Paldeon Expedition #3

It was a week now since the beginning of our expedition into the vast cave networks beneath Glaseado Mountain. We still had about two thirds of the innumerable crates of high calorie dried food and water we had brought with us on several motorised carts. However, it was the lack of sunlight that was causing the greatest health concern. A few members of the digging crew, in particular, two brothers from Medali, were experiencing low mood and symptoms of anxiety. I suggested that we try to find an ascending tunnel and hope that it would lead us close enough to the surface that we might discover some natural light breaching through the layers of mountainous rock.

Since our contract was still ongoing and leaving the cave network was technically a breach of our terms, this seemed like the most appropriate option. I was the head of the expedition and so, I informed the group that we would be moving closer to the surface, in an effort to ease the low mood that some members of the crew were experiencing. A couple of hours later and we were heading through a steep tunnel suggested by our topographical mapping system. 

After an exhausting ascent, we reached an immense basin. The lake in the centre stretched for at least a kilometre in every direction and dozens of rays of light pierced through the roof of the cavern, giving the space the impression of twilight. The lake itself was cool and clear. Schools of Magikarp swam beneath the surface, occasionally leaping from the water in magnificent arcs before splashing back down into the depths. The work crew spread out and relaxed. The brothers from Medali sat by the water’s edge in the direct path of one of the beams of sunlight. 

Some immeasurable time into my own wanderings around the shore of the lake, I began to hear something akin to song. It reminded me of videos I had seen as a boy of Wailord in the deep ocean, communicating with one another through guttural bursts of voice. Only this was of a higher pitch and its melody was beautiful, like a child’s dream of opera made real. My eyes were drawn to the centre of the lake and I let out a gentle gasp as I espied a single Lapras floating where three rays of sunlight met on the surface of the water. It weaved gracefully around the edge of the shifting pools of light and it was wafting its neck and head back and forth as if in time to an internal rhythm only it could sense. From the other side of the lake, I could see a mass of people, the work crew, all standing on the edge of the water, staring in silence at the Pokèmon, just as I was. As it sang, I felt my own heart begin to soothe and my own low mood started to lift until I felt wholly at peace. 

-Dr Tom, Paldean Expedition #3