Compared to the settings of normal Pokémon games, perhaps because randomized Pokémon were a bit "illegal," the total Effort Value (EV) cap for Latias was actually not the conventional 510. Instead, it was a terrifyingly high 2040, a full four times higher.
And precisely because of this, the reason Latias and the others displayed such overpowered, game-breaking performance in reality was, on one hand, due to the experience gained from battling that group of overpowered monsters in the randomized world. On the other hand, it was because their abilities and base stats far surpassed those of ordinary Pokémon.
However...
Perhaps because the enemies they fought in the randomized world were a bit too mixed, the little jet plane's EVs were currently distributed very evenly. HP, both Attacks, both Defenses, and Speed all had a little bit invested. To maximize the little jet plane's true strength, he had to properly reset her EVs and allocate them to the correct stats.
"With this thing, I won't have to specifically go out and buy those EV-reducing berries anymore."
Hakuya was extremely satisfied.
In reality, there was no such concept as "Effort Values," so resetting and allocating points could only be done through the randomized world. With this EV Reset Potion, he genuinely no longer had to worry about when he would finally find the corresponding berries.
After putting the EV Reset Potion into his pocket, Hakuya led Latias and continued walking up the stairs to the next floor.
This time, he still chose the question mark room symbolizing an unknown event.
For no other reason than the drops from normal and elite monsters were simply too cheap. Those status buff effects were only active during the tower climb; once it ended, everything reverted back to normal. They were far inferior to the EV Reset Potion he got from the question mark room.
Since climbing the tower cost money, he had to at least make the 10,000 League Coins he spent worthwhile—
[The Ultimate Judgment of the Wonder Guard Regigigas]
[Regarding your frequent mockery of its Slow Start, it has decided to enact the righteous judgment and punishment upon you. It will let your Pokémon truly experience the ultimate meaning of weight and deceleration.]
"???"
Hakuya's expression froze.
What does this mean?!
What a massive pot of blame to just suddenly drop on his head.
He admitted he occasionally roasted Cynthia's super-strong Garchomp, but he had absolutely never made any improper remarks about Regigigas, whose base stat total was a whopping 670. Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor; it was blatantly obvious that they should be going after that prankster Alpaca instead.
However, regardless of how Hakuya tried to defend himself, the system-generated Regigigas still grabbed the little jet plane and instantly applied a wave of stereotypical refinement... Oh no, rather, it bestowed upon her the [Slow Start] ability, effective only for this roguelike run.
"Why are you giving her dual abilities in a roguelike? The ingredients here are a bit too complex."
Glancing at the status bar—where, aside from [Contrary], there was now an eye-catching [Slow Start] ability listed—and then looking at the little jet plane, whose movements had become sluggish and who was clearly unaccustomed to her current flying speed, the corners of Hakuya's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
Although the reduction in the Attack stat didn't have a major impact on Latias, having her Speed halved for the first five turns would still bring extremely detrimental effects to their subsequent battles.
And this tower-climbing journey could truly be described as "when it rains, it pours."
Forced to accept the gift of the [Slow Start] ability from the Wonder Guard Regigigas, Latias only managed to endure for two more floors before encountering a formidable enemy on the third-to-last floor—a Zacian with the [Moody] ability.
The base stats and luck of the Crowned Sword were simply too overpowered. It opened with a [Protect] to tank the super little jet plane's [Psychic], while simultaneously stacking two stages of Attack.
Even with the divine power of the Revive, they ultimately couldn't withstand Zacian's terrifying elbow strike.
Close eyes, open eyes. Hakuya and Latias were back on the first floor of the Sky Pillar again.
"La-woo~"
Free from the [Slow Start] ability, the little jet plane experienced the long-lost benefits of having high Speed.
Tucking her wings, she was now happily flying around in the air on the first floor.
"I can only say that the question mark rooms definitely have their pros and cons. Next time I decide to be a gambling addict, I need to be a bit more cautious."
Sighing, Hakuya didn't feel discouraged by the failure in the slightest, his fighting spirit reigniting once more.
"Let's fight again!"
With the experience from his first tower climb, he gradually became more proficient in the later runs.
First was the standard 'choose one of three' at the start. Then, using the buffs obtained from normal monster rooms to snipe elite monsters to obtain even stronger buffs. Occasionally, he'd go to a question mark room to test his luck and see if he could roll some good stuff.
This time, on the fourth floor, Hakuya arrived at the roguelike shop for the very first time.
Unlike the buffs, items sold in the shop, once purchased with League Coins, could be taken back and would affect both reality and the randomized world. However, what items would actually spawn for sale depended entirely on luck.
"There's actually an Arceus Egg?!"
Looking at the white, patterned Pokémon Egg that spawned this time and was displayed right in the center, Hakuya almost lost his composure.
He had thought the shop might spawn some weird, bizarre things, but he didn't expect it to even have the God of Creation's egg.
Glancing at the price tag, Hakuya knew this item was temporarily not destined for him.
300 million League Coins. This was an astronomical price he wouldn't be able to save up even if he worked as a temporary teacher at the Trainers' School for a dozen lifetimes.
Even if he mortgaged himself to the shop owner, Mega Diancie, it still wouldn't be enough to buy it, so he could only tearfully give up.
Besides, no one could say for sure what ability it would hatch with; it might be worse than just catching one in the tall grass later.
Hakuya shook his head, then suddenly noticed a red TM disc on the sales rack.
[V-create TM (Modified Version)]
[V-create TM (Modified Version): A TM modified by Arceus. It can be learned by any ONE Pokémon that has cleared the Sky Pillar dungeon. Disappears after one use.]
"The selling price is only 35,000 League Coins?!"
Glancing at the price below the TM, Hakuya couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Because he happened to obtain two Stardusts on the previous floors, after two rounds of discounts, this TM fell exactly within his acceptable price range. Furthermore, coincidentally, he was indeed going to use Latias to clear this Sky Pillar dungeon. Learning it would be an absolutely perfect fit for the little jet plane's [Contrary] ability.
With a grand wave of his hand, Hakuya magnanimously purchased this modified V-create TM.
After looking around a few more times and discovering that the rest were either garbage items or too expensive and thus not meant for him, Hakuya continued climbing the Sky Pillar just like before.
Unlike the randomized world, this Easter Egg Dungeon clearly didn't intend to make things difficult for them. The buffs were all very powerful. As long as he planned ahead and executed his strategy properly, clearing it wasn't difficult at all.
And after just two attempts, Hakuya reached the top floor of the Sky Pillar.
A Rayquaza was coiled upon the altar. As the final boss, it launched an attack against him and Latias.
Unfortunately, the randomly assigned ability for this one was [Queenly Majesty].
Although being immune to the opponent's priority moves was better than [Air Lock], it was still a bit far from the immense power Hakuya envisioned. At the very least, it needed to have the strength of that [Contrary] Rayquaza as a baseline.
Therefore, given the rule that he could only catch it once, he ultimately commanded the little jet plane to just smash it unconscious with [Draco Meteor].
"Running out of money?"
Tens of minutes later, Hakuya looked at the prompt indicating insufficient balance to continue climbing the tower, feeling a bit unsatisfied.
He admitted he was genuinely a bit addicted.
This roguelike tower-climbing Easter Egg Dungeon was even more abstract than the randomized game itself, making it incredibly easy to get hooked.
The Sky Pillar had a total of ten floors, and every floor climbed required an advance payment of 10,000 League Coins. It was a bit too expensive. After running it two or three times and buying a V-create TM at the shop, his savings were completely wiped out.
However, Hakuya absolutely didn't have to worry about not having enough money. After all, the material rewards from the Hoenn League and his rich bro Steven were coming soon. Now that he had mastered the tower-climbing techniques of the Sky Pillar, catching Rayquaza was nothing more than a matter of time.
"In that case, we'll retreat for now."
"La-woo~"
After temporarily exiting the Sky Pillar dungeon, Hakuya hurried toward the Dewford Town Gym.
At this stage, he couldn't beat Gym Leader Brawly, but he could still use the divine power of the Focus Sash to first strike down that Wonder Guard Regigigas. If he still had time left tonight, he could take a detour to Slateport City to elbow some randomized NPCs and farm some money in advance.