The next moment, Sprigatito's body vanished like a ghost.

  Before the sound of the wind could even reach the ears, she transformed into a streak of green lightning and pounced. Her glowing fangs sank into the target with such precision and speed that the opponent didn't even have a frame to react.

  Forced to the ground by the sheer weight of the bite, the Rayquaza snarled in pain and immediately received its orders.

  "Rayquaza, use Dragon Ascent!"

  Dragon Ascent, a move with 120 power that usually lowers the user's defensive stats.

  But the following system message made Hakuya's lip twitch uncontrolbly.

  [Rayquaza's Contrary Ability! Because of Dragon Ascent, its Defense and Special Defense increased!]

  Not only did it have a broken Dragon Ascent, but this "after-school brat" NPC had even equipped it with Scale Shot. As its defense continued to skyrocket, a barrage of dragon scales filled the sky, making it impossible for Sprigatito to get close.

  Once Sprigatito finally dodged the tidal wave of scales, she was met with a point-bnk Extreme Speed.

  "Nya... ha..."

  "You did a great job, Sprigatito. You really were amazing."

  Hakuya recalled the fainted kitten into her Poké Ball, gently stroking the sphere to comfort her.

  Against a Dragon/Flying Rayquaza, a Grass-type like Sprigatito was at a massive disadvantage. Her STAB moves like Leafage and Petal Blizzard only dealt 1/4 damage.

  Worse, because of the Contrary boosts, the Rayquaza's defense was so high that when Sprigatito tried to use Bite, she almost broke her own teeth, tears pricking her eyes from the impact.

  The loss was expected.

  But failure wasn't entirely meaningless. Thanks to Sprigatito's frontline effort, Rayquaza was down to its st third of health, and Hakuya had scouted its entire moveset.

  "Dragon Ascent, Extreme Speed, Scale Shot..."

  "With that set, there's no way it can touch a Milcery with Wonder Guard... Finish this, Milcery!"

  "Nai~!"

  Milcery responded to her trainer's call with total confidence.

  While Milcery was currently much weaker than Sprigatito in terms of raw stats and moves, her Fairy typing and Wonder Guard ability should, in theory, block everything in the opponent's current move pool.

  Even if she only knew Tackle, and even if the opponent's defense was maxed out, she could eventually chip it down to zero.

  But before Milcery could start her legendary slow-burn victory, the Rayquaza stopped pretending. It suddenly coiled and rocketed into the air.

  Its green head began to glow with a metallic, steel-blue sheen. In the split second the wind died down, it kicked off the clouds and dove down like a comet smming into the moon!!!

  "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHAT KIND OF PSYCHOPATH TEACHES THEIR RAYQUAZA IRON HEAD?!"

  Hakuya's furious, frustrated scream rang out across Route 103.

  Three seconds ter.

  Reality, the outskirts of Viridian City.

  Having been robbed of 300 Poké-Dolrs by a schoolgirl, Hakuya decisively logged out of the randomized world. He slumped onto the riverbank, staring at the water and questioning the meaning of life.

  After a long time, he could only conclude one thing:

  "Motherfucker... if I actually manage to beat this game..."

  "I could probably take on the real Arceus and kick its ass."

  ...

  Despite cursing the creator of the randomized mod a thousand times, Hakuya had to admit that this chaotic world was his greatest "cheat."

  Not only could he find and catch Legendaries in the tall grass, but he also had Pokémon with modified abilities—like Sprigatito—whose power levels far exceeded anything in the original games.

  Furthermore, through these battles with broken NPCs, his Pokémon were being forged in fire.

  Thus, even if the difficulty was hellish, Hakuya knew it was worth it.

  Without the proper trials, you can never truly become the strongest.

  "Hakuya... why are you up so early again..."

  Stepping out of the tent, Misty rubbed her eyes and tilted her head zily.

  Since she had just woken up, her signature ponytail wasn't tied yet. Her soft, orange hair draped over her pale neck, occasionally revealing the delicate curves of her colrbones and the smooth skin beneath.

  As she stretched, her slender, willowy waist—supple enough to be held in one hand—was put on full dispy, highlighting her developing but graceful figure.

  "Maybe it's because you're waking up too te, Misty. It's 11:00 AM."

  Hearing her familiar morning grumble, Hakuya looked back from his thoughts and sighed.

  Shared trauma builds a bond faster than anything—and being "skunked" while fishing together for days was a special kind of trauma.

  That, combined with Misty's naturally outgoing personality, meant they had become quite close in just a few days.

  "Well, that's only because I didn't catch anything again yesterday..."

  Before she could finish her pout, Misty's eyes shifted to the Milcery beside Hakuya.

  "Wait, what Pokémon is that? It's so cute!"

  She cupped her face in her hands and rushed forward in a heartbeat, her emerald eyes practically sparkling.

  Faced with the sudden approach of a stranger, the shy Milcery let out a tiny squeak and hid behind her trainer's leg.

  "Her name is Milcery. They aren't native to Kanto; they mostly live in the Gar region..."

  Hakuya picked up the trembling Milcery. After reassuring her that Misty wasn't a monster, he continued his practiced lie. "I don't know why, but she appeared in the woods nearby. After a quick battle with Sprigatito, I caught her."

  "Nai~"

  "Oh, I see!"

  Misty nodded, completely convinced.

  As a Kanto native, this was indeed her first time seeing such a creature.

  She was a bit confused as to why she hadn't seen it earlier when she was out fishing, especially since Hakuya seemed to find rare things every time he went for a walk, but her confusion was quickly repced by her desire to touch the little thing.

  —The tiny body, the "save me" expression... she really wanted to squeeze it!

  "Hey, Hakuya... can I hold her?"

  "You'll have to ask Milcery."

  Hakuya looked down, only to see Milcery grabbing his sleeve and shaking her head frantically.

  Since they had only just met, even knowing Misty wasn't a threat, she wasn't ready to let a stranger manhandle her.

  "No go, sorry."

  "Aww, no way..."

  Feeling rejected, Misty turned her hopeful gaze to the other side.

  "Nya~"

  Sprigatito simply turned her head away, covering her ears with her paws and pretending she was deaf.

  Compared to the newcomer Milcery, Sprigatito was definitely more familiar with Misty.

  But they weren't exactly "friends."

  "..."

  Misty grit her teeth, her fist clenching as her temper fred.

  Dammit! When they were begging for a pce to stay, this cat was all over her legs, acting like the sweetest thing in the world. Now that she had what she wanted, she wouldn't even give Misty the time of day.

  What a maniputive little bitch Pokémon!!!

  "Hey, hey! No fighting..."