Summary: Discussing Dreams...

Warning! Chapters 8-12 were all posted back-to-back, make sure you don't miss any of them!

Chapter 11 – The First Night

"Huh, this is actually really good. Even if the way you went about cooking it looked more like baking than cooking."

2B was pleased with the comment, even as she checked over her newest team member. Chinchou had looked a little dazed when he'd been called out, but had brightened up when offered a berry, and allowed 2B to check him over. The pokémon was an excellent specimen of its kind, though he'd been surprisingly quiet so far.

Even now, as he left her lap in exchange for the bowl of basic Water Type food she'd put out for him, Chinchou made only a few brief exchanges with Jigglypuff, who was just finishing up her own special blend of food. 2B would have to work out a more precise mix for Chinchou, given that it was a mixed type. But the Water Type recipe used at the Oak Ranch would do well enough for now. He certainly seemed to be enjoying it as he dug in.

Noticing that Zoey was looking slightly awkward, 2B reminded herself that humans liked small talk. She didn't hate it either. Without her uplink to other androids in place it was sometimes too quiet in her head. That didn't mean such small talk came naturally to her, though. Still, Zoey had said something she could use, at least.

"Daisy was very frustrated about that, at first. Of the Ranch Recipes, pokémon and human food alike, I could only make the ones that Professor Oak had written out personally. At least at first. Eventually, she realized that I am very poor at estimating things 'by eye,' but could make things perfectly if given an exact recipe. I still assert that a 'pinch' or 'dab' is an illogical recipe instruction and that all recipes should be written properly."

Zoey snorted at the statement, causing 2B's lips to twitch. It was an old argument between her and Daisy, who was more the 'cook with a dash of love' type of free-form chef. At first, 2B had been very serious about her describing it that way, but over time it had become something of an inside joke. Not to mention a quick way to indicate to Daisy what 2B's problem with a concept was. Many other things humans did, just like cooking, were illogically imprecise. 2B had gotten better at handling most of them, but occasionally still hit mental snags and knew it. She'd learned to use the cooking example as a way to explain the issue when she ran into another such mental hiccup.

"I suppose I can see that. I was never any good at cooking myself. Even with pokémon food, the best I can manage is to mix existing PokéBlock or PokéChow for more suitable results. And I have to get someone else to figure them out first, usually…"

Zoey blushed a bit at that, fiddling with the remains of her food, before grinning and letting the curious Ponyta try the last of the travel stew 2B had made. Ponyta made a face at the taste, causing her to laugh. Not all pokémon liked human food, or only liked specific human foods. The pony pokémon seemed to at least appreciate that he'd been allowed to try.

2B was pleased to see him reacting so well. He'd been in a poor mood from his loss, at first, after having been restored with a revive and a few potions before they'd fully set up camp. But Zoey had coaxed him around while 2B set up their camp site for the night, and now he seemed to be mostly just quietly observing the two trainers.

"A significant part of my job at the ranch was helping with all the pokémon present there. They had me mixing food almost from the first day. And Daisy insisted I learn some decent 'traveling recipes' for humans too. I can only claim to be good at it in the sense that I can replicate the method that the ranch uses to determine the best nutritional and preferred foods of new pokémon."

Looking at the pony-pokémon still watching them both closely, 2B gestured to him and added.

"I can help you work out a best diet for him, once you've figured out a training plan. How much you train and what you focus on makes a big difference in what you should feed him. Training his Type moves heavily results in different needs than focusing on physical ability."

Zoey blinked, seeming startled at that idea.

"Wait…really? I mean, I know that training for battles is different, with more focus on power, but food needs change that easily?"

The redhead's eyes widened as it seemed to click for her.

"Oh! The additional power output needs more calories, doesn't it! That's why my pokémon seemed to be such fiends for berries last year!"

2B smiled and nodded, glad to see the woman had figured it out.

"Yes. Almost all serious battle trainers add raw berry slices into whatever chow they use, and most of the PokéBlocks tuned for battle trainers have a high-density berry blend in them. The reason wild pokémon often stake claims on berry bushes, even fighting over them, is because berries are naturally extremely dense in both calories and the specific nutrients needed to recover from aura usage. Battle trainers make use of the same properties to keep the amounts of food they need to carry and feed their pokémon at least vaguely reasonable."

Zoey groaned, appearing to be mentally kicking herself for not realizing it sooner. Then she sighed and rallied, nodding with a firm expression and pounding one fist into her opposing palm.

"Thanks! That's helpful! That sort of knowledge is exactly the sort of thing I was missing by not going into battling from the bottom! I'm going to learn everything I can about battling, so that I can reach my goals!"

2B cocked her head, ran a quick check of her Common Sense Checklist, and then simply asked.

"What are your goals?"

Zoey blinked, then grinned.

"I want to be another Wallace! Well…sort of! What I really want to be is a Contest Master, instead of just a Top Coordinator. But Wallace is the only one of those currently alive."

The redhead settled back onto the camp chair she'd produced, before continuing with slightly less intensity, but just as much seriousness.

"Which means I'm trying to figure out how he did it, and I'm sure part of it was the fact he's a Champion level pokémon battler in addition to his Contest victories. I saw how much of a boost it gave Nando, and Ash was able to compete seriously as a Coordinator just on the back of battle skills and a strong bond! I think learning the core of battle style, instead of just contest style, will really help me improve to where I want to be. I saw some success in Johto, which makes me think I was on the right track. I just had too many habits I was fighting against…"

That sounded logical to 2B. She had, of course, researched the various Leagues. Wallace was one of the more unusual of the current Champions. While many of them were…interesting characters, Wallace was the only Coordinator among them. What's more, he self-identified as a Coordinator above his position as Hoenn League Champion. He was considered bizarre for a lot of reasons. But no one could deny the fact he was extremely skilled as a battler as well as a Coordinator.

"Will you attempt the League this year, then?"

It would be convenient if her new companion was going to do a one-year run. 2B was intending to do that as well, so that she could get on with finding the best way to defend the people of this world. Most likely with the Rangers, who tended to only accept trainers who had proven a certain degree of battle meddle.

"I'm going to try for it, at least! I'm not really willing to be away from Contests for more than a year, so I'm going to try hard to qualify for this year's Indigo League Conference. If I can get in and make it past even the first few rounds, I think I will have learned enough. It's not like I'm aiming for the championship itself, after all."

Excellent. 2B would have hated to leave her new companion behind for being lazy about progression. A moment later, she blinked in surprise as Zoey turned the question back on her.

"What about you, 2B? What are you aiming for?"

Cocking her head, trying to figure out a way to express her desire, 2B was silent for a long minute. Just as Zoey started to look awkward again, she found the words.

"To be helpful. Even if this world is a wonderful one, it is also still a dangerous one. I want to protect people. But to do that means being strong enough to join a group like the Rangers or similar. I'm aiming to complete the League entirely this year, then figure out the best way to use my experiences to protect people."

Zoey blinked.

"Huh. That's not a dream you hear every day. It's a good one, though. I've stayed mostly on the safe routes myself, since I'm not really a battler. But I've gotten in a few sticky situations that the Rangers were a big help in clearing up. The work they do is really important, even if most people never seem to realize it. I bet your aura tricks would be super useful with them, too."

2B nodded seriously. That was the idea, yes. Even if, now that she'd said it aloud, it felt the oddest bit hollow? How strange. Protecting humans was what she was made for, after all…

... ...

A pokémon Ranger, huh? 2B was an odd girl. Normally that sort of profession was something much older trainers went into. Typically after they stopped enjoying the various Division 2 League circuits. Sort of paying back society for the safety it had given them to pursue their dreams in the first place. A life you settled down to, in a way, despite the wandering nature of many Rangers. As she lay staring at the ceiling of her tent, Zoey frowned and tried to remember a single Ranger under the age of…what…late twenties was the youngest one she'd probably ever seen? And he'd been a trainee.

That wasn't quite what bothered her, though.

No, it was the fact that 2B seemed to think it was some sort of fact or duty that she needed to fulfill, rather than a dream to chase after. Had she lost someone to wild pokémon, maybe? It did happen. Every year in fact. There were always those who died on the Journey, and likely always would be. Then there were others who simply got unlucky enough to get run over by an agitated swarm, sunk at sea by a raging Gyarados, and other such fates. There was a reason virtually no one traveled outside cities without at least a companion pokémon. Not to mention a reason why the Rangers existed in the first place.

Yet, the pure ease 2B had with pokémon didn't really fit the mold of someone angry with them. Not at all. She was a bit hard to read, with how little the girl emoted, but she seemed to genuinely delight in her pokémon. In pokémon in general, in fact. The closest she'd come to gushing had been when she talked about all the pokémon she'd helped care for at the Oak Ranch! No, there was something else going on here. And it just added to the mystery that was the white-haired beauty.

Well, at least her first real traveling companion was interesting, along with distractingly gorgeous. Hopefully, Zoey would be able to prod a bit more out of her and see if she could maybe get her to lighten up a bit? Eh, it would be a work in progress. And there were plenty of benefits to keeping her around while Zoey tried to figure out what was going on with her.

Blushing as she tried to focus on the practical benefits like 2B's knowledge and aura tricks, rather than the way that perfect booty of hers had moved all day in that swimsuit, Zoey buried her head in her pillow and focused on trying to sleep…

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

A/N 1: Zoey being bothered by 2B not seeming to quite be into her 'purpose' is another reason why I ended up choosing Zoey. As a Rival, she actively went out of her way to ground Dawn, while also building her up. She will be acting as a slow but persistent source of prodding in order to get 2B to really, properly, move past her programming and figure out who she is and what she wants as an individual.

A/N 2: Zoey being attracted to 2B. No, this doesn't necessarily mean they'll get together. I haven't decided on pairings for this fic yet. But I added the little details showing she IS at least physically attracted to 2B so that I CAN use her as a pairing if I (and most likely Patrons voting) decide she's a good fit.