Pokemon Regression

by Joziah3

The Pokemon world is at war, entire cities laid to waste in the wake of the battles between nations. Cyan fought bravely as a soldier on the front lines... And died. Now he finds himself waking up as his 11-year-old self, with a strange game-like system asking him to change the future. But is it really possible for a single soldier to change the outcome of an entire war?

26. Chapter 25 - Pitch Black

I desperately wanted to panic, but I knew better than to let my emotions control me like that. The first thing I had to do was get an understanding of my current situation. First, I checked on Yeller's condition.

[Yeller

Rattata* (Level 11)

Hp: 3/29
Atk: 22
Def: 14
Sp. Atk: 9
Sp. Def: 14
Spd: 23

Status Points (1)

Skills:

-Empty-

Moves:

Tackle
Tail Whip
Quick Attack
Focus Energy
Bite]

Unfortunately, Yeller was exhausted after using all of those bites and evading the rocks. He'd been doing a lot of work carrying us through Mt. Moon before we got captured by Team Rocket too, so it was no surprise he was exhausted.

I tapped at my flashlight a few more times in the vain hope that it would miraculously begin working again, but I had no such luck. Fortunately I still had one other source of light, although it was very weak.

The PokeDex I'd been given by Professor Oak.

I retrieved it from my bag and used the light from the display to take a look at Yeller. The poor guy was completely bruised up and tuckered out. He was still willing to give his best for me, but I was doubtful that he even had many move uses left. "Rest up for now, buddy." I offered, holding his Pokeball out to him.

And in a flash of red, he was contained in the Pokeball, able to rest to his hearts content. He'd need at least a few hours of rest before he was in fighting condition again.

I took a deep breath, trying to slowly advance down the cave by the faint light of my PokeDex. I was walking for about 30 seconds before the device suddenly started buzzing like crazy. I frowned, and realised I was receiving notifications from the messaging app.

Chee! I opened the app in a hurry, only to be met by a swarm of short messages.

'Cyan? Are you there?'
'Hello?'
'I fell down somewhere, and my leg hurts.'
'Cyan'?
'I'm scared.'
'I'm scared.'
'I'm scared.'
'I'm scared.'

Every few seconds she sent the same message again, and I hurriedly typed out an answer of my own.

'I'm here! Are you okay?'

'I'm scared.'
'Cyan! Where are you, I can't see you!'

'I didn't fall. I managed to get out in time. Are you okay?'

'I'm scared.'

'I know that. Are you okay, physically?'

'My leg hurts.'
'I'm scared.'

I felt my brow furrow as she continued to repeat the same message over and over. I wasn't used to communicating purely by text, but unlike when I usually communicated with her, I couldn't pierce through and see what she thought in response to my questions, I needed her to answer me. I'd have to ask followup questions.

'Can you still move that leg?'

'Barely. It hurts a lot when I move it.'

'Is it bleeding?'

There was a tense moment of silence before she finally responded.

'No.'

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Despite the height she'd fallen from, it seemed that she hadn't hurt herself critically. Not walking was bad, but she should still be alive even if it took me a while to find her.

'I'm going to try and find you.' I responded. 'Hang in there.'

'I'm scared.'

I frowned as I slowly advanced through the cave, using my free hand to feel the walls and make sure I was sticking to them and not walking in circles.

'You've been pretty on edge since we entered the cave. Do you want to talk about it?'

'I want to leave.'

I judged that line of questioning to be a dead end, and changed tactics.

'Can you see anything around you? Anything that might help me find you.'

I continued to explore the black depths of the cave, the light from the PokeDex not even strong enough to reach the wall from where I was holding it. After almost a minute, I finally got a response, the longest message I'd seen so far.

'I'm trapped. Rocks from the cave collapse fell and buried me against a wall. Open space a few times bigger than me.'

Just as I was reeling from the information she'd been trapped by the cave-in, I received yet another familiar text.

'I'm scared.'

'Can you feel any airflow?' I pressed further.

'I don't think so.'

'Try to keep your breathing calm.'

'Ok.'

'I'll find you Chee. I promise. Just try to stay calm until I get there, okay?'

'Okay. Please be fast.'
'There's no yellow here. It's not safe.'

I closed the app and took a deep breath, analysing what I'd been able to decipher from our back and forth. It seemed that she wasn't in critical condition, and although I'd stolen one of her gloves by accident, she didn't seem to be somewhere with Pokemon.

Worryingly however, she was trapped in an enclosed space that may not have airflow. I wasn't sure how long she had, and I didn't think it was wise to slow down in order to try and figure it out. I would have loved to use the PokeDex to light my way, but after trying it I'd determined the amount of light it gave off was so faint that I was better off using my hands on the walls as my guide.

I moved forwards carefully but hurriedly, when I noticed a flash of white in the corner of my eye.

[Log:

Your dark proficiency has increased by 1.67%!]

I blinked in surprise. Did the Rocket Grunt do that? Party.

[Cyan's Current Party:

Leader: Cyan
Member: Chee (Info) (Nickname)
Member: [Unconscious] Team Rocket Grunt (Info) (Nickname)

Note: Certain features are disabled due to strength difference.
Note: Unconscious party members won't contribute.

{Manage} {Disband}]

It looked like the Team Rocket Grunt was still unconscious, and it was therefore unlikely that he was responsible for the increase in proficiency-But Bulbasaur shouldn't know any dark type moves.

...Wait. I dug into my bag and drew a Pokeball aside from Yeller's. The second Pokeball I'd reclaimed from Petrel's tent in the Team Rocket camp.

So Chee didn't even have Bulbasaur.

Then why...?

And as if in answer, the proficiency rose again.

...Status.

[Cyan Hughs

Status:

HP: 25/25
Atk: 10
Sp. Atk: 1
Def: 10
Sp. Def: 5
Spd: 12

Stat Points (13)

Skills:

Eye to Eye
Regression System
Pokemon Status Lv 2
Bonds System

S.T.A.B.

Type Proficiency 25% {Tap to Expand} ]

[Normal Proficiency: 317% {VIEW REWARDS}
Fighting Proficiency: 0%
Flying Proficiency: 0%
Poison Proficiency: 0%
Ground Proficiency: 0%
Rock Proficiency: 0%
Bug Proficiency: 0%
Ghost Proficiency: 0%
Steel Proficiency: 0%
Fire Proficiency: 0%
Water Proficiency: 0%
Grass Proficiency: 81%
Electric Proficiency: 5%
Psychic Proficiency: 0%
Ice Proficiency: 0%
Dragon Proficiency: 0%
Dark Proficiency: 58%
Fairy Proficiency: 0%]

At least some of that Dark Proficiency had been gained from Yeller fighting wild Pokemon, as well as taking down the Crystal Onix that had attacked us earlier. I'd also gained a little from the Rocket Grunt I'd forced to join my party earlier. Even with all that, I'd still barely been able to surpass 58%, since it only went up by about 1% every time Yeller landed a hit with Bite, and Yeller could only use bite 20 times a day at maximum.

So why was it going up now?

I frowned in contemplation as I gently ran my hands across the wall, using my feet to check if there was ground in front of me for each step as I advanced.

[Log:

Your dark proficiency has increased by 1.67%!]

I'd continued advancing for a few minutes now, and I'd realised something about the proficiency increase. It was triggering every 30 seconds, like clockwork. The increase was repetitive, almost mechanical, so it seemed unlikely that Chee or the Rocket Grunt were fighting and causing it to raise that way.

Regardless, with little else to occupy my time I continued to count the seconds between each notification while I advanced. 25 Mississippi, 26 Mississippi, 27-OW! I pulled my hand back from the wall in pain, having scraped my palm on a sharp part of the rocky wall in front of me. I drew the PokeDex from my bag and used it's faint light to examine my hands.

Fortunately I wasn't bleeding, it was just a scratch. Relieved, I used the PokeDex to identify the sharp rock I'd nearly cut myself on and then turned it off, continuing my journey.

29 Mississippi, 30 Mississippi, 31 Mississippi... 32...?

I frowned, and then after a total of 35 seconds, the proficiency rose again.

Why was it late?

But the next time it was 30 seconds on the dot again. Feeling a strong suspicion, I drew the PokeDex again and turned it back on, waiting the full 30 seconds while using the faint light of the screen to help guide me.

There were no notifications.

Then I turned it back off, and continued advancing. After 30 seconds, the notifications returned to their usual rhythm.

...It's the darkness! My proficiency is raising because I'm completely immersed in darkness.

If this method of raising proficiency extended to the other types, a lot of possibilities had suddenly opened themselves to me-Not that now was the time to explore them. I was still curious what would happen if I hit 100% on another type however.

Which led me to the menu I'd neglected in my rush to find Chee.

Completion.

[Mt. Moon Completion:

Defeat Wild Pokemon: 20/20
Reward: Spawn Area Boss

- Defeat Area Boss (COMPLETE)
Reward: 1 PokeStatus Point, Type Proficiency: Rock +50 points, Dark +30 points {CLAIM REWARD}]

I claimed the reward, and was immediately greeted with another screen.

[You have reached 100% in Dark Type Proficiency!

{Claim Reward}]

Without hesitation I pressed the button again.

[For reaching 100% Dark Type Proficiency, you have been rewarded with the skill Noctowl Vision!]

Just like before, I got a skill for it! I'd learned by now that the skills that the system granted me were usually useful. I quickly opened up the skill to see it's description.

[Noctowl Vision Lv 1

Noctowls have incredible dark vision, and can spot their prey from almost a mile away. By activating this skill, you can augment your own eyesight with a fragment of their visual acuity. May cause pain if used for too long.]

I stopped moving forward for a moment, scanning the description again.

Noctowl Vision.

And immediately, I felt a strange sensation in my eyes, like the insides of my eyeballs were spiralling for a moment. After the sensation faded, I raised my hands to see that I could make out my hands now. Instead of the cave appearing to be pitch black, it looked more like a scene in a film that was carefully lit to appear dark while retaining visibility. I could now make out the path of the cave tunnels and the general shape of the rocks.

It was absolutely incredible.

As I glanced at my hands, I saw the scratch on my palm again. As I thought about it, my eyes made a similar spinning sensation and my vision zoomed in on the scratch, allowing me to view it in detail.

My eyes began to ache slightly after I'd taken a minute just examining the room with the combination of zoom and dark vision that I'd just gained, but I was extremely pleased. I'd been worried I was wasting time, but with this newly gained ability I would be able to get down to Chee much faster than I otherwise could have.

Taking a deep breath to steel my nerves, I sprinted down the cave corridor.

...

I'd been running for almost 10 minutes whilst keeping the Noctowl Vision skill active, and I was beginning to see why the system had warned me about pain. What had started as a mild irritation in my eyes was slowly building and becoming more distracting until my eyes were genuinely sore.

But the benefits outweighed the costs. A bit of pain was nothing compared to being able to see in this unlit cave. Instead of slowly advancing and tapping my foot with each step to confirm my footing I was able to continue sprinting full tilt. Since I wasn't giving off light it was a lot easier to weave through wild Pokemon without causing trouble, too.

Finally I spotted the ladder down to the next floor, and I pulled myself over the hole, checking that the rungs could support my weight. I deactivated Noctowl Vision and carefully made my way down.

The blackness of the room set in again, but I didn't let it bother me as I went down the ladder rung by rung. My aching eyes finally got a rest, and the after effects of the skill slowly faded away.

I had probably saved myself hours of time already, but I knew that the enemies would only get more hostile as I ventured deeper in. By the time I would have gotten here in my original plan Yeller would have recovered somewhat, but it was time to face reality.

If I wanted to continue moving forward, I needed to use Chee's Bulbasaur.

I came to a stop as my feet touched solid ground again. I stamped my foot a few times to confirm I was back on the ground proper, then let go of the ladder. Quietly I pulled out my PokeDex to give a little light, and I pulled out the other Pokeball.

I had my reservations about this. Stealing and using someone else's Pokemon was a strong taboo. There was a reason Team Rocket was so despised. Even just borrowing someone else's Pokemon for a task was taboo, let alone their first partner. It would be like kidnapping a child and saying 'this child is mine now'.

Pokemon Thieves were despised by the populace.

But I had no clue how long Chee would be safe in that airtight space, and if time was short, I couldn't afford to wait until Yeller was ready to fight again.

In a flash of white with a tinge of blue, the frog-like Pokemon with a plant bulb the size of it's head on it's back appeared in front of me, shaking off a little dust as it tried to adjust it's eyes to the darkness.

"Hey." I called it's attention to me. The Bulbasaur waddled slowly, turning to look at me in the extremely low light of the PokeDex.

Noctowl Vision. I reactivated the skill.

The Pokemon had tightened it's gaze on me with suspicion, it's eyes less cloudy than usual. I couldn't read it the same way I could read Yeller, but I still felt that I knew what it meant. You're not my trainer.

"That's right, I'm not your trainer."

The eyes of the Pokemon clouded over entirely, and before I knew it, a pair of thick vines shot out through the dark. I dove out of the way as they cracked down on the place I'd been standing moments earlier, leaving a notable mark on the cave floor.

"Wait, hold on!" I called out, ducking and weaving as vine after vine came from the plant on the creature's back and snaked their way out to pin me down.

The monster's eyes had grown cloudier than ever, and I could only make out a single thought. A single thought that repeated ad infinitum.

Return. Return. Return. Return.

I could only assume that the Bulbasaur wanted to be reunited with Chee, but I felt that I wasn't getting through to it. Taking a risk, I charged towards the quadruped and stopped in front of it's face.

"Look, it's Cyan-I'm a friend of your trainer!"

The vines snaked towards my neck without hesitation.

"She's in danger! I need your help to save her!"

A bulbous end of a vine stopped inches from my neck. A moment of silence followed, broken only by my own adrenaline fuelled heavy breaths. Eventually I realised it was waiting for a more detailed explanation.

"...She fell while we were exploring the cave. I don't know where she is exactly, but she's buried somewhere and we need to find her."

Slowly, the fog on the Bulbasaur's eyes faded away until I felt that I could finally see what it was thinking-Maybe for the first time since I'd met it.

Alright. Until we find her, I will help you.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the grass type Pokemon pulled it's countless vines back into it's body.

"Thank you." I answered.

I reached over and attempted to give it a pat, but my hand was batted away by a spare vine.

No touching.

The back of my hand stung slightly as I rubbed it tenderly. "...Understood."

Together we advanced through the caverns with my dark vision reactivated. Unlike Yeller, Bulbasaur couldn't see in the dark. Despite that the Pokemon stubbornly walked ahead of me, spinning a handful of it's vines in a circle, rubbing over any obstructions or surfaces. By doing this, it seemed to be able to get a radar-like picture of the underground we were travelling though.

Incredible... I thought, watching the creature advance fearlessly. How did it learn to do that? Did Chee teach it that?

The sheer number of ways Bulbasaur had learnt to use Vine Whip were staggering to me. Using it as an attack or a grapple was easy enough to wrap my head around, but I'd seen Chee's Bulbasaur use Vine Whip to construct traps, detect things, fire a cannon and even construct a pseudo-onix like some sort of puppet.

I'd never really used a grass-type Pokemon before-Aside from a few emergency situations I'd never used any Pokemon other than Yeller, actually. Even so, I had the feeling I understood how a lot of moves worked.

Vine Whip though, I just couldn't wrap my head around that one.

"Geodude, 2 o'clock." I spoke suddenly, alerting the Bulbasaur to the presence of a wild Pokemon that hadn't yet entered it's vine detection range. The quadruped stopped and shot a dirty look in my general direction.

What on earth does that mean? It's annoyed eyes seemed to ask.

I sat in silence, unsure how to respond. The vines sprouting from it's back continued to spin for a moment, before the tip of one caught the Geodude that I had spotted. An instant later, the vine swung back and coiled around the creature, squeezing it and slamming it into the ground.

[Log:

Type Proficiency: Grass: +5%
You defeated a wild Geodude!]

There was a moment of silence between us, and I cleared my throat. "...You got it."

It nodded quietly, and we kept walking. I wasn't really sure how to teach Bulbasaur about ideas like clockwise and clock-based directions-At least, not in the time we had, and with Bulbasaur being rather uncooperative. At the same time, I had no clue how to tell it which direction something was coming from without using the terms I'd been taught in the military.

I ruminated on this as we continued through the dungeon, with Bulbasaur routinely swatting down any wild Pokemon that got close to it as we looked for Chee. Now that we were on a lower floor, I was constructing a mental map of the areas we'd explored and looking for any signs of debris from the fall.

And then I saw it.

I'd lost track of how long it had been as we walked into a large open cavern, with large boulders and rocks scattered around causing the terrain to be dangerous and uneven. Up above, I could see a large jagged hole where pieces of the roof had come crashing down.

"Bulbasaur, I think she's somewhere in here." I called out to the Pokemon. "I need you to stay quiet for a bit."

The four-legged monster regarded me with annoyance, but as requested it retrieved it's vines back into it's body, allowing me to listen closely. Without further ado, I pulled out my PokeDex and began to message Chee. There were multiple messages of her repeating 'I'm scared.', but she'd stopped shortly after I'd stopped responding.

'We're nearby now. Can you find a way to make noise?'

I pressed my ears up against one of the piles of rocks as I pressed send. Then I waited patiently. I stared at the faint light of the PokeDex screen as I waited for the response from Chee's own device, or the telltale beep from behind the rocks that would tell me I was by the right pile.

So I waited.

...That's odd. Why isn't she responding?

'Are you doing it?' I texted.

There was no response. Now I began to feel my heart beat rapidly in my chest, filled with the concern that she wasn't okay.

'Chee?'
'Chee, are you there?'
'Answer me! Are you still okay?'

I clicked my tongue in frustration as I began to dash from rock to rock, hoping to hear the notification sounds for the PokeDex from behind one of the piles. It was to no avail, I heard nothing.

"Bulbasaur!" I called out hurriedly. "I can't hear anything, we're just going to have to guess!"

I dashed over and attempted to scoop up the Pokemon, but it immediately jumped out of my hands. It shot me with another dirty glare.

No touching.

"Listen!" I growled. "It's pitch black down here, I can see and you can't! I'll pick you up and point you at the rocks, and you dismantle them. We'll be much faster that way!"

It snorted, turning it's nose up at me. Nobody may touch me before my mistress.

I paused, staring at the creature incredulously. I couldn't help but wonder why it was so obstinate about refusing to be touched, when it had been so eager to rub up against Chee the first time I'd seen it.

"...What if I wear gloves. So that I'm not technically touching you?" I offered.

Begrudgingly it shot me a glare, but I could tell that it would accept those terms. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I'd stored away extra pairs of gloves in case Chee damaged or lost hers-Which she already had lost one, so it was an appropriate fear, as it turned out. They were a slightly tight fit, but they still cleanly covered my hands. I tucked my sleeves into the gloves, and then roughly scooped my hands under the stocky quadruped.

It flinched and pulled away-Mostly out of surprise, although the way it responded did concern me. "Ah, sorry, did I hurt you...?"

Come to think of it, I wonder if I can view Bulbasaur's status, since I was the one that...

And as I was thinking that, the answer popped into my vision.

[Unnamed

Bulbasaur* (Level 14)

Hp: 38/40
Atk: 23
Def: 25
Sp. Atk: 27
Sp. Def: 27
Spd: 18

Status Points (1)

Skills:

Overgrow
Absolute Loyalty
Extra Vines
Photosynthesis

Moves:

Tackle
Growl
Leer
Vine Whip
Poison Powder
Sleep Powder]

Those stats are so high! I almost drew back in surprise. Not only was Atk slight better than Yeller's, despite that being one of Yeller's highest stats, literally every stat other than Spd was higher than Yeller's.

On top of that, the skill section that I had paid almost no attention to until now had four skills in it. I desperately wanted to filter through them and see what they did, but I had no time. There was every chance that Chee was dying right now, I had to make sure to rescue her first.

Gently, I brought my arms up under the Bulbasaur and lifted it. I was surprised by how light it was to carry, given it's size.

Without waiting, I tilted it towards a pile of rocks. "Straight ahead. Hurry!"

Vines sprung forth from underneath the bulb of Chee's partner, 6 or more long grassy tendrils feeling their way around the pile of rocks in front of me. Once it figured them out, it rapidly dismembered the pile of rocks allowing us to check inside. There was no sign of Chee inside.

"We're moving on!" I instructed, and the vines returned.

And we carried on like that for a while. I would take Bulbasaur to a pile, he would dismantle it, Chee wouldn't be inside, and we would move on. After what felt like an eternity we dismantled the final pile...

And she wasn't inside.

"That's... That's the last one." I muttered, glancing about in dismay. I placed Bulbasaur onto the ground, and he used his vines to test the area we'd just cleared, but Chee wasn't inside.

"But then... If she's not here, where is she?" I clenched my fist. I glanced up at the hole in the ceiling above me, wondering what the odds were that I'd simply found another cave-in.

They were low. The shape of the hole was almost exactly as I remembered. That meant she had probably fallen somewhere inaccessible to me. I felt the walls of fear closing in around me.

...Was it actually possible to change fate?

It was a nagging question that had been bothering me since the moment I'd realised I had no choice but to catch Yeller as my partner. My plan to alter my fate had been to catch a rare and powerful Pokemon, but I'd been forced to take the same path as my past life. I wasn't too upset about that particular occurrence, but...

...What if Chee was fated to die? If my theories were correct, she died in the Tauros invasion. Perhaps this time around, she would die in a different place, but her death would remain constant.

This theory was strengthened by the fact that unlike Chee, who was trapped under some rubble who-knows where, her Bulbasaur was standing in front of me, frustrated.

The Bulbasaur that I had previously theorised would end up in Red's hands.

All these thoughts swam through my head like a Gyarados surging it's way up a raging waterfall, but I stopped and took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

One of Red's lessons rang through my head. Never lose your cool, or you'll be controlled. If you ever need to calm down, try focussing on something specific in your environment. The air, the sounds, the sights, isolate each sense and think about that instead.

I slowed my breathing and forced the panic out of my body. I felt the cold air of the cave wash over my body as I began to truly appreciate my surroundings... Maybe for the first time since I'd died.

The smooth rocks and the jagged rocks, in different shades of greys and browns. The stalagmites poking up from the ground occasionally. The stalactites hanging from what remained of the ceiling. Some of the rock formations were actually kind of beautiful.

The air had a faint earthy scent, but the air was light and easy. I would have expected there to be more ambient dust and rubble from the collapse of the roof, but I must have taken long enough to arrive that it had already fallen to the ground.

The cave was very quiet, but a few sounds echoed from the caves. The routine dripping from droplets of water falling from a stalactite to a puddle. The distant movements of wild Pokemon communicating with each other, and a quiet squeaking sound.

Squeaking...?

I had managed to calm my nerves, but the realisation that I heard squeaking had brought me back to being alert. It was possible that it belonged to a wild Pokemon, but I knew of another source of squeaks that I was much more eager to locate.

I remained completely still, waiting for the sound again. It was coming from behind me, I turned and took a few steps, waiting again. It repeated. Another few steps. Finally, I found myself pressed against a cave wall.

On the other side, I could hear the faint echoes of a forlorn squeak. I was familiar with the sound, as I had heard it once before-Outside my room, the day after Chee had sabotaged my battle with Blue.

It was the sound of Chee crying.

"Bulbasaur." I spoke, my tone so calm that it scared even me. "I found her."

The Bulbasaur waddled over to me, and I retrieved the picks I'd prepared from my backpack. "Help me dig."

The grass-type immediately slammed a pair of vines into the wall, knocking a piece of it out of place.

"Don't be too rough," I warned. "We don't want the rocks in there to crush her."

Carefully, the two of us excavated the cave wall. I was very concerned about the possibility of accidentally causing another cave in and crushing Chee, but fortunately we managed to make a hole big enough to climb through safely without causing any structural damage.

I remembered that Chee had lost her glove, and I returned Bulbasaur to it's Pokeball.

My eyes were practically burning by this point, and I took a moment to let my eyes rest with the skill deactivated before I went in after Chee. I climbed in through the hole I'd carved with Bulbasaur, and finally I could see her.

Chee was sitting curled up in the centre of a small hollow of the cave, a pile of large boulders over the top of the hollow left her sealed off from the world. Her legs were splayed across the ground, and she was leaning into her hands as she sobbed in fear.

On the ground in front of her lay a PokeDex with a large crack across it's case. Next to it lay a rock the size of a fist. It didn't take a genius to guess what had happened.

Which meant that Chee had been waiting in the dark with no hope of rescue. Whatever had frightened her about caves to begin with was surely present here as well, and she had no choice but to sit and wait by herself.

I wouldn't say I was the most empathetic person, but I still felt a strong sympathy for her.

"Chee!" I called out to her.

In response, Chee let out a squeaky shriek and tumbled away from me. She fell to the ground and placed her hands over her mouth, her eyes jammed shut. Streaks across her cheeks implied she had been crying for quite some time.

"Nonono, it's okay! Chee, it's me!" I rushed to reassure her, walking over to her. Slowly she opened her eyes, looking around the cave. Cyan...?

"That's right, it's me." I retrieved the glove I'd taken from her by accident, and held it out to her. She didn't accept it.

Where are you...? Her eyes were confused. Is this a dream?

It was at this point I realised why she'd been so startled-Unlike me, she couldn't see anything in the pitch black of the cave.

I fished in my bag and retrieved my PokeDex, turning it on to cast a faint blue light over my face. "I'm here to get you, just like I promised." I smiled at her.

Quietly she sat up, and her eyes watered anew as she grasped her hands to her chest.

...You're really here?

"I'm really here." I answered, directing the light to the glove in my hand. She accepted the glove and put it on in a stunned silence.

And after shaking for a moment she suddenly limped forward and wrapped her arms around me. Her head pressed into my shoulder as she cried out quietly.

"It's alright Chee." I soothed the panicked girl. "I'm here."

I gently answered her hug with one of my own. "Everything is going to be alright."

...

It took a while before Chee stopped crying, but eventually she did calm down. Her eyes looked sore and she continually rubbed them with her gloves to catch the remnants of tears. I'd placed the PokeDex face up between us, so that she could see just a little bit of both of us.

"Do you feel a little better?" I asked softly.

The girl nodded, fixing me with a stare. I want to go home.

I shook my head. "We can't. The path home was destroyed by the Onix. But I promised I'll get you out of this cave, and I will."

Her eyes fell slightly, but she nodded.

"You said you hurt your leg-Can you walk?" I asked, eying her legs. I didn't see any swelling, but one of them did look a little red.

Shakily she tried to stand up, only to fall back down to the ground. She looked a bit ashamed, but she shook her head. I can't.

Her legs shivered when she tried to move. I wasn't sure if she was injured, or just too scared to stand. Regardless, there was only one path left for me.

"Alright, I'll just have to carry you then." I sighed, standing up. As I stood, the light was no longer strong enough to illuminate my eyes, which caused Chee to shake a little again. Yellow was a reassuring colour for her, after all.

I walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her, scooping up her knees. "Hold on."

Her arms went over my shoulders and I stood up. I felt her rest her head against the back of my neck as I lifted her into the air with me. "Are you alright like that?" I asked, stowing the PokeDexes back into my bag.

There was a moment of silence. I peered over my shoulder to try and look into her eyes, but she wasn't positioned in such a way that a could. Fortunately, she answered with a small squeak.

"...Uhhhn." It sounded almost like a deflating ballon, but I was pretty sure it was an affirmation.

I carefully carried her out of the hollow she'd been trapped in, and back into the open cave. We couldn't go back the way we came so I had no choice but to carry her through the dark halls myself. Steeling my resolve, I broke into a run.

And I felt Chee's arms tighten around me, startled by the sudden sprint. I ignored it for now, charging through the tunnels while avoiding wild Pokemon and anything that might accidentally bump into Chee.

After a few minutes of running, Chee's arms slowly began to relax, and she pulled her head away from my neck. I felt her finger tapping my shoulder a few times, and I slowed down for a moment to see what she needed.

As I turned my head over my shoulder, I made contact with her eyes. Her eyes were confused, and although I was looking into them, she clearly couldn't see me.

...Can you see?

"Yeah. It's not the clearest, but I can still see even in the dark." I answered. The young girl twitched in response.

I glanced to the log on my display, that was still readily increasing my dark proficiency every once in a while. I'd lost track of how many times it had triggered by now, and was just ignoring it.

But it did cause me to have a sudden realisation. Chee's PokeDex had broken shortly after I'd stopped talking to her. That meant that, just like me, she had been stuck in pitch black darkness. It was possible that she had also gained dark proficiency.

Did it work like that?

"...Hey Chee, can you try something for me?" I asked. She frowned at me for a moment.

...What?

"I just want you to focus on the words 'Noctowl Vision' for a moment."

She furrowed her brow at me. What good will thinking 'Noctowl Vision' do for me?

And I watched as the pupils of her eyes dilated, and her eyelids shot wide open. She suddenly glanced around the cave in surprise. I... I can see!?

Her eyes flittered to the roof, then the floor, the rocks by one side, then back to me. This is amazing! How did-

And then she reeled backwards, letting out a pained squeak. It hurts! It hurts! My eyes! She pulled her hands off my shoulder, rubbing her eyes desperately.

"Quick! Think 'Noctowl Vision' again!" I hurried her. She paused for a moment, then withdrew her hands, her pupils back to their normal size.

She couldn't see me anymore, but she still pointed her gaze at roughly where my head had been. ...Does it hurt for you too?

"...Yeah, sorry. I didn't expect it'd hurt so quickly for you."

...You're amazing. How can you put up with that?

"I don't think it hurts as much for me as it did for you." I answered quietly. "Don't worry about it, I'll get us out of here, okay?"

She nodded quietly, still rubbing her eyes a little. Then she laid her head against my shoulder with her eyes closed.

...

We'd traveled in silence since then, and I pushed forward resolutely through the cave. Climbing back up another ladder while holding Chee on my back had been a difficult task, but thanks to the strength stat I'd raised at Brock's Gym it was not an unachievable one. However...

To be frank, I was starting to struggle. Exhaustion was really starting to set in, and without the adrenaline rush of trying to find Chee I didn't have as much energy to spare-Not to mention my eyes were killing me. I acted tough in front of Chee, but even for me the constant use of Noctowl Vision was really hurting my eyes by now.

But I didn't want to stop, or set up camp. I could tell how frightened of the cave Chee was, and I didn't want to subject her to it any longer than absolutely necessary.

Which is why I was incredibly relieved when I began to see signs of natural light again. The light was faint, ambient, probably reflected moonlight, but it was still a sign that I was nearing the exit.

A short jog, and I found I had reached it. The exit to the Mt. Moon mines.

Happily, I burst through the open exit and found myself in the beautifully moonlit Route 4. I even felt that in the distance, I could see the bustling Cerulean City.

"We did it Chee..." I spoke quietly. "We're out of the cave."

There was no response, and I glanced over my shoulder to look at the girl. Her eyes were shut, but not tightly like before. Her breathing was soft and gentle, a look of peace on her face.

She was sleeping.

I glanced back over the horizon as the sun began to rise into the sky, illuminating the whole grassy path in hues of pink and orange. It was no surprise she was exhausted, since the whole trip through the cave must have taken almost 24 hours.

Day 51:

By all accounts I was exhausted too, but the relief of knowing that we were out-That it was a new day, that Chee was safe... I felt strangely filled with energy.

"Oh well." I chuckled softly. "I suppose I can carry you for a bit longer."

And I walked slowly towards Cerulean City.