Summary: 2B gets an offer she totally could refuse! But why would she?

Chapter 5 – Preparing for the Road

Daisy rubbed her temples in frustration. On the one hand, this was possibly the single most human behavior she'd ever seen out of 2B. On the other, it was…annoyingly childish. She'd have said that 2B was being a brat, except that it was clear from her confused expression that she couldn't figure out what she'd done wrong. She actually looked a little hurt that the older Pokemon that Daisy had upgraded her to work with didn't like the food she'd made them. Taking a deep breath, Daisy reminded herself that 2B didn't possess 'common sense,' and the best possible way to explain things to her was virtually always through logic rather than feelings.

"2B…not every member of a Pokemon species has the same tastebuds. Just as humans have varying preferences in taste, Pokemon do as well. Even a Fire Type may have a preference for cold things, like ice cream. I know at least two that love the taste for the sheer difference from their norm."

2B was frowning, seemingly trying to wrap her head around that concept. It shouldn't have been a struggle. But 2B could get hung up on the weirdest things.

"Are not all taste buds the same? Programmed to respond to 'good' flavors? Why would the same body hardware not result in the same preferences?"

2B sounded so confused that Daisy was caught between wanting to laugh and cry. At times the younger girl was so utterly brilliant that it was intimidating to be around her. And then there were times like this when something everyone else took for granted completely blew the poor girl's mind. Thankfully, Daisy had developed tried and true methods to deal with this.

"Think of it like a randomizer, 2B. Every species may have the same baseline, the DNA that tells them how to form. But, in biological constructs, those baselines have…wiggle room. The exact number and type of tastebuds isn't defined as a constant, but as a random number between a certain set of values. Resulting in two Pokemon of the same type, or people for that matter, having differing numbers of tastebuds aligned for different aspects of taste. So where the baby Bulbasaur you were feeding before happened to like Sweet things, this one happens to like Bitter things, do to a different configuration of tastebuds."

There was a lot more to it than that, of course. Taste preferences could have any number of psychological variables as well. But those were a lot more nebulous and 2B was better with hard facts than emotional or social intelligence. As long as this got her to the right basic conclusion, it would be fine. Probably.

"So…you need to test every Pokemon's preferences for taste?"

2B seemed troubled by the inefficiency of that, causing Daisy to chuckle. She walked over to the nearby berry bins, locked to keep pokémon out, and swiped her lab ID to open it. She picked out a few berries and started slicing them.

"Yes, but there's easy ways to do it. When dealing with a new pokémon, all you need is a cross selection of basic flavors. Slices of berries work well. Most Pokemon are smart enough to tell you which ones they did and didn't like, and you can then work with the ones that did like. Things like temperature matter too, but a lot less than basic flavor types, so that's always the right place to start."

She handed five slices of different berries to 2B.

"Here, there are five basic flavors that can be worked with. Spicy, Dry, Sweet, Bitter, and Sour. Let me show you how to get a good idea what a Pokemon likes, then how to strike a balance so you don't have to make too many types of food on the road. You can generally use a relatively simply, bland but nutritious blend as a base. Then you mix individual berries in for each pokémon to shift the taste to their preference. Of course, this doesn't take into account type needs. But, for that…"

The best thing about teaching 2B was that, even when she looked a bit bewildered, she earnestly paid attention to every word. Daisy ended up having to lecture on some of the strangest topics from time to time, but 2B rarely needed the same sort of lesson more than once...

... ...

2B hummed as she worked on her tactical visor with the tiny tools she'd built using another set of slightly larger tools. After some time to get more familiar with it, she was somewhat impressed by some aspects of this world's technology. They'd come nearly as far as YoRHa with dimensional space expansion, for example, and they were arguably better at medicine than her original reality ever had been.

They were, however, woefully behind on most electronics. She'd apparently made someone named Bill cry 'happy tears' when she'd overhauled his digital matter storage algorithms? He'd also apparently credited her and started sending a portion of the profits from an entirely new 'item storage' device that trainers could buy. Instead of doing something silly like teleporting the objects elsewhere, 2B had merely tweaked the same algorithms YoRHa used to digitize items like weapons for storage and transfer. There was no MASO in this world, but there were plenty of other exotic energies, and it had been childishly easy to adapt the math. At least for her.

Now 2B was apparently somewhat wealthy, as she was getting a portion of all sales for a wave of 'spatial storage bracers' that could digitize trainer gear. The bracers allow for far more carrying capacity than the previous space-expanded backpacks that had been the standard could manage. She was also getting a smaller but steadier income for the efficiency overhauls she'd done to the Pokemon Storage System. The overhauls she'd done both increased the security of the transfers and increased the amount of time a Pokemon could be stored in a suspended state. It still wasn't indefinite, but the increased duration would take quite a lot of strain off various ranches and stables…which incidentally meant 2B got to see a portion of that savings come back in the form of payment for her work.

She'd wanted to just give it away. It would improve the lives of humans after all. But Professor Oak and Daisy had a firm discussion with her about that, and she'd accepted in the end that it was better not to set the precedent of doing such work for free. They'd needed to explain that doing so could, in many cases, actually hurt people…since those people did the same sort of research and if 2B put them out of a job by making it free? Well, it had been a confusing and frustrating lesson in economics, which had dipped into politics too. At least these humans had reached the point where they could make all the basics of life cheap or free, including medical needs for both people and pokémon.

All of which was interesting, or frustrating, or both. But only sort of relevant to her current project. Entirely aside from the coding side of things, this world's computer hardware was…lacking. It had taken months and months of on-and-off work for 2B to build the tools, to build the tools, to build the tools, to modify her YoRHa tactical visor. Now that she was human, she couldn't directly interface with the visor. But it was still a powerful tool, so she'd been working on other methods of controlling it. Eye gesture commands, voice commands, and so on. All more primitive and much slower than her speed-of-thought access. But it would at least return the functionality of the scanners and such to full usage.

Her humming took on a satisfied tone as she finally got the last tiny wire wiggled into place just right. The humming was a new thing too, with 2B having discovered she quite liked human music. It felt odd to have a hobby of sorts in it. But Daisy had encouraged it, particularly when she discovered that 2B had utterly perfect pitch on command. The pokémon also seemed to like her humming, and Jigglypuff delighted in singing along with her. So it was a satisfying and useful choice of hobby. Entirely acceptable. Much better than fishing. Though she'd apparently have to do some of that too, for certain kinds of pokémon.

Sealing the visor back up, she put it on and booted it up, smiling as the new interface took effect. She started running it through the commands she'd come up with, clunky as they were, and made another pleased hum. This was excellent. Now she just had to get it to interface with the new version of the pokédex she was working on with Professor Oak…

... ...

Daisy groaned as she saw the state of her friend. The two of them had taken off from the ranch for a few days to 'rough it' in the wilds. 2B hadn't had the same experiences that most young trainers got, going to various survival camps and such in preparation for their eventual Journey. As a result, Daisy had been concerned that 2B wouldn't quite know how to handle that side of things…and she appeared to have been both right and wrong. Which was, honestly, a little bit too common of an occurrence with 2B for Daisy's peace of mind.

"2B, how did you even get mud in your hair. We haven't had any rain in weeks! And why are you bleeding?!"

2B blinked, seemingly completely unconcerned that she was dusty from head-to-toe, had leaves and mud in her hair, and she had a gash down one arm. Which, given how physically powerful and damage resistant her friend was, left Daisy baffled and concerned how she'd gotten it. The only reason she wasn't immediately fussing over the wound was the fact she could see it visibly healing. Not all that fast, it would likely be half an hour before it healed completely, but at an insane speed for any normal human.

"Ah. There was a Gyarados stuck in the stream I went to for water. I think he evolved from a Magikarp in a place too small for him. He was very angry and I had to smack him on the nose a few times before he calmed down so I could free him."

Daisy sweat dropped. That...she didn't even know what to say to that. Sane people ran away from angry Gyarados. Wild Gyarados were the type of menace that Pokemon Rangers generally had to be called in to clear out. Granted, if it had just evolved, it wasn't the sort of town-or-ship destroying monster that gave wild ones a bad reputation. But still, it wasn't anything for a new trainer and a single Jigglypuff with no battle experience to be dealing with. Of course, 2B wasn't exactly normal.

"What, exactly, did you do with the Gyarados?"

2B still looked completely non-plussed as she responded.

"Sent it on its way after a stern talking to, of course. It won't bother anyone if it knows what's good for it. I made sure it understood that."

You know what? Daisy didn't want to know. She'd inform the rangers there had been a young Gyarados nearby. But otherwise, she just…really didn't want to know.

"Well. I suppose this is a good time to learn about how to safely get clean in the wild, then. Let's find a good place in the stream where we won't upset the local pokémon. And remember, we'll need to leave a guard on our things. Some pokémon with a mischievous nature will try to make off with your clothes or backpack while you're bathing…"

Daisy shuddered at the reminder of the most embarrassing moment in her entire Journey, where she'd had to chase a little jerk of a Mankey through the forest for an hour, naked.

"Particularly Mankey. Those little monsters are evil."

Seeing 2B's expression shift, Daisy quickly backtracked.

"Ah, well, not evil actually…just a bit unkind by nature? I don't like them, at least. But a lot of fighting type trainers do!"

2B's face smoothed out and Daisy mentally patted herself on the back. She hadn't accidently caused a genocide against Mankey kind. That was good. Her grandfather would have been unhappy…even if the little creeps probably deserved it! Make her streak through a forest nude, only to stumble into a confused male ranger, would you?!

That Mankey should be very glad the ranger had been young and cute, or she'd have strangled the little monster to death, brought it back, then done it again! As it was, she'd only sent it to the most crazed fighting master she knew to suffer instead! The thought of its misery as it trained under that nutcase Bea was still satisfying to this day. And she'd gotten a lovely date with the cute ranger who'd been quite kind about the whole thing, too…

Humming and wondering if she still had that ranger's number somewhere, she led 2B off for a hopefully-less-traumatic lesson in wilderness bathing.

... ...

"So, 2B…what do you think?"

2B blinked in surprise as she considered the Professor's offer. One extended on behalf of both himself and Daisy. When she'd been called into the main lab, almost exactly a year after her arrival, she hadn't been sure what the Professor wanted. With the new trainer circuit coming up, it could have been almost anything, really. But the offer to become one of his Sponsored Trainers this year certainly hadn't been on her mind at all.

"Will I not be displacing someone else who deserves the chance, Professor?"

Samuel Oak chuckled and shook his head.

"2B, everyone gets a chance to go on a Pokemon Journey, if they want to. The League ensures that every young man or woman that wants to make the attempt has a starter pokémon and a modest stipend. Combined with the universal medical care and free rooms available to trainers at Pokemon Centers, everyone gets a chance. Those who earn a sponsorship from a Professor or Gym merely get a bit of a slight edge. And the sponsors get a fair bit out of it, too. Prestige for the Gyms, data for the Labs. Assuming the trainers do well."

The Professor turned a nearby monitor to show 2B a chart. On one side was listed the normal Trainer Package that anyone who passed the very basic League tests could get from any League facility. A small stipend, a basic 'safe' type of Pokemon like a Pidgey or Rattata, and a set of three Pokéballs. The stipend was enough to feed yourself and a couple of Pokemon, but not much more, and no stabling rights were included, limiting a trainer to just six Pokemon unless they made their own arrangements.

On the other side was the standard offer that Professor Oak gave his trainers. A higher tier starter, including an option for one of the traditional Kanto Three. A significantly larger stipend, with bonuses for rare pokémon scanned and unique variants recorded. Effectively unlimited stabling rights, so long as you didn't abuse it too heavily. It was, without question, a far better option. Before 2B could protest that she shouldn't take it from someone else, Oak continued his own pitch.

"More to the point…I don't even have Lab Trainers every year. I have at least one, most years. But my requirements are high for giving out such a boon. There have been years where I didn't accept anyone, and this year I've only accepted one, aside from yourself. If you're truly worried about taking an opportunity from someone else, we can easily arrange for them to choose their pokémon first."

2B blinked, frowning uncertainly.

"Is Jigglypuff not my starter?"

Professor Oak smiled and shook his head.

"Effectively? Yes. Legally? No. She was signed over to you months ago by the Lab for use in your work at the Ranch. You would be getting a second Pokemon as your 'starter,' and as Daisy has put you through qualifications for various pokémon types and breeds, you would have an expanded list to choose from, beyond just the Kanto Three. The traditional three are a compromise between power and simplicity to handle for a new trainer."

Well, there didn't seem to be much reason to turn him down, 2B supposed. Particularly as he'd already pointed out that the data 2B was continuing to gain for Daisy technically qualified her as a lab assistant. It would be easier to keep that data flow going, as Daisy continued to learn about Aura, if 2B was a lab-sponsored trainer with a state-of-the-art pokédex linked to the lab.

"Very well, Professor. I accept. Thank you for the opportunity."

The Professor's smile was huge as he thanked her in response, dragging her along toward the Pokemon selection area.

"Good, very good! Now, let's see what sort of pokémon you might like! You've already worked with many of this year's best while working at the ranch with Daisy…"

... ... ... ... ...

Author's Note: That's it for now! Sort of! There are actually two small chapters of this in Early Access on my P-atreon Page, adding another 4,500 words. Don't worry, all of my fanfiction is eventually free. So it will wind up here at a delay! You can check out my profile for instructions on how to find me on the Website-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named-Here ;-). As well as, of course, to read my other works, all of which are much farther along than this is right now!