Darkness is an obstacle appearing in both the core series and Mystery Dungeon seriesgames, typically found in caves. It limits the player's vision, thereby making it more difficult for them to navigate through areas, but it does not physically block progress like other obstacles. Darkness has no effect on battles.
In Generation I, the floor, the player, and all NPCs become black silhouettes, making them invisible against the background. Most other tiles, such as walls and ladders, are dimmed. The menu and text boxes also get a blue tint.
In Pokémon Yellow, the player's Pikachu's shock interaction, which plays when interacting with Pikachu shortly after it learns Thunder or Thunderbolt, illuminates darkness for the brief duration of the animation.
In Generations III to V, everything becomes black except for within a small circle around the player (apart from inside Gyms). Using Flash will expand the circle.
In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the circle has a gradient around its rim and will expand to illuminate all but the corners of the screen.
In Generation V, the circle fits to the overworld grid, causing it to appear elliptical and conform to the shapes of slopes and rocks.
In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, everything becomes merely dimly lit instead of fully dark in any capacity.
In Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the ground becomes a flat light gray, while faraway and nearby entities become silhouettes in increasingly darker shades of gray.
↑Flash cannot be used to illuminate the darkness in this area; instead, candles—located by the entrance, near Morty, and on the headdresses of the Gym Trainers—provide small circles of illumination.
↑Flash cannot be used to illuminate the darkness in this area. In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, instead, each time the player defeats a Trainer, their field of view increases slightly. In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, instead, the player must stand on switches to illuminate certain areas. In all games, after Brawly is defeated, the entire Gym lights up completely.
↑Flash cannot be used to illuminate the darkness in this area; instead, each time the player defeats a Trainer, their field of view increases slightly.
↑Flash cannot be used to illuminate the darkness in this area; instead, the player and all Gym Trainers have lanterns that illuminate the area directly in front of them.
While darkness does not appear in Kalos, Flash can still be used as a field move in Pokémon X and Y to zoom out the player's perspective in certain caves.
