Chapter 19

Upon hearing Steelix's reply, Jax fell back into a contemplative state. 'So my eyes aren't omnipotent. I can tell their general feeling but not why they're feeling that. Even if they're happy, it doesn't mean they are happy solely because of me. I guess a killer would still feel happy after chopping someone's head off. Mhm.'

"Mhm. You're right. I don't want to separate a child from their parent. For reasons unknown, something or someone separated my father from my mother and I. I don't wish to do the same and make another child grow up without one of their parents. I would have made this same choice regardless if I awoke as a Guardian or not." With that final statement, Jax and Vioarr turned around and left the cavern so that the mother Steelix could continue to rest.

Coming back out to the first cavern, the two repeated the same X mark indent by the side of this tunnel. All that was left was to explore where the third and final tunnel led towards. The first led to a bath and the second led to an awakening for Jax, albeit unexpectedly, so he had high hopes for the last one. The reason he was so excited? They still didn't find the place where his parents used as a makeshift shelter. Although he didn't have daddy issues, Jax still wondered about his dad from time to time. What kind of man was he? How was he like as a trainer? Doria hardly spoke about her husband and with no mementos of him at home, he craved a little connection to his mysterious father.

"C'mon, buddy, I have high hopes for this last cave. I can feel it, it's almost tangible in the air. I know that's where my parents used as a hideout."

"Yeah, yeah. You might have psychic abilities but that doesn't make you a psychic. Fortune tellers and star readers are still shams!"

This last tunnel was even more exciting than the previous two. Aside from the usual Digletts and Dugtrios, there were traps almost at every twist and turn. Jax didn't know of any other pokemon that laid traps which meant that there was only one culprit, well, maybe two. It must have been humans who laid down these traps. Dodging pitfalls, giant boulders and even shooting arrow traps, the two finally made their way to the last cavern. Before them stood a cave so massive, an entire city would have been able to fill its confines and there would still have been space left over!

"Whoa! This is amazing! There are so many different plants down here! Look! Look! There's even an actual lake in the middle! And I see another tunnel! I bet that's the exit! Let's hurry!" Vioarr couldn't contain his excitement and rushed off to explore this new land that they discovered. Jax on the other hand was still bummed out. After a quick scan, he didn't notice anything that remotely resembled a makeshift hut, not even a tent. The last hope he had of finding any connection to his father quickly died down.

"I just don't get it. We looked through all the tunnels already. None of them even looked like a human has stepped foot in here in over a century! I know humans here age slower than back on Earth, but I don't think my parents are over 100 years old. This last tunnel even had traps! Why place down traps if there was nothing to protect!" Jax was upset and lashed out his anger at no one in particular. The higher one's expectations, the harder the disappointment. With a sigh, Jax rushed after Vioarr not wanting to get separated in this giant expanse. Jax was tired of separation.

"Brother! Come check this out!" Hearing the clear excitement in Vioarr's voice, Jax soon approached him and found that Vioarr was busy munching away at some berries. "Yum! These are so good! You have to try them!"

Looking at the berries around them, Jax had a slightly started expression. When it come to nature, the more colorful something appeared, the more deadly they usually were. And these berries? Rainbow, that was the only thing Jax could notice. Not to say these the berries were of different colors of the rainbow, each one was colored like a rainbow from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Sure, they were pretty but Jax had never heard of a berry like this before in both of his lives.

"Doofus! How could you eat something that you don't even know what it is! Hurry and spit it out!"

"No! You just want more for yourself!" Saying so, Vioarr started eating even more berries at a faster rate. One bush, two bushes, three bushes, by the time Jax got to Vioarr, almost 10 bushes of the colorful berries were emptied out of their berries by this purple sack of uselessness.

"Argh! You're like a child! Just putting any and everything into your mouth first, questions later! Spit it out right now!"

"Hmph! I AM a child! Last I remember, I'm barely 1 year old!"

Flabbergasted by Vioarr's words, Jax didn't know how to reply. Seeing as the berries didn't cause any harm even though Vioarr ate so much, Jax decided to try one out for himself. If the system was still active, Jax would have asked but sadly, not even a single day has passed. It was times like these that Jax missed the robotic voice.

Taking a berry into his mouth, Jax was apprehensive at first but decided to try out his luck. Sometimes, it's better to just go with the flow. If you can't beat them, join them, a wise man once said. Crushing the berry, the juices started to flow into Jax's mouth. There was no way on how to describe the taste. Was it sweet? Yes. Was it sour? Yes. Was it spicy? Also yes. To sum it up, it was like taking all of the starbursts in a bag, unwrapping them, and then throwing them all into your mouth at the same time.

Two beings, one boy and one purple, spiked lizard devoured the entire ecosystem of said berries. Thankfully, they only ate the berries and not the whole bush or else there really would be no more berries. Still not knowing exactly what it was that they just ate, Jax carefully pulled up some of the bushes and moved them into his sub-space. He could ask the system later after she completes whatever Protocol 00 was.

"Let's check out over there next, Brother! I smell something delicious!"

"Haha! Your nose is more useful than your ears. I think they'll have to update the Pokedex!"