As the pair walked into the village, a large crowd formed. The scouts, people dedicated to patrolling around the village to watch for Pokemon attacks, had clearly seen them from a ways off. The village itself was placed against a cliff face on the edge of the plains. With housing against the cliff, surrounded by the berry orchids, then the crop farms. This allowed for the least valuable to be taken first during an attack, while the most valuable, humans, would hopefully be left alone.

Most of the crowd were simple villagers, standing a ways off, afraid of Apis. However, two ignored the dangerous Pokemon and came forward anyway. First first was his Mother, who had no doubt been the first informed of his arrival. She ran up to him and embraced him, then scolded him for his foolishness.

“Look at what you have done! Your eye! You are blind! This is why we don’t go out hunting, not since the attack!” His Mother’s hands were hovering over his makeshift bandage, clearly caught between trying to fix him and worrying that she would only make it worse.

“Mum, I’m fine. Apis saved me, and I saved him. We came out ok.” Alexi explained, his tone calm and reassuring. “And I’m not blind. The attack missed my eye, but I think a lot of blood got into it because it’s a bit fuzzy.”

“It’s not just your eye.” His Mother whispered, afraid that when she spoke the words, they would become true. “Your nose is ruined, cut in half. I can see through your cheek too. Your entire face is covered in blood, and you will be scarred for life. My handsome young man, you have ruined yourself.”

Alexi never even noticed that he couldn’t breathe through his nose anymore, or that there was a hole in his cheek until it was pointed out. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, still pumping through his body even now, or simply the fact he was too scared of a second attack the entire walk back to worry about it. But now that he was home, everything started to hurt all over again. Every cut, scrape and bruise was as fresh as the blow that caused it. He could only wince in pain as the light breeze that blew through the village cut through his cheek too.

“Do not worry, we can fix him. He will be scarred, and I don’t know if he will ever be able to breathe through his nose, but we can patch him up.” The other that approached said. An elderly man, in his twilight years. It’s the Village Head, Angus, the leader of the tribe and its healer. Though healer was a generous term. He mostly just crushed up berries and smeared them on people. Still, the power held within them was enough to fix most wounds, and he had a good eye for what could be fixed and what could not.

“You will have to tell me how you got these wounds, and the story behind your new friend.” The village head said, gesturing for Alexi to follow him. The hunter did so, seeing no reason not to. Apis, his faithful friend, trod along behind him, the two corpses still dangling from his back. His mother looked like she wanted to follow, but she had three other children she had to care for, and her eldest was in the best hands the village had. The pair were led out the back of the elder’s house, where a small vegetable farm grew. Most houses had some kind of small farm attached.

There, the elder picked two Sitrus berries from his personal berry tree. Considering these trees were life and death to the tribesmen, such an honour was not to be taken lightly. With the difficulty it was to grow a Sitrus tree, it was even more so. A cousin to the common Oran berry, Sitrus berries have a lot more healing potential and come with no side effects, unlike the other more potent healing berries. It was truly a natural treasure of this world. And one of them was thrown directly into the mouth of Apis.

Alexi could only stare at the blatant disregard for such a powerful item as the elder dropped the other berry into a large stone bowl that sat nearby, poured a small amount of water into it, and started hitting at it with a large two-handed hammer. What was more impressive, is that the berry didn’t break. It flexed, and the hammer bounced back up.

“I used to be able to get these blasted things to crack in one hit.” The village head muttered to himself, as a large cracking noise could be heard from inside Apis’ mouth. “I see he managed it easily enough.”

“Umm, Village Head, why are you hitting the berry with a hammer?” Alexi asked, worry tainting his voice.

“Well, isn’t it obvious? Sitrus berries are one of the firmest out there. Once they crack, sure they are easy enough to open, but getting that initial break? Pain in the ass. Worth it though. Almost nothing is better for healing a deep wound, and a single berry can make a large container of salve. Helps they are three times the size of an Oran. But they of course are a lot harder to grow, they produce fewer fruit, and they are just a pain in the backside to do anything with.”

That is when Apis simply walked up to the berry, and trod on it. His large weight cracked the berry instantly, even if it was now a bit dirty.

“Well, that’s one way to do it.” The Elder said, laughing slightly. He smacked the berry a few more times, the soft flesh spilling out, alongside a single large seed. The Elder grabbed the seed and threw it to Alexi. “Try and get that to grow, will you? If you manage it, I might just give you a few more.”

“Umm, sir. Why not just you a knife to cut it open?” Alexi asked, looking at the backbreaking labour. He could only imagine how difficult it would be to do this all day.

“Because it wouldn’t be as potent. Smacking it with a hammer releases the juices better, squeezing the needed potent energies out of the skin and into the flesh. No one wants weird large chunks in the smooth salve, so we wack it until all the juice is out of the skin and into the flesh, then pick out the scraps.” The Elder explained, likely having explained this dozens of times already.

As the Elder spoke, he did just that. Picking out the tough skin of the berry, and throwing in a few more ingredients. Mostly herbs from his garden. He then swapped from his hammer to a pestle, and Alexi realised that the stone bowl was actually a giant mortar. The elder ground the water, berry flesh, and herbs together until they turned into a thick paste.

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“Alright boy.” The Village Head said, scooping up a small amount with two fingers. “Bend over and let me apply this salve. It will sting, but that is how you know it is working.”

Alexi did as he was asked, bending over slightly so that the older man could reach without stretching. As the salve was applied, the burning sensation took over, causing him to wince and try to pull away. The old man didn’t let him, grabbing him by the shirt and holding him close with surprising strength. Apis didn’t like that and took a step forward, snorting a warning. But the old man ignored the Pokemon.

After the medicine was applied, a proper bandage replaced the makeshift one, wrapping around his whole head instead of just his eye. Some locks of his brown hair stuck through the bandage, but they were ignored. “There, that’s better. I’ll put the salve in a container and drop it off to you tonight. For now, tell me what happened.”

So Alexi did. He talked about how he snuck off in the early hours of the morning, heading to the stream. How he caught the Oddish and Magikarp, how he saved Apis and lost the Magikarp. All the while the Elder nodded, taking the information in without interruption or scolding.

“That was brave of you. Even back before the attack, our hunters would not go out further then eyesight of the village, let alone travel almost half a day to a stream just to catch some Magikarp.” The Elder said, eyeing the corpses laid across Apis’ back. “I’ll take the Pokemon you caught and have the girls cook up a hearty stew for the village. You and your friend here will bring about much change, just like Lady Harris did. Though I think you might have a bit more of an impact than she did. I doubt Apis here will be content making clothes.”

The elder laughed softly at his joke, and Alexi awkwardly laughed along to be polite. He didn’t think it was very good, but he also didn’t want to be rude. “Thank you, Elder. I think I will return home, and let my Mother see that you fixed me up. I’m sure Apis could use the rest too.”

Apis snorted in agreement, tossing the dead Mankey off his back with a toss of his shoulders. Alexi followed his friend’s lead, untied the Oddish from his belt and handed them over to the Elder. “Thank you, and yes, that is a very good idea. We can talk more tomorrow. I think I have some jobs that only you and Apis can do that would help the village a lot.”

With that, Alexi thanked the village head once more and departed, heading back out into the village and towards his home. He got plenty of stares, mothers pulling their children away from Apis, and people whispering. He even saw Old Lady Harris, with a smile on her face. Her Spinarak sat on her head, waving a leg at them. He knew he would have to expect a visit from them in the coming days.

The pair quickly arrived home. There was nothing special about this building that set it apart from the rest. It had a small garden out the back, fenced off with a few sticks tied together so no one stepped on it. A hut made for roughly three people but forced to fit five. Alexi knew he would have to make his own home soon, and with Apis, he would likely have to make it outside the village limits, like some kind of outcast.

That happened occasionally. Someone would do something irreversible, like murder or rape, and they would be cast out. They usually hung around the village, living on the outskirts and stealing to survive until the villagers banded together and forced them away for good. Right now there was no one hanging about like that, thankfully. But that didn’t mean Alexi wanted to live outside the protective circle of crops and berries, even if he was uniquely suited to it with Apis at his side.

“Apis, would you mind waiting out here? I don’t want the others to get frightened of you.” The young hunter asked his companion. The Wild Bull Pokemon simply laid down next to the door, softly saying its species name. Alexi got the feeling that it was more than happy to chew on some of the grass growing next to the house and relax.

With a deep breath, though his mouth, of course, Alexi entered the house. There he was instantly attacked by his three younger siblings. The youngest, Mark, ran into his arms crying something about his older brother dying. The second youngest, Millie, was soon following, without the crying part. While the second oldest child, Annabeth, stood in the middle of the room, next to their mother. She also had tears in her eyes, but at least she wasn’t dogpiling him like the other two.

“Ooft. That enough. I’m alright, I’m not dying. Not unless you two squash me anyway.” Alexi told them, a smile playing on his lips. It pulled at his wounds, but his siblings needed to see that he was going to be alright. He was their big brother after all. He was meant to be invincible.

The young hunter looked over to his mother, who now had an arm draped over the older of the sisters. He was sure that he looked horrid, wrapped up like some kind of monster from their fairytales. But he pushed through anyway.

“Would you guys like to meet Apis?” He asked, not sure how to calm them. A distraction would be best.

Alexi’s family all wore confused looks, but that just made him laugh, making his face hurt even more. “Coem on, I’ll show you. Just don’t be scared of him. I promise he is harmless.” Alexi lied. He knew that Apis was far from harmless, but he had seemed rather docile so far while in the village. Perhaps he felt safe here?

Leading the kids outside, they have a very mixed reaction to Apis. Mark was utterly terrified of the Pokemon. He was always a bit of a crybaby, so that made sense. He hid behind Alexi and refused to go anywhere near the bull. Through their connection, the hunter could feel a tinge of sadness from the Tauros.

Millie however was the exact opposite. She walked right up to the Pokemon and petted him on the nose. “Thank you for saving my brother.” She said in her monotone voice. It made sense she wouldn’t be afraid. The girl always seemed to have muted emotions, more doing what was expected of her than what she actually felt. Alexi felt through the bond that Apis liked Millie, and for that he was glad.

Then there was Annabeth. Ever the middle ground between the two youngest, she stood an arm's distance from the bull and bowed to it, as if it was some kind of statue dedicated to the legendaries “Thank you, Sir Apis, for bringing my brother back home.” Apis enjoyed the praise greatly but wished she would scratch behind his ear. He enjoyed the attention.

Finally, there was their mother. She had already seen the Tauros and was obviously worried about him. She chose the more passive route, verbally thanking the Pokemon, but not going anywhere near him.

Alexi smiled at his siblings. Even though they all looked so similar, they all acted very different. The whole family had dark brown hair, though his and Millie’s was a lighter colour, green eyes, except for Mark, who had blue, and simple rounded faces, except Annabeth, who had more of a heart-shaped face. They were all the same, yet different still. Alexi figured he would really stand out from them now.

Mark headed inside as soon as he could, the young boy was absolutely terrified of the Pokemon before him. It was understandable too, since Apis was bigger than him. Their mother followed quickly, with Annabeth following behind. That left only Alexi and Millie, who was still contentedly patting Apis.

“Can I get a Pokemon of my own?” Millie asked, scratching the massive bull behind the ear. She seemed to know right where the Pokemon wanted to be scratched, even without the bond that Alexi and Apis shared.

“I’m afraid not. At least not for a while. I doubt another Tauros will suddenly need saving anytime soon, and most Pokemon eat a lot of berries. I’m very lucky that Apis here mostly grazes on grasses. Remember that massive herd that passed a while ago?” Alexi asked.

Millie nodded. “There was like, two hundred of them. The grass took weeks to grow back where they ran, and it’s still shorter than everywhere else.” Millie responded, still not taking her eyes off the Pokemon.

“Exactly, imagine if they all tried to get at a single berry bush. It would be demolished before anyone could eat anything. So unlike most Pokemon that subsist mostly off berries, Tauros eat mostly grasses.” Alexi explained, that he could tell his little sister was enraptured by what he was saying, even if her face remained flat and unexpresive. He could tell by the slight turn of her head, her ear facing him. “They also normally eat a lot of fruit, like apples, peaches and pears.”

“How do you know so much?” Asked Millie, her hand pausing for a moment in the petting.

“Mostly from Old Lady Harris. She will prattle on about her dear Spinarak to anyone who listens. His favourite food is Chestnuts, just so you know. I don’t know where she learnt it all, but apparently, she used to travel a lot in her youth. She knows more about Pokemon than anyone, and is more than happy to talk about them all day.” Alexi replied, happy to show off to his cute little sister.

The pair stayed outside for a little longer, but as the sun started to get low, and the smell of good food cooking began to waft over the village, the pair headed back inside to get ready for the rather small feast.