The lake water was cool, but it really wasn't deep!
Following Lanturn, they dove down and found a carved tunnel in the rock wall at the foot of the waterfall!
Led by their Pokémon, the two passed through the wall one after the other, and the space before them suddenly opened up!
Then two enormous Gyarados swam rapidly toward them! There seemed to be several more behind them!
What was this? Were they volunteering to be fish food?
Under Yong's nervous gaze, the Gyarados circled Zinnia and Lanturn once, then swiftly dove back down to lurk on the lake bed.
Were the Gyarados guards?
Yong pondered this, then saw Lanturn swimming upward and hurriedly signaled for Marshtomp to follow.
Splash!
Finally surfacing, Yong drew a deep breath, his whole body floating in the water.
"Come on up, little guy. We're not there yet!"
Zinnia was already ashore and called out to him.
"Okay!"
Yong answered and swam toward the shore. Calling it a shore was a stretch-it was really a narrow walkway, with a rock wall on one side and the lake on the other, extending ahead.
The walkway was so narrow that only one person could walk along it at a time.
This was a vast cavern with nothing in it but lake water.
"We call this place the Inner Lake. It's the first gateway to the Ancestral Land. We keep more than a dozen Gyarados in the lake. They live here and serve as guards on the side, keeping outsiders from wandering in."
"So that's how it works!"
Watching the enormous shapes swimming through the water, Yong nodded in understanding.
"To get through here unharmed, you need someone from our clan to lead you. Otherwise, the Gyarados will attack!"
Zinnia explained as she walked. Soon, they reached the