Chapter 107: The Honey Thief

The instant Luo Mu and Luxray rose, the rustling sound of branches and leaves brushing against clothes and fur erupted, and at that same moment, the gazes of over a hundred Combee and their Vespiquen fixed upon them.

Hearing Hearing Nimo obediently hid in the grass, holding her breath and focusing her mind, while Growlithe and the others guarded around her to prevent any accidents.

After Luo Mu and Luxray revealed themselves, the Combee did not attack immediately; instead, they all turned their eyes toward Vespiquen.

To them, Vespiquen's commands were absolute; if Vespiquen ordered an attack, they attacked, and if Vespiquen ordered them to make way for this human and the big cat, they made way.

Vespiquen is the evolved form of female Combee, relying on pheromones to drive male Combee to build nests and raise offspring; to her, any creature invading her territory, whether human, Pokémon, or helpless animal, is a being filled with malice that should be ruthlessly expelled.

But the moment her gaze fell upon Luo Mu and Luxray, Vespiquen hesitated.

The human looked weak, yet exuded an aura of confidence.

And that big cat was even stranger; although not a trace of energy lingered around it, Vespiquen's wild instincts were screaming warnings.

Run, this opponent is one she cannot fight!!

Vespiquen remained silent for quite a while, while Luo Mu and Luxray waited calmly with expressionless faces for her decision.

After a moment, Vespiquen's ruby-like eyes closed and then opened again; she waved her arms, ordering the Combee to clear a path for Luo Mu and Luxray.

She had no certainty of victory, and that human and big cat did not appear hostile, so it was better to see what exactly they wanted to do.

Under Vespiquen's command, the large swarm of Combee immediately cleared the road to the hive, and after exchanging a glance, Luo Mu and Luxray walked toward Vespiquen's position under the Combee's "welcoming escort."

To be safe, Luo Mu did not let Hearing Nimo show herself, fearing some sudden change might occur.

Upon approaching closer, Luo Mu could not help but sigh in admiration at the supernatural craftsmanship of Pokémon; layer upon layer of hexagonal cells constituted a massive hive, which looked extremely sturdy from the outside and could likely withstand physical attacks from ordinary Pokémon.

Coupled with the presence of Vespiquen and the Combee, this hive could be said to dominate one area in the wild; no wonder he and Hearing Nimo had hardly spotted any traces of wild Pokémon along the way.

Any threatening wild Pokémon had been driven away by the Combee relying on their numbers.

"Bzz-bzz-bzz."

Vespiquen emitted a low humming sound, seemingly asking Luo Mu and Luxray what business they had to intrude upon her territory.

Luo Mu understood quite a bit about Pokémon culture and hierarchy; the best way to peacefully deal with a high-ranking controller like Vespiquen was—

Luo Mu unzipped his backpack, took out the pre-portioned Pokémon food, and smiled: "Respected Vespiquen, I wish to exchange some of this Pokémon food for some honey from your hands; I wonder if you would be willing to part with some?"

Vespiquen fell silent for an instant, then suddenly fluttered her wings and flew down from above the hive, making Hearing Nimo extremely nervous.

Luo Mu remained composed; he was confident Vespiquen would not attack, and even if she did, he could easily neutralize it.

Vespiquen flew to Luo Mu's front in a few beats, glanced at him, and used her eyes to signal for Luo Mu to follow her.

Safe on base!

The corners of Luo Mu's mouth turned up, and he shouted toward the bushes: "Hearing Nimo, along with Growlithe and Fidough, you can come out now!"

Facing Vespiquen's puzzled expression, Luo Mu smiled and said: "There shouldn't be a problem if I bring my companions along, right?"

Vespiquen nodded indifferently.

"Oh my, this is truly..."

After seeing the scene before him, Luo Mu raised his eyebrows slightly, his expression somewhat strange.

Hearing Nimo also asked curiously: "It looks like the honey storage area was forcibly pried open."

Vespiquen led the two humans to the side of the massive hive, where one of the locations for storing the nectar collected by the Combee was situated.

At this moment, holes of uneven sizes appeared in these areas; precious honey flowed all over the ground, but even more of it had been stolen and eaten by some unknown Pokémon.

Vespiquen expended considerable effort, and with Luxray's translation and relay, Luo Mu finally understood her meaning.

There was no problem with Luo Mu wanting to exchange for honey; Vespiquen was also very interested in the nutrient-rich Pokémon food, as with it she could better nurture strong offspring.

However, the fact that the honey in this hive had continuously been stolen by some unknown existence also troubled Vespiquen greatly; she proposed that if Luo Mu could help her resolve this matter and find the true culprit,

then whenever Luo Mu needed honey in the future, he could simply come over, and as long as he did not carry away more than half of the stored honey, she would give it to him for free.

After pondering, Luo Mu chose to accept this task; although it was somewhat unfair to Hearing Nimo, who wanted to catch Pokémon, this commission was nothing but beneficial to him.

The hive was not too far from the farm; after completing the commission, it would essentially become a stable source of high-quality honey, and after building a good relationship, perhaps he could even pick up a rare female Combee, and not long after bringing it back to the farm, the farm itself could produce high-quality honey.

Hearing Nimo had no complaints about this matter either; instead, she smiled brightly and said: "Catching Pokémon isn't urgent right now; if it really comes down to it, Teacher Luo Mu, you can just catch the Honey Thief and let me capture it~"

Luo Mu nodded slightly; after carefully observing the damage marks on the hive, several likely suspects quickly flashed through his mind.

First, bear-type Pokémon and Pokémon that love sweet flavors had the highest probability of being the culprit, while the likelihood of a human committing the crime was very low—

After all, humans would not be willing to waste so much honey on the ground; humans are the greediest creatures.

Considering further the distribution of ordinary Pokémon in the Paldea region, the probabilities increased for Teddiursa, Ursaring, Cubchoo, and Beartic.

In fact, the damage marks on the hive were caused by sharp dual claws; that culprit also had a very keen nose, as the destroyed areas were all cells containing honey, plus the bear-type Pokémon footprints Luo Mu discovered on the ground in the nearby bushes, making the culprit's identity obvious.

Vespiquen had mentioned that the culprit usually struck before the sun went down, that is, at dusk; at that time, for some reason, the Combee found it difficult to see their surroundings clearly, which led to over a hundred Combee failing to catch that cunning culprit for so long.

After a moment of silence, under the expectant gazes of Vespiquen, Hearing Nimo, and the Pokémon, Luo Mu laid out the battle plan.

"The plan is simple; it is the most primitive and also the easiest to succeed lure plan: first, use the containers I brought to fill some honey and place them at a fixed location, then let Pawmo dig a hole and ambush nearby. The Combee will patrol as normal; presumably, that thief will definitely be able to avoid the Combee and reach the location of the containers."

"As soon as the Honey Thief appears, Pawmo will make a little commotion, and at that moment, Luxray can step in."

Hearing Nimo asked worriedly: "But, that Pokémon's nose is so keen, easily sniffing out the cells containing honey; most likely, we cannot ambush near the containers. What if that Honey Thief slips away before we even have time to arrive?"

Vespiquen also looked at Luo Mu with worry.

The corners of Luo Mu's mouth turned up; he patted Luxray's back and said confidently: "Who do you think we are? With such a short distance, it will take only a single breath for Luxray to rush over, trailing sparks and lightning all the way."

(End of Chapter)