Yes, this is the life of a Wonder Guard user.

  When facing a move that isn't Super Effective, the only strategy needed is to turn off your brain and take the hit like a god.

  "It had no effect?! How is that even possible?!"

  Misty's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the little white figure standing completely unscathed.

  The massive wave had crashed down with terrifying force, but Milcery simply shook her head, spttering a few drops of water onto the ground.

  That was a Surf from Misty's ace, Starmie, unched with everything it had—and all it did was provide a bit of refreshing mist?

  Wait... is this new Pokemon's ability Water Absorb? Is that why it's immune?

  But before she could wrap her head around why Surf had failed, Hakuya gave his command.

  "Milcery, use Tackle."

  "Nai~!" Milcery's eyes sharpened as she lunged forward.

  Despite her tiny, adorable size and her high-pitched, "cute" battle cry, Misty suddenly felt as if she were facing an invincible world boss.

  Wait... why am I sweating so much?

  Feeling the gale-force wind rushing toward her face, Misty panicked.

  "Starmie, dodge it—!"

  Before the words could even leave her mouth, Starmie was sent flying like a cannonball.

  The speed was so explosive that the shockwave from the wind swept across the entire field before Milcery even physically connected.

  The impact of the "Tackle" was so immense that the ground beneath them cracked, jagged fissures spreading across the dirt path.

  "Nai?"

  Milcery smmed on the brakes, looking at her unconscious opponent with a worried, confused expression.

  Eh? I barely even tried. Why did you fall down?

  Misty stood frozen, her jaw dropping as her entire worldview colpsed around her.

  Her ace, a fully-evolved Starmie, had been one-shotted by a Tackle?

  And that level of destructive force... that wasn't a Tackle, that was a goddamn Extreme Speed!!!

  On the other side, Hakuya was racking his brain to find something comforting to say.

  To be honest, he was also a bit surprised Milcery could one-shot the opponent, but considering she had been forged in the fires of Randomized Emerald, it made sense.

  Instead of worrying about the power gap, he was worried that if they kept going, Misty's heart would break before the League audit even arrived.

  "...Misty, do you want to keep going?"

  "Again... again!"

  Misty, stubborn and unwilling to accept such a humiliating defeat, refused to quit.

  She clenched her fists, choosing to challenge him again.

  Even as one of the weakest Gym Leaders in Kanto, she couldn't accept being one-shotted.

  It was just my reaction time... yeah, that's it!

  Next time, I'll predict the movement and make Starmie dodge!

  Poor Misty—facing a "broken" randomized monster, she genuinely believed the problem was her own skill.

  "Ugh... ten times. Ten whole times... I didn't nd a single point of damage, and every single one ended with a one-shot Tackle. My dream of being a Water-type Master... the future of the Cerulean Gym... it's all dead, just like my poor Starmie... uuuuugh..."

  Half an hour ter, Misty was babbling incoherently, weeping over her "burnt-out" Starmie.

  Hakuya, the culprit, didn't feel much emotion, only a slight sigh of disappointment.

  "What a shame. Beating an opponent this many times in the real world doesn't grant any EXP."

  For some reason, likely due to the system, his Pokemon could only gain experience in the randomized world. His pn to power-level in reality and break the level cap had officially failed.

  Hakuya looked over at the girl drawing circles in the dirt in a state of self-imposed exile, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

  Forget it. I won't tell her the truth.

  With her Starmie's current moveset, unless she specifically taught it Fsh Cannon or Gyro Ball, she wouldn't be able to scratch Milcery for the rest of her life.

  Over the next few days, Hakuya followed a routine: fishing by day and entering the Randomized Emerald world by night to try and clear the stage.

  The Contrary Rayquaza was powerful, but it wasn't invincible.

  After several failed attempts and losing a fair amount of Poke-Dolrs, he had figured out its stats.

  —Level 10, Adamant nature, likely maxed out in HP and Attack EVs.

  If he got Milcery to Level 15 and taught her Draining Kiss, he might have a chance.

  But in practice, he realized raw levels weren't enough.

  If he couldn't outspeed the "Ultimate Green Caterpilr," Milcery would just get fttened by Iron Head anyway.

  The better strategy was either to get a Focus Sash to survive one hit so Sprigatito could finish it off, or find a Sugar Accessory to evolve Milcery into Alcremie and solo the fight.

  "A Sweet... I wonder if there are any Battle Cafes in Kanto."

  Hakuya leaned back, holding his fishing rod as he pondered.

  Sweets were the items needed to evolve Milcery. In the games, you got them from Battle Cafes in Gar, but in reality, they likely existed elsewhere.

  Maybe he should check out the nearby towns in a few days.

  Nearby, the daily training session ended. Misty and Starmie were sobbing in each other's arms.

  "Finally... we managed to tank three Tackles!"

  Tears soaked her colr, her voice filled with the joy of hard-won progress.

  God have mercy—they had trained so hard they hadn't eaten or slept, and now they could finally survive a hit!

  Watching the crying pair, Milcery let out a secret sigh of relief.

  Phew, that's exhausting...

  I finally learned how to hold back enough so I don't knock them out instantly.

  Wiping a tear of joy from her eye, Misty noticed the sky in the distance.

  "Huh? Is it going to rain? The sky over there is getting so dark..."

  Hakuya looked up and saw the massive wall of bck clouds drifting toward them.

  The afternoon sun was gone, repced by an oppressive, heavy gloom.

  It was the clear sign of a massive storm.

  For safety's sake, they needed to get back to the tent.

  But just as Hakuya prepared to follow Misty, his fishing float began to jerk violently.

  "A big one?"

  Like a true fisherman, Hakuya immediately gripped the vibrating rod and tried to reel it in.

  It wasn't a fish, however.

  "Cough... hack..."

  Flung onto the riverbank was a boy in a red and white hat, clutching a yellow electric rat and coughing up river water.