As Baltoy cried out, blue Confusion enveloped Yong. Under his startled gaze, Baltoy carried him floating into the cave.
"So that's it. It's beneath the mountain range?"
Floating in midair felt strange. As Yong watched the passage slope steadily downward, he understood why Torkoal had disappeared into the cave earlier.
Red markings covered the stone walls, looking as though flowing water had carved them out. Coal was plentiful here, and the passage reeked of pungent volcanic ash. Fortunately, protected by Confusion, Yong made it safely into a spacious cavern.
"Phew! It feels so good to have my feet on the ground!"
Although floating was comfortable, he had no control over his body at all, which still left him a little panicked.
He surveyed the cavern. Layers of red rock enclosed it, and a large impact crater stood out on the ground. In all likelihood, that was where Torkoal had landed earlier.
A passage on each side of the cavern led off to the left and right.
Yong examined the two openings and was just about to consider which way to go first when Baltoy used Confusion again, carrying him straight toward the left.
"Hey, hey, hey! Baltoy! Don't just use Confusion whenever you feel like it!"
"Ya~ na~!"
Ignoring the boy's panicked voice, Baltoy led the way into the passage on the left.
After floating along the winding passage for a while, they soon reached its end. Here stood a round chamber with no other exits. Heat rose from the red stone walls, leaving the interior hazy.
In the very center of the chamber, however, a red rock jutted up like a volcano, standing seventy centimeters tall. Like a real volcanic crater, its center was hollow. Searing heat rose from within the sunken rock, and black smoke billowed out continuously.