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Chapter 3

"Don't call yourself a coward!"

"Are you feeling better now?"

I sniffled as I climbed out of Blue's arms. I felt ashamed and angry at myself for breaking down in tears again, despite telling myself to be brave before. Was I just lying to myself? Was that feeling of bravery just a mistake?

"Y-...yeah..." I mumbled as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"That's good." Blue gave a sigh of relief and smiled at me. I tried to return his smile, but found that I couldn't really bring myself to do so. I laid down on the rocky floor, clinging to my self-loathing, ignoring the fact that Blue was watching.

"Hey...Blue?" I muttered quietly while staring at the floor, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you decide to come in here?"

"Hm?" He sounded confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you helping me?" I clarified, "We just met, and we barely even know each other."

"You even got hurt trying to protect me." I nervously glanced at his right leg. The Kabuto that had clamped on to his leg earlier had left four reddish scars on his leg. Blue probably sensed my gaze, as he quickly shifted his right leg out of sight.

"It doesn't really hurt that much," He said spiritedly, but I could hear the pain in his voice as he tried to hide his injury, "You don't have to worry about it at all."

"It's okay Blue," I said, covering my head under my paws, "you don't have to go along with this anymore. My...rock isn't worth hurting yourself to get it back. Not for a coward like me."

I felt a wave of disgust wash through me as I choked out that sentence. Did I really mean to say that? I could feel the flame of courage inside my flicker and wane as I continued to send myself deeper into a pit self-depreciation.

"Let's...let's just give up."

Blue fell silent. For a while, the only sounds around us were the sound of water dripping in the distance and the occasional scrabbling noise from the Kabuto stuck back in the watery chamber. The longer the silence went on, the greater my unease became. I wondered, did I anger him? Offend him? Or did I just disappoint him? Regardless, I knew that I had definitely betrayed his expectations with my cowardice.

"You're wrong, Fée." I felt a sudden pat on my back, followed by a thumping noise. I tentatively raised my head and saw that Blue had sat down next to me. He patted me on the back once more and looked directly in my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a little bewildered by his response.

"First, I think I should apologize to you – again." He said while scratching the back of his head, "I didn't really give you much of a choice back there. I just dragged you in here without even asking you. I wasn't thinking about your feelings."

"And, I guess I didn't really give you much of an explanation before setting off, huh?"

"No...no you didn't." I accidentally mumbled out loud. He gave a little dry chuckle before continuing.

"When I had that strange headache back on the beach, I told you I somehow ended up on a rainy beach, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." I recalled the strange experience earlier, "You didn't really explain what happened though."

"I know, and I'm sorry." He sighed loudly, as if he was regretting what he did earlier, "Back on that rainy beach, I didn't really understand what was happening. Even though the sky was pouring rain, I was still dry as a whistle, and I couldn't even feel the winds blow against me. It was...strange. To say the least."

"When I looked around the beach, I found something that confused me even more."

"What was it?" I asked, growing more and more curious at his story.

"It was you." He stated firmly, jabbing a finger at me.

"–huh?" I was, understandably, even more confused now.

"Well, to be exact, it was you and two other Pokémon I didn't know." He used his finger to trace some shapes in the sand on the cave floor, "They looked like a strange, bloated looking balloon and a –"

"A bat?" I said, accidentally interrupting him. He nodded and finished his sketch. Even in the dim light of the cave, I could recognize what he drew.

"Koffing and Zubat..." I said, staring at his drawing.

"Is that what they're called?"

I looked up at him and nodded.

"I see. That makes things a little easier, I was probably going to call the fat one gasbag if you didn't tell me that."

He grinned at me as he drew a silly mustache on Koffing's sketch. Despite myself, I felt a giggle escape my mouth as I watched him continue to deface their portraits.

"Anyway, I watched from a distance as they argued with each other over a bag that looked way too girly for them." I blushed when I heard that, thinking back to my bag, "Then, everything faded white."

"When my vision returned, I saw you on the ground. The two of the – Koffing and Zubat – were hovering over you and spewing out all sorts of nonsense at you."

I gulped as I recalled that scene. The insults the two bullies called me, they didn't feel like nonsense to me at the time.

"At that time, I got mad." He quickly said, cutting off my recollection, "So I ran over and tried to slug the gasbag in the dumb face."

"But, it didn't work." He muttered with a grimace on his face as he scribbled all over Koffing's portrait on the ground, "When I threw a punch, my fist just flew through his body, like he wasn't even there."

"No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't do anything to the two of them. I could only stand and watch, unable to stop them from stealing your treasure and running away."

He slammed the ground with his fist, scattering sand and pebbles into the air. When he lifted his arm, the drawing of Koffing had transformed into a small crater. I could hear the Kabuto in the distance clamoring when they heard the noise. Blue noticed it too and quickly turned to me.

"It's not safe here. Let's move to somewhere farther away." He whispered urgently, trying to keep his voice as low as possible to keep the Kabuto from hearing us.

I nodded. Even I knew how dangerous it would be if we stayed here for any longer. But, as we prepared to leave, Blue suddenly grunted and knelt. He clutched his injured leg painfully.

"It's okay, I'm – I'm fine." He gritted his teeth and lied. He tried to stand up again, but the injures on his right leg only got worse as he tried to move it. He gasped and nearly fell over again. I quickly rushed over and supported him before he fell over. He gave me a small, but pained looking smile as I let him lean against me.

"Blue..." I couldn't believe how much pain he was putting himself through just to help me. Even when I wanted to just let it go, he still wanted to help me. I felt ashamed at myself again, but for a different reason this time.

"Fée," Blue said as we slowly moved forward, "I know you're scared, and I'm sorry for not noticing that earlier."

"Before I woke up from my strange vision, the last thing I saw was your crying face." He frowned as he continued his recollection, "I felt... horrible inside, seeing you cry like that. I felt like it was my fault that I couldn't prevent you from being hurt."

"Blue...it's not your fault..." I replied, turning away from Blue and hanging my head down "If it was anyone's fault, it's mine. It was my fault for being such a coward."

As I finished saying that, I felt a sharp bonk on my head. Surprised, I quickly turned to face Blue. He had an angry look on his face, and his arm was hovering over my head.

"Don't call yourself a coward!" He chided me angrily.

"It's the truth though!" I stammered back, matching his angry tone with my own, "I'm a coward! I'm weak!"

"Fée, you're much stronger than you think." He said, his voice softening a bit, "I might not know the whole story, but I know for a fact that you, Fée, had the courage to confront the two of them."

"So what? They still got away! The same thing would've happened even if I wasn't there! It wouldn't have made a difference!"

My emotions were in a fever pitch now. I was angry at Blue. I didn't want him to deny that I was a coward. It felt like everything he said was a lie.

Then, at the same time, a feeling of disgust flooded my body. Did I want him to say I was weak? That I couldn't have done anything anyway? I didn't understand my own emotions, and all I could do was keep yelling at my friend.

"It did make a difference." He said in an infuriatingly calm voice.

"Tell me then! What difference did I make by being there?"

"You saved my life."

When I heard that, it was like someone had suddenly pulled a drain inside me. I felt my rising anger rapidly ebb away. I stared at Blue with my mouth open, thinking about what to say, but my mind was wiped blank along with my anger.

"I might not remember anything before I woke up, but there's one thing I'm certain about."

He suddenly stopped walking and separated himself from me. I turned around and looked at him. Even though we were surrounded by the darkness of the cave, far, far away from the bright chamber behind us, I could see his face as if it was bright as day inside. He had on his face a bright, sincere smile.

"It's that this brave, strong hero standing next to me right now had saved my life."

I didn't know how to respond. I wanted to refute him, and say that he was wrong. That there was no way anyone could call me a hero, much less a brave one. But, one look at his face, his genuine smile, immediately melted away all of my self-hating thoughts.

What was I truly afraid of?

I thought back to earlier today, to when I first woke up. I remember holding my treasure, hoping that it would grant me enough confidence to help me fulfill my dream.

My dream... I had a dream. I wanted to become an Explorer, didn't I?

I looked down at my paw. In my mind, I imagined the broken badge I had so callously thrown away earlier. I was mad, mad at myself for being such a coward. If I had just a little more courage, would I have been able to grasp my dream? No. This whole time, I've been making excuses for myself.

Every time I stood in front of the Guild's entrance... and when I tried to confront the bullies...I always backed off when it became difficult. I blamed my cowardice instead of trying to overcome it. I've always asked for bravery, but I never strived for it. I've always ran away instead of confronting it.

I thought about Blue. I didn't understand him at first. I didn't understand why he wanted to enter the Beach Cave, and I couldn't understand why he wanted to keep going even after he got injured. I didn't understand why he would do all of this for someone he just met. Everything he did felt foreign and confusing to me.

But now, I understand. Blue didn't need a reason. He was simply following what his heart told him. When he had that vision of me and the bullies, he had made the decision to help me, no matter what. Even when I said we should give up, he refused to back down. Even when he was injured, he still wanted to keep going.

Now, I know. Courage will never come to me as long as I kept running and hiding. If I keep trying to justify myself as a coward, I will always be a coward. If...if I really want to be brave, I have to be like Blue. I have to swallow my fears and keep moving. Even if the going gets rough, I cannot just give up and stop.

I'll keep moving forwards. I'll keep this flame of courage alive, and I'll never call myself a coward again.

"...Blue."

"Yeah?"

"I – I want to keep going."

Slowly, I walked back to Blue's side. I looked up at him, my face filled with new-found determination. Wordlessly, he smiled at me and held out his paw. I grasped it with my own.

"I'm sorry." I said, trying to make amends, "I'm sorry for being angry and for, well, being a co–"

Suddenly, he tugged on my arm and pulled me into a firm hug, interrupting me from saying that word.

"It's alright." He said in a reassuring voice, "You don't have to say it."

After our little incident, we continued to explore the Beach Cave together. Blue's leg was still injured, so I was supporting him as we walked through the dark tunnels. For a while, he kept trying to convince me that his leg was fine, and that I didn't need to act as his crutch anymore. But, every time he let go of me, he either wobbles in place or falls over. After the third time he nearly face-planted into the ground, he just wordlessly accepted my help and stopped asking.

It wasn't an easy task. The dark tunnels were rarely straight paths, and the ground became more and more rugged the farther in we walked. Oftentimes we found our progress slowed to a crawl thanks to the ground becoming uneven and difficult to walk on. And even more frustrating was when the path splits into two or more, and the path we chose takes us to a dead end.

The terrain wasn't the only danger we had to face too. Every once in a while, we felt dangerous and unseen presences around us, not unlike the Kabuto from before. That was usually sign that we should hurry up and get moving, as, with Blue's injury, we didn't have many ways to fight off any attackers.

Every once in a while, we came across large, open chambers like before. Without any hordes of wild Pokémon chasing us, we used these places as much-welcomed resting points. The sound of gently flowing water and the sight of sunlight was usually enough to make us rush towards it as fast as we could.

Eventually, I found myself enjoying the journey more and more. I was still scared of what lied inside the cave, of anything that could've jumped us from within the shadows, or anything that was hiding just beyond that turn in the tunnels. But, as long as I stood by my partner, I realized that I had nothing to be afraid of. Just him being beside me was a comforting presence.

Now, with every tunnel we explore, and every path we take, I no longer felt crippling fear. Instead, I felt excitement run through my body like an electric shock.

"So...this is what exploring feels like..." I said to myself while we rested in another large rest chamber. A few hours had passed since we escaped from the Kabuto earlier, and we were feeling a little tired from our expedition.

"Hm?" Blue looked up from his leg. It was slowly getting better, and he could walk on it now. Albeit a little clumsily, "Did you say something?"

"I was just thinking out loud." I replied, "I was just a little surprised that I would be having this much fun while wandering around a scary cave like this."

I stretched out in the middle of the chamber, allowing the last remaining rays of the sun to warm me up. Night was about to fall soon, and once that happens, the chambers we've used as resting zones will be just as dark as the tunnels we've walked through.

"Hey, Blue?" I turned around and watched Blue wash his leg under one of the small waterfalls in the chamber, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"What will you do once we're done here?"

"What do you mean?"

I pondered for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to phrase my question. Now that I think about it, Blue was still a complete enigma. I found him floating in the ocean, and when I rescued him, he had no memory. Did he have a family? Was he a part of an exploration that went wrong? All these questions swam around in my head, each more curious than the last.

"Well, what I mean is –mffggh!"

Suddenly, Blue's arm shot out and covered my mouth, silencing me immediately. I mumbled in protest, but Blue put one finger up to his mouth and made a shushing noise. He let go of my face and cupped his paws around his ear, as if trying to hear something.

"...fault..."

My ears perked up. There was definitely a strange, unfamiliar sound coming from the distance somewhere. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the foreign sound.

"...hoh hoh..."

"...you idiot...!"

When I opened my eyes, I saw Blue standing up. We both shared a knowing look and began to slowly move towards the owners of the sounds.

We climbed on to one of the ledges that surrounded our chamber and found a large hole in the wall that connected to another, but smaller, chamber below it. From our vantage point, we peered through the hole and found our targets.

"We're gonna be stuck here all night now!" Zubat shouted as he smacked his partner over the head with his wing, "And it's all your fault!"

"Woah, hoh, hoh! I warned you about hiding in here, Zubs!" With surprising speed, considering his size, Koffing dodged Zubat's attack and hovered lazily away. "Now we can't leave here until the Kabuto go to sleep. And I've never seen them sleep before! Woah, hoh, hoh!"

"That's not funny, you idiot!" The bat-like Pokémon screeched, "If we can't get out of here, then what was the point of going in this deep in the first place?!"

"You were the one who woke the Kabuto with your screeches, not I! Woah, hoh, hoh!" Koffing chuckled as he deftly avoided another wing attack from Zubat, "If you hadn't started shouting, then they never would've started to attack us!"

"And if you weren't being such an idiot with that rock, then I wouldn't have had to yell at you!"

"You try balancing that brat's rock without arms, it's pretty hard!"

"I don't have arms!"

"Whaddya know? Neither do I! Woah, hoh, hoh!"

We watched as the two butted heads against each other for a few minutes before drawing back into our chamber.

"That's them." Blue said matter-of-factly, "Do you see your treasure anywhere?"

"Yeah," I craned over and peeked back out towards them, "It's lying on the ground between them."

"Okay then." Blue straightened up and cracked his knuckles. I gave him a quizzical look, wondering what he was planning.

"Blue, you're not thinking of taking them on by yourself, are you?"

"It's just an ugly balloon and a tiny bat, what do I have to be afraid of?" He said cheekily while giving me a thumbs up, "Besides, my leg's feeling better. I'm sure I can take care of this, no sweat."

"W–wait!" I shouted at him, but he was already gone. He leapt through the hole and into their chamber. I watched in horrified silence as he landed between the two bullies without as much as a single word to any of them. He bent down and picked up my treasure while Zubat and Koffing were still stunned by his sudden appearance.

"W–w–who the heck are you?!" Zubat was the first to recover from the shock. He flapped angrily as Blue examined my treasure. He gave Zubat a dismissive glance and began to walk back towards the entrance to the chamber.

"Don't ignore me!" Zubat, now probably steaming in anger, screeched at Blue and began to dive at him with incredible speed. Blue, however, simply spun around on one leg – his good leg – and avoided Zubat's speedy attack.

When Zubat realized that he had missed, he quickly stopped and turned around to try another attempt. But Blue was quicker on the draw, and had flung my treasure directly into Zubat's face right as he turned around.

"Guaagh!" Zubat cried out in pain as the rock slammed right into his body, knocking him right out of the air. Blue calmly walked over and caught the rock as it rebounded off Zubat's face. He ignored Zubat, who was flailing around on the ground in pain, and began to walk away again.

"K–Koffing!" Zubat, his voice cracking from the pain, screamed at his partner, "Hurry up and stop him!"

Blue spun around as soon as he heard Zubat screech. Koffing, who was simply floating in the air earlier and chuckling to himself, had launched himself into a full-body tackle at Blue. Noxious fumes were spewing out of his many holes as he zoomed through the air.

"Woah, hoh, hooooh!" Koffing chortled as he flew towards Blue. Blue quickly threw up his arms in a defensive pose, preparing himself for the inevitable impact.

"Too slow!" Koffing suddenly made an instantaneous stop in midair and opened his gaping mouth wide. The noxious balloon suddenly shrunk as plumes and plumes of toxic smog came billowing out of his maw, right through Blue's guard.

I could hear Blue cough painfully as he inhaled the poisonous gas. From behind Koffing, Zubat had recovered and was flapping his wings wildly, spreading the gas around the room. Eventually, the gas coming out of Koffing's mouth began to fill up their chamber more and more. I found my vision of the battle disappear when the brown gasses completely covered the air.

"Meh, heh, heh!" I heard Zubat's annoying laugh through the smoke, "How do you like our Gust and Poison Smog special?"

"Woah, hoh, hoh! Too bad this only works in caves like this, hoh!"

"Stop talking and start spewing more gas!"

"Grrgh...!"

I couldn't see, and I knew that jumping in now would be an incredibly foolish idea, but I couldn't just leave Blue in there to suffer. I paced around my hole in a panic, desperately trying to think up a plan to save Blue.

"It's rare to see a Riolu around there parts, eh?" I heard Zubat say through the smoke, "I heard Riolu are supposed to be strong and fast! Why not drop the rock and join us, eh? I'll even forgive you for the rock and put in a good word for you with the boss."

"Hoh, hoh! You're so generous, Zubat!"

"You – cough – wish!"

I heard a smacking noise. Zubat must've hit Blue with his wing for talking back.

"You're an idiot!" Zubat screeched, "Then tell me, why are you here? You looked like you had a plan in mind, stealing our ro..."

"Zubat?"

"Don't tell me..." Zubat's voice became incredibly low and sinister sounding, "Did that Eevee – that brat – set you up for this?"

"Cough, cough..."

"Oh my, she did! Meh, heh, heh, heh!"

"Woah, hoh, hoh!"

I felt my blood run cold when he said that. What was he going to do now that he realized that it was my fault? I worriedly peered through the hole again, but a quick whiff of the noxious smog forced my head back, making me retch painfully.

"Is she here? In this cave, right now?" Zubat demanded, "Koffing, go find that Eevee! Find her and bring her here so we can show her what happens when someone tries to mess with us!"

"Woah, hoh, hoh. Aye, aye, Zubat!"

"W – wait!" Blue sputtered, but was quickly silenced by another smacking noise.

The smog began to slowly dissipate as Koffing began to search around for me. Terrified, I hid behind the wall and tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible. Unfortunately, the leftover smog had reached the hole and was starting to spill into this chamber as well. I couldn't hold my breath for long, and after a few minutes, I had no choice but to take a breath.

"Gack, cough, cough!" I choked loudly as the disgusting fumes entered my mouth.

"Zubat, I heard her! She's beyond the wall!" My blood ran cold when I heard Koffing's announcement. I quickly covered my mouth, but it was too late. Within seconds, I saw a spherical silhouette float into view from beyond the hole in the wall.

I really had no choice now. I braced myself for the inevitable.

"Found you!" Koffing chortled gleefully as he floated through the hole, wreathed in gas like a filthy shawl, "Woah, hoh, hoh!"

"Open wide!" He opened his mouth and prepared to unleash another torrent of disgusting gas at me. But I had other plans. Gathering up all my strength, I leapt off the ground and threw myself towards Koffing. I saw his eyes widen the split second before I crashed into him, sending the both of us through the wall and tumbling into the second chamber.

"What?!" I heard Zubat screech as we crash-landed in the chamber with a heavy thump. Luckily, I landed on top of Koffing instead of the other way around, allowing me to quickly get up and go over to Blue's side.

"Blue! Are you alright?" I shouted worriedly. The smog, although lightened considerably, was still thick enough that I was choking with every word.

"Fée – cough – get out of here–!" He choked as he tried to speak. I squinted through the disgusting fog at Blue. He was kneeling on the ground, clutching his throat while coughing. His arms and torso had a few thin bruises from when Zubat struck him. I quickly turned around and put myself between Blue and the two bullies.

"Uuurgh..." Koffing slowly floated back up into the air, his eyes dazed from the fall and impact.

"You idiot! How could you let yourself be sneak attacked like that?"

"Woah...huh?" Koffing looked around, confused and unfocused. Zubat struck him over the head with his wing, which only served to make him look even more confused.

"Geehh!" Zubat spat in anger and turned to face us, "So you've decided to grow a backbone and chase after us, eh?"

I kept silent, trying to hold my breath for as long as possible until the smog completely vanishes. Zubat, on the other hand, continued his angry tirade.

"You even brought a little friend with you, huh? You knew you were too much of a coward to do it yourself, so you had to find someone to do it for you. How pathetic! Meh, heh, heh!"

Even though I knew these words were only there to intimidate me, his words still pierced me like thorns. I turned my head away and tried to block out his jeers, but he flew down next to me and spoke directly into my ear.

"And where did that take you? Nowhere! Your plan failed, coward!"

I gritted my teeth and tried to swipe at Zubat, but he saw it coming and simply swooped away, dodging my strike easily. He sniggered in midair, flapping just out of reach.

"Who said the plan failed?" Suddenly, I heard Blue's voice from behind me. He was struggling to get back up on his feet, but, despite the strain, his face was still displaying a confident grin. He clutched my treasure tightly in his right hand, which he raised up into the air to show everyone.

"We still got what we came for, didn't we, Fée?"

"Y–yeah!" I responded as confidently as I could. However, I was still feeling uneasy about the situation. Even if we had retrieved my treasure, we were still in a really bad place to be in.

And they knew it.

"Feh. So what?" Zubat sneered, completely dismissing Blue's boast, "We just have to knock you out and get it back. Right, Koffing?"

"Woah, hoh, hoh, of course!"

With that said, the two of them began to laugh evilly as they floated higher and higher. Zubat positioned himself behind Koffing with his wings outstretched. Koffing, however, retracted the holed nubs that dotted all over his body and closed his mouth. Slowly, his body began to expand in size, growing larger and larger by the second.

"Blue, what do we do?" I said in a quavery voice, "At this rate, they're going to fill the room with gas again!"

Blue stared up at the floating pair with a steely gaze. He pulled me close and whispered into my ear.

"Don't worry. I have a plan." He declared, "But, I need you to distract them for a second."

"A–are you sure?"

He nodded and let me go. I gulped and strode forward, placing myself directly in between Blue and the pair. I looked up at Koffing. He was almost triple his original size now. Small wisps of noxious gas was starting to spill out of his mouth. It was a terrifying sight, to say the least.

"S-stop!" I weakly shouted.

"It's too late!" Zubat screeched merrily as he poked his head over Koffing's expanding body, "You're going to be blown away by our great explosive smog attack!"

He then dove behind Koffing and started to flap his wings as hard as he could, whipping up gusts of wind at me and Blue. I stood my ground, however, and continued to shout futilely at them.

Then, Koffing opened his mouth. Inside, I saw nothing but a raging storm of poisonous, brown gas. Slowly, the deadly toxin crawled out of Koffing's mouth and was picked up by the gusts of wind created by Zubat. The gas transmogrified into a brown tendril that snaked its way towards me like a predator. Even before it reached me, I could smell the deadly stench emanating from it. I nearly fainted on the spot.

"Spew on this, you stupid beach ball!" But then, Blue's loud shout rang out through the entire chamber. Suddenly, a gray blur came whizzing through the air, blowing apart the poisonous tentacle and striking dead center into Koffing's mouth.

"Geeeh?!" Zubat shouted in surprise as the heavy rock struck the back of Koffing's mouth, knocking him backwards and – more importantly, forced him down on to the ground in shock. In his surprise, Koffing's mouth shut as the rock clattered around inside his head.

"Mrghppgh?!" Koffing's eyes bulged out as the gasses – now without an exit – raged angrily inside his body.

"Gaaah! What did you do?!" Zubat stopped his frantic flapping and shouted at us, "Koffing you numbskull, why didn't you release the smog faster?! Hurry up and open your mouth again!"

I sat there, dumbfounded at what just happened. It took me a moment to realized that I was this close to taking a faceful of that vile, disgusting concoction that came from within that beach ball's body. Inwardly, I felt revolted, and I nearly retched at the thought of it.

"Fée!" I was jolted out of my revulsion by Blue's shout, "Don't let him open his mouth again! Hit them now!"

Shaking off my nausea, I nodded back at him and crouched down. I watched Zubat try and force Koffing's mouth open with his wings, but the rock that was undoubtedly clattering around inside his head was causing him too much pain for him to open his mouth. Slowly, the two of them drifted ever lower. Then, once Koffing's body had floated low enough...

"Noooow!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I kicked off the ground and threw myself towards them as hard as I could. Everything around me suddenly turned into a blur as I tore through the air, but it didn't matter. All I needed to see was what was in front of me!

That massive purple target!

I felt my head crash against Koffing's gut, directly on to the skull and crossbones. Everything felt like it was in slow motion afterward. His body undulated and squished in, making me feel like I had smashed myself into a stinky, disgusting pillow. It felt like an eternity.

"Meeaaaagh!"

"Woaaaaagh!"

Then, as if time suddenly restarted, Koffing was suddenly launched away from me at a ridiculous speed. His body crashed into Zubat, who was floating behind him before, and carried him along for the ride. The two of them went zooming away from us, flying towards the opposite end of the chamber. Then a loud, booming crash rang out through the chamber, followed by a massive explosion of dust and silt.

I fell on to the ground, skidding forwards for a few inches. When I finally stopped, I dazedly rose up and looked around. My jaw dropped when I saw what happened at the other end of the chamber.

"I...uh..." I was completely stunned, dumbfounded even. Koffing and Zubat weren't just knocked back, they had flown directly into the cavern wall and deeply embedded themselves within it. I gaped at the unbelievable scene before a sudden whistle snapped me out of it.

"That was incredible!" Blue walked up beside me and stared at the groaning pair in the wall, "I can't believe you just did that!"

"I...I can't believe it either..." I said as Blue walked past me. He bent down and picked up something from the ground.

"It really came in handy in the end, He said in a jovial voice as he showed me what was in his hands, "your treasure, that is."

He placed it on the ground in front of me. I took one look at it and immediately screamed in horror. My precious treasure was lying on the ground, completely covered in Koffing's disgusting sludge. Worse still, it was emanating the worst stench I've ever smelled in my entire life.

"Y – y – y..." I spluttered in disbelief, my eyes bulging at the sight of my treasure in such a disgusting state.

He threw my treasure! He threw it into that disgusting gasbag's mouth as if it was a rock! I was so infuriated and disgusted that I was at a loss for words. I could only stare at Blue with the most revolted expression I could muster.

"Uh...sorry," he muttered, now realizing the gravity of what he did, "I didn't have much of a choice! There wasn't anything else around me I could use as a projectile! I asked you to buy me time was so I could find something else to thr- ow, ow, ow!"

I rounded upon him and started pounding his chest as hard as I could with my paws. I was mad, angry, furious at him!

"Ow! Fée! Stop!" He pleaded as I continued hit him, "I'm already injured! Ow!"

After a minute or two of heated pummeling, I backed off and sat down to catch my breath. Blue groaned as he picked himself up from the ground, rubbing his chest gingerly. He had an apologetic look on his face, but at the same time, he also grinned at me. I couldn't help but return his smile.

"We did it," The reality of the situation had finally dawned on me, "we beat them."

"Are you still scared, Fée?" Blue sat down next to me and patted me on the head.

"Just a little."

Blue grinned at me and I smiled back at him.

"So, what do we do with those two?" Blue said, pointing at the pair stuck in the wall.

Koffing's eyes were spinning in their sockets, while Zubat was still pinned between Koffing's body and the rock wall behind them. Without any help, those two looked like they wouldn't be able to escape for a while.

"Maybe we should just leave them there for someone else to find." Blue mused, an evil smirk crossed his face as he did so. I shook my head.

"I think we should help them out."

"Hm?" Blue sounded a little surprised, "You want to help them? After all they did to you?"

"Yeah...I know what you mean..." I replied quietly, "But if we just leave them there, wouldn't that make us just as bad as they are?"

"Hrm..." Blue pondered the thought, "I guess you have a point. It feels weird to help out our enemies though. Oh well."

In the end, he shrugged and started to walk towards the immobile pair.

"Ggghh..." I heard Zubat groan as he came to, "What...what happened?"

He tried to flap his wings, but found that he couldn't move. After a moment, he realized where he was.

"Aaagh! Koffing, you big lummox!" He screeched. I was impressed that he could still make such a shrill sound even when he was being squished like that, "Get off of me! You're crushing me!"

"Woaaah..." A dazed sound came from Koffing's mouth, "Zuuubs..."

"Geeeh!" Zubat shrieked as he futilely tried to slap Koffing over the head with his wing, "Hurry up and get it together!"

"Zuuubaaaat... I can't... I can't..."

"You can't? What do you mean you can't?! Just move, you giant gasbag!"

"Nnnnnooooo..." Koffing drawled, his voice sounding more and more strained as he tried to talk, "I mean...I can't...hold it in...anymore...!"

"W...wait, what are you...?!"

Suddenly, Koffing's body started to glow with a dim white light. The holes that surrounded his head started to pop out of his body with a sharp popping noise, and his body began to expand in size once more.

"Koffing! Stop! Don't explo–!" Zubat tried to shout, but his panicky voice was quickly silenced as Koffing's inflation completely covered him up.

"I'm soooorrryyyy...!" Koffing gurgled right before his entire body became covered in a bright light.

Blue and I glanced at each other.

"Uh oh."

The last thing I saw was Blue diving towards me. Then, everything faded to white.