TLDR version is I’ve never connected my gba and gone to my island.
I dug out my GBA from my closet and it still works (same cannot be said about my SP..) and have ordered a new cable.
My question is about the villager on the island. Are they predetermined upon creation of the town or like can I reset to get someone cute if I don’t save?
It is tied to your village, however there is a way to change your villager!
I haven’t done this in a long time so it might not be exact, but if you have a spare memory card you can create another town. Keep recreating this town until you get the island villager you want, then keep the mini game running on your gba.
Load up your main file, and connect the gba and the island data on it should overwrite your current islands data, and you’ll have the new island and villager when you visit!
I’m not 100% sure on the specifics anymore, but I did a method like this to get Ankha in my old town.
I’m trying my best to find a webpage discussing this, but with new horizons and it’s island out it’s almost impossible to find anything!
No worries! If you happen o have a third memory card though, I’d suggest making a backup of your main town just in case. There’s shouldn’t be any issues and I never ran into anything, but better safe than sorry if you’re doing something a bit weird like this haha.