The dome of the cavern hung a hundred meters overhead, countless tiny crystal clusters dangling from its ceiling and refracting dreamlike starlight through a soft glow.
That light came not from any artificial illumination, but from the energy contained within the crystals themselves, slowly being released.
Pale blue, light purple, silvery white... These energies interwove into a shifting curtain of light like an aurora, shrouding the entire underground world in an unreal, magnificent splendor.
The cavern floor consisted of undulating rock terraces, shaped by the scouring of underground rivers and the deposition of minerals over countless millennia into tier upon tier of stepped formations.
Every terrace was blanketed in thick moss, which glimmered faintly under the moonlight. Stepping on it felt as soft as the finest velvet carpet.
At the center stood a naturally formed stone platform, about a meter higher than the surrounding terraces. Its edges were smooth and rounded, bearing no trace of human craftsmanship, yet seeming as though invisible hands had polished it with care for countless ages.
Resting quietly atop the platform was a gigantic Moon Stone.
It stood over five meters tall, its entire surface flowing with silvery-white radiance, like a full moon sealed beneath the earth.
The Giant Moon Stone emitted waves of moonlight, brightening and dimming rhythmically like the tides. With every breathlike pulse, a visible silver ripple spread outward.
Around the Giant Moon Stone, hundreds of Clefairy and Igglybuff were scattered across the terraces, their lives as tranquil and timeless as the cavern itself.
On a gentle slope along the eastern side of the terraces, several Igglybuff huddled together, poking at a newly formed cluster of crystals with their tiny fingers.
The cluster was only as long as a knuckle and completely transparent. At the Igglybuff's touch, it gave off a crisp