The inside of the lab was quieter than Ludwig expected. But the silence wasn't what took Ludwig's attention the most. It was the machines he couldn't name at all on every corner of the room.
It was far from what Ludwig often saw in magic lab in Ortus. There were no runic lamps that would always hum softly in the corners and there were no enchantments layered invisibly over every surface to regulate temperature, preserve materials, or ward against accidents.
Yet, the room worked. Like all the things back when he's still on Earth.
Lights adjusted subtly as they moved deeper inside, brightening where workspaces were active and dimming where nothing was being used. Screens sat idle, waiting. Cables ran neatly along conduits instead of being hidden by illusion, here every connection was visible.
Ludwig slowed his steps as his eyes landed on some of the devices. They all had a clear interfaces, buttons that were worn smooth by repeated use, and panels that displayed information.
They were just like his Earth's technology, something that assumed the user would understand it, not revere it. Something that people of Ortus would never think of.
Ludwig stopped near one of the worktables. There, a compact yet durable-looking device rested. However, he didn't touch it. He knew better than touching mindlessly in this kind of place.
Oak noticed his attention and smiled faintly. "That's one of the earlier Pokedex models. But, it still works fine."
Ludwig studied it from where he stood.
"I see." He said slowly. Then, he slipped into his persona that was supposed to never be in touch with something this advanced. "In my world, this kind of thing would've been built by runes and spells."
Oak tilted his head. "Is that good or bad?"
"Who knows." Ludwig replied.
That earned him a soft chuckle.
He moved on, eyes drawn to the rest of the lab. Storage units labeled clearly. Equipment designed to be cleaned, repaired, and replaced. Nothing here looked eternal. Everything just looked maintained.
It was a complete contrast from what he was used to lately.
Magic in Ortus was static. Once something worked, no one felt the need to improve it. Progress meant finding older spells and adding something new to the already established one. No one bothered to build better systems, and dailures were blamed on misuse, not design.
Here and back on Earth, failure was anticipated. Tools were built with warnings. and assumption that things could go wrong and that people would fix them.
Oak seemed to read the direction of Ludwig's thoughts without being told.
He stepped closer to one of the longer tables and rested a hand on its surface. "Most of what you're seeing here exists because things do go wrong."
He then gestured with his free hand toward a large machine set slightly apart from the others. It wasn't imposing, but it was clearly specialized. Its casing was smooth, while it also had adjustable platforms and interfaces designed to be read at a glance.
"That's a healing unit." Oak explained. "For Pokemon injuries that need more than rest but less than prolonged care like broken bones, severe exhaustion, and poisoning. Though, it doesn't fully replace recovery."
Ludwig studied the machine carefully.
"So it accelerates what's already happening?" Ludwig said.
Oak nodded. "Exactly. If the body can't heal itself, the machine won't force it. We've learned that the hard way."
That answer from Oak made Ludwig shift his gaze to him. However, before he could ask, Claire jumped into the conversation.
"So, you are saying, this thing could heal Pokemon that were injured? How?"
Oak smiled at the question. "Indeed. You guys told me potions that can heal humans. I also heard you guys heal people with magic. However… This thing is not magical at all."
Claire folded her arms. "That doesn't answer the question. How does it heal? Like… does it stitch? Does it prick something? Does it—" She waved a hand at the smooth casing "—shine a light and hope for the best?"
Oak let out a quiet breath, amused. "There is light involved, yes. But no hoping."
Ludwig stayed a step back before opening his mouth and gave out his opinion that's not really one.
"If it doesn't force the body…" He said. "Then it must be doing one of two things: reducing what prevents healing, or supplying what the body needs to heal faster."
Oak pointed at him. "Good. That's the right way to see it."
Claire's brows knit. "With no potions… So it's just… food?"
Oak laughed softly. "No no no. Think of it like a field hospital in a box. Except, it was designed for Pokemon biology, and designed to work quickly without leaving long-term harm."
The professor saw Claire nodding her head and tapped the side panel of the machine. The display woke with a gentle tone before lines of text and icons appearing in a tidy diagnostic layout.
"This unit does three core tasks." Oak said. "Assessment, stabilization, and acceleration."
Claire leaned in and whispered. "Assessment, stabiliziation, and acceleration? That's the same as what our healing order does."
Without looking at Claire, Oak's finger hovered over the platform. "Pokemon physiology is diverse, but it's also… surprisingly standardized in certain signals. Heart rhythm analogs, energy output patterns, temperature gradients, oxygen exchange, and things you'd recognize from medicine." He paused. "It reads those before looking for signs of trauma, inflammation, toxin presence, dehydration, and fatigue markers."
Ludwig's nodded his head. "So it's a scanner."
"A scanner and a monitor." Oak corrected. "And it doesn't just look at the surface. It uses a combination of imaging and bioelectric sensing. Some models also integrate aura-pattern readings, but I know you don't want this conversation to turn mystic–"
Oak blinked twice, probably just remembered he was talking with three people who could make a fire appear with a flick of fingers. "Yeah, I think we will have to compare notes about mystical things later."
Then, he continued. "But in this world, aura is measurable. People argue about what it means all the time, but it can be detected, quantified, and tracked. This machine treats it like another vital sign."
Ludwig didn't comment, but deep down he knew just how true that was. Maybe not in Elos or Rimuru's world. But in Ortus, aura was just one of the vital signs every human being had. The more their aura faded, the closer they were to their grave. Though, it could also mean that something was wrong with their body.
Claire pointed at the adjustable platform. "Okay. It knows what's wrong. Then what? Stabilization?"
Oak nodded and gestured to the machine's ports and sealed compartments. "If a Pokemon is in shock, severely exhausted, or suffering from poisoning, the first priority is to stop the downward spiral. The unit can deliver warmed fluids, electrolytes, oxygen support, and anti-toxin binders as long as they are appropriate for the species."
Claire laughed. "So it does prick the patients."
"Only sometimes." Oak answered with a chuckle. "But this machine isn't a universal miracle cure. Some Pokemon metabolize compounds that would kill others. That's why the assessment step matters."
Ludwig's voice went quieter. "And it doesn't heal what the body can't, I assume?"
Oak's face grew more serious. "Right. If a pokemon sustained something that requires surgery like torn organs, complex fractures, or internal bleedings, this unit can keep them stable and slow complications, but it wan't a full hospital. That's where prolonged care comes in."
Claire tilted her head. "Then what does 'acceleration' mean?"
Oak rested his palm on the table beside the unit, grounding himself in explanation. "It means it pushes the body's existing repair systems to work more efficiently without rewriting what the body is."
He lifted a hand and counted on his fingers.
"First: it controls the environment precisely. Temperature, humidity, pressure, and oxygen concentration. Healing has optimal conditions, and Pokemon often don't get those in the wild or on the road.
"Second: it reduces inflammation when inflammation becomes destructive. Not eliminating it outright because that's part of healing, mind you, just preventing it from becoming something harmful to the body.
"Third: it supports cellular repair by providing energy substrates and stimulating circulation and nerve recovery through targeted pulses. Electrical, thermal, and in some cases photonic." He nodded toward the machine's glow strips. "That's where the light comes in."
Rimuru decided to chime at this moment. "So it zaps them?"
Oak lifted both hands in a calming gesture. "Not like an attack, no. More like… guided physical therapy, but inside the body. Gentle signals, tuned to encourage tissue repair and restore function."
Ludwig crossed his arms slowly. "That sounds like it borders on 'forcing'."
"It would, if it tried to build tissue from nothing." Oak replied. "Or if it tried to knit broken structures without alignment. That's how we learned the hard way. Early prototypes attempted aggressive regeneration assistance. The results were… ugly."
Claire's face tightened. "Ugly how?"
Oak's gaze drifted for a moment, not to a point in the room, but to something remembered.
"Overgrowth." He said quietly. "Scar tissue where it shouldn't be. Nerves reconnecting wrong. Muscles healing too tight, or too loose. A Pokemon that could walk again, but never run. One that looked fine, but felt pain every time it used a move." He exhaled. "Healing isn't just 'repair.' It's a correct repair."
Rimuru's voice was tinted with amusement as he opened his mouth again "So this machine of yours is the older machine but with more restraint?"
Oak looked at him. "Exactly."
Claire stared at the unit, her earlier excitement cooling into wary respect. "And broken bones?"
Oak's expression softened again, back into professor mode. "If the fracture is clean and already aligned, the unit can speed mineralization and reduce swelling so the bone sets faster. If it's misaligned, it won't 'fix' it. It will immobilize and recommend intervention."
Ludwig nodded once. "Cleverly built. It was a machine that's built while assuming failure in healing."
"But professor…" Rimuru's tone slithered through the room. "This machine… It didn't look like it's big enough to handle a Pokemon. So… How did it do all the things you mentioned?"
Ludwig looked at the guy and nodded, not outward, inward. Yeah, from what he knew, this machine didn't require any Pokemon to be out of their Poke Ball to act. They would just slip the Poke Ball inside and boom, they were healed.
At least that's how it worked in the game.
Oak's smile didn't change, but something in his eyes sharpened, like he'd been waiting for that exact question.
"You're right." He said. "It isn't."
Claire blinked. "Isn't what?"
"Isn't big enough." Oak answered, tapping the casing with a knuckle. "Not for the Pokemon's whole body, not in the way you're imagining."
Rimuru tilted his head. "Then how—"
Oak lifted a hand, cutting him off gently. "The mistake most people make is assuming a Poke Ball is only a container."
Ludwig stayed quiet, because saying anything here would be a little too revealing. But he watched Oak closely. The professor moved like someone explaining a device he'd taken apart more than once.
Oak continued, "A Poke Ball is a lock, an ID tag, and a translator. It keeps a Pokemon in a stabilized state and maintains a continuous read on its condition. When you place it on a tray, Pokemon Center tray, or lab tray like this one, what you're really doing is giving the machine permission to interface—err, to connect."
Claire's arms loosened from their fold. "Connect with what? The Ball?"
"With the Pokemon's state." Oak said, and then he glanced at Ludwig as if checking whether that word landed. "Think of it as a living system that can be monitored and guided without having to be physically exposed to open air."
Rimuru frowned. "So it heals them… inside the Ball?"
"Sometimes." Oak said. "And when it doesn't, it's human's turn to act."
Claire's eyes widened. "I see, in the end, human is still needed, huh?"
Oak let out a hum as he looked at Claire. "Humans will always be needed anywhere. Like what I told you before, the relationship between Pokemon and humans is special. Both sides wouldn't thrive much without the help of others."
"Then, in case of Pokemon injury, there's a hospital for it?" Claire asked.
"There is, it's called Pokemon Centre." Oak answered. "It's a place where…"
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