A.N: I'm just going to keep writing today until I get this story off my brain for a while. I Don't own Pokémon. Wish I did though.

That's Rough Ranger

9ve

CH:2 Takeshi Solemn

Takeshi Solemn was a straightforward man with simple needs. He had bought a house and land on the ocean shore with his beautiful wife to start a family. He had worked hard with his Pokémon team and built a large haven to call home just south of Route 7 and Celadon City. His Pokémon had quickly conquered the local Pokémon and were now the local alphas and leaders. He didn't comment when the young of the local species around his house soon started having the same or similar markings as his partners. It would be hypocritical to judge as he was starting a family of his own after all.

His wife was a sweet lady with a soft smile that could make his heart beat three times as fast or chill him with the quiet chill of a thousand ice Pokémon; a truly astounding woman. They had settled down, moved her floral business closer and tried for kids. Kate has first gifted him with a boy. The traditional part of him was happy to have a clear heir as the ways of his estranged family would dictate. Joyfully he spat on those traditions and named his son Jace. A good non-Johtonian name if he ever heard one. Takeshi's boy was a healthy babe, much to his and his wife's happiness. Sadly, the birth was hard on Kate and the doctors said it would be unlikely to have another come to term.

Takeshi wasn't too saddened; his dream of a large family was discarded and he focused on the family he did have. His son was enough and despite the sad news the smile on his wife's face never dimmed. Legendries must have been smiling down on them as Jace was an easy babe to care for. Terrible twos came and went without too much of a hitch and soon the lad was six years old.

It soon became clear that unlike himself Jace was more inclined to scientific pursuits than physical. Finding the scientific manuals stashed under the bed and the Porygon hiding in the family computer had just reinforced this notion. The boy was more interested in figuring out how chlorophyl can produce a laser beam than the product of mass destruction. Must have been his wife's family genes.

Rayna came as a surprise to the Solemn family. A happy surprise as Kate would describe. Jace was delighted to be an older brother as he was just old enough to understand what that meant at six years old. Despite the warnings from the doctors the baby held on and came to term. Kate had felt three times as worse during this pregnancy when compared to the last. Morning sickness was merely the first on a long list of issues.

The baby loved being a surprise as she came much too soon and much too small. Her whole body could fit in his hand, and Takeshi felt like the little girl could be swept away by the slightest breeze. By the time his wife woke up from the exhausting procedure it was daylight again. She had taken one look at the baby and gave a smile he had never seen before. Not the exasperated yet loving smile, nor the smile that could make an Articuno jealous. This smile was tired yet proud and beaming with happiness. A ray of sunshine. Takeshi's second child and only daughter was soon named Rayna after that smile.

The baby girl seemed to be a silent thing, Kate said it was because she was so small, but on the odd time the babe did scream, the noise was as piercing as an injured Zubat's and only seemed to occur when a Pokémon was nearby. The poor Chansey that was attending his wife was soon becoming a helpless weeping mess at his daughter's distress and inability to help. If he weren't as tightly wound as a Spoink tail, he would have been chuckling at the situation.

The surprises and the oddities of his second child were just beginning. At the age of four she turned out to be a young prodigy in many areas, and not so much in others. Her speech came in late, and she had difficulty with some symbols. Math and reading came like breathing once she finally began to talk. She loved stories and old Pokémon folk tales. In a way, she just had a love for all things pokemon.

When growing up, Rayna seemed close to all the Pokémon on the property, grass types excluded. His daughter could often be seen trying to pull out Diglets and feeding the local Magicarp. She helped her brother catch a Haunter of all things and to my wife's silent chuckles, names the monstrous ghost type Mr. Giggles.

His Pokémon team would watch from the shadows as she explored the forest "secretly" and his Slowbro psychically reported to him of her adventures. The amount of trouble his daughter could stumble upon in a day was fascinating, if not worrying. From eating a hallucinogenic Paras mushroom to building tree forts out of string with Weedles, it was a good thing he cut his hair short, or he'd be pulling it out.

Rayna was an advanced child, and this seemed to be proven time and time again. Her sea blue eyes that didn't come from either side of the family held an odd wisdom and lust for life that he could only wonder where it came from. Her ability to get in trouble was uncanny, but her ability to get out of it was more so. She made a Caterpie string zipline, and made spore bombs out of Gloom sleeping powder, hardened mud and purple sparkles for self-defense. His daughter even had a small business with the Ratata for lost items in exchange for berries and treats.

Rayna had finished pre-school and grade school with high marks and had come home with a recommendation for the Pokémon Tech High. After reading about the place, she soon asked to be homeschooled instead. He wasn't going to complain, despite the on-call hours he was on these days he still had much to teach and pulling in colleagues for "favors" wouldn't be a problem. Both his children were bright and that was something to be proud of.

His daughter seemed set to become a Pokémon trainer much to his surprise, elation and worry. His little girl had stayed on the small and slender side no matter what she did. Despite him drilling in some of his ACE physical training she still was only 4'2". His lovely wife had informed him that she would grow, but a father had to worry.

What truly began to grey his hairs was the expeditions she began to go on. Hiking for a day in the woods and coming home with tales of Sawbuck and Ursaring herds. Adventuring into lairs of Onix and teaching a wild Kadabra to play chess. Fishing with the local slowpoke, all spawn of his own Slowbro, and playing Tug a war with Machop. Her daily activities seemed to be a source of entertainment to him and his Pokémon.

Rayna's odd revelations about Pokémon would always surprise him. Information about certain things that were highly protected seemed to roll off her tongue like a daily occurrence. She had evolved her mother's Gloom into a Vileplume using a found leaf stone with a certainty that startled him. The leaf stone was a rare commodity that only a few could afford. For the species that evolved via the stone, were often monitored as they were among the strongest grass types a trainer could commonly find.

When Takeshi spoke of the odd occurrences to his wife, she merely gave a serene smile and said their daughter was special and that was something to cherish. A statement Takeshi couldn't refute. Rayna was special, she adored history and read old texts like a fish adored water. Her eyes shining with historical mentions of legendries and rare Pokémon. The fossil initiative had blown her mind when Takeshi had given her the latest science magazine with a section on the subject.

Takeshi knew that his children were going places. His son was a truly brilliant mind, and his daughter had a spark of something that all the best had. Either that spark be madness or brilliance was up for debate, the only important fact was that it was there. They were driven with a purpose that only legendries know what and he was going to try to support them the only way he knew how: drill runs and lots of survival camp.

So, yes, Takeshi was a straightforward man, but his children and the road of life were apparently not.