Thud!
The Poké Ball bounced off Dratini without any response.
Caster's Dratini already had a trainer; it was already registered to a Poké Ball.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? This Dratini is mine!"
Caster stepped forward quickly, positioning himself protectively behind Dratini.
"What? You already caught it?"
The young trainer clutched his head in complete disappointment.
He was one step too late!
"Come back, Dratini!"
Caster pulled out his Poké Ball to recall Dratini, then turned to leave with Pikachu.
His plan had worked, and now that someone else was getting involved, there was no reason to stick around.
Sure, he'd revealed that he owned a rare Dratini, but the guy shouldn't know who he was.
As long as he didn't get a clear shot of his face, it wouldn't count as being fully exposed.
Watching Caster hurry away with Pikachu on his shoulder, the young trainer frowned slightly and muttered, "That guy looks kind of familiar. I swear I've seen him before."
"Wait, I remember! He's that streamer, what's his name again..."
The young man wasn't exactly a fan of Caster's, but his recent videos had been everywhere online, so the face rang a bell.
He pulled out his phone and opened PokéTube. Caster's video clips showed up on the recommended page, the thumbnail showing a clear shot of Caster's face.
The young man recognized him immediately. "That's him! Fishing Dreamer!"
A lightbulb went off in his head. He quickly grabbed his phone, aimed it at Caster's retreating back, and recorded a few dozen seconds of footage, then added text and narration.
"SHOCKING!!! The Dratini legend at Fuchsia City Safari Zone is REAL! Internet streamer 'Fishing Dreamer' actually caught a Dratini in the Safari Zone."
With the massive word "SHOCKING" plastered on the video thumbnail, paired with that sensational caption, this stocky young man was clearly in the wrong line of work.
But to his disappointment, he was a nobody, and his first uploaded video got virtually zero views.
Not ready to give up, the young man left a comment under Caster's latest video, including a link to his own.
As a major internet personality with millions of followers, plenty of people were keeping tabs on Caster's homepage.
The comment immediately caught attention.
Especially when viewers spotted Caster and Pikachu in the video; Caster's fans recognized him right away.
Fortunately, there was no footage of Dratini itself, so his fans remained skeptical.
"Come on, no picture, no proof. Don't mess around with claims like this. Do you realize what Dratini is? It's a pseudo-legendary in its first stage, an incredibly rare Pokémon! Ten years ago, people practically treated it like a legendary."
"I've heard about the Dratini legend at Fuchsia City Safari Zone too. But it's been thirty years, and countless people have searched without finding a trace. I'm pretty sure it's just a rumor!"
"No way! Absolutely no way! I've only got a Squirtle, so how could this guy possibly have the skill to catch a pseudo-legendary?"
"Fake news! Case closed!"
"Exactly! The guy's good at catching fish, but catching dragons? Please. As if he's qualified!"
Caster's fans were mostly doubtful rather than convinced, since there was no visual proof.
"I swear on everything, this is real, I saw it with my own eyes!"
The young trainer left several more comments. "I even threw my Poké Ball at Dratini, but it didn't work. That Dratini had already been caught by this streamer."
Seeing the young trainer describe everything in such detail, many users became half-convinced, leaving comments and tagging Caster, hoping he'd make an announcement.
Right after leaving the Safari Zone entrance, Caster's phone started vibrating nonstop.
His Rotom Phone floated out automatically, alerting him. "Report! That person just posted about you having a Dratini online. Right now, your fans are all asking if it's true, Roto."
"Seriously? I still got recognized?"
Caster looked completely exasperated.
Sure, he was an internet personality with millions of fans, but the Pokémon world had a population of several billion; a million was just a fraction.
Yet somehow, his identity had still been exposed!
Looking at his fans' comments, Caster's mind raced as he thought of a solution.
He could deny it, but after thinking it through, he didn't want to lie to his fans; after all, they were his livelihood.
"If it's out there, it's out there! With my current strength, small-time troublemakers probably can't touch me. Plus, I'm at least a well-known streamer now. Pokémon Hunters should think twice, right?"
With that thought, Caster found a quiet corner and released Dratini again. "Rotom Phone, can you record a video for me?"
"Leave it to me, Roto!"
Rotom Phone activated its video recording function, and Caster crouched down to hold Dratini, letting it wave at the camera.
The recording finished quickly.
Now that he had Rotom Phone, it handled all the video editing and processing.
Not only were the results better, but it was faster too, done in just a few minutes.
Then Caster uploaded it to his PokéTube homepage with the video title: Yes, I Have a Dratini!
Coming clean about it!
The news was too wild; many of Caster's fans refused to believe it.
But when they watched the video Caster recorded, they had no choice but to accept it, though their "congratulations" came through gritted teeth.
"Congrats to the guy for catching Dratini! You probably used up all your luck catching it, right? Guess you can look forward to some bad luck now!"
"Dude, you seriously suck!!! You actually caught a Dratini? Today you catch Dratini, what's next, Lugia?"
"Listen up! You know Dratini's a late bloomer, right? Raising it takes massive resources; regular people can't afford it. Take my advice: don't raise Dratini. This is way over your head!"
"Yeah, yeah, the person above is totally right! Why don't you just give me a beatdown instead? I'm begging you, release Dratini. It belongs to everyone; it shouldn't just belong to you."
"Hey man, buddy, pal. I'll trade my Alakazam for your Dratini. Just say yes and I'll throw in an extra ₽1,000,000, deal?"
"Streamer, I'll offer ₽2,000,000 for a trade. Also, you can do whatever you want with me. (Sexy attached image.JPG)"
The news of Caster owning a Dratini spread like wildfire online, causing quite a commotion.
But in terms of video popularity, it was nowhere near the traffic that Iono and Lorelei had brought before.
Because while Pokémon like Dratini were rare, the Pokémon world was massive, and with such a huge population, the number of powerful and lucky trainers was substantial too.
Never mind Dratini; even online, there were plenty of Dragonair and Dragonite.
It was like Lamborghinis and Ferraris: sure, they were rare in real life, with only a tiny percentage of people owning them.
But online? Let's just say you're still not that special.
Meanwhile, hundreds of meters above the Safari Zone, a Skarmory with sharp, gleaming eyes was flying swiftly past.
On Skarmory's back rode a square-jawed, buzz-cut man in bulky clothing marked with a large "R" insignia, a large pack strapped to his back.
"Skaar~"
Suddenly, Skarmory called out.
The man's attention perked up, and he quickly asked, "Skarmory, what's wrong?"
Skarmory slowed down while descending, using its wing to point at a spot in the small forest outside the Safari Zone.
The man looked in the direction Skarmory indicated, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Is that, a Dratini?"
He blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things, then his face flushed with excitement. "My luck's finally turned, Skarmory, let's go down."