Chapter 63: Plan
"Combee?" The old man said with a smile, "They're a great choice! Put them in the pasture, and they'll automatically collect nectar and bring it back to you."
Naoki nodded but was a bit confused. Combee were social Pokémon, born in groups of three and loyal to their Vespiquen queen. They would work tirelessly with the other Combee, gathering sweet nectar for the queen from morning till night, all for the sake of their colony.
But the Combee at the Pokémon Center didn't seem to need a queen.
Thinking of this, Naoki asked, "If I buy Combee, do I also need to buy a Vespiquen?"
The old man understood his concern and shook his head with a smile. "Of course not. The Combee we sell to customers are different from wild ones. They've been specially bred and can survive independently without a Vespiquen."
"In other words, to them, you, the one who feeds and cares for them, are the 'queen' of this group of Combee."
Naoki: "..."
Although it sounded a bit odd, he understood the concept.
The old man continued, "Combee live in one hive as a group of. If there are large flower fields nearby, they produce honey very quickly and can be harvested once a day."
"But on the other hand, if there are few flowers nearby, their honey production rate will also drop significantly."
Naoki nodded thoughtfully. "Then I'll buy one set first."
He had originally wanted to save money to expand his house and improve his quality of life. But now, it seemed it would take a while to save up two million Pokédollars, so it was better to focus on building the ranch's infrastructure first.
Things like the hive for the Combee, the Pokémon shelter for raising Miltank, the pen for the Skiddo, and so on.
"Okay," the old man smiled. "I'll have Rachel deliver the Combee and the feed to you later."
Rachel was the old man's granddaughter, the girl who had delivered the chickens to Naoki before. She worked as a delivery person here.
Naoki nodded, paid, and returned to the ranch.
After taking his medicine with hot water and waiting for about ten minutes, Rachel, the round-faced girl with freckles, arrived at the ranch.
She greeted Naoki politely, "Hello, Mr. Naoki!"
Naoki nodded at her. "Hello, Rachel."
He helped Rachel unload the chicken feed into the silo, then turned his attention to the beehive on the tricycle.
The beehive looked like a square cabin with a triangular roof, supported by four pillars at the bottom and a square opening in the front. Peering inside through the entrance, Naoki saw three Combee huddled together, timidly observing the outside world.
They were quite cute, like little blocks of honey with wings. All three seemed to be male, as Naoki didn't see any red markings on their lower faces, a characteristic of female Combee.
Unlike females, male Combee couldn't evolve into Vespiquen. In a colony, they typically served as worker bees, diligently collecting honey for their queen.
"Mr. Naoki, where should we put this hive?" Rachel asked.
Naoki pointed to the grassy area near the cabin. "Just put it there!"
It was close to the house and faced the flower fields, making it convenient for honey collection.
Rachel nodded, placed the hive, said goodbye to Naoki, and left.
Naoki walked up to the three Combee, crouched down, looked at them, and greeted them warmly. "Hi, Combee! My name is Naoki. I'm the owner of this ranch. Please take care of me from now on!"
The three Combee sensed the kindness in his voice and relaxed a bit.
Seeing this, Naoki went back inside and brought out some berries and snacks, hoping to feed them and improve their relationship.
But the Combee only sniffed at the food and then retreated without eating it.
"Huh? You don't eat berries?" Naoki was surprised. He thought berries were something all Pokémon enjoyed.
"I forgot to ask Rachel earlier."
After a moment's thought, Naoki went back inside and found the "Rancher's Guide" left to him by Mayor Thomas Clavell. He finally found the information about Combee's diet in the "Pokémon Raising" section.
"Combee are unique Pokémon. Most of the time they don't need to be fed artificially, as they'll go out and find pollen and nectar on their own," the old man explained.
"But during rainy weather or winter, the bees in the hive usually won't go out. If the rain lasts too long, beekeepers can feed them syrup to replenish their energy and nutrition."
"However, it's important to note that before winter arrives, beekeepers must leave some honey in the hive for the Combee. They rely on this honey to survive the season when there are no flowers."
"Syrup?" Naoki mentally noted the information and decided to buy some tomorrow when he went to town to learn how to make Poké Puffs. Because of his fever today, he couldn't visit the dessert shop and had to postpone his plans until tomorrow.
At that moment, the three Combee started leaving the hive, actively exploring the outside world.
Although the flower field had just been planted and hadn't bloomed yet, there were other flowers in the pasture. It was springtime, and many wildflowers grew in the grass, attracting numerous butterflies. In the past, Cyclizar would often run over to catch them for fun.
The Combee also followed the scent and found the wildflowers. They flapped their transparent little wings and hovered above, gently collecting pollen and nectar. They ate some themselves and took the rest back to the hive to store and make honey.
Seeing they start working as soon as they arrived at the ranch, Naoki couldn't help but think, "They're really hardworking!"
He also had to work hard.
Naoki thought of the thief who had broken into the chicken coop and formulated a plan to capture it. He then found Butterfree.
"Butterfree, can you use Stun Spore or Sleep Powder now?" Naoki asked.
"Butterfree~" Butterfree nodded happily. Not only that, it could also use the even more powerful String Shot!
"Very good, then I have a task for you."
Naoki explained his plan to Butterfree, then went to the chicken coop and set up a simple mechanism using tools from the ranch. As soon as the coop door was pushed open, it would make a sound, alerting Butterfree to use Sleep Powder on the intruder.
Everything was ready; all that was left was to wait for the culprit to take the bait.
....
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