Whether or not Haruki had tricked Metang was unclear, but there was no way he'd harm it on purpose.
Thinking again about the delicious taste of Indium-tungsten Ore, Metang eventually gave in and ate it.
Turns out you can be both strong and stylish.
After dinner, Haruki sat on the grass with his Pokémon, enjoying the rare sunset over the sea of flowers.
The busy Bug-type Pokémon had all flown home, with only a few mischievous Beautifly still playing under the evening sun.
Haruki looked at his three Pokémon companions.
Marowak was focused on twirling its bone, clearly finding it far more fascinating than any sunset.
Skiploom's flower crown spun slowly, its body gently bobbing up and down, completely captivated.
Metang stayed silently to the side, dazing out with its blood-red eyes fixed on the flower field… who knows what it was thinking.
Maybe not every partner could understand why Haruki liked watching sunsets, but with them by his side, he felt completely content.
---
The night passed peacefully.
The next morning, Haruki continued his journey riding Metang.
Flying was always faster than walking, so by mid-morning, he had already reached the second water source marked on his map.
"Let's rest there for a bit."
"Meta~"
Knowing they had a full day of flying ahead, Metang didn't push itself. It obediently landed by the pond.
And just from yesterday afternoon to this morning, Metang realized its control over Confusion had clearly improved.
Being able to get stronger while traveling made Metang even more willing to continue.
As usual, Haruki and Marowak began preparing lunch, while Metang and Skiploom huddled together to chat.
But before the food was even ready, a disturbance rippled through the flower field, countless Bug-type Pokémon suddenly scattered in a frenzy.
Marowak immediately tensed up, gripping its club tightly and watching the sky.
Metang and Skiploom quickly flew back to Haruki, scanning their surroundings.
Once the nearby Pokémon had all scattered, a massive swarm of Combee surged forth like a plague of locusts.
Seeing that they were flying directly toward the pond, Haruki didn't dare linger. He didn't even bother packing the table and chairs; he jumped onto Metang and prepared to flee.
"SKIP!"
But at that moment, Skiploom shouted and pointed in another direction. Haruki looked and immediately cursed.
'Another swarm?!'
This one wasn't Combee, but a formation made up of Mothim and Wormadam.
The slower Wormadam were being carried on the backs of Mothim, forming aerial tandem units.
As Haruki recalled Marowak, mounted Metang, and grabbed Skiploom to flee the area, the two swarms clashed violently mid-air.
Watching the flowers below being destroyed in the chaos, Haruki couldn't help but scoff internally.
'So now you're not unified in righteous fury anymore, huh?'
He patted Metang, signaling it to pull back and stay low, hiding within the flower field.
In the wild, interspecies wars among Pokémon were nothing new, especially during times of resource scarcity.
'But in this flower field, Bug-type Pokémon had access to seemingly endless resources. So why were they fighting?'
As Haruki pondered this, the battle between the two sides had already escalated, with both suffering visible casualties.
Combee were weak individually, but they outnumbered the Mothim several times over and worked in perfect coordination.
For the moment, both sides were evenly matched.
But before long, a giant Mothim, nearly five times the size of a regular one, burst forth. Its overwhelming aura instantly stunned the Combee "forces".
In the blink of an eye, many Combee were knocked out of the air, smashing into and destroying numerous flowers.
Seeing this, Haruki had Metang back up even farther.
Metang's eyes, however, were glowing with excitement, it couldn't wait to battle the giant Mothim.
"You can't go. That big guy won't fight you directly. It'll just send its underlings to gang up on you," Haruki advised.
Metang wasn't dumb. Its fighting spirit faded, replaced by a frustrated sigh.
Haruki gave it a consoling pat, though his own thoughts were elsewhere. 'Why hadn't the leader of the Combee shown up yet?'
And just as he thought that.
The queen finally appeared.
A giant Vespiquen, several times larger than normal, slowly emerged from the rear of the swarm.
In an instant, all the Combee seemed to regain their backbone, their fighting spirit surging severalfold.
"What are they eating to grow that big?"
On the other side, Haruki muttered under his breath, another thought forming in his mind.
'Could they be... Totem Pokémon?'
On the battlefield, Vespiquen raised one hand, and all the Combee flew back in perfect unison, forming a formation around her.
The giant Mothim let out a long cry as well, and the Mothim with their Wormadam "passengers" retreated too, though their movements were noticeably more chaotic.
Meanwhile, the Combee were now organized into three phalanxes surrounding Vespiquen.
Then, red light shimmered around Vespiquen's body. With a flick of her right hand, one of the Combee formations soared forward, unleashing a coordinated Gust attack on the Mothim!
A single Gust from one Combee is weak.
But an entire Combee squadron using Gust in unison? It conjured a massive twister on the spot!
"Metang, Skiploom, fall back again!"
Haruki immediately shouted the order. Thankfully, they had already stayed at a safe distance.
Those Mothim directly facing the twister weren't nearly as lucky.
Those with Wormadam on their backs who could use Protect managed to hold on, but the lone Mothim were swept into the twister in the blink of an eye. Their bodies were torn apart mid-air.
Haruki watched, stunned.
Even the giant Mothim had to retreat a good distance before it used Psychic to hold back the Twister.
"MOOO!"
While resisting, the giant Mothim let out another long cry, giving new orders.
The Mothim that had avoided damage launched a counterattack immediately, targeting Vespiquen.
Confusion, Gust, Psybeam...
A storm of moves raged toward her, but Vespiquen didn't flinch. With a wave of her left hand, a large group of Combee formed a defensive wall and intercepted the attacks.
Then, Vespiquen waved both hands again. Another squadron of Combee swooped in and systematically pulled the wounded out of combat for treatment behind the lines.
"Hsshhh... She's unbeatable in large-scale combat!" Haruki couldn't help but exclaim.
Metang nodded in agreement.
The moment Vespiquen entered the field, the Mothim were overwhelmed. Allies fell with every passing second.
Meanwhile, the Combee swarm, under Vespiquen's precise command, rotated in and out of the battlefield; even the injured kept returning to fight.
At this rate, the Mothim didn't stand a chance without serious backup.
So why was the giant Mothim still fighting?
Just then, Skiploom tugged at Haruki's sleeve.
"Skip~"
Skiploom gently pointed to the rear of the Combee forces, then mimed taking a deep breath.
"What is it? Something back there?"
Skiploom nodded furiously, glanced back at the raging battlefield, and pointed again to the rear.
Haruki gently patted Skiploom's little head.
'Such a clever Skiploom… whoever taught you this… if I ever find out, I'll break their legs!'