The stolen Plate and Strange Ball

At the roar, Shali immediately crouched down with her hands over her head, while the Growlithe beside her went on alert. Cynthia quickly grabbed Mingyou's shoulder, signaling for him to crouch.

An enormous brown bear with thick fur and a yellow ring on her belly emerged from the woods behind Teddiursa, looking furious.

〔Ursaring: Hibernator Pokémon. Ill-tempered, she only shows her gentle side to her own child and never holds back against anyone who bullies them. Get along with her child, and you can easily earn her favor.〕

After appearing, Ursaring stood guard beside her child, searching for the enemy responsible for the noise earlier. She seemed particularly sensitive to it.

Cynthia signaled for everyone to stay still and wait for them to leave. Out in the wild, it was best to avoid fighting wild Pokémon except in self-defense...

Yet even after quite a while, Ursaring showed no sign of leaving. Instead, she sat beside her child and took out a chunk of Dazzling Honey to savor.

It had all been made by the nearby Combee. Rich with honey and not a crumb wasted—good stuff!

"Let's go around..."

As she spoke, Cynthia pulled a map from her backpack and checked it, looking puzzled. "Strange. We're still a long way from Bear's Arena. Why have the Ursaring come all the way out here?"

"To find food, maybe?"

Mingyou offered a guess.

"Not necessarily..."

Cynthia shook her head and continued, "At least a year ago, the Ursaring never left Bear's Arena. They seemed to be guarding something there and wouldn't leave under any circumstances. That's why I thought the place held some sort of secret."

All of this came from Team Galactic's records. They had investigated for nearly a month, but despite there being relatively few Ursaring, they hadn't been