"Phew—"
A cold, gloomy wind swept through the darkness. Silas instinctively tightened the straps of the backpack on his back.
At this moment, he had already entered Dark Cave.
An underground cavern so silent and devoid of human presence gave off an unsettling sense of dread.
"Buu…"
Ampharos stood ahead of him, looking around alertly. The tip of its tail radiated an intensely bright light.
That bit of illumination brought Silas a strong sense of security.
No matter how good one's eyesight was, complete darkness inevitably stirred fear and unfamiliarity.
"Blaziken, have you sensed any unfamiliar Aura?"
Silas turned his head and asked the Blaziken beside him, whose eyes were currently closed.
"Blazi-Ken."
Blaziken opened its eyes and slowly shook its head.
Silas frowned slightly.
That meant the Trainers lost in the maze had ventured quite deep, at the very least, they had already left the general area that originally belonged to Dark Cave.
That was perfectly normal.
After all, Gligar tunnels extended in all directions.
Or rather, a Gligar colony from who-knows-where had expanded their burrows into Dark Cave's territory.
Those already lost Trainers were highly unlikely to linger around this area. Silas had only come here with a sliver of hope.
After all, this concerned people's lives—every possibility had to be ruled out.
Silas crouched down and carefully examined the ground under the brilliant glow of Ampharos's tail orb.
Unfortunately, due to flooding, the footprints that should have remained were almost completely erased.
Even with Silas's excellent eyesight, there was no way to deduce which direction the lost individuals had gone based on such faint traces.
"Looks like I'll have to use the most brute-force method and search bit by bit…"
Silas thought grimly.
This was precisely why Walker had worried earlier that Silas wouldn't be able to find people quickly.
This kind of ground-up search was extremely time-consuming, even with Blaziken's Aura perception.
Unless he were a powerful Psychic capable of scanning the entire cave with psychic power, there was simply no way he could find survivors within seven or eight hours.
Aura was powerful, but its range was still limited.
"Gigalith, I'll need you to listen for sounds underground."
That said, he wasn't without Pokémon that could help shorten the search.
"Giga!"
The massive rock Pokémon nodded obediently.
A faint smile formed on Silas's lips.
When it came to searching, his Pokémon were professionals.
In bounty hunting work in the wild, the greatest challenge was never combat, it was the search itself.
"Tch… I really should find time to train a Psychic-type Pokémon."
As Silas searched alongside his three partners, he continued thinking.
He'd lost count of how many times this thought had crossed his mind during missions.
The advantages of Psychic-type Pokémon were fully displayed in situations like this—not only for faster searches, but also for ensuring safety.
It wasn't that Blaziken and the others couldn't protect him, but Psychic-types reacted faster and were better at preventing severe injury.
Unfortunately, Psychic-type Pokémon were extremely rare, especially ones that suited his preferences.
Ironically, the lesser-known proper methods for training Psychic-type Pokémon namely psychic power training, were comparatively easier for him to access.
After all, he could always ask Cynthia.
Her closest friend, Caitlin, was an exceptionally powerful Psychic and Psychic-type Trainer, someone with absolute authority on the subject.
If that didn't work, asking Sabrina would be a viable backup.
The only issue was that Silas found it hard to read the Psychic Queen's attitude. Otherwise, she was someone he trusted—especially regarding psychic abilities.
As time passed, Silas ventured deeper and deeper into the tangled underground caverns.
The notebook he used to record his route had gone from a few sparse lines to countless loops tangled together.
Only now did he truly understand why no one was willing to accept Walker's rescue mission.
"This isn't a place you can navigate with perception alone. Without exceptional memory and observation skills, you'd lose track of your position after just a few forks."
Silas felt a headache coming on.
Even with his extraordinary abilities, he still ended up retracing the same paths four or five times.
As a result, rescue efficiency dropped significantly.
He pulled out a Silph Co. detection device borrowed from a friend and checked it.
According to the display, he was currently about 200 meters underground. The surrounding humidity was heavy, and the air was thinner, but still within acceptable limits.
As for signal reception, forget it.
At this depth, combined with energy interference, there was no chance of connecting to the surface.
Fortunately, the detector was advanced enough to include its own database; otherwise, environmental analysis would've been impossible.
"So even Senior Walker doesn't actually know if those people are still alive…"
Silas sighed.
Thankfully, ordinary civilians wouldn't dare use an abandoned Dark Cave to reach Blackthorn City. The people who ran into trouble were all Trainers.
And being Trainers meant they had at least decent survival skills and that their space backpacks likely contained enough food to last quite a while.
That was standard equipment for every Trainer. Silas was no exception.
Whenever he went into the wild, his space pack always carried enough compressed food and water to last half a month.
In extreme conditions, he could even stretch that to a full month.
And with Pokémon by his side, even being forced into a Pokémon-world version of Robinson Crusoe wouldn't be a major issue.
"Looks like Diglett activity, too."
Silas put away the detector and noticed something else along the tunnel floor.
Raised mounds of earth.
That was the clearest sign Diglett had passed through.
These small Pokémon, active about a meter underground, always left such traces behind.
Even flooding couldn't erase them.
"Blazi-Ken!"
Suddenly, Blaziken appeared in front of Silas, taking a defensive stance.
White flames tinged with faint blue-green light flickered briefly at the entrance of a nearby tunnel.
Silas's expression changed instantly.
"This is—"
Blaziken's voice echoed in his mind.
"I didn't sense any Aura."
"I know. Let's take a look."
Silas nodded solemnly, lowered the gas mask built into his exploration suit, and led his Pokémon forward.
As they entered the branching tunnel, a pile of bones came into view.
"…Just as I thought."
He felt certain inside.
The eerie flames he had seen just now were Will-o'-the-Wisps.
"The time of death has passed too long to be certain, but it appears to be a human male—looks like an unlucky fellow no one knows."
After closely inspecting the bones, Silas made a simple assessment.
Given the daily flooding, the fact that this unlucky guy's bones remained in one place was remarkable.
He looked around the bones, finding nothing else nearby, likely everything else had been swept away.
Silas quickly retreated from the site.
After all, phosphine, which produces Will-o'-the-Wisps, is extremely poisonous.
As for why the phosphorescent flames had appeared, it was probably due to Blaziken.
In such a damp environment, Will-o'-the-Wisps normally wouldn't ignite. But Blaziken's body constantly radiated intense heat, which set the phosphine ablaze.
"So… where was this guy originally located?"
Standing at a central point connecting multiple paths, Silas scanned the surroundings.
"Blaziken."
He spoke suddenly.
"Bla!"
Although Silas didn't say more, his extremely in-sync Blaziken immediately understood his thoughts.
A red, scorching aura began radiating from Blaziken's body.
Another flicker of Will-o'-the-Wisps appeared.
"There."
Silas instantly caught that fleeting color.
Deeper. And deeper.
The soil around him gradually lightened in color compared to the initial dark earth.
He pulled out his detector. The moisture level here was already quite low.
"So, this is a high point—could provide some protection from floods."
Under the glow of Ampharos, Silas made his judgment and recorded this special spot in his notebook.
This wasn't the first elevated area he had found that could serve as a safe haven from the floods.
Presumably, the lost Trainers might have found similar spots, he hoped so.
"Ampha…"
Ampharos lifted a shard from the ground with its glowing tail and handed it to Silas.
"Thanks."
Silas patted its small head.
Looking at the shattered Poké Ball fragment in his hand, he began analyzing.
"There are marks of Diglett teeth, it seems Diglett gnawed on it.
"But there are also charred, blackened scorch marks. Digletts don't have Fire-type moves.
"So, it must have been ambushed by another wild Pokémon, and the Diglett chewed the abandoned Poké Ball.
"This Trainer wasn't very strong."
Silas quickly pieced together the approximate circumstances of this Trainer's death.
He even allowed himself a sarcastic inner comment about the deceased.
Judging from the fragment's remaining marks, this Pokémon's strength clearly wasn't impressive.
Either it was weak, or it lacked caution.
"No… or maybe it was already too weak to resist."
He quickly considered another possibility.
This thought left Silas momentarily silent.
"Let's move on and keep searching."
He casually dropped the fragment and continued deeper with his three Pokémon.
One hour. Two hours.
"Something's wrong."
Silas squinted as he found another human skeleton.
This was the sixth body he had discovered in this period.
And each had scorch marks on the location of their deaths.
He had Blaziken confirm the residual energy of the burns. It reported a very eerie aura.
"A Ghost-type Pokémon?" Silas muttered.
In this environment, it was indeed possible for a Ghost-type Pokémon to be present.
He stood in place, pondering what species it could be.
"Gigalith, use Gravity."
Suddenly, he shouted.
A surge of pale-yellow energy erupted instantly.
"Gia—"
A sharp, high-pitched cry sounded, filled with panic.
A small humanoid Pokémon with a deep purple body emerged from a crevice under Gigalith's pressure.
Sableye, the Dark/Ghost-type Pokémon, with gem-like eyes that allowed it to see even in minimal light.
They primarily live deep underground, digging with sharp claws. Their diet includes stones, ores, and even gems. Their razor-shaped teeth are both feeding tools and effective weapons.
A flash of knowledge about this Pokémon crossed Silas's mind.
Ancient legend said that when Sableye's eyes glow in the dark, they can steal a person's soul, which is how it got its name.
However, the Sableye before Silas was huddled up, signaling it posed no threat.
It was utterly terrified.
It had only been sneaking and watching from the shadows, not expecting to encounter a tough adversary.
The presence of Silas's three Pokémon clearly communicated a simple fact: to them, this Sableye was just a small fry no different than bullying Digletts.
"Is this little guy it? Doesn't seem right."
Silas murmured to himself.
Sableye's reputation was generally mediocre. In reality, it wasn't particularly aggressive.
Even among Dark-types and Ghost-types, this Pokémon was relatively friendly.
Its notorious reputation was mostly due to living in darkness and enjoying pranks.
In other words, many people wouldn't mind keeping one as a household Pokémon.
That would never happen with most other Ghost-types.
Moreover, this Sableye's ordinary-level strength clearly wasn't enough to threaten a Trainer.
"Gii~"
Feeling that Gigalith had only restrained it without further action, the Sableye emitted a pleading sound toward Silas.
It realized that this unusual, non-threatening Trainer was the leader, just like in prior encounters.
"Blaziken, ask it if any other Pokémon are living in nearby caves."
Silas said to the vigilant Blaziken.
"Blaziken."
Blaziken nodded.
A wave of blue Aura spread outward.
Silas could even sense Sableye's gem-like eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.
Pokémon communicate in various "languages," similar to differences between standard speech, dialects, or regional languages in humans.
Many Pokémon only understand local dialects, making communication difficult.
At least this Sableye had never met another Pokémon capable of direct communication.
But since it could communicate, everything was straightforward.
Feeling Blaziken's Aura, the young Sableye indicated it wasn't in immediate danger this time.
...
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