Hello again, readers. I am quite pleased! I already have ten (or perhaps more, by the time this is published, as I have written this note about 2,000 words into this passage) followers, six people who have favorited this, and two reviews. I am astounded! I did not expect such a thing to occur! Thank you! I do not own anything that you might recognize, though the idea for this odd alternate world is mine. Also, trying to write in the point of view that belongs to Acorn is much harder than you might think. I hope you enjoy reading!

Run.

[part two: trust]

Nothing, it would seem, could wipe the look of shock, fear, excitement, and a ghost of sadness from the Boy's scent. He had tear-scent all over him, and he was afraid of Acorn. Why was the Boy afraid of him? Acorn was confused. Humans could hold so much over Pokemon, so why would a Boy think that a Pikachu could hurt him? The little mouse twitched an ear, preparing to run away. Acorn had just made it away from the Bad Place. There was no way he was going back there now! Even as he twitched, waiting for his electricity to calm down a bit so that he didn't make the Boy angry. Humans did bad things when they were angry, and they did not appreciate Pokemon, and they were not to be trusted. Even this Boy's soft brown eyes couldn't be trusted. See? There was the tiniest tint of red to them, so the Boy could not be trusted. Then again, red was not a Boy color. It was a Lucario or a Bulbasaur or a Ivysaur or a Venusaur or some other Pokemon color.

But he was Human, so Acorn turned to run, because even if the boy held no anger-scent, there was no chance in the Distortion Zone that Acorn was going to trust a human. Acorn had trusted a Human once, and look where that had gotten him: running for his life from the Indigo Plataeu. If he could just make it to Viridian Forest, then it would all be okay. Humans were clumsy, and they had weak noses, and the Viridian Forest was protected, so the forest would not be attacked. Taking one last look at the Boy, Acorn leaped around him, sailing back down the path he had been headed down in the beginning.

"WAIT!" cried a voice. It wasn't in Pokemon, so Acorn almost didn't understand it. Acorn, in fact, only knew what he was saying thanks to an unfortunate time spent with Humans. He wasn't going to wait, though. Even if that voice sounded like it was in pain, he wasn't going to wait. Nope, not Acorn. "PLEASE! I'M LOST!" Acorn snorted. As if he would fall for something like that. He ran fast when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Please, Pikachu! I'm really lost and I don't know where I am! I need to get home so-" the Boy's voice cracked for a second as he continued, "so I can find a trade school to go to." Acorn paused at the Boy's voice. Funny. Why would the Boy want to get un-lost if he was just going somewhere it sounded like he didn't want to go at all? Humans were so stupid sometimes... That pause allowed the Boy to catch up, though, and Acorn could hardly allow that. With a burst of Agility, he darted behind a tree, his speed making it nearly impossible for a weak-nosed Human to tell where he'd gone. Humans were mean and stupid, and Acorn doubted the Boy was really any different. He tried his best to ignore the Boy's frantic cries, though something in Acorn's heart still ached to help him. Let him survive on his own. It was a Darwinist world out there, and it shouldn't be any different for Humans than it was Pokemon.

"Where'd you go? Pikachu! Please! I understand you're scared, because you must have hidden so long, since we think you're extinct, but I promise I won't hurt you! I just need to get home, please. It's getting dark and I'm scared and all alone and I don't know how to survive like you do and I've just been denied my greatest dream so please come out, Pikachu!" Acorn tried very hard to stay in character. He snorted a little. My name's Acorn, not Pikachu. And I doubt you understand. You couldn't possibly understand, Human. He didn't dare say the words out loud, for fear that the Boy would hear him and find him. He did not want to be found.

"Pikachu? Pikachu?" Acorn heard the boy shout, right before he heard the sound a a few human sobs of frustration. He stayed very still and silent as the Boy walked past him, muttering about having no idea where he was going and how stupid it was that the bus wasn't there. To Acorn's ears, there was some other undertone, like his mutterings weren't really about missing buses and getting lost but about something else entirely. But what? Humans would state the obvious one moment, and then lie and hide things the next! That's why Humans weren't able to be trusted. As small sparks flew in the air, Acorn walked on, before picking up pace once again. He had to get away again. He had to get to Viridian. However, the Boy didn't give up, not just yet.

"Sparks? Is that you, Pikachu? Listen, I'm sorry, you can go on... I'm sure you're hiding for a reason..." See? There went the idiot Human, stating the obvious again. Really, saying something like that was hardly necessary! "I was just really curious, because Pokemon are supposed to have been extinct for thousands of years!" That was where Acorn froze again. Thousands of years? Did the Boy mean to say that Pokemon hadn't existed since Aerodactyl roamed the skies? The things Humans would believe were quite insane sometimes. Pokemon hadn't even been hiding for more than a hundred years, since Acorn had heard of plenty of Pokemon who had been alive when the Pokemon first started hiding. Still, Acorn poked his head out and turned to the Boy, curious as to how it had happened. Before he could stop himself, though, Acorn suddenly found some sort of pull in the Boy's eyes, and before he knew it he was right in front of him.

"~Seriously?~" he said, "~Let me tell you something, as far as I'm aware, we've never gone extinct. I'm certainly not. And I still have a name, Boy. It's Acorn.~" Unfortunately for Acorn, the Boy just gave him a baffled look, though a pleased and baffled one.

"I can't understand what you're saying... Your Colors look more like a person's than an animal's, though, so I think you're saying something rather sentient..." Acorn backed up a little. Colors what now? Maybe coming out for the Boy wasn't as smart as it could have been. Actually, it was downright stupid, almost as stupid as what he had been doing when he had been caught. At least the Boy hadn't tried to hurt him yet. "Anyway, I'm Ash Ketchum."

"~Okay, Ash. That sounds like a Pokemon name, almost, but that last part's kinda stupid. What the heck is that even for, anyway? I'm Acorn.~" When Ash gave him another quizzical look, Acorn nearly shocked him. Why didn't Ash understand him? Acorn understood Ash perfectly! Maybe it had to do with that Trainer nonsense that older Pokemon always went on and on about. Apparently, that's where the Fainting Instinct came from, something to do with preventing humans from killing them by collapsing when they were near death. Acorn wasn't quite sure how that was of any use at all, but it apparently was. Acorn sighed. It looked like he was going to resort to degrading miming, wasn't he. He reached down and grabbed an acorn off of the ground and chucked it at Ash, hitting him on the forehead.

"OW!" exclaimed Ash. "What the heck was that for?" He looked down. "Were you trying to tell me something?" Acorn nodded. "Hmm... I just introduced myself... You went on talking... Were you trying to tell me your name?" Acorn nodded. This was working better than he thought it would. "Okay... So why did you throw an acorn at me?" At this, Acorn couldn't handle it. He shocked Ash for the trouble. Really! How hard could that be to figure out from there! Stupid Ash being an idiot Human. Acorn had to give Ash some credit, though, as he only flinched a little at the electric shock. That was, for a Boy, quite a feat. "OW! Okay, okay, apparently that should be obvious." Acorn rolled his eyes. "Is your name... Acorn?"

"~FINALLY! Really, we need to come up with something more efficient than that in the future. You were melting my brain with your idiocy,~" said Acorn. He huffed a little. Ash then had the nerve to laugh at him.

"Okay," said Ash through giggles, "I'll take that as a yes! Acorn it is, then. Nice to meet you!" Ash stuck out his hand. Acorn looked at it warily. He took it, but not before shocking Ash again, partially to satisfy his curiosity and partially because something was drawing him to Ash that Acorn couldn't explain and wasn't sure he liked. It made him want to stay near Ash, want to trust him, and that just didn't make sense. Humans were idiots who didn't ever seem to tell the whole truth. Acorn still hadn't run away, though. Now he would practically be lying if he did. After all, Ash probably assumed he'd help him now.

"OW! Stop doing stuff like that, Acorn! That was supposed to make us friends!"

"~As if I'd willingly be friends with you? Please. I just feel sorry for you, that's all. You're too pathetic to survive, so I'm getting you to a road, and no further, understood?~" Acorn wasn't expecting results. After all, Ash wasn't able to understand him. That's why Acorn was so surprised when Ash's face fell dramatically. Ash's eyes seemed to be focused not on Acorn himself, but on the air around Acorn. Weird.

Slowly, Ash said, "I suppose this means you aren't going to be my friend... Will you at least help me get to someplace I can get to Pallet Town from?" Acorn wondered what Ash had understood of his sentence, then. Obviously, Ash had missed the part where Acorn had said he'd take Ash as far as the road, and Humans could get everywhere on those strips of ugly black rock that burnt paws when stepped on.

Acorn finally just nodded, and Ash's face lit up again. "Thank you. I've had a bad day, but you've made it a bit better." Acorn nodded again, sniffing out for the heavy, leaden smell of asphalt. "Say, you wouldn't know what Holon's Clause means, do you?"

I can guess. He just shook his head, though. No need to tell the boy the grave news, after all. The doctor probably would tomorrow.

They had been walking for some time. The grass was cool a against Acorn's skin, and he loved the night-time noises he was hearing as the sun set. It had truly been a while since he had been in a forest of any sort, and it made Acorn quite happy. Maybe once he made it to Viridian Forest, he would see his brothers and sisters. That, too, had been a long time... For now, however, he had to get the oddly quiet Human to the road. The Human seemed so terribly pensive. He would have never guessed that Ash was a quiet type, but since their earlier 'conversation' (Acorn only meant that in the loosest sense of the word), Ash had been very quiet. If Acorn didn't know better, he'd say that Ash had known Acorn was lying about Holon's Clause. Then again, Ash picked up on emotions weirdly easily, so maybe. Acorn still wasn't telling.

"~Hey, Ash! Boy!~" shouted Pikachu. "~There's only about a mile to go, okay? We'll be back shortly, so start paying attention, idiot!~"

"Hmm? Acorn?" said Ash, still looking rather distracted. Annoyed, Acorn shocked him. Ash hardly batted an eye at this. Apparently, the 'pay attention!' shocks were building Ash an immunity to electricity. That shouldn't be possible, but considering what Ash had said earlier, it might be. "Are we getting close? Oh! I seem to be trailing behind again, sorry." Acorn wondered if all Humans were this distractible. The ones Acorn had met before Ash didn't seem like it, but perhaps they just hid it better. At least Ash had caught on that an electric shock meant 'look at me!' or 'pay attention!' or 'danger!' in electric dialect, even if Ash couldn't seem to understand actual language. Acorn doubted that Ash would ever graduate to the subtleties of different voltages, but most non-electric Pokemon couldn't tell the difference, let alone a Human.

"Oh, Acorn," added Ash suddenly, "I need to apologize for how much I was begging earlier. I wasn't having a very good day, you see." Acorn snorted. There went the Human and his tendency to state the obvious again.

"~Listen. Ash. If I weren't a Pikachu and therefore awesome, I would have been acting like that about two days ago, so shut up. Let's just keep walking. We're almost there, anyway.~" Acorn wondered why he felt so... weird. He had only been walking with the Boy for an hour, so he shouldn't be attached to him. It was that same stupid tug, wasn't it. Why did he feel so connected to the Ash kid, anyway? For a few minutes, they were both silent again. The clouds drifted by. The sun finished setting. All around them, owls blared to life. Acorn sighed. They would have been Hoothoots and Noctowls long ago, and would have been near his nest, had Acorn been home. Acorn suspected his nest had mostly been destroyed, though, so dumb birds would have to do instead of wise old flying/psychic types.

Suddenly, there was a rustling of wings from a nearby tree. Instinctively, Acorn's ears perked up and his cheeks began to glow. The clearing flickered for a moment as a thin shock of electricity automatically traveled from Acorn to his traveling companions- though really, he only had one, and that one was Ash. Ash, oddly enough, made no sound. Perhaps he understood the meaning of that particular shock better than Acorn suspected: Danger! Human! Acorn's nose had scented something he did not like, did not like at all. He crept up closer to the tree, before leaping back. That voice... Acorn recognized it! "~Get down!~" he hissed, and though Ash didn't understand it, the glint in Acorn's eyes and the air he was giving off had probably spooked the Boy, because Ash had hidden.

"My mission is to kill a little, untrained boy and an escapee Pikachu with a genetic disease?" As the voice said this, Acorn gave a low growl. It sounded like a rumble of thunder. "Please. I could do that in my sleep." There was a nearly silent whirring noise and a ruffle of feathers. Suddenly, from the trees, a man rose. His face and features was obscured by shadow, as he had his back to the sun. However, the prominent features of gigantic, somewhat unnatural looking wings like a Fearow and a mirror-like weapon in his hands were perfectly visible. Ash swallowed hard behind Acorn. Acorn decided to just go ahead and give Ash one more order: "~RUN.~" Then, hearing Ash run away like Acorn had asked, he turned to face the Effin in front of him.

As Ash dived behind cover and darted behind trees, Acorn immediately felt electricity charge within him, a powerful, high-voltage current building up as organs unique to only a few species of Pokemon began their work ionizing his bloodstream, pushing it through him. A small static electricity spark-plug reared into larger and larger concentrations of energy as Acorn began quickly shuffling his feet to provide kinetic energy that could continue to power his internal generator. (Or at least, that was as much as scientists had proved happened, anyway. Most just wound up eventually throwing their hands up in exasperation and frustration when actual attacks got thrown and then somehow missed and flew into the sky, despite the fact an electrics type attack should have to connect with something, or when a Pikachu uses Iron Tail, or when Delta Syndrome comes into play. Combined with Effin and Mythin powers and abilities, most scientists just threw their hands up and said 'oh screw it, Pokemon are magic, got it?') The Effin noticed him almost immediately, that cruel Mirror Move Device already standing at ready. Acor wasted no time. Almost immediately, he sent a powerful Thundershock at his opponent, only to have his opponent get a chance to send it back with the sword. Pikachu rolled left to dodge it.

"So, you're the Pikachu..." said the Fearow Effin. "I remember you. Certainly you remember the great Spencer Hollan?" the Effin laughed and reflected the Thundershock Acorn sent in response. That idiot Human had been sent to kill him, after all. Acorn was not about to waste time with banter, not when his life was at stake! He fired a Thunderbolt, ignoring that it just wasn't working, ignoring the burning sensation that washed across him as another Mirror Move returned the attack, and ignoring the leaden taste that was poisonously blooming in his mouth. He didn't yet have any other ranged attacks, and Hollan was in the air. Therefore, he was forced to keep using the ineffective, predictable two, with his only hope being that he would get a lucky shot off and knock the bastard out of the air.

"~Get hit already!~" rumbled Acorn, just as he leapt out of the way of a rebounded Thunderbolt. He had a nasty feeling that Hollan was just waiting for the best moment to strike Acorn down, but he was still getting frustrated that he just wouldn't come in-range for Acorn's more diverse attacks! Frustrated, he began firing off many overcharged Thundershock and Thunderbolt attacks in rapid succession, only to have them dodged and reflected in quiet, sweeping movements.

The metallic taste was still building up in his mouth, but he had to ignore it as another wave of electricity from the high-voltage battle struck beside him.

Suddenly, he heard another voice that he recognized, only, for Acorn, this one was not in any way hostile. "Acorn!" He didn't bother talking normally, instead only giving his natural thundering noise and lightning strikes in reply. In a situation like this, he didn't have time to reply in Universal Dialect, not when Ash wouldn't understand, anyway. "You'll have to trust me, but if you fire for his right wing tip, right where the attack would almost miss but is close enough to warrant an attempt at dodging, you'll probably get his back open!" Acorn nearly did a double take. Where was the idiot Boy from before? What exactly did he know about elemental battling, anyway? "Come on, Acorn, you're missing your opportunity! Your attack will be doubly damaging, as it will short circuit the Flying-type Fearow Wing Device and force him to the ground! Trust me!" Acorn didn't trust Humans though. However, as the taste in his mouth became unbearable, as blood from hitting the ground in order to ground an attack mixed in with the flavor, as that internal generator began to slow down, Acorn didn't have time to decide if he trusted Ash or not. He had to make a snap choice.

In a way, it was just as surprising to Acorn as it was to Hollan when Acorn fired the attacks exactly as Ash demanded. Just as Ash had suggested, the Effin spiraled to the ground. Time remained short. Hollan jabbed his sword in a highly-effective drilling motion, forcing Acorn to dodge, dodge, dodge, and not giving Acorn any time. His mouth tasted painful. It would take Acorn too long to tap into it safely, too long to tap into it without dragging the tiny slivers that had been building up with each shock through Acorn's mouth. Acorn needed to get an attack off now, though! Neither electric move was working; switching from Drill Peck Mode to Mirror Move Mode took a blink of an eye and left the relentless assault on.

Suddenly, Acorn was pinned to the ground. "Gotcha," whispered the Fearow Effin. The blade rose above Acorn's face and came down hard. It didn't hit hard, though. It barely hit at all. Ash had punched Hollan in the nose. This gave the now bleeding Mouse Pokemon all it needed as its tail and skull hardened into thick, thick steel. Suddenly, each blow with the sword could be countered with the tail, and each attack had to be followed by defense, because Iron Head hurt. The tide of the battle seemed to be turning. Suddenly, Ash shouted at Acorn, "Look out! He's going to change targets!"

Immediately, Acorn summoned as much energy as he could. There was not a single chance that Acorn was going to let someone kill Ash after Ash had just saved his life in such a reckless and insane fashion, had just saved his life despite not even knowing who he was.

I trust you.

Powerful, silvery bolts of electricity filled the air along with a desperate scream. A roar like a mouse's thunder accompanied a whimper and a collapse. Acorn's face was still bleeding badly. A cry came from a boy whose own body was somewhat burnt from the amount of electric shock he had just withstood and stood next to. For a moment, one last arc of electricity lit the sky, connecting the boy and the Pikachu For one second before vanishing with the last of the electric discharge. Then, the boy was running, searching desperately for the bush they had passed earlier, the one whose berries had healing properties. "I won't let you die, Acorn! I promise!" said Ash desperately, and this was the last thing Acorn heard before, for the first time in his life, experiencing the Fainting Instinct firsthand.

"You mean to tell me that your agent was killed by two subjects with Delta Syndrome, two completely untrained subjects, at that? ...Yes, I doubt the boy and the Pikachu realize that they've killed him, they probably didn't entirely intend to do more than slow him down... You're sending in an R team? Is it not a bit early for that? ...Ah, you're sending in them. I do hope you know what you're doing, poison types won't do much... Oh, yes, a lack of inhibitions is useful, sure, but your agent most likely died due to a similar disadvantage... Oh, I know they're dying. However, how much damage will be done if they don't die quickly? We need to speed things along, chop-chop... I'm your direct superior, Giovanni. Let me do my job... Yes yes, Arceus bless Kanto, Arceus bless the Legion. Now, goodnight. I have work to do."

'Click!'