You know the story: a cute, curious bear stumbles upon a beehive, dips in a paw, and helps himself to the sweet, golden honey inside—completely unfazed by the swarm of angry bees he’s just disturbed. It’s a timeless tale, one we’ve seen play out again and again, from Winnie the Pooh to Baloo from The Jungle Book, and even in the wild, where real-life black bears will gladly brave a few stings for a taste of honeycomb. It’s a scene etched into both storybooks and nature documentaries—a bear, a hive, and the irresistible lure of honey.
That honey-loving behavior rings true in the world of Pokémon too, where Teddiursa, an adorable little teddy bear Pokemon is a honey fiend. According to its Pokémon Crystal Pokédex entry: “It always licks honey. Its palm tastes sweet because of all the honey it has absorbed.”
Just look at its official artwork—Teddiursa’s paw is practically glued to its mouth, like a kid caught red-handed in the cookie jar (or in this case, the honey pot).
But that begs the question: where does Teddiursa find honey in the Pokémon world?
According to its Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Pokédex entry, Teddiursa doesn’t just find honey—it crafts its own unique blend: “Teddiursa concocts its own honey by blending fruits and pollen collected by Beedrill.”
Not only does that sound delicious, but I’m genuinely impressed by Teddiursa’s creativity and culinary flair. Even more impressive is its resourcefulness: gathering pollen from Beedrill, a Pokémon notorious for being aggressively territorial. As Ruby and Sapphire describe it, “Beedrill is extremely territorial. No one should ever approach its nest—this is for their own safety. If angered, they will attack in a furious swarm.” (Ash Ketchum learned this the hard way in the anime episode Challenge of the Samurai, where he’s attacked by a relentless swarm of Beedrill.)
Considering Pokémon Gold and Silver further reveal that Beedrill “has three poison barbs” which “secrete a powerful poison,” and that it can “take down any opponent with its powerful stingers,” pilfering pollen from Beedrill is no easy feat for cuddly little Teddiursa to pull off.
Of course, Beedrill isn’t the only Pokémon that produces honey. A much friendlier (and far less menacing) option is Combee—a tiny, adorable bee Pokémon that looks like a cheerful mash-up between a honeycomb and a smiling bee.
Surely it’d make more sense for sweet little Teddiursa to satisfy its honey cravings with a Pokémon like Combee, right? You can imagine Teddiursa waddling over in classic anime fashion, making cute noises (“Teddiursa, Teddiursa!”), maybe giving Combee a hug, and walking away with a jar of honey—while rainbows shimmer and pastel clouds swirl happily overhead. Sounds perfect, right? Almost too perfect?
That’s because it is too good to be true. Why? Because Combee isn’t just a cute little honeybee Pokémon—it has an evolution, and not just any evolution: Vespiquen, the literal queen bee of the hive. And her swarm takes their loyalty very seriously.
According to Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Combee “swear fealty” to their queen, and as Pokémon Shield puts it, “It ceaselessly gathers nectar from sunrise to sundown, all for the sake of Vespiquen and the swarm.”
So, unfortunately, that dream scenario of Teddiursa and Combee frolicking together with hugs, honey jars, and sparkly clouds? Not happening. Turns out, Teddiursa has just as much of a challenge raiding Combee hives as it does with Beedrill’s. Cute or not, honey-hunting is serious business. Even when it comes to the seemingly sweet and harmless Combee, Teddiursa doesn’t exactly get a free pass. In fact, it has to get a little sneaky.
According to its Pokémon Scarlet Pokédex entry, Teddiursa “discreetly follows Combee to find their hive. It scoops up big dollops of honey in its palms to eat.” And Pokémon Legends: Arceus backs up this honey heist behavior, noting, “It is cunning, stealing into the nests of Combee and taking for itself the honey that the Combee have amassed.”
This is where the story takes a darker turn. Because while Teddiursa’s sweet tooth may be adorable, Vespiquen doesn’t take kindly to stolen honey. And somehow, Teddiursa’s sticky-fingered adventures with Combee and their queen end up going far worse than its run-ins with even the notoriously aggressive Beedrill.
And this is where things take a full nosedive into nightmare fuel. If you thought Beedrill was bad, Vespiquen takes territorial beehive vengeance to a whole new level.
According to its Pokémon Legends: Arceus Pokédex entry, Vespiquen “commands its subjects to build its hive. It will dispatch any interlopers who dare sneak into its nest and use them as nourishment for itself.”
Nourishment? As in… she eats them?
No, please. We don’t want to imagine sweet little Teddiursa, innocently waddling in with honey dreams in its heart and sugarswirls in its beady little eyes, getting caught mid-lick in a Combee hive. We don’t want to imagine Vespiquen descending upon it like some kind of black-and-yellow Xenomorph from the Aliens franchise, cocooning it to the hive wall in sticky resin and then leaving it there cruciform and disoriented, a helpless victim waiting to be devoured. We don’t want to imagine its trembling, squealing cries of “Teddiursa! Teddiursa!” as enormous mandibles – usually reserved for siphoning pollen and honey – close in on Teddiursa’s cute, little fuzzy head, ready to take a ravenous bite out of and suck the very life fluids from a pleading baby bear.
Sheesh. Where’s Ursaring—Teddiursa’s big, burly, and presumably protective evolution—when you need it most?
So let’s just erase that horrible image from our minds and pretend every encounter between Teddiursa, Combee and Vespiqueen goes like this animation from TheMenuVerse, because a Pokémon as adorable and brave as Teddiursa doesn’t deserve to meet such a dark and brutal fate, honey thief or not.
[TEDDIURSA/COMBEE] Day 4 of Animating the Top Commented Pokémon! Who’s Next?
byu/themenuverse inpokemon
What do you think of Teddiursa’s Not-So-Sweet Journey? Is a little taste of honey really worth all that trouble? Why doesn’t Teddiura’s evolution Ursaring offer more protective parenting when Teddiursa wanders into strange beehives? Drop your thoughts on Teddiursa’s sticky situation in the comments!”
Check out more installments of Pokemon who eat other Pokemon: Metagross, the terrifying, steel-limbed hunter killer.
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