After leaving the area Natsuhiko had marked as extremely dangerous in his mind.
He looked at the Mankey in front of him, completely drenched and panting heavily on the ground.
"Ho...gar..."
The Mankey called out weakly.
While lying there, its chest heaving, its eyes darted around.
Natsuhiko and Weedle just silently watched it, not speaking a word.
Suddenly.
The Mankey agilely leaped up from the ground, quickly running towards the depths of the forest.
Gone, gone it was.
As long as it entered the forest, it would be on its own turf.
But not long after it started running, a crystal-clear silk thread tightly wrapped around its feet.
Bam!
Being yanked like that, it fell directly to the ground, very aptly playing the role of someone taking a nosedive.
Natsuhiko folded his arms, chuckled softly, and slowly walked towards it, extending his hand, "Honey."
He had long seen through the Mankey's little scheming: using honey to lure Weedle to save it, pretending to struggle after coming ashore, and then trying to escape as soon as he and Weedle let their guard down, thus avoiding paying the honey as a reward.
Sly little thing.
"Hogar..." The Mankey turned its head with difficulty, attempting to look cute, but was met with Weedle's sharp stinger.
Trying to deceive Weedle?
Me, Weedle, easily fooled?
This can't be tolerated.
"Woo!" Weedle exclaimed, full of threat.
"Forget it, we'll just take it ourselves," Natsuhiko said calmly, giving Weedle a glance.
Weedle instantly understood.
Before it even took action, the Mankey lifted its hand, clutching a golden honeycomb-like solid—the Beedrill's honey.
A strong will to live.
Seeing the honey, Weedle's eyes lit up, and saliva uncontrollably dripped from its mouth.
"Not enough." But Natsuhiko stopped it, shaking his head.
"Hogar!" The Mankey panicked.
Wasn't that what we agreed on?
"Yes, that's what we agreed on, but your attempt to escape lowered my trust in you to the lowest point. Furthermore, Weedle saved you by spinning silk once, and stopped you by spinning silk again—this is double labor; how could you use only a single payment?" Natsuhiko explained slowly.
"Hogar?"
The Mankey was dumbfounded, blinking in disbelief. Is that really how it's calculated?
"Wooo!!" Weedle, hearing Natsuhiko's words, started nodding its little head feverishly.
Natsuhiko makes a good point!
Spinning silk twice, quite exhausting.
Moreover, it was clear that the piece of honey the Mankey now offered was not the same one as before.
This indicated that it definitely took quite a bit.
"That's why I said, we'll do it ourselves."
"Woo!!"
"Hogar!!" The Mankey admitted defeat, lifting both hands this time, offering two pieces of Beedrill honey.
Seeing the Mankey being so obedient, Weedle turned its head to look at Natsuhiko.
"Woo?"
What to do?
Even Weedle could tell that the Mankey's honey wasn't just those two pieces; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many Beedrills charging out aggressively, looking deeply hostile.
It was just curious where exactly the Mankey had hidden so much honey.
Natsuhiko looked up.
"It's a nice day, bind it."
"Ho...Hogar?!!"
The Mankey finally realized it had just leapt from the tiger's den into the wolf's lair.
Swish, swish, swish—
Without hesitation, Weedle spun silk rapidly, binding the Mankey tightly, layer upon layer of silk threads wrapping it into a cocoon.
Under the Mankey's despairing, heartbroken gaze, Weedle found all the honey hidden on its body.
Despite the Mankey's short fur, it managed to stash away so much honey.
Not easy.
A total of five palm-sized pieces of honey and one thumb-sized piece.
That's quite a lot already.
Natsuhiko took out a glass jar, softened the honey and packed it inside, filling up two whole jars; considering the one small piece left, he decided to leave it for the Mankey.
It's good to be a bit generous.
Can't let the Mankey's efforts go to waste.
This Beedrill honey is a great asset, rich in trace elements and a significant nutritional boost for Pokémon, not to mention deliciously so, and for Weedle even more so.
Beedrill honey is a part of their diet, some of it is for the King, and another portion for breeding offspring to sustain the tribe.
Which means, to cultivate Weedle.
So this honey for Weedle is comparable to Energy Blocks, even more so because of its compatibility, yielding even better results.
An unexpected delight.
"Weedle went through a lot to save you, spinning so much silk, this honey can serve as the reward, and we haven't taken everything, we've been quite merciful," Natsuhiko told the Mankey, signaling Weedle to undo the binding.
Saving it and honey as repayment, this deal had already been struck. The Mankey hadn't attacked them, and Natsuhiko was not one to kill senselessly, no need to burn bridges.
So he chose to let the Mankey go.
Of course, if the Mankey wanted to cause trouble again, Natsuhiko wouldn't mind teaching it a lesson.
"Hogar..."
The Mankey staggered to its feet, looking at the thumb-sized piece of honey left, utterly deflated.
Watching Natsuhiko and Weedle's receding backs, it wisely chose not to seek revenge; with Weedle's silk threads, it recognized the power gap between them.
Only after Natsuhiko and Weedle had completely vanished did it stealthily open its mouth, scooping out a softened mass of honey from inside.
Luckily, it had kept some hidden; otherwise, it would have truly been left with nothing.
It swallowed its pride for now.
But sometimes, some things just can't be suppressed.
Swallowing once makes you angrier, stepping back makes you feel more wronged.
"Hogar!!" A sharp cry emanated far and wide.
Soon, a more robust-looking Pokémon appeared before the Mankey, snorting heavily from its nose, none other than the Mankey's evolved form, Fire Monkey!
Seeing the Fire Monkey, the Mankey immediately put on a flattering smile, offering the thumb-sized piece of Beedrill honey.
Fire Monkey glared at it but still took the honey, tossing it into its mouth, gulping it down after a few chews.
"Poocha?"
"Hogar—"
In response to Fire Monkey's inquiry, the Mankey looked aggrieved, jumping and gesturing, recounting the recent happenings, even squeezing out a few tears of grievance.
It was truly upset.
Seeing this, Fire Monkey roared a few times, slapped the Mankey's head grumpily, and leaped onto the branches, chasing in the direction where Natsuhiko and Weedle had vanished.
Seeing its leader stand up for it, the Mankey immediately gained confidence and haughtily followed behind Fire Monkey, joining the pursuit.
Bully me?
This time... we'll tie them up too!
Tie them up!
The more the Mankey thought about it, the more excited it became, quickening its pace.
However, would Natsuhiko choose to let the Mankey go without being prepared for its revenge?
Or to put it another way, would he make it so easy for the Mankey to find him again?
The reason he didn't deal with the Mankey's cunning was simply that he didn't want to kill indiscriminately, but if the Mankey came again for trouble, it couldn't blame him.
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Chapter four is presented! Another update for 300 monthly votes! Dare to give monthly votes, I'll dare to update!