Big Root. The signature item of a male Gardevoir.
If he remembered correctly, Floragato could learn Giga Drain, and both Alcremie and Latias could learn Draining Kiss. All of them could perfectly utilize the Big Root's effect of boosting the HP recovery of draining moves.
But looking at the ginseng-like item in their Trainer's hand, all three Pokémon unanimously shook their heads in refusal.
"Meowha~"
Floragato shot a look of utter disgust at the Big Root in Hakuya's hand, rejecting it without a second thought.
As a ladylike feline Pokémon, she absolutely did not want some trash item picked up off the side of the road. At most... she would only accept her Trainer's... Faced with Hakuya's confused expression—since he couldn't read minds—she covered her burning face with her paws, turning into a steam engine.
[Ugh... I don't need that thing at all!]
Latias puffed out her cheeks. After throwing over a telepathic message, she angrily raised a claw and swatted the Big Root away.
Her fair face was also as flushed as Floragato's, but the meaning behind her blush seemed to be slightly different.
As for Alcremie, she wrapped the falling item in whipped cream to catch it, then solemnly shook her head.
—Wonder Guard is inherently the path of invincibility. Why rely on external objects?
"Alright then, I'll just sell it at the Poké Mart later."
Seeing that none of his three Pokémon wanted it, Hakuya casually tossed the Big Root into his System Backpack.
After all, he had no intention of catching a male Gardevoir anyway. It was better to just obediently sell it for cash.
With the minor interlude of picking up items over, Hakuya led Floragato and the others down the bamboo ladder to the first basement level of the cave.
Compared to the ground floor, which was brightly lit by numerous wall lamps, the first basement level lacked major light sources and was noticeably dimmer. The winding, endless rocky corridors were flanked by bluish-gray walls, covered in deep fissures that looked like they had been cleaved by axes and swords.
Occasionally, a faint glimmer of light seeped through cracks in the cave ceiling, slightly illuminating the rocky path ahead.
"Meowha~"
The large cat walking beside him glanced around the dark surroundings, smoothly taking her Trainer's hand.
"Hmm? So you're afraid of the dark, Floragato. Hold on tight, then."
Feeling the warmth radiating from his palm, Hakuya gently squeezed her paw in return.
Without the Flash HM, this section of the rocky cave was indeed terrifyingly dark. If a few wild Pokémon suddenly jumped out on top of that, the horror atmosphere would probably be maxed out.
He just didn't expect that aside from liking shiny things like Ribbons, Floragato was also afraid of the dark.
Hakuya nodded thoughtfully, making a mental note of this discovery. As a qualified Pokémon Trainer, he naturally had to learn more about his own Pokémon.
"La-woo?" "Nai~"
Falling behind them, Latias—who had just used telepathy to read minds and was now experiencing a pupil earthquake—couldn't help but bite her claws tightly. Meanwhile, although Alcremie's eyes were full of gentleness, her face showed no trace of a smile.
While holding the large cat's paw and walking deeper into the cave, Hakuya wondered what wild Pokémon would spawn here.
He still had a few hundred Great Balls bought from the Poké Mart. Although the number of Pokémon in his party affected the strength of the enemies he encountered, if he truly ran into one whose aesthetics and strength fit his tastes, he wanted to throw a ball and try catching it.
According to the original game's progression, Granite Cave usually spawned Pokémon like Zubat, Geodude, and Makuhita.
But having barely taken a few steps in the dark corridor, several chilling gusts of wind generated by powerful punches rushed toward them from the trembling stone walls.
"It randomly spawned a Fighting-type Machamp? And it's a female."
Accompanied by the thud of landing that kicked up a cloud of choking dust, a wild Machamp—looking as if it had been waiting here for a long time—jumped right in front of Hakuya and Floragato. One pair of muscular arms was crossed over its chest, while the other pair made a come-hither gesture toward Hakuya, like a hostess soliciting a customer.
A body bursting with explosive power, perfect muscle definition, a physique honed through rigorous training, and flawless proportions... in the eyes of certain niche groups, this was absolute perfection.
Its legs, capable of stomping craters into the ground, stood perfectly straight. Coupled with a prominent, muscular rear that could be glimpsed even from the front, it was obvious at first glance that this female Machamp was an expert at heavy squats.
"Meowha—"
Floragato used her vines to wrap around Hakuya's waist, pulling him behind her as she hissed fiercely, just like always. Her sharp instincts told her that the way this wild Machamp was looking at her Trainer was extremely wrong!
"Let's just run. No need to waste time here."
Looking at the female Machamp's terrifying grin and that indescribable gaze, Hakuya suddenly felt his eyelid twitching violently. He immediately waved his hand, issuing the highest priority command: Run.
The Upper House of my brain tells me: I outright reject Pokémon that aren't strong enough!
The Lower House of my brain tells me: I also outright reject Pokémon that aren't my type!
Just like the game, encountering wild enemies in Randomized Emerald presented two options: fight or flee.
But this time, the situation seemed a bit special.
"Meowha? Meowha!"
Originally intending to listen to her Trainer and retreat immediately, the large cat suddenly found that her legs couldn't move at all. It was as if they had been filled with lead, firmly locked to the ground.
Hakuya looked closely and realized that the female Machamp was currently stepping on Floragato's shadow.
—It's actually a female Machamp with the Shadow Tag ability!
[Shadow Tag: Steps on the opposing Pokémon's shadow to prevent them from fleeing or switching out.]
"Since we can't escape, we fight. Floragato, use Petal Blizzard repeatedly." Ignoring the winks the female Machamp was throwing at him, Hakuya immediately ordered Floragato to use her ultimate move.
A true Sigma Trainer would never react to a roadside female Pokémon like this. Furthermore, if they didn't act now, he felt this thing was going to charge right over and initiate a 1v1 duel between Pokémon and Trainer.
"Meowha!"
Probably because all her EVs were invested in Attack, combined with some sort of Defense-lowering nature, Floragato cleanly dodged the Shadow Tag female Machamp's [Close Combat]. Then, fueled by the Attack boost of her Omni-Transformation state, two [Petal Blizzards] were all it took to instantly one-shot it.
Cyber-Steven was located at the very back of the second basement level. To deliver the letter, Hakuya had to take a massive detour through the first basement level to find the exposed bamboo ladder in the northeast corner.
When Hakuya finally found the ladder and climbed up to the second basement level, countless freezing snowflakes began slowly drifting down onto his head.
[A wild Jynx appeared!]
Stepping lightly, a Jynx wearing heavy eyeliner twirled the hem of its dress and stepped out from the shadows. Under the faint glimmer of light spilling through the cracks in the stone ceiling above, it feigned shyness, raising a hand to cover its red lips while its eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
Unlike the female Machamp that immediately stepped on their shadows, after throwing a flirtatious wink, this Jynx slightly raised its slender hands. The incredibly hard stone path beneath their feet was instantly replaced by soft quicksand.
Once their feet were tangled in this soft, fine sand, clicking 'Run' repeatedly yielded no effect.
[Arena Trap: Prevents opposing Pokémon from fleeing or switching out by trapping them in the earth.]
"So it's not Shadow Tag this time, but Arena Trap?" Hakuya's mouth twitched.
The wild Pokémon spawns in this Granite Cave are seriously way too sexually repressed, aren't they?!
"MEOWHA—!!!"
At this moment, before he could even issue an attack command, Floragato's face darkened ferociously. A storm of leaves and petals danced wildly around her, and she violently headbutted the Arena Trap Jynx—which was just about to use [Draining Kiss] on Hakuya—sending it flying.
She hated nothing more in her life than seeing wild Pokémon striking seductive poses at her Trainer!
After cleanly and efficiently taking out the blocking Jynx, the rest of the cave exploration continued to barrel down a bizarre, twisted path.
"A Bruxish with Strong Jaw, a Ditto with Suction Cups, an Incineroar with No Guard..."
Recalling the wild Pokémon they had encountered along the way, Hakuya suddenly remembered the warning he received upon entering the cave and felt a bit overwhelmed. "So that's what the Hiker NPC meant when he said this cave was dangerous."
Thank god he was as familiar with the layout of this cave as his own home; otherwise, this would have been a real headache.
And even while wrapping her vines around her Trainer's waist and firmly gripping his hand with her paw pads, Floragato still stood protectively in front of Hakuya, looking around nervously, terrified that another wild female Pokémon had set her sights on him.
The fiercely jealous cat might tolerate her Trainer using Poké Balls to sign marriage contracts with other wild Pokémon, but that was only under the premise that he was forced to do so to share the burden of battling and elbow those overpowered monsters.
She absolutely could not tolerate these shameless Pokémon, who only knew how to strike seductive poses and seduce her Trainer, joining the team!
Already fancying herself the officially designated 'head-wife', Floragato glared fiercely and elbowed a [Gooey] Salazzle out of the way.
After defeating this entire horde of severely repressed wild Pokémon, they entered the deepest part of the cave and saw a silver-haired young man who had been waiting there for a long time.
"My name is Steven. I'm interested in rare stones, so I travel here and there."
"Oh? A letter for me? Thank you for going out of your way to deliver this. I must thank you."
Just like the Hiker NPC at the entrance, after receiving the letter, this cyber-Steven didn't give him the original Steel Wing TM.
"Alright, I've got to hurry and get moving!"
After rambling on about his acknowledgment of Hakuya, he hurriedly disappeared toward the cave exit.
—According to the code, you've been standing in this severely repressed cave waiting for me this whole time. You're the one who really worked hard.
Expressing his deep sympathy for cyber-Steven's plight, Hakuya turned to look at the item Steven had just shoved into his hands.
It was shaped like a round bead, radiating a powerful aura of Dragon and Psychic-type energy.
"Holy crap, Sugar Daddy!"
Recognizing the item's name at a glance, Hakuya cried out in shock.
[Latiasite: An item to be held by Latias. It allows her to Mega Evolve in battle.]
"Finally... I get to play Ultra Emerald too!!!"