The group halted at the foot of the Tower. The entrance had been blocked off by large bits from the Tower's wall and floors. Several of the top floors had collapsed and brought the lower floors with them, and some of the floor had spilled out and covered the entrance. Not that anyone had planned on getting in that way. Since the sun was going down, most people had retreated to their homes, but a select few were staying to either investigate or help out. Ash, May, Max and Brock were in the group.
"Wow, it looks like a bomb went off in there," Max murmured.
Brock nodded grimly. "I wonder if that sound had anything to do with it?"
May looked at Brock curiously and asked, "Do you think it was a signal?"
"A signal?" Ash asked before Brock could answer.
"You know, like when that sound went off, someone was supposed to blow the Tower."
"Oh."
"I don't know," Brock interrupted the two, "but I want to find out. Ash?"
"What?"
"What Pokemon did you bring?"
Ash looked a little sheepish. Pikachu looked up from his spot on the ground between Ash and May, and crawled up Ash's clothes to his shoulder. "I only brought Pikachu, Totodile, and Corphish."
Brock sighed, shook his head, and threw a Pokeball. He threw it with a cry of, "Go, Onix!"
The Rock Snake Pokemon emerged and looked at Brock. May looked from Onix to Brock and said nervously, "We aren't tunneling into the building, are we?" Brock laughed and shook his head. "'Course not. I though Onix could help move stuff though." Brock pointed at the small group that was moving debris and headed that way. Max looked at from his sister to Brock and back again, went pale for a moment, then turned around and ran after Brock. "Don't leave me with those two!"
Ash laughed and started following him when May pulled on his arm, holding him back. He looked at her curiously, and she motioned for him to follow her. He did, and she lead him towards the Tower. "I thought I saw something over here," she said, looking at the large black wall that stood before them. "Something like a door." Ash looked along the wall, which hadn't been damaged by the explosion or the falling debris. He saw something glint. A crack?
Ash pointed and two walked over to the gleam. It didn't look like a crack, it was too straight, and it made a rectangle. Ash also found it was large enough for a finger to fit between the slabs of whatever the wall was made of. He gave a push, and felt it budge. "You were right," he said, pushing harder. May helped, pushing against the weird door with her hands. The door gave a croak and fell open, and the teens toppled to the floor. Dust flew up and they coughed as it settled. The door revealed some sort of abandoned hallway into the Pokemon Tower. Ash tried to see the end of the hallway, but it was too dark. He looked for Pikachu, who was nearby from toppling off of Ash's shoulder. "Come on, Pikachu," Ash said, standing up. Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder as he helped May up. "We're going in there?" May asked in surprise.
Ash nodded, looking confused. "We discovered a secret door and we're not even going to see where it leads?"
"Well... what if the Tower collapses?"
"It won't. You saw the explosion; it didn't fall then, did it?"
"No, but what if it does fall, Ash?"
"Come on, May! You don't have to come, but I'm going. You can tell Brock when he gets back."
"No way! I'm coming with you!" May took after the sixteen-going-on-seventeen year old boy, deeper into the darkness. There was no light since there was night-time outside. They walked for about ten minutes in a straight line. Ash held May's right hand with his left and had his right hand brush along the right wall. May's left hand grazed the left wall so they wouldn't miss any turns. Ash, who was in the lead, stopped suddenly, thinking he heard something. A groan kind of noise. May grabbed his arm and pressed up against him. The noise ended in a slam that slightly shook the foundation of the Tower. Dust flaked from the ceiling as the gigantic building settled, and May jumped as the ceiling to the passage crumbled behind her, blocking their way back.
"What just happened?" May asked, and Ash's eyes widened as he realized what had occurred. Pikachu clung to his vest as he spun around to face May, who was invisible to him in the dark. He gripped her hand tightly, trying to hide his fear as he cleared his throat. He wasn't afraid of the dark... what he was afraid of was being in the dark in a secret passageway in a building that had recently exploded, and their only known way out gone.
"The door closed and it caused some sort of cave-in."