“Next up—time to capture you.”
Aaron took out a Poké Ball and threw it toward the Magikarp.
Normally, catching a Pokémon required an intense battle.
But that was just the general rule.
For slow, weak, or unintelligent Pokémon like Caterpie, Feebas, or Magikarp, you could often just throw a ball directly.
However, this Shiny Magikarp’s reaction completely exceeded Aaron’s expectations.
With a powerful flick of its tail, it actually knocked the Poké Ball right back.
Aaron caught it in confusion, staring at it in disbelief.
He crouched down and looked at the Magikarp.
“What?
You don’t want to come with me?”
The Magikarp suddenly leapt into the air and did something Aaron would never forget for the rest of his life.
A faint golden glow gathered around its tail—and then it struck down.
A direct hit.
Aaron was slammed to the ground without any ability to resist.
But more shocking than the pain was what he had just witnessed.
That was a Dragon-type move.
Dragon Tail.
Everyone knew Magikarp only knew three moves before evolution: Tackle, Splash, and Flail.
Nothing else.
Even after evolving into Gyarados, it was still Water/Flying-type, not Dragon-type, and it definitely should not be able to learn Dragon Tail.
And yet—
This Magikarp just used Dragon Tail?
Are you f*cking kidding me?
Lorelei, standing nearby, was also completely stunned.
Her fishing rod even slipped from her hand into the river, but she didn’t notice at all.
A Magikarp using another move?
Was this some kind of joke?
Aaron rubbed his chest and looked at the Magikarp, which didn’t flee back into the water but instead kept bouncing in place, continuing its familiar Splashing behavior.
Yes… it really was a Magikarp.
“Lorelei… am I dreaming?” Aaron asked weakly.
“You’re asking me?” Lorelei shot back.
“Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to become a Pokémon Professor?
Explain this phenomenon to me.”
A Pokémon Professor’s job was to study Pokémon traits and explain unknown phenomena scientifically.
Aaron took a deep breath.
Right.
I’m a future Pokémon Professor.
I need a rational explanation.
He pulled out a magnifying glass and examined the Magikarp carefully.
After a moment, he spoke.
“Dragonair?” Lorelei’s eyes widened.
“You mean one of its parents is Dragonair?”
“Most likely,” Aaron said seriously.
“Shiny Pokémon origins still aren’t fully understood, but one hypothesis is that some Shiny Pokémon are the result of interspecies breeding, where genetic variation occurs under special conditions.
It’s an extremely rare mutation.”
“And if different species breed, their base stats may ‘shift’ toward the higher side depending on expression…”
“For example, Gyarados is Water/Flying but also classified as Dragon-type.
It has a similar serpentine body structure to Dragonair.
Gyarados has a base stat total of 540, while Dragonair only has 420.
So if they produced offspring, it could theoretically inherit Gyarados’ form while still being Magikarp.”
“And if it inherited Dragon-type moves like Dragon Tail, that would also make sense genetically.”
Aaron finished his “most reasonable explanation,” even though he himself thought it sounded absurd.
But in a real-world Pokémon system… absurd things could still happen.
After all, there was no guarantee Pokémon would only breed within their own species.
Even Meowth—this Meowth—had shown interest in multiple different Pokémon before.
If cross-species breeding really happened, the results would be unpredictable.
Most would likely resemble one parent randomly.
A tiny fraction—maybe one in ten thousand—could mutate.
And mutation didn’t necessarily mean good.
It could just as easily be a defect.
But clearly, this Magikarp was not defective.
“Lorelei, if I secretly use Ninetales to forcefully capture it, can we get out of here?” Aaron suddenly asked.
He had a bold and dangerous idea.
If this Magikarp really inherited Dragonair’s traits… then could it further evolve into a Dragon-type Gyarados?
If so, the value would be enormous.
Normally, Gyarados is Water/Flying.
But the problem is—it can’t actually fly.
It doesn’t have wings.
It only has limited aerial capability.
And because of that, it is still 4× weak to Electric-types.
But if it gained Dragon typing—
Everything would change.
Even without that, a Magikarp that could use Dragon Tail already had terrifying potential.
He refused to believe the reward from a school competition could compare to this.
After all, in Kanto, aside from Legendary and pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, Gyarados with a base stat total of 540 already crushed 99% of all other Pokémon.
If Magikarp evolution weren’t so absurdly difficult and random, this species would have been hunted to extinction long ago.
“Don’t even think about it,” Lorelei said firmly.
“If you do that, you’ll be cutting yourself off from the academic world.
There are more powerful figures here than just my grandmother.
“Then I can only… trick it?” Aaron said.
“Exactly.
Isn’t that your specialty?” Lorelei replied.
“Didn’t you do the same with Vulpix and Meowth?”
Aaron nodded seriously.
She had a point.
He took out specially prepared Water-type Pokémon food and placed it in front of Magikarp.
The Magikarp looked confused at first, then hesitated… before slowly opening its mouth.
One bite.
Then another.
And then it completely lost control, eating rapidly with visible joy.
Aaron smiled smugly.
You can capture a person’s heart with food—but that doesn’t mean you can capture a Pokémon.
But if you capture a Pokémon’s stomach… you basically capture the Pokémon.
From that perspective, Pokémon food was far more important than human cooking.
After feeding it an unknown amount, Aaron put on his most “kind uncle” expression.
“Little Magikarp, do you want to come with me?
From now on, you’ll have as much food as you want.
And you’ll meet lots of other Pokémon too.”
Magikarp closed its eyes, as if thinking.
Aaron held his breath.
After a long moment—
It suddenly leapt forward and slammed its head into the Poké Ball.
Ding.
Captured.
“Capture successful!” Aaron said excitedly, picking up the Poké Ball.
“Don’t get too proud,” Lorelei said coolly.
“Even if this Magikarp has potential, its battle power before evolution is extremely limited.
You still need another Water-type.
And honestly… when are you going to catch a Pokémon normally for once?”
“Uh…” Aaron froze.
Wait.
Now that she mentioned it…
Vulpix was caught through emotional bonding and escape.
Meowth was forced in via food and violence.
Togepi was basically gifted.
And this Magikarp… was also tricked with food.
He really had never done a “normal capture.”
Seeing his expression, Lorelei couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Watching this usually composed younger man look so awkward was one of her favorite things lately.