If a friend encounters a Pokémon, it doesn't disappear directly. So I should be able to catch it, as well.
My question is, how long does it stay there? Can I still expect to find it there a few hours later, or even a day later?
Pokemon-go – How long does a Pokémon stay in one location
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You cannot catch the same Pokémon twice. You can only catch another one of the same kind, which happened in your case.
If you catch a Pokémon it is gone for you, since you have it in your bags now. Going back to that place won't spawn the same Pokémon again, unless you're on a different account and within a few minutes. After 4 days it was definitely a different Dratini, especially if you already caught the other one.
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Best Answer
Pokemon do not "move" in GO. Once they spawn in a location, they tend to stay there until despawn.
Pokemon have an attribute which controls spawn behavior (likely
TimeTillHiddenMsandExpirationTimeMsin the protobuf files), which determines their spawn length. For the most part, Pokemon will despawn either 15, 30, or 45 minutes after initially spawning, although some outliers do exist as this is a server-side variable.