Chapter 22

"Listen to me, Buddy. Would you take the easy path in life filled with comfort and bliss or would you take the hard path and forge your own destiny?"

"Ha! That's a stupid question, Brother! What is our dream? For you to become the best trainer in the world and for me to become the best Nidoking ever known to mankind! Our dream is already set and the only way to get there is by overcoming challenges!"

"Mhm, you're right, that was a stupid question. Okay, up ahead should be a cave. Let's look for an opening and enter it."

"What!? Why!? I said it was a stupid question. I never said make a stupid decision! I doubt that rubble will top those two for long and you want to take a detour to what? Sightsee?"

"This may be the only time I ever get a chance to find something of my father's. I can't miss this opportunity. You may have met yours, but I don't even know if mine is still alive. Please?"

"Why didn't you just lead with that, stupid Brother! If you told me it was the cave your parents were in, I wouldn't have said so much! Also, using my dad is unfair!"

Smiling slightly at Vioarr's remark, Jax concentrated his attention towards the cave paintings. Although his parents stay here for some time, it wasn't like they were planning on living here. It didn't make sense to decorate someplace knowing full well that they were never going to return. No, these paintings must have a meaning towards them and Jax felt like that meaning was important.

Looking at the paintings, Jax noticed that they weren't paintings of anything in particular; in fact, they weren't paintings at all! They were actually words painted so far apart that it looked like incomprehensive nonsense if one didn't pay close attention. Concentrating even harder, Jax made out the words: Only those of blood will be loved. Seeing the word blood added an ominous air to the whole thing but Jax didn't think his parents were the type to joke around. Especially not when they were using this very place as a shelter from the pokemons of the Great Beyond.

"Hey, buddy. What do you think of the phrase 'Only those of blood will be loved'?"

"You can't do anything without me, Brother. Obviously, your parents put a mechanism in place to stop unwanted intruders. Imagine them sleeping safe and sound only to find a fricken Metagross staring at their faces right as they wake up ready to eat their faces off!"

"So, it's asking for blood? My blood?"

"No, obviously, your mother married a Nidoking and gave birth to a handsome Nidoran. Duh, it's asking for your blood!"

With the situation so urgent, Jax didn't have it in him to retort back at Vioarr. Using the spikes on Vioarr's back, Jax poked his thumb skin deep so that a tiny pool of blood gathered. Wincing at the pain, Jax slid his lands across the words painted on the wall hoping for a change. With each second passing by and the tremors from behind approaching them ever faster, Jax had a defeated look on his fact about to give up. He couldn't wait here forever until the Metagrosses showed up.

Turning back towards his little brother, Jax was about to say something to Vioarr when he heard an audible click sound coming from behind. Doing a 180, he was greeted with a section of the wall lifting up! A secret door! Of course! In his excitement, Jax got down onto his stomach and crawled through the opening not even waiting for it to fully lift up. Not wanting to be left behind, Vioarr followed soon after. Once the two were safely inside the confines of whatever awaited them, the door began to lower itself once more.

Taking a look around, Jax noticed that this place was definitely used in the past. And by humans at that! There was a bed to one side of the room with a drawer made of stone, a stone basin which appeared to have been used as a bathtub, there was even a table and matching chairs made out of the same stone. Jax was elated! Finally, he had found a trace of his father in the most unexpected place.

Jax strode forward at neither too fast nor too slow of a pace not wanting his excitement to be obvious. He walked towards the bed and even laid down upon it thinking of how a bed his parents used in their most desperate of time would feel like. Contrary to his thoughts, he was only met with a stiff and hard surface! No springiness at all! What did he expect from a bed made from stone! Sighing, he got back up and walked towards the basin when something flashed and caught his eye.

Bending over and picking it up, Jax noticed that it was a frame. A picture frame to be exact and from the looks of it, was a picture of his mother from her younger years holding a Growlithe. She appeared to be about his age right now, but she wasn't smiling towards whoever took the picture. No, her gaze was directed towards a grey-haired boy standing next to her who had his arm around her waist. Jax looked at the boy in the picture in a daze for a long, long time. The boy was handsome, even to Jax who was super narcissistic about his looks. The boy had the same shade of grey hair that Jax sported but his eyes were a shade darker than Jax's own even before they adopted a golden hue. If Jax's eyes looked almost white, the boy in the picture had eyes that reminded him of a cloudy sky the day before it rains. What Jax noticed the most however, was the boy's smile. A smile like he had the world in his hand.

Without his knowledge, a single tear slid down his fair cheeks. Surprised, Jax immediately wiped it away hoping that his embarrassment wasn't shown to Vioarr but at this point, Jax no longer cared. Vioarr knew everything there was to know about him. Although the two bickered and made comments towards each other, it was more like loving banter than snide remarks. Vioarr was his little brother and nothing about that would change.

Collecting his thoughts again, Jax felt loved knowing how much his father loved his mommy. Although Jax had never personally received that love, he came to the conclusion that whatever or whoever made his daddy go on such a long journey to the point that he was away from his wife for the past six years must have been dangerous, very dangerous. Therefore, the only choice his daddy had left was to leave the both of them behind so that they couldn't be used against him.