Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

You couldn't really blame him for being reckless—just popping a mysterious drop straight into his mouth. What if it had been bird poop?

But the truth was, he'd been confident. He had good reason to try it. The Pidgeot he saw last night had flown in from the direction of the Beedrill's territory.

Why would a Pidgeot travel that far just to grab a branch? It didn't make sense—unless you thought about what had fallen from that branch: honey. That, and the Pidgeot's motives, made it obvious.

The Pidgeot had used the rainy night as cover to raid the Beedrill's territory, probably attacking the hive with a Flying-type move and damaging it in the process.

It must've stolen some valuable things. And this morning, it had flown out to look for items that were blown away during the storm.

That snapped-off branch it carried off earlier? Solid evidence.

Reiji clearly remembered: in the Beedrill's territory, the Beedrill honey and the Charti Berry tree grew on the same trunk.

If that was really the same tree, then it explained everything—the Pidgeot's raid made sense.

Both the Beedrill honey and the Charti Berry were top-tier nutritional food for Flying-type Pokémon hatchlings.

No wonder the Pidgeot attacked at night in the rain. All of it added up.

More importantly, this meant one thing: the Pidgeot had offspring.

But that wasn't the key takeaway. The real prize was what had been dropping from the branch in the Pidgeot's talons.

Honey. Charti Berry.

To Reiji, they were treasures. To Pokémon, they were gourmet delicacies worth fighting for.

If he was lucky and followed the Pidgeot's flight path, maybe he'd find a few more fallen berries.

Time to act—and fast. As for the Wishiwashi in the puddle...

He grabbed a rag he'd picked up earlier and covered the puddle to hide the fish. The rest was up to luck and whether those damned Spearow returned.

He sealed the water buckets containing fish with foam and wooden boards, then grabbed a plastic bottle and called out to Poliwag. "Come on, let's go look for loot!"

"Wag wag!"

With the Pidgeot gone, Poliwag had recovered from the terrifying aura of the apex predator. It followed Reiji into the woods.

They hadn't gone far when they spotted a chunk of honey stuck to a branch. The sweet floral scent had already drawn a bunch of Bug-types. Reiji immediately released Caterpie to drive off its 'cousins.'

"Caterpie, chase them off! Don't let them near the honey!"

That command would surely earn the hostility of every Bug-type nearby. But unless one of them was a Pidgeot, it was just Caterpies—they'd be no problem to deal with.

"Buh buh…" Caterpie had just emerged from its Poké Ball when its eyes locked onto the honey. The floral scent was overwhelmingly enticing.

But seeing the other Caterpie eyeing the same prize, it immediately raised its head and bared its tiny teeth in warning, asserting its claim over the honey.

"No time for posturing—use String Shot! If they don't run, ram 'em!"

Every second counted. If honey was falling here, there'd be more further along.

The most likely drop points were where the branch had broken off and the path the Pidgeot had flown through. Once all the unstable honey and berries were knocked off, there'd be no more.

With Caterpie putting on a fierce act, several competitors backed off—but some stayed, and they had to be forcefully evicted.

While Caterpie fought multiple opponents, Reiji lifted Poliwag and tossed it onto the branch to scrape off the honey with its tail while he waited below with the plastic bottle.

The bottle's mouth had already been cut open. Reiji carefully caught the falling honey without spilling a drop.

"Well done. Poliwag, go help Caterpie out," he said, quickly sealing the bottle to prevent the floral scent from attracting more Pokémon.

If anything stronger than what Caterpie and Poliwag could handle showed up, they'd be mugged for sure. He needed to make this a hit-and-run.

With Poliwag's help—one Water Gun per Caterpie—they quickly cleared out the bugs. Reiji shouted to them, "Lick the rest of the honey off the branch, quick! Then we move!"

"Wag wag!" Poliwag had been holding back long enough—it stuck out its little pink tongue and went to town.

"Buh buh!" Caterpie couldn't resist either. The aroma was just too tempting.

The two of them polished off the leftover honey in a few quick licks. Then the trio set off again, following the same direction they'd observed earlier.

Pidgeot's flight path was a straight line. From the moment they entered the forest, they'd kept their bearings by comparing trees. As long as they walked straight, they wouldn't get lost.

Before long, they found another honey drop zone. Some weak little Bug-types—mostly Caterpie and Weedle—were already fighting over it. No strong Pokémon in sight. The honey was theirs for the taking.

Reiji quietly instructed Caterpie to use String Shot and lifted Poliwag up the tree again to scrape off the honey. In and out—stealth mission complete.

Once again, Reiji sealed the bottle and moved them away from the scene.

This time, he didn't ask them to lick the branch clean. They'd taken the bulk of the honey—he was fine with leaving a little behind.

Besides, they were in a hurry. Better not to waste time over crumbs.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, they came across several more honey drop zones. Some had already been eaten. Some were still being fought over—and they swooped in at just the right moment to claim them.

The further they went, the darker the forest became. As Reiji stared at the pitch-black woods ahead, his mind suddenly cleared.

He glanced down at the large plastic bottle. It was about half-full now—maybe around two pounds of honey. That was enough. Time to head back.

You had to know when to stop. Greed led to losses. Better to take the win than push their luck.

He realized that in his rush earlier, he'd been focused entirely on honey and hadn't paid attention to the Charti Berry. But he remembered clearly: several yellow, conch-like berry had fallen… he just didn't know where they'd rolled off to.

"Poliwag, Caterpie, let's head back. Keep an eye out for any of those deep-yellowi Berry on the way, okay?"

"Wag wag," Poliwag nodded and sniffed the air.

"Buh buh," Caterpie nodded too, stars sparkling in its black eyes as it stared at the half-full bottle of golden honey. What a harvest today had been.

The way back wasn't as rushed. They took their time and managed to find two Charti Berry along the way.

Without a Snubbull's nose, that was all they could find.

[End of Chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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