Upon arriving in Rustboro City, aside from going to the Pokémon Center to heal Sprigatito and Milcery, the first thing Hakuya had to do was head to the town's Poké Mart to buy items.
Whether in reality or the game world, there was an unwritten rule for battles between wilderness trainers.
The loser must pay a certain amount of League Dollars.
There were far too many overpowered NPCs in the Randomized Emerald; quite often, a random trainer jumping out of the grass would have a terrifyingly strong team.
You'd see things like Multiscale Archeops, Dark Aura Darkrai, or even Toxic Chain Eternatus that would leave you staring at the screen in despair.
Losing three or five times in a row just to familiarize yourself with the opponent's lineup was practically inevitable.
If this kept up, it was very easy to reach a point where you lost more money than you won.
Therefore, the optimal solution was to convert all cash into items in advance.
As long as he didn't have a single cent on him, losing would result in nothing more than a blackout and a respawn at the nearest town, with no further penalty.
"I have a total of 266 Great Balls now. After buying these, I don't think I have much money left..."
Hakuya wiped out the entire stock of Great Balls on the shelf and did a quick tally.
Currently, the shop only allowed the purchase of standard Poké Balls, Premier Balls, and Great Balls.
Higher-tier items like Luxury Balls with better catch rates, or Quick Balls and Repeat Balls that improved rates under specific conditions, were likely locked behind story progression.
As for the game-breaking Master Ball, the game developer had maliciously marked it as "Out of Stock."
His dream of securing an instant capture with a Master Ball would likely depend on whether he could extort a few from NPCs later in the plot.
"Meowha~"
"No rush to challenge the Gym yet. We can wander around the area first and see if we can pick up anything else."
Rubbing Sprigatito's small head, Hakuya stopped it from trying to kick down the Gym's door.
Given the typical logic of Randomized Emerald, the Rustboro Gym was undoubtedly filled with overpowered monsters waiting for him.
Since he had gone all-in on Poké Balls, he lacked Potions and Revives; rushing in now would likely result in him being ruthlessly elbowed out.
If he remembered correctly, there were plenty of NPCs in Rustboro City to talk to.
Perhaps a quick tour would net him some competitive items like a Life Orb or a Choice Band that could significantly boost his Pokémon's combat power.
However, after a round of house-visiting, aside from the classic RPG trope of finding trash items in garbage cans, he basically came up empty-handed.
It wasn't until he stepped into a rather unremarkable corrugated iron apartment building that he finally triggered an item-gifting event.
—The moment he pushed the door open, a middle-aged man in red with a receding hairline spoke up as if triggered by a script.
"That determined expression... those agile movements... and such well-trained Pokémon..."
"You must be an experienced trainer!"
"Don't worry, say no more, I know exactly what you want... I believe you will make good use of this Technical Machine."
Cutting off Hakuya's attempt to speak, the balding man lowered his voice, rummaged through the room, and mysteriously handed over a brand-new TM.
[Obtained Astral Barrage TM (Modified Version) *1]
In the original Emerald, this man would give out the HM for Cut, used to chop down small trees blocking the path. He didn't expect it to be randomized into the signature move of Calyrex-Shadow.
It had a power of 120, an accuracy of 100, and no negative side effects.
Aside from its low PP, it had virtually no weaknesses.
"Wait, is this TM even legal?"
Hakuya stared at the description text below the TM in shock.
[Astral Barrage TM (Modified Version): A TM modified by Arceus himself. Power and effects are identical to the original, but it can only be learned by Pokémon possessing a spiritual body.]
Taking a closer look—oh, it was modified by Arceus. That made it perfectly legal.
Although he couldn't teach it to Sprigatito or Milcery by slapping it on their foreheads right now, it was fine to store it for later. After all, it was a freebie.
"Which Pokémon have spiritual bodies..." Hakuya pondered as he walked toward the Gym. "The range seems limited to Ghost-type Pokémon. The Gengar line should count... Dusknoir too... I wonder if Mimikyu's cloth disguise counts as part of its spiritual body?"
In the end, unable to find a clear answer, Hakuya chose to kick off the Gym challenge.
Just like in the game, the Rustboro Gym, which specialized in Rock-types, gave a first impression of being humble and sturdy.
Countless oddly shaped stones formed the walls, and several winding paths made up a small maze. One had to navigate this maze before meeting and challenging the Gym Leader at the end.
After defeating the first apprentice blocking the path, Hakuya was navigating through the twists and turns.
Just as he was about to reach the exit of the maze, a Hiker Boy NPC and an older Hiker NPC surrounded him from both sides.
They sent out an Infernape and a Registeel.
The Infernape had randomly rolled the Poison Heal ability.
The effect of Poison Heal was that when poisoned, the Pokémon wouldn't lose health; instead, its HP would recover.
That Hiker Boy had even specifically equipped it with a Toxic Orb.
Although Infernape was a glass cannon with low defenses, with the poisoned status healing it every turn, it looked like a rather troublesome opponent.
As for the "Steel Pillar," since no status bar was displayed, Hakuya couldn't tell what ability it had rolled.
If it were anyone else, seeing a Gym apprentice wielding a legendary Titan like Registeel would leave them speechless with shock.
But for Hakuya, he might have been surprised the first few times he saw a legendary, but after seeing them constantly, his heart remained perfectly still.
Not to mention the role the Titan trio played in Randomized Emerald and their typical performance—that was purely...
"Alright, I think I have a pretty good idea of how this is going to end."
Gazing at that familiar steel pillar, Hakuya silently took several steps back.
"BOOM—!!!"
As expected, it used Explosion right upon entering.
The deafening roar echoed throughout the entire Rustboro Gym as a massive cloud of dust billowed upward, making everyone cough and sneeze.
Before Sprigatito or Milcery could even make a move, the Infernape—Registeel's own teammate—collapsed in tears.
"Nai?"
Before Infernape fainted, Milcery could clearly see its mouth moving, as if it were holding a grudge and saying something.
It seemed to be muttering something about how... some "Steel Pillar" was a total amateur...
As for Hakuya, who had seen it coming, he had already turned his back on the scene.
—Real men never look back at explosions.