7:30

  [Route 103, once a path so mundane it was practically invisible in Hoenn, now bore the grand title of 'The Road of Creation' because of a certain entity's presence.]

  After a few days of fumbling around, Hakuya finally understood how his cheat—the Randomized Emerald Simutor—worked.

  It was a physical transmigration; the time ratio between the randomized world and reality was 12:1. He could only stay for 12 hours at a time, and after a forced logout, he had to wait until the next night in the real world to re-enter.

  Re-entering was simple enough: no rituals needed, just a single thought.

  Armed with three Poké Balls sponsored by the local Bug Catchers of Kanto, Hakuya stepped back into the chaotic, randomized Hoenn.

  His pn for the day was simple: catch another Pokémon and kick that Space Lma's ass for Sapphire.

  However, while all the logistical prep was finished, Hakuya had overlooked one crucial detail.

  A certain jealous kitten, obsessed with having him all to herself, was currently having a hissing fit.

  "Nya~!"

  [Sprigatito ignored the Trainer's orders and obliterated the wild Ralts!]

  A bst of Petal Blizzard so fierce it dimmed the sun smmed into the Ralts the moment it hopped out of the grass, sending it to the afterlife.

  Unlike the real world where you could knock a Pokémon out and catch it, in this game, losing all HP meant they vanished into thin air.

  For a split second, Hakuya wondered if Sprigatito had a fundamentally warped view of the retionship between a Pokémon and its Trainer.

  Though Latias in the movies set a precedent for Pokémon taking human form and falling for humans, and the Pokédex did mention Sprigatito getting jealous if another Pokémon got attention... this kitten's possessiveness was off the charts. She acted like catching a teammate was equivalent to cheating.

  What... 'it would be better if Trainer only raised me alone'?

  Looking at Sprigatito as she rubbed against his leg and gave him an "honest" look of defiance, Hakuya felt a massive headache coming on.

  "Sprigatito, don't you want a new friend?"

  "Nya~!"

  No! Never!

  Sprigatito covered her furry ears with her paws, acting like a spoiled brat.

  "But if we don't, we'll never beat that Arceus with just your strength alone~"

  Hakuya crouched down, scratching her chin gently as he reasoned with her.

  "Ugh..."

  Visible conflict washed over the kitten's face at her Trainer's words.

  Due to the game's current restrictions, she was capped at Level 15 until they secured the first badge.

  Against Arceus, that level advantage wasn't enough; she desperately needed a backup or a way to trigger her Hero Form through switching.

  After a brief internal struggle, Sprigatito puffed out her cheeks and offered a compromise.

  If a wild Pokémon could survive two of her attacks, she would allow the Trainer to "propose" with a Poké Ball and bring home a "little concubine."

  "I told you, it's not a proposal! What the hell do you think a Poké Ball is, Sprigatito?!"

  8:00

  "I'm an idiot. Seriously."

  A few minutes ter, Hakuya stared at the "carpet of corpses" in front of him, and his smile completely vanished.

  He had forgotten that to beat Arceus, he had ground Sprigatito all the way to the Level 15 cap.

  On this beginner route, the game's core code dictated that wild Pokémon only spawned between Level 2 and Level 5—none of them could take a hit from a high-octane Sprigatito.

  "Nya~!"

  You jealous little monster...

  Hakuya shook his head helplessly, ordering her to stick to the much weaker Scratch move.

  Of course, after rummaging through several patches of grass, they found a few low-level monsters that could tank two hits—but usually, before they could get the health low enough, some randomized god would jump out and send Hakuya and Sprigatito packing back to the house.

  "A Kricketune... it didn't evolve but somehow has Slow Start? Sprigatito, just use Petal Blizzard and put it out of its misery..."

  "Oh, lucky! A Regirock! Wait—why did you use Self-Destruct?! Cough cough..."

  The Pilr Men family...

  "Next is a Dratini with Cute Charm. It's worse than Marvel Scale, but at least it has Pseudo-Legendary stats... wait, how is it so squishy it can't even take one Scratch?"

  While Hakuya was still mourning the fleeting Dratini, another wild Pokémon leaped out.

  "A Shiny Milcery?!"

  Sugar, spice, and everything nice—those were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect Milcery and Alcremie.

  When that small, white, shimmering figure jumped from the grass, those words popped into Hakuya's head.

  Milcery, the Cream Pokémon.

  Composed entirely of cream, it floats through the air; legend says any bakery visited by one is guaranteed success.

  More importantly, who could turn down a future Alcremie waifu that doubles as a delicious "emergency food" snack?

  "NYA—!!!"

  Catching the fsh of delight in her Trainer's eyes, Sprigatito arched her back and lunged with her cws out.

  But to her absolute shock, the opponent was unscathed.

  [Due to Milcery's Wonder Guard, the move Scratch was ineffective!]

  "Holy shit, it's a cheater!"

  Even with his calm demeanor, Hakuya couldn't help but shout in shock.

  Wonder Guard, originally the signature ability of Shedinja, makes the user immune to all attacks except super-effective ones. Because it was so broken, the game normally banced Shedinja by giving it exactly 1 HP—meaning any stray weather effect or status would kill it instantly.

  But unlike Shedinja, who has five weaknesses, a Fairy-type Milcery only has two.

  Poison and Steel.

  In short, he had just found another total game-breaker.

  "Nya?"

  While her Trainer was over the moon, Sprigatito was dumbfounded.

  The opponent looked like a fragile glob of cream, but no matter how hard she scratched, bit, or eventually bsted it with Petal Blizzard out of frustration, nothing worked.

  Fine. Forget doing damage.

  If this kept up, she was going to end up knocking herself out from the recoil of her own frustration while the Milcery just floated there.

  Feeling powerless, Sprigatito stomped off to the side to cry some tiny kitten tears.

  Just like the level cap, this hardcore randomized world had capture rate nerfs; before earning a badge, the base capture rate was less than 1%.

  Every species' base stats and the type of ball used would be factored into that math.

  "I guess I'm just betting on whether my face is lucky or not..."

  With Sprigatito out of the way, Hakuya took a deep breath, wound up his pitch, and threw a Poké Ball at Milcery with religious fervor.

  The first two balls? Milcery broke out without hesitation.

  Expected. She was at full health, and he was using standard red-and-white balls—the worst performance in the game. A "critical capture" wasn't guaranteed.

  But on the final ball, as if the RNG gods finally smiled upon him, the ball shook a few times and let out a satisfying click.

  Capture Successful—!!!

  [Milcery (Shiny)]

  [Type: Fairy]

  [Gender: Female]

  [Level: 5]

  [Ability: Wonder Guard (Mysterious power that only allows Super Effective moves to hit)]

  [Moves: Tackle, Aromatic Mist, Sweet Kiss]

  [Egg Move: Baby-Doll Eyes]