Alola was among the last places in this world settled by Man, and certainly the last where he cemented his dominance – for in its forests another hominid gave him some impressive competition. Humans, after all, are neither the smartest species nor the strongest in this world, but they have overcome species like Rhydon with brainpower and tools, and largely avoided the attitude of disinterest or melancholy that plagues many psychic types like Alakazam. In Oranguru, however, they seemed for decades to have met their match.
Oranguru are not only smarter than humans, they have opposable thumbs, and were eager to avoid human penetration of Alola's forests. When weapons were left behind, Oranguru quickly learned to use them; when pokeballs were thrown at them, they caught them in their large, grey hands (or sometimes their prehensile feet), then hurled them at strong pokemon of their own. Shameful though many humans find it, humans never equaled Oranguru on a one-for-one basis, but, like Pidgey or Rattata, triumphed by the weight of numbers. A single Oranguru requires extensive forest cover to support itself, while the ranches and farms which replaced them offered humans a far greater population density, and humans also learned to hunt a variety of pokemon just as large as the Oranguru.
Yet it was not a total defeat for the Oranguru, as humans, too, use the forest, and many who ventured within learned to value the wisdom and knowledge of its wisest and most ancient inhabitants. Some, seeking knowledge in fields ranging from food preparation to pokemon training, even sought Oranguru out to become their students; if they succeeded, they gained not only a powerful friend, but a capable instructor. And this custom continues to the present day, where many popular Alolan restaurants serve novel recipes not of human invention!
