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After defeating the Beedrill and Weedle in front of him, the remaining Beedrill in the hive who were still capable of moving seemed to lose their will to fight. Multiple defeats had made them realize that Sato was an unbeatable opponent. In order to avoid total annihilation, they had no choice but to abandon the hive and flee.
"What's going on? They're actually running away. Well, this works out for me. Now I won't have to deal with any more obstacles," Sato thought with a strange look on his face as he watched the healthy, uninjured Beedrill flee the hive and scatter in all directions.
Sato had expected the typically fierce Beedrill to defend their hive at all costs and fight to the bitter end, but to his surprise, the anticipated final battle never came. Instead, the Beedrill chose to flee, which caught him off guard.
In truth, the Beedrill's decision to abandon the hive wasn't just because they were afraid of Sato and his Pokémon. More importantly, their colony was on the brink of extinction. If the remaining Beedrill were defeated by Sato and his team, the entire colony would have no hope left.
Sato's previous decision not to kill the Beedrill, leaving them alive but injured, was a major reason for the Beedrill colony's current crisis. The large number of injured Beedrill had become a heavy burden on the hive.
Naturally, the Beedrill could not ignore their injured comrades who had fought for the colony. They fed the injured Beedrill the best honey in the hopes that they would recover quickly and contribute to the hive again.
However, as the number of injured Beedrill increased, the labor force capable of collecting honey diminished. To support these injured Beedrill, the hive's stores of honey were rapidly consumed.
Now, the number of injured Beedrill exceeded the number of healthy workers able to gather honey. The consumption of honey outpaced its production, and to make matters worse, four days ago, the Ursaring clan had taken more than half of the hive's honey. The hive's honey reserves were nearly depleted.
If the remaining Beedrill capable of collecting honey were all captured by Sato and his team, even if Sato chose not to kill them, the Beedrill would soon starve to death.
Although the fighting Beedrill had fled the hive, there were still many injured Beedrill and Weedle larvae inside. Entering recklessly could be dangerous.
For safety, Sato ordered Zubat to create strong winds around the giant hive and had Gloom release Sleep Powder to ensure that all the creatures inside would fall into a deep sleep.
Over the course of about ten minutes, Sato had Zubat and Gloom cool down the entire hive with blasts of wind. Then, Zubat used its ultrasonic waves to confirm that most of the Beedrill and Weedle inside were now in a forced sleep state. Confident, Sato led his two Pokémon into the hive.
The "R" mark on the top of the hive clearly wasn't just a coincidence. If Sato's guess was correct, the Team Rocket item he was searching for in this forest was inside the hive.
The massive hive, built by the Beedrill, was both sturdy and intricately structured. The Beedrill had also designed wide passages inside the hive for easy movement, and these were spacious enough for Sato to walk through comfortably.
As he walked through the Beedrill-built hive, Sato noticed several small chambers after only a few steps. These were the living spaces of the Beedrill, and inside each of the numerous small chambers, most of which were located on two levels, lay a Beedrill soldier, sound asleep from their injuries.
Sato wasn't interested in the injured Beedrill. Guided by Zubat's ultrasonic waves, he quickly navigated the maze-like hive and found the correct path leading to the top.
The top area of the hive was the nursery, where many eggs containing Weedle were stored. Some Weedle that had already hatched were also fast asleep, completely unaware of Sato and his team's arrival.
Finally, with Zubat's help, Sato found his target in one of the nurseries at the very top of the hive. A black backpack, marked with an "R," was quietly embedded in the hive's wall.
Thanks to the repellent smell coming from the backpack (due to insect repellent), it hadn't been damaged by the Beedrill and remained intact, still embedded in the wall.
"This should be the mission item," Sato thought as he eyed the "R" on the backpack. "It was really well hidden. This hive is so big that without Zubat's help, it could've taken me all day to find it."
Sato quickly pulled the black backpack from the wall, not even bothering to check its contents, and immediately stored it in the storage space of his Team Rocket watch. Then, he and his Pokémon, Zubat and Gloom, retraced their steps to the lower part of the hive.
Since Gloom's Sleep Powder would only keep the Beedrill asleep for about half an hour, Sato knew he had to move quickly. Now that he was in the heart of the Beedrill's hive, it would be a waste not to grab some loot before leaving.
As for what kind of loot was available in the hive, it was none other than the high-quality honey produced by the Beedrill. While Sato had never tasted Beedrill honey himself, he had seen its description in Team Rocket's internal points exchange system and knew exactly how valuable it was.
Compared to regular bee-produced honey, Beedrill honey not only had higher nutritional value but was also a premium food for Pokémon. It had the added benefits of quickly restoring energy and healing injuries, making it a natural recovery and healing product. Wild Beedrill honey, in particular, was known to be even more effective.
As a result, wild Beedrill honey was incredibly valuable. In the Team Rocket points exchange system, 1 liter of wild Beedrill honey was priced at 500 points, and it was often out of stock.
The Beedrill hive's honey storage room was located at the very bottom of the hive. With Zubat leading the way, Sato soon arrived in the storage room, where hexagonal honeycombs were quietly storing honey, each sealed with a wax-like substance.
However, out of the hundreds of honeycombs in the room, only 23 still contained honey. The storage was surprisingly low.
"Only this much left? Looks like these guys didn't forget to take their wealth with them before leaving. Oh well, the honey that's left should last me quite a while," Sato thought as he observed the nearly empty storage room. He quickly and efficiently stored 21 honeycombs—each sealed with beeswax—in the storage space of his Team Rocket watch.
(Note: Each beeswax-sealed honeycomb contained about 3 liters of honey, so Sato ended up with 61 liters of honey in total.)
After confirming that there was no more honey left in the storage room, Sato and his two Pokémon swiftly left the Beedrill hive and made their way back toward his current residence.
However, just after Sato and his team left the hive, a strange distortion appeared in the shadows. Suddenly, a shadowy figure darted along the ground, swiftly disappearing into the forest.
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