A/N: So instead of studying for finals like a good kid, I'm writing instead. But more importantly, I think Tony has something to say. (Where was your in-story double and his awesome team of Legendaries in the last chapter when the cannon went off, dude? Falling down on the job, tsk tsk . . . . :P)

Also: the events of this chapter occur roughly concurrently with the events of the previous one. I posted them in the order that I did in an attempt to create dramatic effect.

TWENTY-NINE

Serena started to move the instant she saw Liepard pounce towards her, but before she could reach for a Pokeball, she felt an intense stinging pain slash at a diagonal across her shoulder and chest. She let out a pained "Aaah!" and stumbled backwards, seeing a spray of dark blood eject from where she had been hit. Liepard retreated back slightly, glancing back at Teleurac to await another command.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Teleurac, "I thought your reflexes would be a little quicker." He did not sound apologetic at all.

Serena looked down and winced at the streak of flesh ripped open, and the dark red blood now pouring out of it. After peeling off her jacket and pressing it as hard as she could against the wound with her left hand, she used her right hand to throw Lucario's Pokeball and send out the Pokemon.

"Close Combat!" she said frantically. Lucario executed the swift series of punches and jabs, refusing to relent until Liepard collapsed to the ground.

Teleurac let out a low, throaty growl. "So this is how you want to do this," he said as he recalled Liepard. "Very well. It seems you are more trouble than you are worth." He threw out another Pokeball, and Typhlosion appeared.

"Blast Burn!" shouted Teleurac. The collar of flames on the back of Typhlosion's neck rapidly increased in size, and Typhlosion bent its upper body down so that it could easily shoot fire from both its neck and mouth to envelop Lucario in a quick-acting, intense conflagration. When the flames dissipated, Lucario was left on one knee, blackened and singed, before he finally fell fainted to the ground.

Teleurac smirked. Serena recalled Lucario and sent out Greninja next, and the smirk on Teleurac's face vanished instantly.

"Greninja, use Hydro Pump!" she said. Her Pokemon shot the torrential blast of water at Typhlosion, only to have Typhlosion leap to the side to avoid it. Hydro Pump struck one of the glass panels of the reactor chamber, leaving a wet spot on the glass and the floor below it. After Typhlosion regained its footing, its neck began to crackle with electricity, preparing to use Wild Charge at Teleurac's command. Typhlosion charged towards Greninja, bowing its head down as it went, but Greninja leaped out of the way, high into the air, and released a spray of Water Shurikens at Serena's command. Each Shuriken hit Typhlosion, evaporating into steam as it made contact with the Fire-types body.

Once Typhlosion had fainted, Teleurac sent out his Luxray. As per Teleurac's direction, Luxray shot out small sparkling balls of electricity, which burst open into crackling mists that created an Electric Terrain.

"Hydro Pump," Serena told Greninja. She was starting to feel a little lightheaded.

Greninja shot Hydro Pump, which hit Luxray in the face and did some damage, but left it standing upright and soaking wet. Luxray then shot Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt, trying to hit Greninja as he gracefully and quickly jumped in circles around his opponent to avoid being hit. He launched a few Water Shurikens at Luxray, but only one of them hit. Luxray's mane sparked and crackled, and it let loose a violent burst of Thunder that struck Greninja. Despite a few electrical burns, Greninja was still barely conscious, and Serena recalled him to his Pokeball in favor of Meowstic.

"Meowstic, use Psychic!" From the small organs on the inside of her ears, Meowstic emitted a burst of powerful psychic energy, which hit Luxray and toppled it onto the ground.

Lapras came next. "Sheer Cold!" was what Teleurac ordered, and Lapras hit Meowstic with chilling, piercing winds and ice at absolute zero temperatures. Even though she wasn't hit herself, Serena felt the harsh cold of the attack that fainted Meowstic in one hit. Meowstic's unconscious form was still covered in patches of frost and ice as Serena recalled her to her Pokeball.

Serena glanced up at the timer on the large red screen. She had thirty minutes to defeat Teleurac in battle and do something about that cannon. She sent out Ampharos, who swatted at the crackling mist of the Electric Terrain at her feet. "Use Thunder, Ampharos!" she cried, and Ampharos brought down a powerful bolt of lightning on Lapras.

"Lapras, use Sheer Cold again!" shouted Teleurac. This time, though, Lapras's attack missed, and he cursed under his breath.

"Ampharos, Thunder!" said Serena. That attack fainted Lapras; after recalling his fallen Pokemon, Teleurac looked at the last two Pokeballs on his belt in contemplation before deciding on sending out his Talonflame. Both humans called out directions to their Pokemon: Brave Bird from Teleurac, and Thunder from Serena. Talonflame was faster, flying towards Ampharos at breakneck speed and ramming into her front. Ampharos got up quickly from the attack, although there was a shallow scratch on her abdomen resulting from Talonflame's beak making contact with her. Talonflame flew in a circle back to its Trainer's side, slower than usual from recoil damage and paralysis brought about by hitting Ampharos's body.

When Ampharos brought down Thunder, she fainted Talonflame with that one hit. Serena smirked; Teleurac should have known better than to send a Flying-type out against an Electric-type . . . and then her jaw dropped when his next and final Pokemon, Aggron, emerged.

She was beginning to see why he had saved Aggron for last – especially when he pressed the stone set in his Mega Ring. Her focus was slipping away as her head swam in dizziness, her shoulder and chest still hurt where she had been slashed by Liepard, the warm wet blood oozing from her wound was still trickling down her front, and the bright swirls of pink light made her feel slightly nauseated.

Serena got a good look at Mega Aggron, gigantic and armored, and she muttered "Oh shit."

"Aggron, use Earthquake!" said Teleurac. One heavy stomp was all it took for Aggron to trigger the attack, shaking the ground under everyone's feet and opening a hole in the ground under Ampharos's feet. Ampharos fell into the hole, where she was shaken and knocked around by the quaking earth, and by the time the attack ended she had fainted.

As Serena brought Ampharos back into her Pokeball, she realized that she too had one Pokemon left that could battle. She tossed out Charizard's ball, and once Charizard was out, Serena pressed the stone set in her Mega Ring. She closed her eyes so that the pink lights of Mega Evolution would not bother her, and opened them again when she heard the terrifying roar of Mega Charizard.

"You have strong Pokemon, Serena," commented Teleurac as he looked over Charizard, noting her newly blackened scales and the blue flames spouting from the sides of her mouth. "Aggron, use Iron Tail!"

Aggron turned, swinging its massive tail towards Charizard, who jumped into the air and hovered in place to avoid the attack.

"Fire Blast!" cried Serena, and she watched as the brilliant display of blue flames erupted from her Pokemon's mouth to hit Charizard. Aggron turned its back and stooped slightly, arms in front of its head, letting the Fire Blast strike it on the armor on its back. When Fire Blast died out, Serena saw that the steel plates on Aggron's back had wisps of smoke rising from them.

Next, Teleurac told Aggron to use Iron Head. Aggron stood up straight and jutted its head up and forward, striking Charizard in the stomach. Charizard fell backwards some, but she landed on the ground on both feet and exhaled, letting out a puff of fire.

"Blast Burn!" was Serena's next command. Charizard let loose a massive spread of fire, much larger than what Typhlosion had used on Lucario, and it seamlessly changed in color from blue to red and orange as it enveloped Aggron. The flames were gone just as quickly as they appeared, and Aggron was still standing, even though it was singed and blackened in places and its breathing was a ragged panting.

Aggron then used Earthquake, which damaged Charizard and caused her to stumble some, but at the end she was still standing with some scratches and bruises on her body.

Serena then realized that Charizard would need to recharge some after letting loose Blast Burn. By the time she had, Aggron had hit Charizard with Iron Tail. She glanced over to the timer: twenty minutes left . . . .

Charizard was doubled over, breathing heavily, with a shallow gash across her abdomen where Iron Tail had hit. Serena held eye contact with her Pokemon for a moment; for a split second, she saw the small cuddly Charmander Augustine had entrusted her with. She saw the Charmeleon who stood victorious after her gym battle with Ramos, very proud of herself and her abilities. She remembered lazy days just flying with Charizard, looking down on the world below her as it passed by. If Charizard could read her mind, she would tell Charizard of how proud she was, how much she loved her and her teammates, how she would not let anything separate them ever again. In Charizard's eyes, she saw fatigue and a determination to win, as if the Pokemon understood her freedom and livelihood were on the line.

Without even waiting for any direction, Charizard turned back to Aggron and let loose another Fire Blast. The five-pointed flaming formation grew larger and larger as it shot towards Aggron, hitting its target head on and breaking apart in a burst of flames. Fire Blast had done it, for Aggron soon fell and shook the ground as it hit the floor hard.

"AARGH!" Teleurac howled as he recalled Aggron. He glared at Serena for a moment, but then his expression softened. "So you proved yourself superior to me in battle. What did you hope to accomplish with that?"

"Power down the weapon," said Serena, trying to sound fierce and intimidating although her voice had lost support.

Teleurac laughed. "I don't think I will," he said as he reached to undo his tie. "You could do it yourself if you knew the proper authorization code, but you don't. And there's no way I'm telling you what it is."

Serena looked towards the reactor, then glanced at Charizard.

"Break that open, and you'll release fatal levels of radiation. None of us could survive it, and I would very much like to live to see my Roselie again." By the time he finished speaking, he had undone his tie and slid it off from around his neck. He had it gripped in his hands at both ends, and he gave Serena a purposefully deadly look.

"So what have you accomplished, Serena? Nothing. You can't escape from here, you can't stop the attack on Castelia – look at you! You can barely stand up straight right now! You will bleed to death before the night is over, but I can make sure your life is saved. All you have to do is ask."

Serena bit her lip, realizing that he was right. However, she knew the unspoken assumption: that if she asked him for that, she would very likely return to prison and be forever under his heel.

"I would rather die trying to stop you," she spat defiantly, although her voice was growing weaker.

"Then allow me to put you out of your misery."

Suddenly, Teleurac lunged at Serena with his arms stretched out in front of him, and he swiftly wrapped his tie around her neck, pulling it as taut as it could go. Serena let out a gasp as her hands flew to his chest, balled up in fists and feebly beating against him as she felt her airways cut off, and the stinging pain of the tie as it pressed and dug into her skin. Her hands then moved to the tie, scratching at it and her neck, trying to pull it away even a millimeter as she kept gasping for air and she started to feel dizzy.

"Ask for mercy and I'll give it to you!" hissed Teleurac. His eyes, blazing and furious were what Serena focused on as the rest of the world went black around her. For a split second, she considered asking for mercy from him – and then he abruptly moved away from her. The tie fell out of his hands as Charizard grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked him away from Serena, and the Pokemon raised him higher into the air and slam-dunked him into the ground. Serena fell to all fours; she coughed and kept gasping for air until she breathed in short breaths, and although she felt very dizzy her vision slowly returned to her. With one hand, she clutched gently at her neck, flinching her fingers back after they came into contact with a tender area that still hurt from where the tie had pressed into it.

Charizard roared ferociously at Teleurac, who was just getting back on his feet.

"Kill me . . . who will . . . Mega Evolve my Pokemon?" asked Serena in a hoarse voice.

"They can be taught to bond with some other Trainer. I think Augustine will be up to the challenge," said Teleurac gravely. Serena watched as he started walking back towards her, and then glanced at the timer on the wall to see that there were eighteen minutes left before the cannon fired. He had the tie in his hands, held and bared at the front of his body. Charizard roared again, and when she made the connection concerning what Teleurac intended to do, she let loose a Fire Blast at him.

Serena's jaw dropped. Although her head still swam and her vision was blurry, she could distinguish the shapes and movements of Teleurac as he ran towards Charizard with flames trailing off of his body. He screamed and cried in anguish, tripping and falling onto his stomach just as Charizard stepped out of his reach. Continuing to shriek horribly, he rolled and writhed about the ground as his clothes burned away and his skin blackened, and as he rolled about the Pokeballs containing his Pokemon disconnected from his person and rolled away, crackling and popping as they did. Finally, he stopped moving, and Serena looked on at the charred mass of a human body in front of her that still burned, stunned by what she had just watched. She didn't snap back into reality until an ominous computerized voice boomed over the PA system:

"Attention: Launch at Castelia City in fifteen minutes."