"If you hadn't helped me, Ms. Roxanne, I probably would have failed many times on my own without ever succeeding. Next time I have a chance, I'll definitely treat you to a meal as a thank you."
Hakuya specifically added that last sentence.
"Ah... hehe..."
Her train of thought interrupted by the sudden words of gratitude, Roxanne, who had been hiding half her face, jolted slightly.
"I-It's no problem at all. Making Pokéblocks isn't some closely guarded secret technique anyway. Besides, I've learned a lot from you recently, Mr. Hakuya. As colleagues, helping each other out is perfectly normal~"
The red-faced Ms. Roxanne hurriedly waved her hands, her voice stuttering slightly with shyness.
Whether it was during their two consecutive Pokémon battles or observing his daily teaching methods, she felt she had learned a great deal from Hakuya. As a fair exchange, a little hands-on teaching shouldn't be a problem, right...?
Ms. Roxanne patted her slightly warm cheeks with her hands, her gaze instinctively drifting back toward Hakuya.
Being able to interact more with a like-minded Trainer was something that genuinely made her happy. It was just... why did she currently feel an inexplicable chill running down her spine?
Roxanne shook her head, figuring she was probably just overthinking things.
As the shy flush gradually faded from her face, the Rustboro Gym Leader suddenly remembered something and asked, "Mr. Hakuya, are you in a rush to leave Rustboro City after your temporary teaching contract ends?"
"Not really. I'll probably stay here and rest for a while longer," Hakuya replied, currently busy feeding the jealous Floragato.
Based on the attributes of the next Gym in the randomized world—the Dewford Gym (Fighting)—his next travel destination in reality would be restricted to one of three places: Maylene's Veilstone Gym in Sinnoh, Korrina's Shalour Gym in Kalos, or Bea's Stow-on-Side Stadium in Galar.
But since he had transmigrated into the Pokémon world, taking the time to travel and experience the local customs and culture along the way was a must-do experience.
"That's wonderful..."
Hearing Hakuya's reply, Roxanne let out a soft sigh of relief, her eyes curving into a gentle smile.
"There is a Trainer who seems very interested in you. The heir to the Devon Corporation, the current Hoenn Region Champion, Mr. Steven. He asked me a few days ago to introduce him to you, Mr. Hakuya."
Hakuya: "???"
Learning that Steven wanted to meet him left Hakuya a bit bewildered.
As a Pokémon fanatic, he was naturally very familiar with the name Steven Stone.
He was the very definition of "Ultimately, I'm the strongest and the best," the current Champion of the Hoenn region.
However, Hakuya had absolutely zero recollection of ever interacting with the Hoenn Champion. Furthermore, his current reputation wasn't exactly stellar; he only had a few records of completely crushing Gym Leaders. There was no way...
Could that rock fanatic have dreamed about the Arceus Legend Plate sitting in my backpack?
After returning to his room at the Pokémon Center, unable to figure it out, Hakuya simply decided not to worry about it.
Cross that bridge when you come to it. Meeting a Champion-level Trainer in the Pokémon world wasn't exactly a bad thing.
After practicing their performance routine for the Wallace Cup as usual, it was time to log back into the Randomized Emerald world.
Tonight's late-night agenda mainly consisted of grinding levels on wild encounters in the tall grass and traveling from Littleroot Town to Dewford Town again.
After fiercely elbowing the wild Pokémon in the grass, Milcery learned a new move: [Protect]. Floragato learned [Play Rough] and [Fake Tears]. Latias learned [Agility].
He wasn't sure what use [Agility]—a move that sharply boosts Speed—would have for a Latias with the [Contrary] ability.
But after commanding the little jet plane to use it three times in a row, judging by her visibly sluggish movements and the fact that even her tsundere cheek-puffing took several times longer to execute, Hakuya discovered it seemed far more entertaining than practical.
Poke, poke, poke—
"La... woo~"
The little jet plane glared indignantly as her Trainer repeatedly poked the cheeks she had painstakingly puffed up. Even when her tsundere code kicked in and she tried to take a vicious bite out of his finger, the unscrupulous Trainer easily pulled it back, dodging her completely.
With her Speed drastically reduced, Latias's physical perception and motor control had become incredibly weak.
He felt that if he started kneading her cheeks like dough right now, she probably wouldn't even have the strength to resist.
"La... la... la-woo!!!" "Nai~"
"Milcery, you're asking why we have to go to that world every night?"
Having logged out of Randomized Emerald, Hakuya finally managed to pacify the little jet plane, whom he had bullied a bit too much, leaving tears swirling in her eyes. He then heard a soft, creamy, questioning voice.
The perfect 'waifu' Milcery naturally hadn't had her spirit broken by an overpowered monster just now. She simply floated over, landing on her Trainer's lap, looking up at him with a face full of distress.
After all, having been elbowed back to the second floor of the wooden cabin, lacking [Dive], and unable to legally fly on Latias, Hakuya had just swum all the way to Dewford Town using his own physical strength.
The difficulty of Randomized Emerald didn't just temper the Pokémon, allowing Floragato and the others to achieve exponential stat growth through high-intensity battles; it also forced the player to train themselves into a powerful Fighting-type Pokémon.
—Having failed to roll any HMs, he now had to use his bare hands as [Cut] to snap blocking saplings, rely on his own body as [Surf] to cross the ocean to find island Gyms, and who knows, maybe later he'd have to teach himself [Strength] to push massive boulders and [Waterfall] to scale rushing cliffs.
So why do we still have to go to that world?
Milcery tilted her head, asking softly once more.
"Hmm... Because I want to become stronger. I want to rely on my own strength to live peacefully in this world," Hakuya replied with a smile, reaching out to gently rub Milcery's head.
Initially, he had also wondered why he needed to subject himself to such high-intensity battles in Randomized Emerald, but he quickly found the answer.
Setting aside the shiny Fearow that had already targeted them, and the highly suspicious Team (Rainbow) Rocket, the Pokémon world itself was not a peaceful place.
In the Hoenn region, the "flightless lizard" and the "fat fish" periodically woke up to beat the crap out of each other. In Sinnoh, Cyrus and Team Galactic wanted to create a world without spirit. In Unova, Team Plasma sought world domination under the guise of liberating Pokémon. And in Kalos, Lysandre, essentially a copy of Kiritsugu Emiya, planned to wipe out humanity to create a beautiful new world.
Excluding those massive evil syndicates, the wild was also teeming with poaching gangs. Their methods were significantly more despicable; while capturing Pokémon, they frequently attacked Trainers as well.
If he just followed the original plot, traveling around with Ash and clinging to his plot armor to survive, it wouldn't be impossible.
But Hakuya had no intention of entrusting his safety to someone else. Furthermore, the plot of this world seemed a bit scrambled. He couldn't guarantee when a horde of unpredictable monsters might pop out. Becoming stronger was an absolute necessity.
Of course, the most crucial factor was that damn alpaca. It had restricted Floragato and the others to only gaining experience within the Randomized Emerald. If he wanted to get stronger, diving into the randomized world was his only path.
And after being violently elbowed by the [Speed Boost] Mega Zygarde, Hakuya's current goal was incredibly clear.
—Dominate the Wallace Cup with overwhelming force, save up enough money to buy the Sweet online to evolve Milcery, and then continue progressing the Emerald storyline to boost Floragato and the others' strength.