The deeper we got into the Underground, the more interesting things became. At first, I was sure the tunnels around us were perfectly silent, the only noise coming from Charm and me. But as we continued on, I slowly started to tune out the noise we made, first the sound of our steps, then the crackling of Charm’s flame and the soft whistling of our breath, until finally, I could easily hear the rushing of blood through my body and the pulsing beat of my heart. As I listened to the rhythm of my own body, sounds from outside started to filter into my awareness. The slow drip of distant water, a faint whistling of moving air and even the soft crunching of gravel, as something that was neither Charm nor me moved around somewhere down here. It was fascinating, just how much I could hear, even if some of the sounds were a little worrying. I had no desire to run into what could be any number of Pokémon, not after the previous encounter with the Durants. Without incredible luck when it came to the environment we had fought them in, the tunnel opening providing both cover and a chokepoint that they had to crawl through, the ants would probably have managed to overwhelm Charm, putting me in grave danger. Even now, I questioned whether I was doing the smart thing, following the faint sensation I could feel deeper into the earth, chasing a vision that might not even be true.

But I couldn’t let a fear of the unknown stop me. If I began letting fear dictate my path, I might start to question everything. I needed to brave the dangers on my path, not cower from them.

Shaking my head to get rid of the auditory hypersensitivity, I focused on the present and my environment. The tunnel I was in was mostly sloping downwards, a smooth decline that made me wonder what had created it. Maybe I was moving through some ancient, underground riverbed, the tunnel slowly carved by water, it would explain the lack of jagged edges and ledges, they’d have been smoothed out over time. Looking closely at the floor, I noticed a few cracks that were filled with gravel and sand, leaving the smooth surface I had noticed.

We didn’t stay in that one, smooth tunnel for our entire journey, it sadly didn’t head in the right direction. Following that faint tugging sensation, Charm and I squeezed through crags, scrambled up a ledge or two and, at one point, I even had to call Charm back and crawl through a small tunnel with only a flashlight to provide a bit of illumination. That part was rather scary and I made sure to have Aura’s Pokéball in hand, just in case I got stuck and had to call him out to help. He was small enough to fit anywhere I could fit in, and strong enough to move me. Arceus, he’d most likely be strong enough to shatter rock if need be, though testing it in tunnels of questionable integrity would be a little reckless, even for me.

We came across a few Pokémon, though most of them retreated the moment I called out a second Pokémon to fight against them. I had no interest in having Charm fight, I needed him for the light, Sure, I had my flashlight but the batteries were limited and I had no idea just how long they’d last me. Getting stuck down here, with no light, would be incredibly unpleasant. Vio would hopefully be able to teleport us out, but I couldn’t be certain of that. It was an emergency measure, not something I wanted to test out needlessly.

The pull I had first felt as a faint sensation somewhere in my gut was getting stronger as we moved, until finally, I was crawling through another narrow tunnel with only my flashlight to illuminate my way, when the ground dropped away before me. Ahead, I could see some faint, twinkling shimmer but I couldn’t be sure if it was a reflection or if there actually was light ahead.

Pushing onwards, the tunnel I was in opened into a chamber, ending about a metre above the ground. Given that I had no interest in crawling out a hole and falling face-first onto the stone floor, I called out Aura, the brief flash of red lighting up more of the chamber we were in. It was quite large, with multiple stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites rising from the ground to meet them. Some of them had already met, but not all and the sound of dripping water echoed around the cavern.

With help from Aura, I managed to get out of the hole I had been in and once I was standing stably, I called him back before having Charm join me. Immediately, his flames lit up much of the cavern but even with his fire, the cave was too big to be completely lit up. With the better light, I could see that the twinkling I had seen before came from watery reflections on the stone, providing a rainbow shimmer.

Pushing onwards, Charm and I kept moving, following the pull that was no longer faint, but an intense impulse, a desire to know what was going on. Walking through the forest of stone and dripping water, we followed it, moving away from the walls and deeper into the chamber.

Suddenly, a growl caught my attention. Staring into the darkness, I could see the glimmer of angrily glowing eyes, their sheen intense enough to make me wonder if their glow came from Charm’s light or from the inside. Thanks to Charm’s light, I could recognise the Pokémon that was challenging us, I had seen one like it before, a Larvitar. This one stood almost to my chest and I could feel the aggression rolling off it. Pulling myself to my full height, I growled back, glaring at the creature as I pulled out Aura’s Pokéball.

“Aura, your turn. Show the larva its place!” I commanded, stepping back with Charm. In contrast to all the other Pokémon we had encountered on the way down here, this one didn’t budge when faced with two Pokémon. Instead, it only pushed forward, stomping down and throwing a ball of rock-solid grey energy at Charm. Aura, not about to let another get dragged into his fight, punched out and a Vacuum Wave shattered the Larvitar’s attack, sending shards of energy scattering into the rocks around us.

Both Pokémon clashed, Aura kicking against the Larvitar, while it managed to partially dodge, shrouding itself in slate grey energy to reduce the friction it was under. Speeding up, the Larvitar managed to outpace Aura and they started to clash. Following behind their battle, I did my best to direct and command Aura, as he started to use the complex terrain to his advantage.

In the heat of battle, I failed to notice that I had been following the pull until I stood before an almost altar-like pillar, with a rainbow stone partially embedded into it. It was this stone that had been calling to me, shimmering with an internal glow. Spellbound, I reached out, gently touching it, only for the stone to easily fall into my hand. It was quite small, maybe the size of a large grape, and almost perfectly round. Holding it in my palm, I could feel a soft, comfortable energy emanate out, starting to infuse and invigorate me.

My reverie was broken by the sound of rocks crumbling all around us. Charm stood protectively over me, while Aura and the Larvitar had been going at it, fighting a brutal running battle that shattered more than one of the pillars. Returning to reality, I put the stone into my pocket, focusing on the world around me.

By now, Aura had managed to smack the Larviatar around quite a bit, though he had taken some hit of his own. Cursing softly, I realised that I needed to do something, that the cave might come crashing down any minute. Unwilling to let the Larvitar, which by now looked like it was on the verge of passing out, get crushed in the cave-in, I threw a Pokéball at it, watching it get dragged into the surge of light. At the same time, I rushed forward, Charm still right with me, blocking some of the falling rocks with his wings, and called back Aura. He couldn’t help me, but would only get in the way.

Picking up the still-shaking Pokéball I had just thrown, I switched out Charm and Vio, hugging my little darling close to me as darkness swallowed us. Vio caught on instantly and knew what I needed her to do without words. For a moment, the darkness around us was replaced with psychedelic, purple lights, glowing, twisting and shimmering all around us, until the lights disappeared and we were back in the cave we had been resting in for the day.

We had made it.