Summary: A little bit more rule bending...but for a good cause! Pokémon, obviously!

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

Chapter 12 – Onward to…a Detour!

It was by mutual agreement the next morning that 2B and Zoey had spent the first few hours of their day on opposite sides of the main road, getting to know their new captures. Bonding with a new pokémon and seeing what they could do was important, and best practice was generally to do that alone with just your pokémon. Doing otherwise invited confusion and potential catastrophe.

Wild pokémon with no exposure to humans didn't actually understand what you were saying, so much as they read the pulses of aura a trainer unconsciously put into their commands. Confusing that by introducing multiple human auras, with which such pokémon were generally unfamiliar in the first place, was an example of piss poor planning.

Add into that the fact wild pokémon often didn't exactly understand concepts like 'control,' 'friendly fire,' or 'collateral damage,' and it was rarely a good idea to have multiple trainers trying to deal with new captures in immediate vicinity to each other. This was admittedly less of a problem for 2B than for most, since she had actual conscious control of her own aura, but Zoey didn't have that same advantage. As such, both of them had more or less been expecting to split up while they got to know their new charges.

It was thus that 2B found herself on the west side of the main Route 26 path with all three of her pokémon out and looking attentive as she addressed them.

"Chinchou, you've already met Vulpix and Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff has been with me for a year now, but Vulpix for less than two weeks. The difference between them will, I believe, show you what you can expect. Jigglypuff! Target practice. Fairy Gatling!"

An instant after she gave the order, 2B slung a group of 7 steel disks the size of a standard frisbee into the air. She opened her hand somewhat slowly over the arc of the swing, so that each disc was released at a different angle, all of them largely random. Jigglypuff, meanwhile, had taken to the air with a dash the instant she gave her order. Using her ability to float, Jigglypuff rotated in the air, releasing a continuous stream of tiny bullets of Fairy Type energy.

There was no way the move could, at this point, be considered Dazzling Gleam in any reasonable fashion, even if that's what it had started life as. Now it looked far more like a combination of Dazzling Gleam and the gun it was named after. Each 'round' was barely fist-sized and wouldn't do a lot of damage individually…but it wasn't being fired individually.

Instead, it was a continuous stream of 'bullets' that tracked with Jigglypuffy's rotating body as the tiny pokémon struck every single one of the flying disks before they had a chance to land. Jigglypuff landed with a proud cry of its named, even as 2B reloaded her arm with more disks. Only three this time, but Vulpix was still new.

"Vulpix! Ice Burst, set up!"

Her determined looking Vulpix had clearly been waiting for the command. It formed three oversized Ice Shards in rapid succession but didn't launch them. Instead, it held them with its tails, ready to fling…and poured Normal Type energy into them along with a bit more Ice Type energy to keep them stable. After a moment of pause to let the move build, 2B flung the three disks, again letting them separate as she did, and called out the move.

"Ice Burst Barrage!"

The three of Vulpix's tails that were holding the Ice Shards together, maintained with precise application of Ice and Normal Type energy, flung forward. Only one of three shards was a dead-on hit for a disk…but it didn't matter. They were, as the human saying went, close enough for hand grenades. Which is essentially what they were. As the shell of Ice Type energy broke down, the overcharged Normal Type energy within the oversized Ice Shards caused them to explode into sharp flechettes that spread in a blast all around their targets. Even the least accurate shot of the three pelted its target disk with a half dozen razor sharp shards of ice, while the one that was caught directly was hit bit a solid two dozen.

Vulpix preened a bit, though not nearly as much as Jigglypuff. She was, 2B knew, measuring herself against the far greater accuracy and number of targets Jigglypuff had managed. That was fine, to an extent, with the comparison serving as motivation. But 2B had also made very sure her new 'starter' pokémon understood just how far it had already come. Yes, the move still needed some work. Ideally the accuracy and number of shards would be increased, the set-up time decreased, and Vulpix needed to be able to move while performing the entire sequence. But it was still amazing progress for the short time they'd been training.

Something which was fully proven by how stunned Chinchou was still looking, even as 2B collected the last of the disks and brought them close for their newest teammate to see the results. She'd used a brand-new set of discs this time, in order to show off the results properly. Though they would keep using this set now until they broke down, then get them melted and recast. For now, she showed off the damage for Chinchou. Jigglypuff's had tightly grouped dents in the steel, proving the power they'd been hit with. Vulpix's weren't as deep, but the one that had been hit directly had far more numerous dents of its own than any one of Jigglypuff's, and all three had at least some damage.

"As you can see, Chinchou, my pokémon train hard. But if you're willing to put in the effort, I'm confident you will become just as strong or stronger than them. You have good moves already to work with the basic training I've come up with for Jigglypuff and Vulpix. Your Water Gun and Electro Ball should both be good for this type of training. And some of your other moves will work for other strategies we can and will work on. Are you up for the challenge?"

There was an abrupt surge of determination in Chinchou's aura as its whole body moved in a nod.

"Chin-Ch-Chinchou!"

2B smiled, reaching down to scratch his head with lightly aura-infused fingers. He practically melted into the touch, just as most pokémon did. Aura massages were a great reward for her pokémon. Daisy had liked them too, but for some reason had insisted that 2B only work on her feet and calves. She'd been very embarrassed the one time 2B had attempted a full-body massage on her, reacting quite oddly and insisting 2B should save that for 'someone special.' Personally, 2B thought Daisy was very special, and had filed the reaction down as needing farther investigation. Though she wasn't quite sure how or when she'd get the chance.

"Excellent! We'll spend the few hours we have today running through your basics then, seeing where you are at with the strength, power, and speed of your moves. Then we can get started on your special training to get you up to speed with the others!"

... ...

As they'd agreed beforehand, Zoey and 2B met up again at ten. As both were naturally early risers, this meant they'd each gotten in about three hours of training after feeding themselves and their pokémon.

It was a little early yet to think about lunch, particularly as both they and their pokémon had eaten an additional quick snack to help recover from their training. Therefore, they'd simply packed up what remained of their camp and resumed the trip up Route 26. It honestly wasn't an overly long Route. The only reason they hadn't been able to cover it yesterday was the delay both of them had caused each other.

Zoey might have been hard pressed to cover it entirely from south to north in a single day, but she'd already camped on the early portion of the Route the night before they'd met. 2B, meanwhile, would have only needed to cover the equivalent distance of Route 1. The delay from swimming/riding from Route 1 to Route 26 would have meant she likely wouldn't have reached Viridian anyway, but there was a good chance she'd have made it back to Route 1 if not diverted by meeting Zoey.

As it was, they could cover the remaining distance to the League Reception Gate that connected to Route 22 by midafternoon, and if they didn't delay could likely reach the Pokécenter in Viridian City just after dark. Conversation came surprisingly easily as they walked, with both of them having plenty to enthusiastically talk about regarding their new captures. Zoey proved to be a wealth of suggestions about training water types, having had several herself, though she cautioned that many of her methods might need adjusted for pokémon that were primarily battlers. 2B, meanwhile, had been pleased to be able to provide Zoey with a breakdown of the types of food mixtures best for a Ponyta in serious training and the reasons why those mixtures were the right choices.

All in all, the time until they came into sight of the Reception Gate passed pleasantly, though Zoey abruptly stopped the moment it did come into view. Frowning, she considered it for a long moment, then asked 2B to wait for a moment as she looked something up on her own pokédex. That frown turned into a mischievous grin by the time she was done, as she turned to 2B.

"Say, 2B. I've got an idea. You said you could easily sneak past the Reception Gate, right? I don't suppose you could sneak us both past the Gate, heading West instead of East?"

2B blinked, then cocked her head in thought for a moment.

"Not if you're thinking of going all the way to Mount Silver. The pokémon there are extremely high-level and the Rangers keep an incredibly tight watch on all known entrances to and passes through the mountains. For good reason. Even if I requested permission through the Lab, it would likely be denied since I am not experienced enough."

Zoey, thankfully, was shaking her head.

"I don't want to go that far. Technically, I'm not even sure there's an issue with what I want to do. It's just that I thought of a pokémon on Route 28 that could solve my problem with the Pewter Gym. One that isn't as risky as going off Route for a Skarmory or settling for the Machop line which don't really appeal to me. At least if I'm willing to pay for a TM or two, which I can certainly afford, thankfully."

2B frowned, running through what she knew about the Routes and the restrictions on them. Route 28 was restricted, she was pretty sure. The reason for the restricting being that enough strong pokémon leaked out from Mount Silver that the general population there were too fundamentally strong for newbie trainers. Even she, despite her combat abilities and aura, wouldn't go to Mount Silver itself without a very strong team of pokémon with her. Her old self could have, of course. But she was unquestionably weaker now than she had been as a YoRHa combat android. That might not be true forever, but it was certainly true for now.

The foothills, though? She'd feel reasonably safe there. Moreover, she was pretty confident that Zoey's Purugly was strong enough to give most of the pokémon there pause. Actually, come to think of it…

"How many badges did you manage to get in Johto?"

Zoey blinked, seeming surprised by the question.

"Um, I ended up with 5 Major Gyms badges and 3 lesser? They aren't valid for Kanto's Division 1, though. And I didn't quite make the cut for the Conference."

2B smiled. That would work, then.

"No. But they are valid to allow you to pass through into the foothills before Mount Silver. Route 28 requires you to have 4 currently valid badges, at least two from Major Gyms. But you do have that, since your Johto badges from the Major Gyms are valid for two years."

Zoey looked like she was beginning to puzzle out 2B's plan, but 2B filled in the details anyway.

"The badges aren't recognized by the Kanto Division 1 Circuit, but Kanto is part of the combined Indigo League. Meaning they are valid for Route Requirements. If I enter the Reception Gate from the Kanto side, then claim I hired you in my position as a Research Assistant to escort me for a quick expedition to investigate a specific pokémon, they would technically have to allow it. Since I'm an officially registered Research Assistant, they likely won't even question it."

Zoey's face twitched, then she outright laughed.

"2B! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership! Now, we just need to sneak you over to the Kanto side…"

... ...

Zoey had only been able to shake her head at how utterly easily 2B had managed to bypass any thought of a guard around the Reception Gate. Her junior had calmly made her way off-road to the Reception Gate…then scaled the sheer sides of a building that were supposed to given pokémon attempting the same thing trouble. Zoey had only spotted her new friend because she'd known more or less where to look. Unless they were paranoid enough to have Psychic types guarding the gate, she doubted anyone had noticed.

Of course, they likely did have such pokémon guarding the entrance to Victory Road and the Indigo Plateau. But just to guard the link between Kanto and Johto, which was technically a mostly-open border? No. Zoey was confident 2B hadn't been noticed. Which, in turn, had freed her up to complete her part of the absurd plan. She'd waltzed into the Reception Gate and calmly explained she would be heading through to Kanto proper, but that she'd lined up a job escorting a researcher from Professor Oak's lab onto Route 28 first.

She'd been just in the middle of asking if that researcher had arrived yet when 2B had calmly entered from the Kanto side, not a hair out of place and wearing a lab coat that must have been in her storage bracer. The timing had made the Reception people take the entire thing at face value, checking her badges and ensuring she had a decently powerful pokémon with her in the form of her starter…and then letting both of them through.

They'd needed to sign a quick waiver, of course, and had been warned that getting too close to Mount Silver was dangerous. But they'd both quickly assured the Reception people that they weren't going far, just looking for some young Phanpy to study, along with some Teddiursa if they got lucky. Those mentions even got them some hints about where to find the latter!

Which was great, as it was the pokémon she was actually looking for. Seeing her Ponyta use Double Kick again Purugly had reminded her that there were a lot of other types that could use Fighting Moves. Which 2B's comments about Machop had reminded her were strong against Rock. It wasn't as ideal as using water or grass, since many of Pewter Gym's pokémon lineup were actually Rock/Ground. But it would also only be a first badge fight, and if she kept Purugly out of it, the Gym would use a low-level team.

"There. Those claw marks on the trees indicate Ursaring are wandering near here regularly. At least, that should be the only thing in the area that fits the marks."

Zoey looked where her companion was pointing. Sure enough, there were claw marks on the trees, which she recognized quickly as a berry-bearing type. She tried not to gulp at the markings. She didn't really want to deal with Ursaring. While the unevolved form was adorable and just her type as a result, the evolutions were…mildly terrifying. Still, they weren't here to threaten them in any way. She wasn't the type to unwillingly take pokémon from their environments, and suspected 2B would have stopped her even if she'd tried.

"Right, then…how do we not get eaten while we see if there are any Teddiursa that want to come along?"

2B's answer was to move into the trees, while accessing her storage bracer. She pulled out…a pot of honey? Just how much stuff did the girl have in that thing? She knew the bracers were supposed to hold a lot more than the old storage-expanded backpacks, but the more weird shit 2B pulled from hers, the more strongly Zoey felt about making sure she got one while in Kanto! She moved up next to 2B as the white-haired girl dipped a number of berries into the honey, then wrapped them in a type of edible leaf she plucked from a nearby tree.

Abruptly, the girl shoved two of them on Zoey, who nearly dropped them, before 2B spun her around to…

Oh.

There was already an Ursaring right there, who was looking at the treats in Zoey's hands covetously. 2B pushed her forward, even as she sent a warm pulse of aura to the very intimidating BEAR OF DOOM that was easily 8'3"! That was not a young member of the species! Still, thankfully, it seemed calm enough as she verrrrry tentatively offered up the treats. It sniffed them, then her…than took the treats and calmly sat down to eat them.

"He's accepted your offering. Tell him, carefully, what you're looking for. He's one the Alpha Ursaring of this area, and his aura is mixed in with that of a bunch of Rangers. If you're polite, he'll most likely ask around for you."

Gulping, Zoey steeled her courage, wandering just how the insane girl next to her was so deadpan calm in the face of the largest Ursaring Zoey had ever even heard of.

"O-oh. Umm. Thanks? Well, Mr. Alpha Ursaring, Sir. It's like this…"

... ...

Zoey was a little stunned, still, by the time they'd returned to the Reception Gate. There'd been no question of staying on Route 28 during the night of course. That would have been crazy. And she'd really not been prepared to negotiate with a small council of Ursaring. They apparently valued their cubs quite highly, and the only reason a number of them had entertained the possibility of sending one with her was the fact they knew it might be better off with her. These Ursaring had apparently had regular contact with the Rangers, which meant they were more used to humans than most would have been. With the result that they'd been aware of the advantages for their cubs in going with a human.

Which hadn't meant they were willing to just let one of their cubs go willy-nilly.

Nope. They'd wanted to know just what she was planning, what sort of things she was going to feed their cub (with samples, of course, to make sure it was good). And a dozen other things besides. She honestly felt like she'd been put through a rather more terrifying than usual job interview. Or, well, what she assumed a job interview must be like. She'd always supported herself via Contest wins, modeling contracts, and other such things, and hadn't ever actually needed to do such a thing as a job interview.

Thankfully, she'd apparently managed to convince one of the Ursaring with a cub that had a strong desire to explore the world that she'd be a good for her little one. Said cub was currently filling the third spot on her pokébelt, having allowed itself to be captured without a fight. The entire diversion to Roue 28 had only taken a few hours, though it was unfortunately enough to prevent them from being able to make it back to Viridian tonight. Thankfully, it turned out that there were facilities available for travelers at the Reception Gate, though they weren't completely free as they would have been at a Pokécenter.

Neither Zoey or 2B were hurting for cash, thankfully, and both of them were content to pay the relatively minor fee if it meant a hot shower and actual beds for the night. Well, so far this had been an interesting journey, and she'd only just barely reached what she'd originally thought of as the starting line! Shaking her head at that, she stripped down to get at that much-desired shower…

... ...

2B was quite pleased. With the aid of her Common Sense Checklist, she'd found a traveling companion! Possibly a friend, even! She was certain Daisy would be equally pleased. She knew that the older woman had been uncertain and a little worried about how well 2B would handle regular humans. Ones that didn't know 2B's past. But, clearly, with the help of the Checklist, she'd been able to convince Zoey she was a normal human. All while helping both a human and some pokémon with their goals, and acquiring a new member of her team. Quite an excellent start to her Journey, particularly considering it had only been two days so far.

She hummed as she showered, wondering what she should do about the fact that Zoey appeared to be attracted to her. She wasn't YoRHa anymore, so emotions weren't forbidden. But she didn't really properly understand relationships, particularly with the way humans complicated them. Probably best to just ignore it for now. Maybe it would make more sense as she gathered more data on this whole 'being human' thing. Like figuring out why the way Zoey had stared at her ass had felt nice. She'd always gotten a little bit annoyed when 9S did that. She wondered what the difference was…

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

A/N: I know some of you are going to wonder about 2B's sexuality, given the last bits of this chapter. I could string you all along, but I don't really see the need too. I'm effectively intending to depict this 2B as pansexual. She knows what relationships are, and all about sex. Androids WERE canonically capable of both in Neir: Automata. If they were interested. 2B specifically, because of the role she was charged with/created for, is rather stunted in connecting that intellectual knowledge with emotional understanding, however. Hence she can recognize when someone is attracted to her, but doesn't quite know what to do with that information just yet. As she humanizes more, for her the physical gender bits are going to be less important than the emotional bits. So, she'll basically be connection-sexual. That is, if she forms a strong connection of the right type with someone, she'll be open to the idea of sex/relationships. What exactly that means will most likely be open to later review/discussion.

Note! No pokephilla in this story. I refuse to allow any Vaporeons to come to emotional harm to appease the weirder section of the internet ;-).

Authors Note 2: For the second time, this story actually beat out One Piece: Halfway Broken in the polls! That means there's another 15,000 words of this story currently in early-access on my P-atreon Page, if you're interested in supporting me. Don't worry, though, none of my fanfiction is ever permanently locked behind a paywall. All fanfiction content I make ends up here (or on Scribblehub and Questionable Questing) eventually, as new content for each story is released. You can find directions to my page in my profile. Alternatively, you can just look up 'Novus's Fanfiction Works' on Google or Bing. Also, alternatively to the alternatively, you can even just as /user?u=93048562 after the dot com in you-know-where's website...