He knows Pokémon better than me.

Clearly, this queen bee possesses sufficient intelligence to communicate with humans.

After regaining her strength, the Queen Bee landed on the ground and nodded politely to the two of them. She seemed to be a Pokémon that Honeybee had specially left here.

Not only Master Ma, but also Master Honey was an excellent trainer in her youth.

"Buzz~"

Now that Mary had passed the test, the Queen Bee let out a low hum towards the giant tree in the middle, and soon two adorable three-necked bees flew out from the dense thicket.

One person on each side carried a pink honeycomb panel down.

The honeycomb was filled with rich, pink honey, the same color as the giant mushroom, and the air was filled with a sweet aroma.

"Is this what Dynamax sweetness is?!"

Mary's eyes lit up; it looked like there was quite a lot of it, with honey even oozing out from the edges.

She quickly took out a small jar to catch it. She had naturally collected this information long ago, so Mary had prepared the container in advance.

After collecting two small jars and carefully storing the nearly half-meter-wide honeycomb, the mission was considered complete. Finally, Mary handed one of the jars to Ash.

"Thanks a lot this time, Ash!"

While it's possible to defeat the Commander solo using only the Slashing Commander strategy, it would definitely take several times longer.

Little Zhile and Hehe received the Giant Sweet:
"Then I'll accept it. I can take it back later to reward my apprentice Xiong and the bear wearing clothes!"

However, he did not rush to leave. Instead, he walked to the giant tree in the center of the island, circled it several times, and looked up at the direction of the branches, trying to find some clues.

Mary, seemingly confused but impressed, disengaged from her battle state, while the Bee Queen didn't act like a queen at all.

It slowly flew to Ash's side, tilted its head, and looked puzzled.

"By the way, why is it possible to Dynamax here?"

Xiaozhi couldn't help but ask.

It didn't enter any nesting space; it simply Dynamaxed naturally.

You should know that he has been trying to make his Watchtower Castle able to Dynamax anytime, anywhere.

Otherwise, I would feel awkward having to run to the neighboring Motostoke City and borrow a spot from Mr. Kabu every time I practiced Dynamax.

Is it because of this tree?

Ash patted the trunk of the giant tree. Should he bring Shaymin over for a field investigation?
However, even the queen bee couldn't give an answer.

Its intelligence was clearly not yet at the level of the Mr. Mime, which could express its meaning flexibly and clearly, but in the end the Queen Bee still pointed to the beehive in Mary's hand.

If you need anything, you can ask Honey Leaf directly.

Many places on Armor Island were actually decorated by Master Ma and Honey Leaf together.

"I understand. Thank you."

Ash expressed his gratitude to the Bee Queen, and before leaving, he had Magearna fire at her again. After that, the two of them released their respective Ride Pokémon and prepared to return to the gym.

Unfortunately, aside from its peculiar terrain, Beehive Island is nothing special.

However, during takeoff, several purplish-red beams of light could be seen shooting straight into the sky from the surrounding Hive Sea. There are quite a few Pokémon dens in the sea here!
Seeing that there was still plenty of time, the two decided to lower their flight altitude and head towards the nearest Pokémon den.

Upon approaching, I took out my Pokédex and checked it; most of the dens in the vicinity were Water-type and Dragon-type.

For example, the nest in front of us is home to a four-star level red-faced dragon.

"Perfect timing, the ichthyosaur didn't make an appearance just now."

Ash took out his Dracovish Poké Ball, eager to try it out.

On the other side, Mary didn't hesitate either, and followed Ash as soon as he took out the ball.

When facing a Dynamaxed Dracovish, although Dracovish's "Gill Bite" is not very effective, it still has "Ice Fang"!
With its powerful, frozen teeth, it still managed to bite the Dynamaxed Redface Dragon into a howling scream. Halfway through the fight, the outcome was decided.

So after they came out, the two set their sights on other Pokémon dens in the vicinity—

Old Man Dragon, Soundwave Dragon, Jewel Starfish, Poisonous Algae Dragon, Steel Cannon Arm Shrimp.
When facing a Dragon-type opponent, Ash sends out Dracovish with its Strong Jaw and Ice Fang, which bites down silently.

Against a Water-type opponent, they deployed Shellder, which has extremely strong resistance to Water-type moves.

"It's a pity, if only the Dracovish could learn Thunder Fang!"

Ash couldn't help but sigh, "Then even Water-type opponents can land critical hits one after another."

Unfortunately, let's not even talk about Flame Fang; it's practically impossible to learn.

Even with the Thunder Fang, the training difficulty is ridiculously high, and even with the assistance of someone proficient in Seeds, the training progress is extremely slow.

For Shellder Dragon, facing a Water-type opponent is purely a matter of type advantage.

Because it is in the second phase of the "cocoon state", the armored dragon is not aggressive enough, and each battle is basically a protracted war in cooperation with the hairy troll's "double wall tactic".

During this time, Mary also took a fancy to a four-star iron claw lobster—

The Water + Dark attribute is undoubtedly a perfect fit for her preferences and also increases the coverage of Water-type attacks.

Thus, with the combined efforts of the hairy trolls and the armored dragons...

After a fierce battle, it was finally defeated. Mary immediately threw out a high-level ball and successfully captured it!
"Not bad, Marie, another great Pokémon, and its moveset is quite complete."

Returning to the surface from the den, Ash looked closely at the capture information displayed on Marnie's Pokédex and then offered his congratulations.

Water Jet, Crab Claw Hammer, Ambush to Weak Points, Dragon Dance, Avalanche.
This iron-clawed lobster can even do the Dragon Dance. Is it because there are too many dragon-type nests around it?
Most importantly, it can also cause an avalanche!
This will be effective against the Dragon-type Pokémon that Marie will be challenging in the Punch Arena!
"Okay, it's decided. The Fist Arena will rely on the long-haired troll and the iron-clawed lobster. No, we need to add another one."

Mary nodded, and began to make plans in her mind.

Kibana's Pokémon lineup isn't exactly a secret; the other Pokémon can all deal effective damage using Crawdup's Ice-type moves and Grimmsnarl's Fairy-type moves.

However, Cibana's trump card is the aluminum-steel dragon.

As a rare Steel Dragon, neither Avalanche nor Soul Impact can deal outstanding damage.

At that point, we might have to rely on the bandana thugs to take action.

Unlike Ash, Marnie is a staunch type-advantage fighter!
Ash let out a long sigh, realizing how incredibly friendly the Galar region was to trainers!
Pokémon dens are everywhere, and you can catch a sufficiently powerful Pokémon right away, saving a lot of training effort! (End of Chapter)