Recently, there's been a new issue in the cultivation of Berries. Previously, the Hundred Beasts had been planting Berries, but pollination relied mainly on native bees.
Bees do not actively pollinate; they complete the task indirectly while foraging. The flowers of Berries offer richer nutritional value, which means the bees can meet their needs by doing minimal work.
As the scale of Berry cultivation expanded, the inefficiency of these bees became apparent, presenting an opportunity for their transformation.
In the Pokemon World, there are quite a few Pokemon starting with "three," such as the Combee that Arceus has been improving in the forests.
Although there are several bee-type Pokemon, compared to the stronger Beedrill, the Combee with a more complete hive mind is more suited for honey collection.
As the name suggests, Combee is a Pokemon combined from three entities, like Magneton and Dugtrio. However, unlike Magneton, Combee is born with three minds as a special Pokemon, instead of evolving to combine.
Compared to regular bees, they resemble Lego toys, with hexagonal bodies assembled together.
Under the manipulation of Arceus, three bees come together to form the body of a Combee. Although these three bees now share one body, they possess a much longer future than ordinary worker bees with their short lifespans.
Because of this, the Queen Bee in their hive has also been transformed into a Vespiquen.
The original Queen Bee became the new queen. The transformed Combee have no resistance to this change.
This is the difference between Combee and Beedrill groups. Beedrill, being the final evolved form, are more numerous. Although there's a queen in their group, she commands other Beedrill.
However, Vespiquen is different. A group of Combee commonly consists of a hundred individuals, but only one Vespiquen governs them, and her commands are absolute to them.
Additionally, Vespiquen is exclusively female, unlike Miltank which corresponds to Tauros. So far, no Pokemon has been found to pair with a Vespiquen.
While Vespiquen's appearance is more bee-like than a Lego toy, she loses the small, cute aspect of Combee. Her crimson eyes and white pupils are rather intimidating.
Her unique lower half nurtures a hive-like body structure, allowing her to produce new Combee. However, most Combee still reside in their self-built hives, as Vespiquen can rear only six at a time.
"Go ahead, areas marked like this are your honey-gathering spots. But do not harm ordinary people or existing bee species."
Under Arceus's command, many Combee, led by Vespiquen, flew towards the Berry cultivation area. Although Morgans' news had some advance information, there was still some honey in reserve.
Even though special circumstances this year are bound to reduce production, it will take time for the situation to develop, giving Combee time to produce honey while the Hundred Beasts Fruit prepares to capture the market.
...
Kuri's Peach Blossom Spring Farm remains the residence of Setsuna and Zeraora, but now there are some other members of the Fur Race present.
"Duke, this is a letter from Hichugiskhan for you."
Bepo held a fax from Zou. Although he was retrieved from the North Sea by Setsuna and Zeraora, he had no intention of staying in Zou.
Though Setsuna had left Zou at a young age, she had family there, so she often returned. But Bepo's only family was Jebo, who was adventuring in the open sea with Pedro, making Bepo feel staying in Zou was pointless.
To have this successor take over sooner, Hichugiskhan used the influence of the elderly to send some young members of the Fur Race along with her, forming a team to assist her.
Bepo, having been with them along the way, naturally became a part of this team.
"No, no, burn it. I can tell from the envelope it's urging me to return and take over."
Without raising her head, Setsuna continued writing her diary. Out of the corner of his eye, Bepo seemed to see the date [February 11, 1510], but when he snapped back to attention, he met Setsuna's murderous glare.
"Bepo, what are you looking at?" Peeking at diaries is something she detested. Although Bepo was merely glancing around, if he had done it intentionally, he might end up tied to a post as target practice.
"Sorry! I'll take the letter away now."
With that, Bepo grabbed the envelope and ran off, bumping into Zeraora.
"Bepo? What's wrong? Don't be so hasty."
"So... sorry... The Duke asked me to dispose of this."
"I'm not saying you did anything wrong. Never mind, take your time with that temperament."
Seeing Bepo about to apologize again, Zeraora changed the subject. He was already accustomed to the characteristics of this bear mink, likely because of his white bear nature, which made him particularly heat-averse and emotionally fragile.
"A letter from Hichugiskhan? Give it to me, so we don't overlook something significant."
Saying so, Zeraora glanced through the letter's contents. Although Setsuna was better at this, she guessed right: the letter only contained two sentences.
[I want to retire!]
[You, hurry back to take over!]
"All right, go do your thing, but remember not to provoke those Combee."
Nowadays, more Miltank are being freely raised here, and numerous Berries are being cultivated, so Combee have been present for a while now.
And the honey from Combee has attracted Bepo, this bear mink. Due to his DNA, he couldn't resist the urge for honey, becoming the first to be attacked by Combee.
If initially the group reputation for Mareanie gave Queen a negative score, now Bepo's score with Combee is negative. But he was wronged because it happened while he was sleepwalking. Not only did he get stung without tasting honey, but he didn't even get to savor its flavor.
"Yes, I understand."
Then Bepo went to find Perona with the bear suit, as there was plenty of honey there. For themselves, a bit of honey was no issue once the yield could supply the Hundred Beasts internally and the BIG MOM Pirates, and then be sold.
Bepo is currently one of only two who have been attacked by Combee, the other being Queen, though he did it purposely to test whether their sting was potent enough, only to be disappointed.
Combee aren't toxic; even if stung, it only causes ordinary swelling, making further research on Muk more practical. The mysterious combinations within Alola Muk still haven't all been deciphered.