Chapter 11 - Antidote

No way am I letting this go.

Trees passed by in a blur. I raced through the woods with little regard for my surroundings, fearing the worst for Budew. The few bug-types I had already encountered had tired me, and given me all the foreboding I needed. There would be more to come.

But, the abundance of berries and apples scattered around was enough to keep me going at an effective speed. As I continued and found nothing awful like Lombre had described, I began to think I had a chance.

This changed when I reached the flowers.

A range of grass stretched itself from end to end of my peripherals, stock full of beautiful flowers, consisting of a rainbow of colors. Combee and Beedrill skimmed low to the ground, producing their honey at a momentous rate. Although they had not detected me yet as I observed them from a nearby treeline, their busy activity generated a heavy tension in the atmosphere. There were hundreds of them.

Hundreds of them.

Gathering a deep breath and a burst of courage, I abandoned the treeline behind me and dove into the field.

Skirting around, high patches of flowers were utilized to move in closer, for a frontal assault would surely spell death in such an environment. More than once did my heart nearly burst from dread as a Combee would conduct its business with the patch of flowers I was hiding under, forcing me to freeze and pray it didn't notice me. It was an agonizing process, and I was very nearly seen a number of times. If not for the green and yellow coloring of my scales paired with my slim body frame, I surely wouldn't have stood a chance going unnoticed. I could surely take a few of the bees on by myself, but an entire colony? No, fighting the entire meadow at once was out of the question. Suicide.

I finally located Budew in the middle of the giant field, and my heart sank when I saw what hovered before her: two huge Beedrill and about a dozen Combee at their flank. None of them appeared welcoming.

I'm too late!

I could faintly make out chunks of the conversation from my hiding spot. I wanted to get closer, but there was no cover between Budew's location and mine. I was at least thirty meters away, much too far to protect Budew from a sudden assault without any ranged attacks to cover her escape. The only optimism I could muster was that we were far enough away from where most of the colony was—far enough where a fight most likely wouldn't cause a chain reaction.

Other than this revelation, it seemed the odds were stacked against me. What was I supposed to do now, exactly? I sat, covered by a few tall flowers, adrenaline withdrawn and mind devoid of ideas. Even in this secluded space, fighting them simply wasn't an option; I'd get crushed by the type disadvantage, lack of numbers, and lack of experience all working together against me.

I could've at least tried to argue my classmates further, right? Right now would've been the ideal time to have Espurr's tactful prowess. Or maybe Deerling's bold antics. Even a bit of Leah's fire...

I shook my head in disgust. My classmates weren't here, and thus they weren't relevant. I could do nothing more than hope for an opening for myself, preferably some sort of distraction.

"I-I'd like some honey," I heard Budew's nervous plea.

"Whaaat?" the Beedrill buzzed in surprise. "Are you some kind of honey thief?"

"No, I w-would never—"

"Seize her! The queen will decide her fate!" the Beedrill shrieked.

…So much for being patient!

By virtue of Budew's natural quickness and small size, she narrowly managed to avoid the volley of stingers for long enough. I ran the length of the expanse at the fastest pace I could muster and brought a whip slicing down onto one of the pursuing Beedrill's head. Budew, realizing her opportunity, made her escape into the cover of the flowers.

"Run!" I cried. I turned to leave after her, but my path was blocked by the second Beedrill, directing its focus onto me now.

"Intruder!" it screeched.

I had no chance of dodging the attack, and the poison jab hit me squarely in the abdomen. My vision flashed white, the pain of the initial blow absolutely overwhelming me. I barely noticed my own tail knocking the Beedrill away in desperation before stumbling to the ground, fighting to keep myself from losing my breakfast. Without time to buy or look for pecha berries earlier, I knew right away I was doomed from the poison inflicted with the attack.

One of the Beedrill shot a string shot at me, and I was wrapped up in the speed-lowering substance. The two of them approached to finish off their prey.

Is this the end? Did I really just get myself killed?

I was so enveloped in surviving the onslaught that I hardly had the mind to notice the unexplainable event that happened next. I quickly untangled the string and shrugged it off of me, finding that the attack didn't really adhere to my body well. Still, I expected my movement to be hindered by the sticky substance that remained from the speed-lowering attack.

But it wasn't. I actually felt faster. How could a move designed to slow me down make me faster?

The Beedrill approached me and I whipped it with a vine, my newfound speed taking both of us by surprise. A surge of confidence swelled through me as I engaged in a close-quarters battle with the two Beedrill, able to narrowly evade their fierce spikes every time.

"Back off!"

I might've beaten them right there if they weren't accompanied by so many Combee. The tiny bee Pokemon swarmed me, biting me and ramming into me, knocking me off balance enough for the two Beedrill to knock me in the dirt with two more venom-laced jabs from their massive stingers. The pain that enveloped every sense of being was nothing I had ever imagined possible. As if the physical assault wasn't enough to threaten my life, the poison was what really decided my fate. Winning was simply not a question anymore; the only thing still up in the air was whether it would be the pain or the poison that cast aside consciousness for the last time.

I attempted—unsuccessfully—to collect myself when I caught sight of the two Beedrill charging me again, several Combee alongside them. I sloppily whipped my vines around in an attempt to wrap up one of the Beedrill's arms and prevent it from stabbing me. I missed my target miserably, and a sense of imminent defeat finally struck down any illusion of optimism that I might've had left in me. The stingers thrusted into me repeatedly and without mercy, distributing a combination of powerful blows that left bloody lacerations all over my midsection. Some of the Combee took advantage of my vulnerability and followed the Beedrill's fury attack up with a flurry of bug bite attacks, tearing up the bag Nuzleaf brought me back from his business trip and opening a nasty cut right above my eye, among others.

It was too much. I was sapped of all strength, all will to continue. I glanced up with my eyes, unable to shift my head, and saw with fading vision the approaching bees dealing a finishing volley.

I was in so much pain that I at first wasn't sure if what happened next was a vivid illusion or a true miracle. It was only when I felt the heat of the flames that the unthinkable was confirmed.

Of course, it had to be her.

Our eyes met, and she nodded at me. I felt myself try to acknowledge it, but I wasn't sure if my body allowed me to or not. But it didn't matter: cold water and colder words aside, she was here.

The Combee took a hint and scattered upon Leah's first ember attack, with no preference to fight against fire. The Beedrill were not so timid, and skirted the air with evasive intentions. Leah took aim and launched more flames into the air, hitting them every now and then as they tried to get a good angle on her.

Underneath the painful state I was in, I was delighted. She was here, and she was actually winning. It was only until I realized what the Beedrill were plotting that my enthusiasm abruptly turned to horror.

"Leah, it's a tr—"

Too late. One of the Beedrill approached her at a high speed, evidently gaining the angle it had been searching for. She took the bait and blasted it critically with fire, leaving her flank totally vulnerable to the other Beedrill's rapid approach. The two poison-types executed their sacrificial strategy perfectly, and I watched helplessly as Leah was stabbed in the side by an unavoidable poison jab. Critical hit.

She yelped in agony, the force of the attack carrying her off the ground and rolling her to a stop a few feet beside me. She was bleeding profusely from her wound, and couldn't seem to get up.

We had lost.

The remaining Beedrill slowly approached us alone, his partner now lying charred in the grass. The hopelessness I felt was indescribable. The dread of imminent death was one that would keep you awake at night, not that it appeared I would have any more nights left to begin with. Leah's presence only doubled the dread... she would die too, and it would be my fault. At the very least, I could be satisfied knowing that Budew was saved.

Then, what I could only describe as a volcano erupting inside my eardrums happened.

The Beedrill was enveloped in a green beam of blinding light that filled my entire vision. When the brightness faded, the Beedrill was lying on the ground well away from us—in no condition to ever move again. I turned my head to my right and saw the green Pokemon I came here to save in a battle stance, legs apart, the bud on her head twisted open.

Budew had just used solarbeam.

Leah and I laid a few feet apart in silence.

Fortunately, I had bought a small roll of gauze that survived the bug bite attack on my bag, which I used to patch up the worst of our wounds. Budew left to fetch us some pecha berries and oran berries, leaving us alone together.

I wasn't sure what to say, and it occurred to me that I should probably say something first. Leah was the one who rescued me, after all. Nerves racked my brain at the inevitable apology she deserved, so instead I latched onto something that I felt would intrigue us both.

"Soo..." I started, getting her attention. "Budew can apparently use..."

"...Solarbeam...?" she finished for me with equal curiosity.

We both stared at each other for a few seconds of silence.

I wasn't sure who started laughing first, but by the time I was rolling around in the grass it hardly mattered.

It hurt my chest to even speak, let alone roll around on the ground giggling like an idiot, but it was a gesture so joyous that I didn't really mind the aching. After a few more moments of enjoying the idea of little Budew using such a stupidly-powerful attack, we settled back into stillness.

This time, it would be her that broke it.

"If it means anything, a wimp would never have done what you did."

I took a deep breath and nodded in no particular direction. "If it means anything, you're a hell of a lot stronger than I am."

I minced part of it, and my mumbling enhanced by the lingering pain from the poison probably made it sound ridiculous and incoherent. But it made her smile, and I decided I was happy with that.

"I'm sorry for getting you wet," she said, dropping her smile to the floor along with her gaze. "I'd tell you about how they tricked me into it, but in the end I was the one who made the decision, and... I really am sorry."

"Don't be," I said, giving her a genuine look. "In hindsight, I… kind of deserved it."

Okay... my turn...

"No you—"

I held up a hand, silencing her. "Look… I'm sorry for everything I said. I need to learn to control myself better. I may not know you all that well, but I really mean it. You're not a bad Pokemon, or annoying, or whatever you've been told, Leah." I put a vine on her shoulder. "Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise."

She wanted to speak, but she was too choked up to say anything, so she decided to settle for something else. She swiftly pulled me into an embrace, catching me off guard and making my battered midsection temporarily spike with pain. I ignored it, hugging her back.

"Hey, I got some—" young Budew's voice cut off when she saw us hugging. "Uh, heh, am I interrupting something?"

Leah hastily let go of me. "N-No, you're... d-did you get some berries?"

Budew produced several pink and blue berries she had picked from the meadow. She also carried a jar filled to the brim with fresh honey.

My eyes grew wide. "Buses, where did you get that honey?"

"I ran into a really pretty bee queen while I was getting these berries. She heard about my mama and got real sad about it. She told all the mean bees to leave us alone and then gave me two jars of honey!"

I paled at the thought of Budew running into more of the bees. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to let her run off into the meadow alone, even if Leah and I were immobile and deteriorating from exhaustion and poison. But with the scavenger's feast before us, I forgot about it soon enough. The cold fluid of the pecha berries washed away the venom coursing through our circulatory systems. The oran berries did their part as well, numbing the pain and returning strength to our strained limbs and minds.

"I only needed one jar of honey for my mom..." Budew said after we devoured the natural remedies she provided us. "So you two can have the other jar as thanks for saving me!"

"Technically we all saved each other," I said, my voice no longer hurting my insides as badly as before. "I saved you, then Leah saved me, and then you saved both of us... Funny how that works."

"That's what friends do for each other," Leah gleefully replied.

It felt good to see the color return to her face now that the poison no longer clawed at her throat. Our injuries unarguably warranted a few days of rest, but the worst of it was cured thanks to Budew.

We were going to be just fine.

As Leah and I shared the jar of honey, I reflected on the day's events. It was an overall rough time and I knew my body would probably be too stiff to move in the morning. But pain and near-death experiences aside, it was all well worth it. No physical healing could rival the satisfaction of forgiveness.

I laid back down on the grass and smiled, when an unfamiliar realization dawned on me.

For the time being, I actually felt comfortable being a Snivy.