a weapon:

 Spoiler

With a weapon:

 Spoiler

Bare Hand for Pirates has 22 Attack maybe.

Bare Hand for Pirates has 22 Attack maybe.

And yet his damage range goes up when he equips the weapon.

And yet his damage range goes up when he equips the weapon.

probably because there's a different formula to calculate weaponless pirates. Just a guess. one is probably a different multiplier

I remember vaguely Barehands weapon attack depends on your level and the formula is significantly pomegranatetier than Knuckles. The multiplier is 1.43 instead of 1.7.