Third Person's POV

The dust still hasn't settled.

The moist air keeps it hanging in the air, almost as everything is happening in slow motion. Which it very well may be.

Hilda still lays there.

Tears run down her cheeks like the Tohjo waterfalls. Leaving traceable paths through the dust that's decided to rest in her pale face. Paler than usual may I add.

The tunnel, or what's left of it, is only a few metres away from the brunette. It's dark entrance and sand covering up what may lie inside.

But she can't even face it.

There's nothing inside that tunnel that she wants to see. Hilda fought herself for so long over the boy, and she got so close...

So close to see him blown up inside a tunnel.

Hilda stops wiping away the tears, knowing that it's not helping anyways. She reaches her pocket and pulls out a charm.

Ash gave her a present before they fought.

Just thinking off it causes even more water to rush out of her eyes. Her white t-shirt becomes spotted with faded grey marks filled with dust and water.

She fumbles with the silver item in her hands.

Her fingers trace the thin edges that travel in the shape of he H. Her fingertips brushing over the engravings of everything they overcame during their journey.

Picking their starter Pokémon, his first gym battle, where she figured out her passion of research, their first Pokémon captures, and everything else that they did. Together.

Ash left one spot open on it.

He wouldn't tell her what it was for but she had a pretty good guess... A Pokémon League trophy. The prize he sought after for basically his whole life, while repeatedly saying that it was going to be theirs.

Not his.

Not only his Pokémon's.

Theirs.

Hilda looks at the silver charm one last time before sliding in back in her shorts pocket. She sits up and brushes off her face. The tears wiping away some of the dust.

Her eyes may be a little bloodshot but they're filled with determination now. And that can get you anywhere sometimes.

Hilda jumps up, slings her gym bag back over her shoulders, and heads towards the tunnel. She charges right through the remaining flying bits of sand. "Excadrill!" Hilda throws out a pokeball.

The Pokémon who is commonly worked with in mines, pops out. His drill like head and gleaming silver claws poke out of the darkness. His brown and red fur only enhancing that.

"Think you can help me move that," Hilda motions to the pile of rocks, bricks, and whatever else decided to bust loose.

The ground and steel type dives right in and starts to move a few of the larger pieces. Hilda kneels down and moves sand and small rocks directly in the middle of where the tunnel entrance should be.

Her throat is dry and dehydrated from the dust and crying but she doesn't stop. She could be digging to find two motionless bodies. But for some reason that doesn't seem like a possibility right now.

The Relic Passage was very old and sandstone is brittle so Hilda could be down there digging for hours. But it's not like she can't leave.

A few people would question her appearance and finding a way back would be impossible. Without help as well.

Excadrill isn't wasting anytime as well. After removing  a few of the rocks that rolled into the sewer system, he dove straight into the dust and rubble that Hilda couldn't see through.

Then her mind flashes an image of the dynamite...

She's no expert but it was a decent package of explosive. But small enough to throw like the President did into the tunnel. The memory continues until Hilda realizes the point her brain may be trying to make.

Her and the evil guy were able to have a quick conversation after he threw the dynamite, walked over, and left by her. All before the explosion.

It definitely blew up near the entrance but it's easy to throw something down into a tunnel so it would've gone far for sure. So what really happened...

Excadrill walks out of the dust, covered in dust, probably part dust at this point. Rocks didn't tumble around him when he left the tunnel so it must be getting clearer.

In his hands there's a red hat.

Hilda gulps.

Part of her wants to ask Excadrill millions of questions, the other part knows he probably doesn't know many of the answers. "Did- did you get through to— to the other end?"

"Exca," He nods, dirt sliding off his slick head.

"Was As— let's keep digging then," Hilda states and takes the hat in her hands.

Her sand covered hands run along the hat. The rough fabric catching some of the dirt under her nails. "You'll get this soon Ash," She mutters and remembers her own white and pick baseball cap.

She stands straight and turns the beak around like Ash always did when a battle was getting intense. Hilda jumps right back in, moving rubble at an admirable pace.

Even Excadrill was impressed at his trainer's skills. Motivating him to work even harder as well.

It took a few hours but there's no a defined path to the stable pet of the tunnel. The only thing more sickening then some of the charred stone is the fact that they still haven't found a body.

Dead or alive.

Dead. The word Hilda has tried not to think about but it could be right around the corner. Literally.

Hilda staggers along the rough floor, looking restlessly for some sign of Ash... and Cedric too of course.

She gets passed the destroyed part and her biggest fear comes true. Ash and Cedric are gone.

"He's gone," A voice says that wasn't Hilda's.

The girl looks to her left to see Ash crouched in an indent if some sort. His messy raven hair almost looks grey from the dust, his face stained with dirt. Other than more dust on his clothes he doesn't look that bad.

But he is definitely more emotionally damaged than physically.

His hair is dropped over his eyes, he probably hasn't noticed Hilda yet. His knees are tight to his chest and he's slightly rocking. His whole body trembling.

"Aaa-Ash," Hilda is shaking as much as her voice.

He looks up with wide eyes, freezing,

"H-Hilda," He croaks, his voice scratchy from the dust.

The two stars at each other for what seems like eternity. Last time they talked they were overlooking a beautiful lake. Now they're pretty close to being under one.

Ash slowly scoots out of the right alcove and Hilda tackles him. She hugs him like he would fly away if she let go. Her face buried into the crook of his neck.

"You're— you're alright," Hilda cries as Ash hugs her just as tight.

"So are you," Ash says softly into her ear.

Nothing else matters right now.

They've been avoiding each other for too long, all the emotions since then have just been building up. Those are currently coming crashing down upon the couple now.

Hilda eventually pulls away and sits beside him, sniffing away the mix of sadness and joy. She notices Ash staring endlessly at the wall opposite of them. "What happened?" Hilda realizes that Cedric didn't have the same fate as Ash.

Ash looks down and one single tear drops down his face as he begins to explain what happened...
~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ash hide," Cedric whispers and Ash ducks into one of the cutouts.

Ash keeps his head down, not daring to look out while the two older men talk it out. Then he hears a few chunks of something against the hard ground.

Something was thrown in, Ash quickly realizes.

He hears Cedric's footsteps run away from him and Ash peeks around the corner. The first thing Ash sees, no smells, is smoke.

A flaming string on the end of a dynamite stick sits in Cedric's hands. The Professor was trying to get as faraway as possible before—

Boom

The sandstone walls around Ash crumble immediately into piles of stone and dust. A blast of wind blows into Ash and then back the other way, with his hat.

Smoke and dust fills his lungs, his coughs inaudible over the crumbling rock.

Ash didn't need to turn back around the corner to know the result of the dynamite. He saw it erupt as it was leaving the professor's throwing arm.

Whoever it was set them up, well set Cedric up since they didn't know Ash was there.

If this is their solution to problems, is it worth fighting longer?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He's really gone," Hilda says it out loud for the first time. "All because if the President." She starts to tear up again.

The two sit there is an empty silence.

This wasn't the way they were supposed to reunite.

This wasn't the way this adventure was supposed to go.

This wasn't the way they were supposed to be defeated.

This wasn't the way... the world was supposed to show how important someone is to you.

"It wasn't supposed to end this way," Ash says dejectedly, a few tears streaking down his face.

Hilda looks over at the broken boy. So broken she may not be able to piece him back together.

But there is one thing she can do...

Push him.

"Ash," Hilda gets his attention. "This isn't the end."

"Why not!?" Ash starts to tell but tries to calm down, only making him more mad at himself for yelling at the girl.

"Ash," Hilda interlocks her fingers with his. "Because Cedric have you his life to save you. And you, we, are going to beat these idiots for Cedric."

Ash doesn't react, almost as if has a war going on inside his mind.

"In his memory," Ash tries to smile at Hilda.

"In his memory," Hilda nods and hands him his hat. "The real adventure starts now."

__________________________

Emotional?

Thanks for reading and see you guys next chapter where as Hilda said, The Adventure Begins...