Summary: 2B finally sets off on her Journey! And promptly does something other people wouldn't consider sane!

Chapter 8 – A Journey Begins

2B happily accepted Daisy's hug. She was still figuring out the rules for who she should and shouldn't hug. But Daisy liked hugs, and 2B had to admit that she found her friend's hugs pleasant things as well. Professor Oak, who had said goodbye at the lab instead of seeing her out of town, had stuck to a handshake. Honestly, she wouldn't have minded a hug from him, either. Even the pokémon often thought he was huggable. But she hadn't wanted to presume. It also may have lacked professionalism, given that she was technically still his employee.

Daisy let go of her, pulling back with a smile on her face but slightly wet eyes. 2B was curious to note her own were slightly damp as well? She'd have to ask Daisy about that later. Via a text message. Somehow, it didn't seem the right time to do it now. Emotions were difficult. No wonder YoRHa had been convinced they were bad for field agents. Even if 2B had long since disagreed with that point of view, she thought she understood it now.

Becoming human had been a relief, really, in that respect. Though she still struggled to properly understand the why of many emotions. Such as now, when she somehow felt both excited and heartbroken at the same time. She wanted to go, to see more of the world and figure out how best to protect the humans. But part of her also didn't want to leave Daisy behind.

"Well! You're off on your Journey! I already went over your kit with you, you've got a fully upgraded 'dex and that amazing visor of yours, and enough money to choke a Snorlax with. You'll be great! Just…remember not to take candy from strangers and to review your Common Sense Checklist when you run into something new."

2B nodded seriously. The Common Sense Checklist was long, but she still possessed a perfect memory and a far faster speed of thought than regular humans. She had gotten used to checking it in many situations, even if Daisy sometimes seemed to think her interpretations of several points on the list was frequently 'iffy.'

"I will. And I will call you if something confuses me despite the Checklist."

Daisy chuckled, darted in for another quick hug, then pulled back a few steps.

"Alright then! Good luck, 2B, Jigglypuff, Vulpix. Not that I think you'll need it, given how much of a terror you've already turned Vulpix into in so short a time! Not to mention Jigglypuff…"

2B cocked her head as Daisy stared into space with that odd look she got whenever 2B and Jigglypuff did something new. A moment later, as usual these days, she shook whatever it was off and smiled.

"Best get going! If you want to make it to Viridian before nightfall!"

That was not 2B's plan. But she didn't mention that to Daisy. The older girl had insisted that she not 'double-check' 2B's plans, despite 2B offering to let her. So that she didn't 'spoil 2B's independence,' supposedly. 2B didn't fully get it, she was used to superiors meddling with her planning, after all. But as she'd checked all the appropriate law codes and League rules and discovered her plan was technically acceptable under them, she supposed it didn't matter much. Instead, she just nodded, not correcting Daisy.

"I'm sure I will be fine. Goodbye for now, and thank you for all of your instruction, Daisy."

Daisy blushed as 2B bowed lightly. A gesture she'd learned was one of respect in Johto. It was used less in Kanto, but still present, just reserved for moments of greater meaning. 2B felt this moment fit that, according to the Checklist. Besides, it felt right, somehow.

Daisy waved 2B off, and 2B nodded, turning…and only hesitated for a brief moment before taking her first step away. That step had felt oddly heavy for some reason, and she wished she still had her sensors to help her figure out why. No matter, as each step came more easily, she was sure whatever it was had been only momentary. She did glance back as she entered Route 1, smiling as she saw Daisy still waving…

... ...

2B hadn't stayed on Route 1.

She fully understood that the 'traditional' path for trainers was to visit Pewter City as their first gym. As she was supposed to be learning more about 'being human' there was quite a bit of value in human traditions for her. Or so 2B thought. Yet, curiously, when she tried to find out more, there had been nothing in the traditions that stated new trainers would go straight to Pewter City. Indeed, not all trainers even used it as their first gym, with it being simply too far out of the way to be practical for those that lived in the eastern half of Kanto.

Even discarding practical concerns such as that one, she'd also stumbled upon a wide variance in just how individual trainers got to Pewter, even if they did do the gyms in the traditional order. Many, most even, trainers only had their starter pokémon to…well, start with. Usually, that pokémon came with a certain amount of pre-training from the breeders or family members. They were starters for a reason. Meant to both ease a trainer into handling pokémon and provide a certain level of protection against low-level wild pokémon. That pre-training, however, was limited by two factors. First, that starter pokémon were never supposed to be too strong for a new trainer to handle if said pokémon got rough with them. Second, they were limited by the trainer themselves.

Even those trainers who had gone through summer training programs such as those offered by Professor Oak's lab/ranch, didn't know their starter. The major advantage of Pokémon Tech schools and Academy's, which many serious trainers spent a year in before their Journey, was in overcoming that factor. Someone with a brand new pokémon had yet to learn anything beyond its moveset, at best, and would not have practiced combinations or commands to any extent. Trying to take that pokémon straight into a gym battle was the height of abject stupidity, and few were dumb enough to try it.

As such, most trainers spent some weeks practicing with their new starter, unless they had spent time at one of the aforementioned technical schools or academies. They often, of course, also spent that time acquiring new captures for their team. Fighting a gym with only a single pokémon was also an act of idiocy or poor forethought, after all. The true New Trainer Surge for the gyms wouldn't actually begin for another week or two, as a general rule, despite this being the first day of the new Indigo League Circuit.

All of which meant that 2B didn't feel the need to head straight up Routes 1 & 2, heading dead on for Pewter and its gym. This was doubly true since 2B had a little bit of a problem. Not a big one, really. She fully understood and believed that Type Advantage wasn't really the end all and be all of pokémon battling. But it did matter, particularly in low level battling, and Flint was known to be much harsher than his son had been when Brock had run the Gym. He pushed new trainers as hard as the League rules allowed, and it meant a lot of those new trainers had to make second or third attempts at the Pewter City gym.

2B was confident that Jigglypuff could handle it. She'd prepared properly by acquiring a Water Pulse TM for her first pokémon and training her with it while working with Vulpix. Unfortunately, Jigglypuff was only one pokémon…and Vulpix was innately weak to Rock Types. Add in a lack of training time so far to help overcome that hurdle, and she had quickly decided that they needed to seek out another companion for their team. The fact that it would give her longer to train Vulpix for the Circuit was a nice bonus. As was the fact that she just so happened to be starting her journey nearby to where several pokémon that suited her purposes lived.

But that wasn't Route 1. No, it was Route 26. It and Route 27 which, combined, connected New Barktown in Johto to the League Reception Gate, were technically Kanto Routes. Normally, to get through that Gate during League Season, you needed either to apply for a special exemption or posses a certain number of badges. At least if you were competing on the circuit. Making that a requirement was the easiest way to prevent mixing of the Kanto and Johto Division 1 circuits, so 2B understood the logic. As an assistant to Professor Oak, 2B could probably have gotten an exemption so long as she promised not to cross over into Johto. But after checking the legal terminology and Circuit Rules, 2B had realized it was irrelevant in her case anyway.

After all. There was absolutely nothing at all preventing you from simply swimming between Pallet Town and Route 26, aside from silly human limits like stamina. No laws, no Circuit Rules. She'd checked. Twice. You simply couldn't get there via means of the Reception Gate, the way it was written. A very odd sort of limitation, really.

Well, she supposed there was also the fact that it meant passing through waters that weren't fully patrolled by the Rangers. Honestly, though, any section of ocean was just about as dangerous as any other section. Save right next to the cities, the Rangers weren't exactly able to impede the movement of wild water pokémon in a realistic fashion. Meaning that the water routes were always more dangerous than the land routes. It was part of the reason the traditional approach to the Gym Circuit in Kanto left the Cinnabar Island Gym as either the last or second to last for most Division 1 trainers.

For people that weren't 2B, at least.

She had a small suspicion that Daisy would have updated her Common Sense Checklist if she'd bothered to review 2B's plan. She hadn't however, so 2B was sure it must be okay. With aura, she wouldn't have any trouble with the distance at all, and the vast majority of wild pokémon left aura users alone save for curiosity. The worst that should happen is her having to smack another Gyarados down for getting mouthy and rude.

So thinking, 2B had diverted once out of sight of Daisy, in order to keep the surprise for her friend. The moment she reached the waterside, 2B unequipped her gear, storing it away via her custom spatial storage bracer. For a moment, she stood there nude, than made an 'ah' noise as a run through of her Common Sense Checklist reminded her that swimsuits were expected. Even when there was little chance of running into other people.

Carefully checking the 'wardrobe' tab of her bracer's inventory, 2B selected one of the more practical black-and-white one-piece suits that Daisy and Mitsumi had picked out for her. Getting it out of her inventory, she pulled it on with a nod, pleased the Checklist was already paying off. Making sure her belt with her two pokéballs was firmly secured for swimming, she stepped out into the water.

She supposed it was for the best that Daisy had taught her to swim, after all…

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

A/N 1: The way I'm treating the timeline, many of both the Anime and Game events have or are happening. I'm treating every 'League' or similar that Ash took part in as a single year. Note, not every season. But every League. I.E. his Kanto and Johto journeys were a year each, as were Hoenn, Shinnoh, etc. With a few exceptions that couldn't reasonably have been that long. When 2B first arrived, Ash was in Unova (Black & White). As 2B starts her own Journey, he's moved on to Kalos. Not everything may line up perfectly, since Pokémon doesn't really have a proper timeline (what with Ash not aging), but that gives you a general idea.

A/N 2: Remember that in this fic, Pokémon Journey's generally start between the ages of 14-16. Ash started his as young as possible. But most people start at 15. 2B is physically 16, with it not being too unusual for people to start at that age either. Particularly if they did something for a year involving learning about Pokémon first (as 2B did with the Ranch). Each time along his Journey that Ash met new companions, I'm assuming by default they were 15. Excluding individuals like Brock that were older. With them, it's 15+However much older they were. For reference, the character 2B will meet in the next chapter is therefore 17 going on 18. As it's been two years since he encountered her on her own first Journey.

A/N 3: Day 1 and 2B's already done something weird! By normal people standard's, at least. I mentioned before that 2B won't be strictly limited to the 151 traditional Kanto Pokémon. This is part of why. Not only is it logical that there be some migration between Kanto and Johto on account of them being connected, but I looked up Routes 26 and 27. Both of them are considered KANTO Routes, despite not appearing until Gen II as the connection point to Johto. That means that there are two routes with some Johto Pokémon that are outright officially part of Kanto. Three, actually, since Route 28 is the same way.