Compared to when they entered, the time it took to leave was much shorter. David and his Pokémon followed the path indicated by Clefable.
Perhaps because Clefable often frequented this route, they didn't encounter any Pokémon like the Ariados colony from before.
With an unobstructed path, David and his Pokémon moved much faster than they had the previous day.
In just an hour, a faint light was already visible in the distance.
"Let's go! It looks like we're almost at the exit. Let's push a little harder!"
They continued for another ten minutes or so, finally pushing aside the dense vegetation around the cave entrance.
Looking at the sun about to rise in the sky, they had finally exited the cave.
"Phew~"
After emerging, David let out a long sigh of relief, breathing in the fresh air from outside. He felt a sense of clarity wash over him.
Although they hadn't encountered any real dangers inside, the dark cave environment was still somewhat oppressive. Even with Kirlia's Flash providing light, it couldn't completely alleviate that feeling.
"Let's go, Kirlia. It's time for us to head back. When we have time in the future, we can come back and visit Clefable again."
David turned his head and saw Kirlia still gazing at the cave entrance, so he spoke to her.
"Let's go! Zorua should be anxiously waiting at the camp."
With that, he led the two little Pokémon outside.
After they had completely left the vicinity of the cave, David and his Pokémon were surprised to find that they had actually arrived at the summit of the mountain near their camp.
Not far away, a clear stream flowed down the mountain wall—the small waterfall they had seen when they first arrived.
Looking down from the mountaintop, their camp was already faintly visible below.
David carefully observed the surroundings. To descend the mountain, they would need to go down the other side. The side they were on was full of cliffs and precipices, making it nearly impossible to pass.
However, if they were to go down the other side of the mountain, they would have to take a considerably long detour, which would likely waste another half day.
The assessment was a total of seven days, and today was already the third day. He still had a system-issued task to complete! There wasn't much time left to waste.
Looking at the steep cliff in front of him, after a moment of thought, David's eyes lit up as he came up with a good idea.
"Kirlia! If we want to get back quickly, it looks like it's up to you."
"Kirlia?"
Kirlia looked at her Trainer with confusion.
David pulled her to the edge of the cliff, pointing at some protruding spots on the cliff face.
"Look there. Later, you'll use Teleport to reach those spots. We'll use these protrusions as platforms and Teleport directly down."
"How about it? Can you do it?"
David's idea was simple—use the protruding places on the cliff that could serve as footholds as stepping stones, and by repeatedly using Teleport, descend directly down the mountain.
"I can do it, David!"
Kirlia looked in the direction David pointed, observing the positions of these protrusions. After careful consideration, she nodded vigorously.
It was fortunate that she had evolved. If she were still Ralts, performing such precise Teleportation would have been almost impossible.
"Then Riolu, you can return for now!"
Seeing Kirlia confirm, David then took out a Poké Ball and recalled the Riolu beside him.
Just bringing David with Teleport was already strenuous enough for Kirlia. Adding Riolu would truly be the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"Let's go!"
Kirlia stepped forward and took David's hand. Immediately, Psychic energy surged, and she used Teleport.
The next second, their figures had already appeared on a prominent ledge in the middle of the cliff.
"It really works! Let's continue, Kirlia."
"Kirlia~"
David said to Kirlia beside him after steadying his footing. Then they chose their next landing spot for Teleport and continued their descent.
Using this method, a journey that would have originally taken at least half a day was completed in less than half an hour.
The moment his feet touched the ground, looking at the camp not far away, David's heart finally relaxed.
Then he released Riolu from its Poké Ball again, and they walked toward the camp.
However, before they could get completely close, a rapidly approaching pink figure directly crashed into David's arms.
"Easy, Zorua. You're not a little kid anymore."
Knocked directly to the ground, David could only say helplessly.
It was fortunate it was him. If it had been anyone else, they would have been bedridden for at least two or three days, unlike him who only felt slight pain.
"Zorua! (Bad David! It's all your fault! Where have you all been for so long? Don't you know that if you didn't come back, I was going to go look for you?)"
Lying in her Trainer's arms, Zorua fiercely expressed her dissatisfaction.
"Yes, yes, it's all my fault. Some unexpected situations happened. It was my oversight. Next time, I'll definitely bring you along too, okay?"
Seeing Zorua's expression, David quickly comforted her.
At this moment, Zorua finally looked at her two companions.
Riolu was fine—he looked no different from before. But Ralts... hmm, where was Ralts? Who was this in front of her? Where did her big Ralts go?
Seeing the confusion on Zorua's small face and her direct stare at Kirlia—
"This is Ralts! But now, she should be called Kirlia!"
David explained with a smile.
Zorua looked at the Kirlia in front of her and was greatly startled.
What happened? She had only been away for one day, and after not seeing her for just a day, how did Ralts—no, Kirlia—become so strong?
She could feel that the current Kirlia was already close to her own power level.
And there was also an indescribable aura about her.
In short, she only knew that the current Kirlia was very strong, which made Zorua feel a hint of crisis.
Ever since becoming David's Pokémon, she had always been the strongest in the team.
She never expected that in just one day, the former little one would reach a point where she could challenge her position.
Thinking of this, Zorua couldn't help but cast a resentful glance at David again.
Facing the resentful Zorua, David—who had left her here for almost a full day—knew he was in the wrong and could only laugh awkwardly a few times.
On the way back to camp, David recounted the events that had happened in the cave in detail to Zorua.
Hearing about the series of events that David and his Pokémon had experienced, as well as the grand scene of the Clefairy evolution ceremony he described, made Zorua—who had stayed home to guard the camp—quite envious.
After returning to camp and making a simple breakfast from locally sourced ingredients, everyone enjoyed their meal together.
Afterward, Zorua then reported to David about the situation at the camp the previous day.