Chapter 31: Turf War
"We're in the middle of a turf war..." I uttered with trepidation as we watched the Combee around become increasingly agitated. Meanwhile a massive figure that, at a distance, appeared like a woman wearing a dress flew down from the giant tree at high speeds, beelining right at us.
"QUEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!"
The Pokemon, a Vespiquen, roared challengingly as she got closer, to which our Pokemon readily leapt up to protect us if need be.
"RI!" Riolu shouted as he stood in front of me defensively, his paws raised as they lit up with flames to use the move Fire Punch if necessary.
"VESSSSSSSSSS!!!" The Vespiquen roared as she halted right in front of us, watching the flames warily as she hovered off the ground.
If I had to guess I'd say she was about nine feet tall, more than twice as tall then the usual Vespiquen, and she appeared even taller due to her hovering two or three feet off of the ground as she towered over us intimidatingly. And she held that position for a second, eyeing us up and down as she scrutinized us, before focusing on me as I calmly said,
"We mean you no harm. We were just passing through when the Beedrill began attacking us, and thought this place was safe."
The entire time I was speaking I maintained eye contact with the Vespiquen, and channeled as many feelings of peace to her as I could without alarming her. Even as I did so she never once dropped her hostility, until a sound of Beedrill wings filled the air as the entire swarm approached us.
"QUEN!" The Vespiquen declared finally, before turning about and taking off to rally her Combee in order to face the swarm that was approaching.
"Ha...." I breathed out a sigh of relief as she left, before turning around just in time to catch Misty as she fell.
"Woah there!" I exclaimed while gently cradling her body, only to realize that she had passed out from the intense situation of staring down a pissed off Alpha Vespiquen.
"Over there!" I stated with a jerk of my head, directing May and Dawn to a felled log at the edge of the tree line.
The three of us hurried over there with our Pokemon right on our heels, taking the rear in case they needed to fight. And upon reaching the log we all took cover behind it as I gently set Misty down, before peeking out to watch the battle that was about to unfold.
"Shouldn't we be running away?" May asked anxiously.
"No way!" I exclaimed while pulling out my Pokenav, and pointing it at the clearing before turning on the camera.
"Can you imagine how much the professors would value footage like this?" I asked them excitedly.
As I turned my attention back to the clearing I noticed the two girls moving out of the corner of my eye, as even they pulled out their own Pokenav to begin recording for their respective professors as well.
As we began recording the sky filled with hundreds of Beedrill that zeroed in on the tree that housed the Combee hive. Meanwhile the surrounding Combee rallied to their Queen's side as Vespiquen called them all to action.
As Combee were simply fat little bumblebees shaped like three combs with faces, I wasn't too expectant of them putting up much of a fight against the more aggressive hornet-like Beedrill. So I was surprised when I saw them gathering into numerous groups as they prepared to meet the Beedrill head on.
At their Queen's order, an entire group of Combee gathered before they began to emit a pinkish must that enveloped the clearing, Sweet Scent.
As the first group of Beedrill entered the cloud of mist their movements began to slow, as the Sweet Scent lulled them with its thickly sweet aroma, dulling their reaction times as the next group of Combee began to move. The winds quickly began to whip up as they rapidly beat their little wings, before blowing the pink mist and the first wave of Beedrill down into the trees where the branches whipped and snapped at their bodies.
The remaining Beedrill in the skies became agitated as they watched several of their swarm go down, and the air was filled with their cries as they began their own attacks.
"""DRILL!"""
"""BEED!"""
A barrage of different attacks rained down from the skies as the Beedrill used their own moves, String Shot, which stuck to the Combee's bodies and wings to make them fall to the ground, Toxic Spikes, which put down a trap that poisoned all of the Combee that fell to the ground, Focus Energy and Laser Focus, both of which were moves that either sharply raised their concentration to land critical hits, or guaranteed them.
In the next second Beedrill themselves rained from the sky as they delivered a devastating blow against the Combee. Pin Missle, Fury Cutter, Fury Attack, Poison Sting, and Veno Shock, all moves that either allowed to deal numerous attacks in rapid succession, or unleash devastating damage against their opponents.
Combee rained down from above as the vicious Beedrill cut through them like wet paper, angering the Vespiquen in charge of them as she moved to enter the fray herself.
"QUEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!" She roared while moving faster than her large size suggested, activating numerous moves at once. Agility to increase her speed, Swagger to confuse all of her opponents, and Scary Face to lower their speed.
Once she was done powering herself up and debuffing the Beedrill, the Vespiquen unleashed a rapid barrage of attacks that made the Beedrill seem slow in comparison.
"VES!" She cried out while using the move Air Slash to create dozens of wind blades that sliced through her opponents, dropping the Beedrill this time from the sky in droves.
At the same time, due to their confusion, the remaining Beedrill readily attacked each other after confusing them for the Combee they were actually supposed to be fighting. And all the while the remaining Combee weren't idle either, as their followed their Queen's Attack Order and swarmed their opponents without any regard for their own lives.
Male Combee existed solely for the sake of their Queen. So long as she survived, the hive would survive.
And though they did help a little bit, it was the efforts of the Vespiquen herself that turned the tides of battle as she continued unleashing Air Slash attacks until there were barely any Beedrill left in the skies.
"QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!" She roared out to declare her victory over the Beedrill, while the few remaining Combee similarly celebrated.
"That was amazing!" Dawn exclaimed in awe of what we just witnessed.
"It was ok..." May said quietly in response.
"..."
As the two girls discussed the battle I remained quiet, my eyes on the horizon as I sensed something approaching.
"This isn't over yet." I told them seriously, making both girls look up just in time to see ANOTHER swarm of Beedrill appear over the tree line. A swarm even larger than the last one.
"Oh my Mew..." I uttered as my aura enhanced sight showed me not only numerous shiny Beedrill amongst the swarm, but no less than ten Alpha Beedrill amongst them.
The three of us kept our cameras recording as the second swarm bore down onto the Vespiquen and the Combee hive, and the Queen prepared to do battle with the other Alphas.
"A battle of Alphas!" I exclaimed excitedly at the rare opportunity, which any professor would kill to see.
Seeing the new wave of Beedrill bearing down onto them, Vespiquen and few Combee that were left began readying themselves as she cried out challengingly,
"VESSSSSSSSSSSSSP!"
"""BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!""" The Alpha Beedrill roared back challengingly as they charged her.
"QUEN!" Vespiquen cried as she channeled more flying type energy than she had before, unleashing it in a massive Hurricane that tore through the enemy Beedrill lines. And though it was just a drop in the bucket compared to her, her Combee assisted by supplying their own Gust to power the Hurricane even further.
As the Hurricane whipped and tore at the Beedrill, a powdery substance was simultaneously being emitted from Vespiquen's body as she used the move Pollen Puff.
The pollen was rapidly sucked into the Hurricane by the powerful gales, exploding as it impacted the opposing Beedrill to fill the air with smoke that obstructed everyone's view.
"W-what's going on?" Misty uttered as she was awoken by the explosion.
"Nothing much. Just a battle between armies of Beedrill and Combee, both being led by Alphas." I told her nonchalantly.
"Oh..... Is that all...?" She uttered sarcastically.
Though I was tempted to respond in an equally sarcastic tone, before I could I was distracted by the Alpha Beedrill exiting the cloud of smoke as they rushed the Vespiquen.
A shimmering sphere of energy encased Vespiquen's body as they reached her, which deflected their attacks right before they could connect. With each attack deflected by her Protect though, the shield got weaker and weaker.
It was then that I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, a single Combee that was slowly fluttering away from the rest of them as the battle waged on.
"Hold this, and keep filming." I told Misty as I handed her my Pokenav and took off my bag, leaving all three of them confused as I told Riolu to stay with them, and took off into the brush.
Even as the sounds of combat echoed down from above I kept my focus and hurried towards the wayward Combee as, if my assumption was correct, then it would be well worth me checking it out. But naturally I had to move quietly to avoid any of the warring Pokemon noticing me.
"Bee bee bee! Bee bee bee!" I could hear the little Combee sing without any sense of urgency as I approached it, allowing me to get close enough that I was able to make out all of the details on it. And as I did so, I noticed a small red patch on the lower center comb's forehead, confirming my suspicion about why it wasn't attacking along with the rest of the hive.
With an empty Pokeball in one hand, I used the other to throw a rock over the Combee's head into the brush on the other side, drawing its attention that way as I rushed forward.
"Gotcha!" I exclaimed as I tapped the Pokeball to the Combee, which promptly sucked it inside before it had time to figure out what had happened. And for a second the Pokeball wiggled as the Combee within struggled to get out, before it finally settled with a small 'ding'.
"Yes!" I exclaimed while pumping my fist, before I suddenly felt extreme bloodthirst being directed at me.
I turned around just in time to see a battered and bruised Vespiquen flying at me at her top speed, her claw-like hands crossed as she focused bug type energy in them.
"QUEEEEEEN!" She roared and, before I could react, swiped her claws in an X at me, creating an X shaped blade of energy that rapidly approached me.
An amber colored wall of energy flickered before me as I tried to block the attack, but before I could solidify the barrier, the X-Scissor shattered it.
"Gah!" I cried out as the X shaped energy sliced into my chest, dulled to the point of non-lethality by my barrier, but still hitting me hard enough to slice me open.
Immediately following it the Alpha Vespiquen seized me in her talons and held me up in the air over her head, dangling me over ten feet off the ground as her bloodlust assaulted me. Meanwhile her other claw was raised up as it glowed with energy, probably preparing to use a move like Slash or something.
"She'll be safe with me!" I declared to her, making the Vespiquen pause.
"I'll protect her and train her to be strong, like you!!" I swore while conveying as much of my intent as I could to her through my aura.
Time seemed to slow as the Vespiquen and I stared at each other, with the Alpha Beedrill slaughtering the rest of the Combee in the background, and my shirt becoming increasingly soaked with blood from my wound.
"Guh!" I groaned as she dropped me suddenly, and turned about to face the remaining Beedrill.
"Quen...." She stated firmly, before returning to the battle.
"I swear." I uttered quietly, before ducking into the bushes once more while ignoring the pain from my chest.
I carefully pulled the opened zipper on my Ranger jacket up as I moved to cover the wound for now, as this wasn't necessarily the best time or place to clean and dress it. Plus I didn't have my bag with me.
I hurried back as quickly as I could without agitating my wounds more than I needed to, all while the sounds of battle continued overhead. So far the Vespiquen was holding her own against the numerous Alpha opponents thanks to her type advantage, but that won't last forever.
When I reached the girls they looked to me with concern as I retrieved my bag, before saying, "Be ready to leave. Vespiquen isn't going to last much longer, and I REALLY don't want to hang around to be found by those Alpha Beedrill."
Though they still appeared concerned for me, the three girls nodded grimly as they prepared to do just that. I also noticed Riolu and Pidgeot's concern for me through our link, but tried to reassure them that I was fine.
I glanced upwards to see Vespiquen locked in desperate combat with the other Alphas, but it was obvious that she was losing.
With each passing second she was being driven more and more into a corner by her opponents, until I saw her use a move that made Vespiquen's body shimmer as her shadow seemed to stretch out to the attacking Beedrill.
"Destiny Bond..." I uttered right as a trio of Beedrill attacked her, driving their stingers directly through her head, upper and lower body to destroy entire chunks of her. And as they did so the Destiny Bond Vespiquen set activated, and the three Beedrill that killed her all fell to the ground, similarly dead.
"Time to go." I told the girls as I turned the camera in my Pokenav off. But, before we could turn to leave, I saw the seven remaining Alpha Beedrill turn towards us threateningly, while a whole new swarm appeared over the treeline.
"How many Beedrill are in that fucking hive!?!"