章 544: The only victim
Recently, there has been an issue with the cultivation of Berries. Before this, while growing Berries, the Beasts Pirates relied mainly on local bees for pollination.
Bees are not proactive in pollination; they indirectly complete the task while foraging. Berries' flowers provide more nutritious value, meaning bees can fulfill their needs with minimal effort.
As the Berry production expanded, the bees' slacking behavior no longer suffices. With the new situation arising, the bees welcomed the opportunity for their own modification.
In the Pokémon world, there are many Pokémon whose names start with 'three', such as the Combee that Arceus was currently modifying in the mountains. [*TN:There is a letter three in Combee's name.]
Although there is more than one type of bee-like Pokémon, Combee, with a more cohesive hive mind than the battle-focused Beedrill, is better suited for honey collection.
As the name suggests, Combee is also a Pokémon that, like Magneton and Dugtrio, consists of three individuals combined. However, unlike Magneton and Dugtrio, Combee is not three separate Pokémon evolved together, but rather a special Pokémon with three minds from birth.
Compared to regular bees, they look more like LEGO toys, with hexagonal bodies combined together.
Under Arceus's control, the three bees combined to form Combee's body. Although they now share one body, unlike regular worker bees with short lifespans, these Combee have a longer future ahead.
Their hive's queen bee was also transformed into a Vespiquen.
With the original queen bee as their new queen, these modified Combee showed no signs of resistance.
This is the difference between Combee and the Beedrill colony. Beedrill, being the final evolution, has a larger population. Although there are queens in the colony, they can also command other Beedrill.
However, Vespiquen is different. Combee typically form groups of a hundred, with only one Vespiquen per group, and her orders are absolute for Combee.
Furthermore, Vespiquen is exclusively female, unlike Miltank, which has Tauros as its counterpart. So far, no Pokémon has been found that pairs with Vespiquen.
While the Vespiquen resembles a bee more than a LEGO toy, it loses Combee's small and cute appearance and appears slightly terrifying with its red eyes and white compound eyes.
Its unique lower body has a body structure similar to a honeycomb, which it can use to raise baby Combee. However, most Combee still live in nests they build themselves, because Vespiquen can only raise six at most.
"Go, this marked area is where you will collect honey. But don't harm ordinary people or existing bee species."
Following Arceus' command, a large number of Combee, under the leadership of Vespiquen, flew towards the Berry planting area. Although Morgans' information had given them a head start, there was still some reserve of honey.
Although there will undoubtedly be a reduction in production this year due to special circumstances, it will take some time for the situation to escalate. So, during this period, Combee will be producing honey, while Beasts Fruits will make preparations to seize the market.
....
Kuri's Paradise Farm, Setsuna and Zeraora were still living here, but now with a few additional Minks.
"Duchess, this is a letter for you from Hitsugisukan," Bepo said, holding a fax from Zou Island. Even though Setsuna and Zeraora brought him back from North Blue, he had no intention of going back to Zou Island.
While Setsuna sneaked away from Zou Island at a young age, she had family there, so she would often go back. However, Bepo only had Zepo as family, and currently Zepo was with Pedro adventuring through the seas. So, staying on Zou Island didn't seem appealing to him.
Hitsugisukan, wanting the successor to take over sooner, used the elder's prestige to send some young Minks to follow her, creating a team to help her with tasks.
Bepo, having traveled with them for a while, had become familiar with them and was naturally included.
"No, no, just burn it. I can tell from the envelope that he is urging me to return and take over."
Setsuna continued writing in her diary without looking up. From the corner of his eyes, Bepo caught a glimpse of words [February 11, Year 1510], but when he came back to his senses, he met Setsuna's deadly glare.
"Bepo, what are you looking at?" She detests when anyone peeks into her diary. Although Bepo just glanced at it casually, if he did it intentionally, he might find himself tied to a post as a target.
"I'm sorry! I'll take the letter away."
Saying that, Bepo took the envelope and ran off to somewhere else, only to bump into Zeraora.
"Bepo? What's wrong? Don't be so restless all the time."
"I-I'm sorry...Duchess asked me to throw this away."
"I didn't mean that you made a mistake. Forget it. Just take it easy."
Seeing Bepo about to apologize again, Zeraora swiftly changed the subject. He was already familiar with this Bear Mink's personality; perhaps because of being a polar bear, Bepo was particularly sensitive to heat and had a very low mental toughness.
"Letter from Hitsugisukan? Give it to me; don't want to miss anything important."
Zeraora took the letter and quickly skimmed through it, though he wasn't as good as Setsuna in this regard. She had guessed it right; the letter only contained two sentences:
[I'm retiring!]
[Hurry back and take over!]
"Alright, go about your business. Just remember not to provoke those Combee."
More Miltank are now being raised here, and many Berries are also being cultivated, so Combee has been appearing here for a while now.
Bepo, being a bear, couldn't resist the allure of Combee's honey, making him the first victim of Combee's attacks.
If Queen had a negative reputation among Mareanies initially, then Bepo now has a negative reputation among Combee. However, he felt that he was unfairly treated because he did it while sleepwalking. Not only did he get stung for no reason, but he also didn't even get to experience what honey tastes like.
"Yes, I understand."
Afterward, Bepo went to find Perona and Bewear, where there was plenty of honey. For their own people, a bit of honey wasn't a big deal. The production was sufficient to supply internally to the Beasts Pirates and then sold externally to the Big Mom Pirates.
Bepo was one of the only two people who had been attacked by Combee so far, the other being Queen, but that was intentional on his part to test the strength of their venom, which left him dissatisfied.
Combee is not very poisonous. Even if it stings, it will only cause mild swelling. It is far better to continue to study Muk. He has not been able to fully decode the mysterious combinations inside Alolan Muk even to this day.
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