I don't know, I've never once thought of Cait Sith as a miltank. If anything, it's more like an albino snorlax with a skitty on its head.
Earthbound had a form of anti piracy were enemy's would spawn more and your save would be deleted at the final boss. Yes piracy existed back then.
Right, obviously piracy existed back then, it just wasn't as prevalent as it is now. I never heard of this for Earthbound which is where my comment came from. But then, it never affected me since I owned (still own) the retail cart.