Chapter 208: Shiny Combee

Aven praised without reservation.

With these saplings, he could soon cultivate a small grove of White Apricorn trees.

Delighted, Vileplume lifted her large petals, her eyes squinting in joy.

"Vileplume, stay here and take good care of these saplings."

"And use your abilities to gather as many Oddish as you can from the surrounding area."

Aven looked toward the deeper parts of the Black Forest.

Beyond here lay territories of even stronger beasts—and the number of Oddish there was limited.

Vileplume nodded solemnly, indicating she would definitely complete the task.

"Skuntank, I'll also have to trouble you to continue guarding the White Apricorn tree."

Skuntank, eager to prove itself, had no objections at all. If it meant being able to leave with Aven, it would give its all to complete the mission!

Satisfied, Aven nodded. He planned to take the other Pokémon to search the surrounding area again, looking for other possible White Apricorn trees or berry seedlings.

Berry seeds often scatter around the base of a White Apricorn tree, so if they found a mature tree, they might also be able to collect some seedlings.

After giving a few more instructions to the two Pokémon, Aven rode his Mightyena and continued exploring deeper into the Black Forest with Rhydon and the others.

Shinx, having been healed, had fully recovered and was now running ahead, scouting the path.

However, they had clearly left Shinx's familiar territory by now, so it moved cautiously.

They were already approaching the heart of the Black Forest, where intermediate-level Pokémon were quite common—and advanced-level ones could even be found.

Take the Torterra that Aven had captured, for example—its strength was that of an advanced -level Pokémon, and even so, it wasn't the strongest in its area.

Some powerful groups even had more than one advanced-level beast. Even bringing in a true King-rank beast would require caution here.

Buzz—buzz—buzz...

As they advanced, a loud and chaotic buzzing suddenly filled the air.

Aven stopped and looked in the direction of the sound. His expression instantly grew serious.

In the next moment, under heightened alert, they saw a swarm of Pokémon suddenly burst from the forest.

"Those are... Combee!"

Aven's eyes lit up with recognition. He immediately identified them as Combee—Pokémon that looked like three honeycomb cells joined together, each cell featuring a bee-like face. The top two had an antenna and a wing each!

Upon seeing this kind of Pokémon, Aven was genuinely excited.

He knew Combee could collect nectar and produce Honey, a highly nutritious and valuable supplement!

Since Combee were present, their nest had to be nearby—and where there was a Combee hive, there would be a good amount of honey to collect!

Buzz—buzz—buzz...

The Combee had clearly noticed Aven and his team as intruders, and rapidly began to surround them.

Seeing this, Rhydon, Mightyena, and the other Pokémon immediately closed ranks around Aven, watching the Combee warily.

While these Pokémon didn't seem powerful individually, there were simply too many of them—forty or fifty at least.

If a fight really broke out, they were confident they could handle it, but protecting Aven in the middle of the chaos would be extremely difficult.

Even Froslass, who usually stayed hidden around Aven, appeared to help intimidate the approaching Combee.

"Everyone, don't act rashly.

Let's fall back first—we shouldn't engage them head-on," Aven ordered.

He slowly retreated with the group, withdrawing far enough until they exited the Combee's territory.

Just as expected, the swarm stopped following once they had left the area, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

"If Combee are here, there must be a Vespiquen as well."

"If we really fought, and the Vespiquen showed up, things would get very dangerous."

Aven glanced back at the still-alert Combee and told his Pokémon,

"It looks like this is the Vespiquen's territory."

Rhydon scratched its head. It honestly felt these Combee were weak—one Rock Slide would knock out a whole bunch.

"You can't measure Combee's combat strength based solely on individual power."

"Vespiquen has three command moves: Attack Order, Defend Order, and Heal Order."

"Under her command, the Combee act as one and become far more dangerous in battle!"

"Just from the number of patrolling Combee, we can estimate that this Vespiquen's colony likely has several hundred—maybe even a thousand—Combee."

"A colony that size, paired with a advanced-level Vespiquen, could even challenge a King-rank beast."

Aven continued explaining Vespiquen to his Pokémon so they wouldn't underestimate it if they ever encountered one unexpectedly.

Hearing this, Rhydon scratched its head again. Why did that make it more eager to try fighting the Vespiquen?

"Meow meow!"

Shinx trotted over and asked whether they should go around or head back.

"Let's wait for nightfall—then we'll scout again."

Aven's eyes narrowed with determination.

It wasn't often one stumbled across a Combee colony, and he wanted to at least get a better look.

If he could somehow capture that Vespiquen, he might even gain a terrifying Combee army.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking—Vespiquen were extremely proud Pokémon, and wild ones were almost impossible to tame.

Moreover, Combee under her control carried her pheromones in their bodies, making them utterly loyal and impossible to betray her.

That meant as long as the Vespiquen was still around, capturing a single Combee was unlikely.

Only if the Vespiquen died due to some accident would the Combee regain their freedom—and only then could they possibly be tamed.

As for professional beekeepers who raised Combee, they usually began by raising Combee themselves, then carefully nurtured one into a Vespiquen.

That Vespiquen could then control other Combee, slowly expanding the colony until a full beekeeping operation was formed.

Now, Aven was seriously considering starting his own Combee breeding facility.

In his previous life, he'd learned that the honey produced by Combee was an incredibly rare and valuable supplement—something a Pokémon breeder like him would naturally be interested in.

"RHY!" "Lil!" "Plume!" "Lass!"

His Pokémon all nodded in agreement, vowing to protect him when the time came.

Time passed quickly, and night soon fell. The darkness thickened across the Black Forest.

Cherrim on Aven's shoulder had now entered its Overcast Form, wrapping itself up in purple petals.

Seeing this, Aven placed it gently into his backpack to rest.

He then set the backpack under a tree, leaving Rhydon and Tangela to guard it.

Rhydon: (°°).

"No choice—you stand out too much," Aven explained.

"We're sneaking in this time—not looking to fight the Vespiquen."

Reluctantly, Rhydon accepted this, but if a fight did break out, it would rush over immediately.

Tangela, more laid-back by nature, seemed relieved it wouldn't need to battle, promising to keep a close eye on Rhydon.

With everything arranged, Aven set off with Petilil, Mightyena, Shinx, and Froslass, carefully creeping toward the Vespiquen's domain.

Combee were classic diurnal Pokémon. At night, they would cluster tightly together and sleep in their hive,

so nighttime was the safest window to explore their territory—without worrying about getting swarmed.

They darted quietly through the woods.

Shinx continuously scanned for electric signals to detect any threats.

Mightyena, a nocturnal Pokémon, could see clearly even in total darkness.

Froslass, a Ghost-type, was even more formidable in the night—it was practically her element.

Only Petilil looked around nervously. Surrounded by darkness, she had no idea where they were and suddenly found herself a bit envious of Shinx.

She wondered—could she learn that electric sensing ability too?

"Growl—"

Suddenly, Mightyena stopped in its tracks.

Aven cautiously peeked ahead—and his eyes widened.

In the distance, among a cluster of tall trees, numerous beehives were stacked together.

"Those are... White Apricorn trees!"

Bathed in the faint glow of moonlight, Aven recognized them instantly.

He grew excited—there were dozens of White Apricorn trees here. Once they bore fruit, the sight would be spectacular.

He finally realized that the White Apricorn trees in this part of the forest had probably been brought here by the Combee.

The one tree they'd found earlier must've been a rare seed that happened to spread from here and grow successfully.

"Lass~"

Froslass revealed herself and asked Aven what they should do next.

Aven's expression turned thoughtful as he looked at the massive Combee hive.

As he suspected, there were easily over a thousand Combee here—he didn't have the power to take on a Vespiquen commanding that many.

"We're heading back. This colony is beyond what we can handle right now," Aven said, shaking his head.

But his gaze lingered on the massive hive.

Just being able to capture one or two Combee would already be a win.

Then—his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Outside the hive, a single orange-red Combee stood out starkly among the sea of yellow ones.

Unlike the others, this one was clearly different in color—and it was keeping away from the rest, even sleeping alone.

"It's a shiny Combee... and a rare one at that."

Aven's eyes gleamed.

Shiny Pokémon were those with a body color different from their species' norm—kind of like albinism in animals.

Though aside from their coloration, shiny Pokémon weren't functionally different,

this uniqueness often made them stand out in their groups.

Without their natural coloring, shiny Pokémon faced more brutal natural selection—often becoming targets for predators.

But if they managed to survive, they were usually stronger than their peers and could even become leaders of their group.

However, sometimes their strange appearance made them outcasts—just like this orange-red Combee.

As highly communal creatures, Combee had strong group identities.

And in their colony, only the Vespiquen was allowed to lead.

Even if another Combee was of the same species, if it served a different queen, it would be seen as an outsider.

(End of Chapter)