The Poke Ball lay on the grass for a moment after the click.
Rimuru continued staring at it as if the sound might undo itself if he moved too quickly. The river beside them flowed the same as before. Nothing in the landscape reacted to the moment except the wind pushing through the tall grass.
"…Did that actually work?" He asked.
Ludwig chuckled quietly.
"You threw the ball, and the ball closed. Last time I checked, that's how it works."
Rimuru finally stepped forward and picked the Safari Ball up. He turned the ball once in his hand, studying it as if expecting something else to happen. Then he pressed the button.
A brief flash of red light appeared above the grass, and then the Dratini emerged. Its long body settled partly on the damp earth while the end of its tail remained in the water. For a moment it stayed completely still, only its eyes moved from one person to another.
The dragon's gaze lingered on Rimuru first. Then it moved past him.
Ludwig let out a chuckle as he noticed where it was looking to. The curry.
Belatedly, Rimuru followed the direction of the dragon's gaze and blinked.
"…Wait."
Even with those words, the Dratini still moved closer to the food. The small dragon slid forward through the grass in the same quiet way it had approached through the water earlier, its body bending gently around a patch of reeds until it reached the plates resting on the ground.
Once it was there, it lifted its head and sniffed on it.
Claire, who had been watching, opened her mouth at that moment. "Well, that answers one question."
"What question?" Rimuru asked.
"Why it surfaced."
The dragon leaned closer to the plates but stopped before touching them. Its eyes moved slowly between the bowls, the scent clearly holding its attention.
Professor Oak crouched slightly where he stood, studying the Pokemon with open curiosity.
"Interesting."
Rimuru glanced at him.
"Which part of it you find interesting, Professor?"
"The behavior." Oak adjusted his glasses while watching the dragon. "Most newly captured Pokemon remain cautious for a short time after being released. This one appears… comfortable."
Ludwig snorted at the assessment. Rather than comfortable, it was more apt to say that the Dratini was attracted to the food. So attracted that maybe it forgot about everything around it.
The Dratini shifted again, inching closer to the containers as the smell of curry drifted across the grass once more.
Rimuru looked down at the food, then back at the dragon.
"…You came up the river for this?"
The Dratini's head tilted again.
Ludwig chuckled softly at that moment. "Seems like it."
Rimuru looked at the plates again, then back at the small dragon now hovering beside them.
"…You're not actually planning to steal it, right?"
The Dratini remained where it was. Its head moved slowly above the nearest plate while its nose twitched once more as if confirming what the smell had already told it. For a species that had been too cautious for all of their capture attempts, the caution this one showed toward the food looked almost deliberate. Comical Even.
Claire watched the small exchange quietly before setting her spoon down beside the bowl.
"If it wanted to steal it, it would have done so already."
Rimuru glanced at her.
"That's not reassuring."
"Is it?" She replied with a grin.
The Dratini leaned forward again, this time close enough that the tip of its nose hovered just above the rice. It paused there for several seconds without touching anything, as if the dragon had not quite decided whether the smell belonged to something edible or not.
Professor Oak continued observing from where he had crouched near the riverbank, his attention moving between the Pokémon and the food containers.
"Wild Dratini primarily feed on aquatic organisms like small fish, larvae, and occasionally plant matter near the waterline." He said after a moment. "Something like this would be entirely new to it."
Rimuru scratched the side of his head while considering that.
"So it's curious because it smell good even for it?"
"That would be a fair description."
The dragon lowered its head again and sniffed once more, this time closer to the curry itself. A faint ripple moved along the length of its body while the wind shifted across the grass, carrying another wave of spice and broth through the air.
Ludwig watched the reaction with mild interest while finishing another bite from his own bowl.
"Well…" He said calmly. "It had come this far, so, just give it to it."
Rimuru looked at him. His gaze stayed on him for a few seconds before he sighed. "Yeah, your food wouldn't hurt it or anyone."
Ludwig chuckled at his answer. Indeed, his food hadn't hurt anyone until now. And he hoped that it would be that way in the future.
But, one thing was weighing on his mind as he saw the Dratini. If this little dragon took a liking to his food, just how Raon would react, he wondered.
At that moment, he saw Rimuru finally scoop a small portion of rice and curry together and lowered the spoon toward the grass in front of the dragon. He did not push it forward. He only set it down close enough that the smell reached it clearly.
For several seconds, the Dratini did not react. Then its head tilted again.
The dragon slid forward another few centimeters until its nose hovered directly above the spoon. It studied the food there with the same careful attention it had given the containers earlier.
Behind them the river continued flowing as if the moment had no particular significance.
Finally the Dratini leaned forward and took a small bite.
It froze immediately afterward while Rimuru blinked.
"…Well?"
The dragon swallowed.
Then it leaned forward again.
This time it did not hesitate. The small dragon took another bite from the spoon, then another, its movements becoming noticeably quicker once the unfamiliar taste stopped being a mystery.
Rimuru watched the process unfold with his eyebrows slowly rising.
"…Okay."
The Dratini finished the small portion on the spoon before lifting its head again. A moment later it shifted closer to the container itself, its attention now entirely focused on the curry.
Now that its behavior could be accepted, Ludwig's attention shifted to its appearance.
All Dratini that they had came across until now carried a deep blue tone that darkened along the spine before fading toward the underside. This one did not. The body stretched across the grass in a softer hue, something closer to pale rose under the sunlight, with a faint silver sheen along the curve of its scales whenever it moved.
The pink coloration looked almost delicate against the green of the grass.
Ludwig knew what it was. A pokemon that didn't have the colour of their species. It was called Shiny variant in Pokemon world and the game. Thankfully, he didn't blurted it out in excitement.
Professor Oak, who was leaning slightly closer as he studied the dragon, opened his mouth as if he knew what Ludwig's was thinking.
"Indeed." He murmured.
Ludwig glanced at him.
"What's wrong professor?"
Oak adjusted his glasses while continuing to observe the Pokémon.
"That confirms it." He gestured lightly toward the Dratini. "The coloration."
Ludwig looked down at the small dragon again, as if only now noticing the difference clearly.
"…Oh. "
In the meantime, the Dratini continued eating.
Ludwig then looked at the professor again, playing his part. "Is that not normal?"
Oak shook his head once.
"No. Most Dratini display a blue coloration. What you are seeing here is a rare variant sometimes referred to by trainers as a 'shiny.'"
Rimuru finally joined the conversation now. Though, rather than offering his own opinion, he just repeated the word slowly.
"Shiny?"
"Yes." The professor's tone remained calm, though the interest in his eyes was difficult to miss. "In biological terms it is simply a genetic variation affecting pigmentation. The phenomenon appears across many species, though the probability is extremely low. Some researchers estimate the chance of encountering one in the wild to be less than one in several thousand."
Rimuru looked down at the dragon again. The Dratini had already finished the small portion from the spoon and was now sniffing the container again with obvious interest.
"…So you're saying I accidentally caught the rare version."
Even though Rimuru might sounded like he was just surprised, it was easy to tell he was also excited and giddy.
"That would be an accurate interpretation."
Ludwig chuckled quietly beside them.
"Well, you've chased it long enough."
Rimuru hummed. "Well, I guess, I deserved it?"
He then looked between the dragon and the bowl again before scooping another small portion of rice and curry. The Dratini leaned forward immediately when the spoon touched the grass again, accepting the next bite with far less hesitation than before.
As the Dratini finished the second spoonful and lifted its head again, its pink scales catching the light briefly as it shifted its position on the grass.
At that moment, Professor Oak straightened slowly.
"Well…" He said. "The capture appears successful."
Rimuru looked at the professor, though his attention remained on the dragon for another moment before he finally sat back down on the grass.
"…Yeah."
The group gradually returned to their meal after that.
The plates were still half full, and the quiet moment around the river returned without much effort. Wind moved through the reeds while the current continued slipping along the stones near the opposite bank. Even the Dratini seemed content to remain near the plates now.
For several minutes the only sounds were spoons touching bowls and the occasional movement of grass along the riverbank.
Eventually Rimuru glanced sideways toward Ludwig.
"So."
Ludwig looked up from his meal.
"What?"
Rimuru gestured vaguely with his spoon toward the surrounding wilderness before continuing in teasing tone. "Claire got hers. I got mine. But you still haven't caught anything."
Claire's eyes shifted toward Ludwig as well.
That was true. But, of course he needed to defend himself.
"But I already have Pokemon in mind. We just can't catch it during the day. Professor Oak mentioned earlier."
"Oh is that so? I forgot." Rimuru said.
Even when he said so, Ludwig knew he didn't. He just said that to tease him.
Rather than entertaining him, Ludwig looked at Professor Oak. "Professor. I have a question."
Professor Oak stopped mid-scoop. But, he still looked at him with a smile of a teacher rather than a scorn of someone who just have their eating disrupted.
"Ask away."
"I've been thinking about it for sometimes now. First, let's see humans as a whole professor. Some of us are just born different, born to be someone that excel in something. We call that the 'potential' of someone. Did Pokemon have something like that as well?"
At that moment, Ludwig could see recognition in Oak's eyes. It seemed like the question he just threw was something Oak like.
To be honest, it was not a question that came to be with his thoughts alone. He had read some pokemon fanfic back on Earth. And that particular fanfic categorized Pokemon's potential in few stages.
And if he had to get a pokemon, he wanted to get something with strong potential.
Oak set the spoon back on the plate and wiped his fingers lightly on the cloth beside him before leaning back a little on the grass. "Yes. There is something comparable."
Rimuru glanced between them while scooping another bite for the Dratini, though his attention had shifted to the conversation as well.
"You mean talent?" He asked.
"In simple terms, yes." Oak nodded. "Some Pokemon are born with stronger physical development, sharper instincts, or a greater capacity to grow through training. Even among individuals of the same species, there are noticeable differences."
Claire listened quietly while turning the spoon once between her fingers.
"So one Dratini could become stronger than another even if both are raised the same way."
"That happens quite often." Oak replied.
The small dragon beside them continued eating from the spoon Rimuru had lowered again, though its movements had slowed now that the first rush of curiosity had passed. The pink scales along its body caught the light each time it shifted slightly across the grass.
Rimuru looked down at it for a moment.
"…That makes sense."
Oak continued.
"Breeders and long time trainers notice these differences quickly. Some Pokemon respond to training much faster than others. Some display better battle awareness. Some simply endure more."
He paused briefly before adding in a calmer tone.
"But the problem is measuring that without training them."
Ludwig tilted his head slightly. "There is no way to tell?"
Oak shook his head.
"Not reliably."
He folded his hands loosely over one knee.
"We can observe behavior, physical condition, response to stress or training. Experienced trainers sometimes make good guesses after spending time with a Pokemon. But there is no instrument that can measure potential in a definitive way."
Rimuru snorted quietly.
"So you basically have to raise it and see."
"That is usually how it works." Oak's gaze drifted briefly toward the Dratini again. "Many trainers like to believe they can identify extraordinary individuals early. Occasionally they are correct. More often they are simply optimistic."
The wind moved across the reeds again, bending the tall grass near the riverbank before letting it rise slowly back into place. The Dratini finished the last portion from the spoon and lifted its head again, its attention drifting between the empty container and the group around it.
Ludwig considered Oak's explanation while watching the small dragon.
In truth, that answer matched what he had expected. Even though the fanfic he had read back on Earth categorized Pokemon's potential in tiers, no one in the world could see it. The only one who was able to do that was the MC.
Reincarnation perks and all that jazz.
However… even if there's no way to tell for people in Pokemon world, it doesn't mean there's also no way to tell it for them.
Through their visit today, Ludwig had gotten a good amount of samples to conclude. Even if it was not a direct correlation, at least he knew this method worked quite often in Elos.
And that was…
The amount of Mana one had relative to their standing.
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