Alexi crouched in the grass, his bow in hand. The Great Plains were a dangerous place, but he was determined. His tribe had been struggling to survive, their berry farms raided by Fearow, their crops trampled by flocks of Ponyta and Rapidash. This was a yearly occurrence, and the tribe could normally account for such attacks, but this year the level of them had been unprecedented. All because a new Alpha Pokemon had appeared.

A giant Snorlax, at least four meters in height, had settled where the plains meet the mountains and turn into forest. Normally a lush food source for both Pokemon and Humans, now it was Snorlax’s domain, and all but the bugs that couldn’t survive without the protection of the forest have left for a safer home. That meant more competition for food, and the tribe was losing. 

So, here Alexi was, hunting the Pokemon for food. While it was uncommon, even the lowest Pidgy could cause some serious damage before escaping, and the meat was always a welcome addition to the table. So here he was, with a simple bow and arrow. He knew he would never catch some food up close, and he had no idea how to make traps, so here he was, with a crude bow.

Slowly moving through the grass, Alexi’s ears were just as important as his eyes. The cries of Pokemon could be heard in the distance, but they were a constant companion and did not worry him. What did was the large shadow of a Pidgeot circling above. It had likely seen him instantly, and could very well attack, but it was unlikely. It was much more likely for it to grab a Rattata to swallow whole. There were always plenty around, and while not much use even as meat to humans, they were the perfect meal for the Flying Type.

As he skulled through the grasses, slowly getting closer to his destination, the young man came across a fortuitous sight. A group of Oddish were clustered together underground, their leaves sticking up like weeds. The only reason why the hunter even noticed them, was that one wasn’t quite buried all the way, its blue bulb sticking out slightly. It was likely young and inexperienced. The Pokemon in question slept underground during the day, taking in energy from the sun, and ran around at night, when it was much safer. 

Sneaking up on the group, Alexi pulled out an arrow from his quiver. He remembered what his father had taught him. That a swift death would prevent it from crying out and warning the others, leaving a veritable feast if you manage to kill the whole family. Considering there were six of them clustered together, it was going to be a good harvest if he didn’t fuck it up. 

The arrow was positioned directly above the sleeping Oddish, right where its leaves sprung up from the ground like weeds. With one swift motion, the arrow sunk into the ground and flesh of the Mon, severing its connection to life in an instant. The hunter paused and waited for a few seconds. Nothing stured. The others had not been alerted. Soon, his belt had six dead Oddish tied to it. They didn’t require any preparation, not having blood, and could just be carried along after killing, even if they did smell rather rancid. It was times like this that the young man wished he had something easier to carry than a basket. Perhaps something like the slings that mothers used to carry their children.

And so the hunt continued. While the Oddish would certainly help, they couldn’t feed a village. They could definitely feed his family, but he was determined to go bigger. He wouldn’t see anyone starve through this apocalypse they were burdened with. Alexi thought back to when he was younger, barely eight when the last disaster hit. Nearly a third of their tribe had perished under the weight of an Alpha Primeape before it had been brought down. Including his father. The Tribe had never fully recovered, having lost their best hunters and warriors. 

Alexi shook his head, banishing the dark thoughts. He was an adult now, a full seventeen years old, it was his turn to provide for those who couldn’t. Even if it was difficult, he would do his father proud. 

Soon, the sounds of water rushing past could be heard. A small river, a stream really, flowed over the plains at a slightly downward angle. It moved slowly and calmly, winding down the plains like a giant serpent, lazing around in the sun. It had its own dangers, of course. Everything on this planet had a certain level of danger that came with having powerful creatures in control of the elements around. But those dangers could be minimised by picking and choosing your battles. 

In the stream swam one of the most common Pokemon, Magikarp. They were simple creatures, and nearly completely harmless. So long as they were kept in a low-stress environment, they were happy to mindlessly swim in circles all day. They were also found in almost every body of water, even if it was completely separate from any other. Most importantly, though, was that they were easy to catch and had plenty of meat. Lots of bones too, but they were nothing compared to starving to death. They couldn’t be used for anything other than food, and the village was a fair distance away from the water, so as to not attract the attention of more Pokemon, so it was rare to hunt them. But desperate times called for desperate measures. 

Walking into the water knee-deep, Alexi aimed at one of the Magikarp. This arrow was a little different from the others, having a string tied to the back of it. It was less accurate and less powerful, but since the Pokemon was barely moving upstream, it was an easy shot. The arrow flew true, striking the Carp Pokemon in the head, making it go limp and begin to float downstream. With a few tugs on the string, the Pokemon was on the bank, quickly being gutted with a thin-skinned knife. 

A few more well-placed shots and four of the nearly meter-long carp were caught, gutted, and tied together with the string from the arrow. The hunt was a success, but now he had the long walk back to the village. All with that Pidgot still flying high above, watching. But Alexi couldn’t worry about that now. He stunk, of guts and dead Oddish, and the more violent Pokemon would smell him. He had to move, and fast.

Whereas his approach was slow and methodical, his journey back was much faster. Staying low, he half ran half walked through the long grasses of the plains, avoiding the open patches. All it would take was one Persian or a pack of Houndour to ruin everything. Arceus forbid he run into one of the Donphan that roam the plains.

Around halfway home, right where the grasses break into a large open space, something happened to cause the young hunter to pause. It was three Mankey, all flinging rocks at what seemed to be a young Tauros. Its horns were not quite as large as they should be, and it was slightly smaller than the herd that had passed through last month. Likely a straggler, one born later than the rest and struggled to keep up. A normal slight, there were always those weaker than the rest. 

But what caused his pause was the Mankey. Alexi hated the line of Pokemon, violent and bloodthirsty, even when not enraged. They were a blight, not just on the farms and gethers, but on other Pokemon and people too. They were one of the few species that actively attacked humans. 

“Shit,” Alexi mumbled to himself, dropping the bundle of Magikarp and drawing an arrow. Normally he would not interfere, such was the way of nature, but something inside of him burned at the thought of these savage Pokemon getting to do whatever they wanted. Bullying a young Pokemon that could barely even defend itself, clearly already exhausted from its travel. He couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

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The bow was drawn and an arrow was released. It flew through the air with a whistle. One of the Mankeys turned, their reactions super-human. The arrow, instead of striking it in the side of the skull, struck it right in the face. A small trickle of blood flowed from the wound. What would have been a perfect shot turned into a glancing blow, as the front of a Mankey was protected with a thick bone plate. 

The Mankey charged at Alexi, while the other two seemed to stop for a moment in confusion. The Tauros took this moment to cover its horns in dark energy and strike back at one of the Mankeys, launching it away. It didn’t seem to do as much damage as such a powerful blow should have, but it gave the wild bull Pokemon enough time to cover its body in energy, growing stronger.

Alexi managed to launch another arrow before the Mankey reached him, but it was swatted out of the air and seemed to only make the Pokemon even angrier. It swiped at Alexi, its hand glowing with a white energy. The hunter could only raise his bow in a feeble defence, but it was easily broken apart by the Pokemon. Without hesitation, the thin-skinned knife was drawn. It would break apart too if struck, but it was metal and would be able to piece the hide of the Mankey.

Tauros was having a much better time of it. It stuck the uninjured Mankey with a white energy surrounding its body, using its bulk to press it into the ground, where it was gored with its horns. It wasn’t a true move, no type energy was imbued into the attack, so it only left scratches on the thick hide of the pig monkey Pokemon. But what it did accomplish was making it panic, and forget to use a move of its own in retaliation. While the Mankey was panicking, the Tauros reared up onto its hind legs and covered its entire body in the white energy again, slamming itself down into the smaller Pokemon, causing it to go into the near-death state known as ‘Fainting’. 

Alexi dodged a swipe of the claws, feeling the air from the blow on his cheek. The Mankey overextended, stumbling slightly. The hunter tried to swing with the knife, but the reflexes of the Pokemon were simply too high. It turned the stumble into a tumble, rolling away from the blade. While there was no true type energy in the attack, most humans couldn’t use TE, the blade was still sharp and iron could still kill even a combat-focused Pokemon like Mankey. The pair circled each other, both wary of their opponent now. 

Tauros was struggling against the second Mankey, the one it had hit with the dark energy. It had seemingly learned its lesson from the first blow and was keeping a distance. Rocks pelted the wild bull Pokemon, and while they had no TE in them, they still stung. This just made the young Tauros angrier and angrier. Eventually, it snorted loudly and bellowed out a wordless cry, its hooves becoming covered in brown energy. Slamming them down into the ground, rocks rose from the ground and flew towards the mankey, pinning one of its legs and stopping it from escaping. One blow from Tauros’ body covered in that white energy, and the second Mankey entered that fainted state. A blow from a hoof and the Mankey was killed. Brawls between Pokemon rarely ended in death, they often stopped after one entered the fainted state, but Tauros was pissed.

The Mankey swiped and swiped at Alexi, forcing him to step back again and again. The swipes were not as strong as the first two, but they were a lot quicker. ‘What do I do?’ Alexi thought to himself. No one had told him how to fight a Pokemon, only to keep his distance and run away as soon as he could. But this Mankey would strike him the moment his back was turned. It was faster, stronger, and much more ferocious. It was a horrid idea to try and fight it, he should have just let it bully the Tauros and kept heading towards the village. 

As the hunter stepped back, a rock caught his foot and he stumbled, barely catching himself before he fell over. But that was enough for the Mankey, who stepped in and struck with its paw. White energy scrapped over his face, leaving three large claw marks bleeding across his face. Falling to the ground, clutching at this face, the hunter screamed. 

The Mankey took a moment to relish its victory, throwing its arms up in the air and screeching. That is when it was taken from the side by the Tauros, slamming its body into the side of the Mankey, launching it away from Alexi. The Wild Bull Pokemon took a protective stance over the hunter, much like how the herd would circle to protect the young, old, and wounded from predators. 

The Mankey, now knocked back, took a moment to gather its senses. It saw that one of its friends was dead, the other still fainted. It quicking realised this was a fight it couldn’t win. It turned tail and ran, fleeing from the battle. The Tauros did not chase it, even though it was faster in a straight sprint. Instead, it turned around and faced the hunter.

Alexi meanwhile was absolutely shitting himself. He still cradled his face, bleeding freely, as he looked up at the Tauros standing above him. One of his eyes was a little fuzzy, but he could swear the bull was looking at him with care and affection. When it slowly bent down and tried to help him to his feet with its horns, horns that could gut him with a slight twist of the head, he knew that he wasn’t delusional. He felt the connection forming, something Old Lady Harris had mentioned between her and her Spinarak. He opened his heart, as strange as that felt, and let the connection from on his end as well. 

Suddenly, he was flushed with a power, a strange strength that wasn’t there before. That white aura that kept forming around Tauros seemed to now reside inside of him, though it felt weak and tenuous, much like the thin thread that Spinarak used to make their clothes before it was put through a loom.

With this new well of strength, Alexi tore off a large strip of his shirt and wrapped it around his head, leaving one eye to see. He looked down at the Tauros, who looked up at him with curiosity. 

“H-Hey.”

The Wild Bull Pokemon simply tilted its head at him, its black eyes shining with curiosity and intelligence. 

“Thanks, for saving me. Suppose you were just returning the favour. Those Mankey, they can be assholes.” 

Tauros snorted and struck the ground with its hoof. Alexi could tell it was agreeing. He felt the intent behind the words, if not the exact meaning.

“I guess we are partners now. You lost your herd, and we could really use your strength. What do you say?”

Alexi felt silly, talking to a Pokemon. Old Lady Harris did it a lot, but she was crazy. Yet, got a response. Sort of. The Tauros bowed its head, seemingly submitting to Alexi’s will. He couldn’t figure out why though. The Pokemon was clearly the stronger one here, why would it submit so easily?

“Alright buddy, I guess you need a name. How about Apis? There is this story, of a great black Tauros that acted as the herald of Legendary Pokemon. Running along ahead of them and calling out a warning for all those who stood in their way.”

Tauros seemed pleased with this name and nodded his head. Alexi got the impression of pleasure, happiness, and contentment. 

“Alright, Apis. Let’s find those Magikarp that I threw away to save you, and head home.” Arthur said with a smile now playing on his lips. He was doing his best to ignore the pain, but it stung and would not stop bleeding. 

Just as the pair began looking, a great shadow descended on them. It was that Pidgot. It grabbed the Magikarp, all tied together still, and took off into the air. The pair could only stand there, stunned, as the day of work vanished right before their eyes.

Alexi dramatically fell to his knees, his hands raised to the sky as he cursed out the Flying type. “I’ll eat all your descendants, you overgrown Pidgey!” The hunter swore he heard the bird laughing at him.

Apis, however, was just confused. Tauros did not eat meat, subsisting on grasses and berries. It just tilted its head, confusion radiating through the bond. 

“Ah, sorry bud. My village doesn’t have much food, and we were going to eat those Pokemon.” Alexi explained though Apis seemed repulsed at the idea.

“No no, not you buddy. I’d never let them even try something like that. We don’t normally eat Pokemon, but our crops and orchids keep getting raided and stolen, so we don’t really have much of a choice, since we can’t eat grass like you can.” 

This explanation seemed to calm the Wild Bull Pokemon. It understood the need to survive, it had been running on that same instinct since it was born. Apis gestured with his horns down at the dead and fainted Mankeys.

“Well, they don’t have much edible on them, but it’s better than nothing I suppose. Would you help me carry them? Ah! The Oddish!” Alexi quickly looked down at his belt, where the Oddish were still tied. He had completely forgotten about them. Only one was squashed, its insides smeared up his side. From six Oddish and four Magicarp down to five Oddish and two Mankey. It wasn’t a horrid haul, but the feast would be brought down to a hearty soup. Enough for everyone to have a bowl with some meat in it, but hardly the life-saving quest he had imagined. 

Apis walked over to the still-fainted Mankey. He had done a number on it since it still hadn’t gotten back up. A hoof drove down on its face, killing it instantly. Alexi tied the arms of the Mankey together with another strip of his shirt, his string being stolen with the Magicarp. He then threw them over the back of Apis, who carried them with ease. Together, they walked towards the village.