A/N: There won't be another update for a couple of weeks since I'll be out of town and away from my computer that time. If you have finals coming up, study well for them and good luck!

Tony and victini3464: I accept your apology. However, please stop spamming the review section. I am now moderating all guest reviews, and I will only approve ones that are actual reviews of the story. If you want to tell the epic tale of Tony and his army of Legendaries, perhaps one of you should create a account and post it. That way, more people would be able to read and enjoy it.

THIRTY

00:14:59 . . . 00:14:58 . . . .

Serena still stared, mesmerized, at the dying embers that surrounded what was left of Teleurac, while Charizard stood over her Trainer protectively. She hadn't wanted him to die – there would be explaining to do, he definitely deserved to answer for his deeds to the world, and she couldn't believe Charizard was capable of this. She could still feel the heat from those deadly flames, even after they had long died out. When the smoke rising from the remains and the stench of burning flesh became too much for her, she turned her head away, wheezing and letting out retching coughs.

With Charizard's help, she slowly rose to her feet and walked over to the control station next to the large red display screen, stumbling with almost each step.

00:13:45 . . . 00:13:44 . . . .

There were too many buttons, switches, and screens. None of them were labeled, just different sizes and shades of green and orange, and she hadn't the slightest clue of what they did. Why couldn't there just be a red button and a blue button, like there was three years ago?

One wide screen on the control station showed a map of Unova and Kalos, with green blinking dots over where the major cities were and a red one over Castelia. She was really starting to feel her lightheadedness again, and she gripped onto the edge of the panel to stay standing. Her front was now almost completely covered in dark, shimmering blood, and some was still trickling out of the laceration across her shoulder and chest. She told herself to focus, to think, to at least stay conscious long enough to figure out how to turn this thing off. If she died, she wanted people to remember her as a hero.

00:11:23 . . . 11:22 . . . .

Teleurac had said that an authorization code was needed to abort the launch sequence, and that information most likely died with him. She'd answer for his death some other time, gladly take the credit for assassinating him, but now was not the time to worry about that. They'd really have her for this, she thought. That is, if they found her alive. Malva would probably assume the role of Governor, and Team Flare would keep control of Kalos. But would they want to continue the war?

00:11:03 . . . 00:11:02 . . . .

If she couldn't stop the launch, then perhaps she could pick a new target. Where could she manually enter coordinates, to fire the weapon into the ocean or some other remote location? Then she could find someone to heal her Pokemon, perhaps treat her wound, and she could properly destroy the cannon. Team Flare could just build another one, though.

There was a panel next to the map where one could manually enter coordinates . . . but doing so required an authorization code. She tried a few random sequences of numbers, none of which worked, until she took her attention back to the map.

Her finger tapped against the screen showing the map of Unova and Kalos, right above the blinking light that corresponded with Mistralton City. A message flashed across the screen: TARGET – MISTRALTON CITY. "No," she hissed, seeing that Mistralton's dot had turned red, like Castelia's previously was. She then tapped on the screen again, in the blank space corresponding with the bay south of Castelia City. The message that next flashed on the screen read NOT A VIABLE TARGET. Those words flashed again when she tapped the northernmost tip of the mountain range that separated the two regions, and then again when she tapped out on the ocean past Azure Bay. It hit her: the weapon had to be preprogrammed to only attack cities. A huge pit formed in her stomach, and her heart beat faster.

00:09:38 . . . 00:09:37 . . . .

Aspertia was still shown as a target on the screen, but she didn't want to fire it there. Presumably, there had been survivors of the attack, even if the city itself had been flattened. Despair soon hit Serena; no way to stop the firing, no way to survive the radiation released if Charizard broke open the reactor, no way to get out of the facility in time to rip the cannon off of Prism Tower or the Pokemon power to do so. And no matter what she did, it still wouldn't solve the Team Flare problem in Kalos. They could just rebuild the reactor, or anything she destroyed before she finally gave out. How could she oust them when their grip on Lumiose - and all of Kalos - was so tight, and she was barely conscious?

The cannon.

Holding her breath, not letting herself think about anything else other than the need to destroy the cannon, Serena raised her sweaty clammy hand and tapped the dot on the screen and watched, horrified with herself, as the dot turned red and the message flashed: TARGET – LUMIOSE CITY.

00:08:16 . . . 00:08:15 . . . .

Serena then fell to the floor, no longer able to hold herself up. She landed on her hipbone, winced at the pain, but then saw there was a lone Full Restore under the panel. She grasped it gingerly, pulling it close to her, and shifted her body to face Charizard, who had bent down to her level.

"Charizard," she said weakly as she turned her body around, leaning against the panel and undoing her Pokeball belt. Charizard leaned her head in closer, and Serena fastened the belt around her Pokemon's neck. She remained there for a moment, tightly hugging Charizard, before treating Charizard with the Full Restore. Charizard helped Serena climb onto her back, then she rose into the air and flew out of the room, down the hall and turning left at an intersection of hallways.

00:06:57 . . . 00:06:56 . . . .

Serena didn't think there would be a means of flying out of the facility, but she did not want to be in that central room when the weapon's fire came crashing down. Still being in the facility also felt like a bad idea, yet putting some distance between her and Charizard and the reactor seemed ideal, especially since she couldn't think of a means to escape. There was no articulate, logical reason why, but Serena did not want to die inside that central room.

The actual flying went by in a hazy blur as she focused on clinging to Charizard, but her grip soon loosened and she slid off her Pokemon's back, falling hard on the floor and landing on her side.

There was a throbbing in her head, and a hard pain localized at where it had hit the floor. The world was fading in and out, alternating between the cold white lights of the hallway and the blackness of oblivion. Charizard landed on the ground next to Serena and stooped over her.

"No . . . go," she croaked, concentrating on the blue flames streaming from Charizard's mouth. "You and the others . . . stay together . . . find my friends . . . ."

Her friends. Had they made it out of the city all right? If not, she had doomed them. She had doomed everyone in Lumiose, all in a sloppy effort to end Team Flare and the war they had started. She thought briefly of her mother, learning the news that her daughter's body had been found in the ruins of the once great city, and tears welled up in her eyes. It hurt, wanting to see her mom again, wanting to be held and cradled like a baby, wanting to be told that she would be okay, knowing that it wouldn't happen.

"Charizard, please . . . save yourself," Serena pleaded, pushing herself up slightly onto her elbows and looking up at her Pokemon.

00:05:00 . . . 00:04:59 . . . .

A low, sad whimper escaped from Charizard's mouth. Charizard shook her head and bent further over Serena, kneeling down and bringing her wings forward to fully envelop the top half of her Trainer's body. Serena brought her knees in, curling up in a ball and leaning against Charizard. She reflected on her life, on all she had seen and done in twenty-one short years: her younger brother Sam and his premature death, her parents' divorce, moving from Kanto to Kalos on a whim because her mother couldn't stand to live there anymore, meeting her friends, her adventure with Pokemon, becoming Champion, the beautiful Kalosian countryside, cafes and baked goods, the sparkling blue waters of Azure Bay, dancing into the wee hours of the morning, kisses that tasted like coffee and vanilla, sandalwood and cinnamon cologne . . . . there should have been more time for all of that. So much more time. She needed a chance to clear the air between herself and Augustine, or to forgive her dad for tearing their family apart, or to really let her mother know just how much she was loved and appreciated

A tiny hopeful voice in Serena's head told her that there was still a chance. Charizard might just pick her up again and start flying until she found a ventilation shaft big enough for her. Her friends would arrive just in the nick of time. However, as her body grew weaker and weaker, that small hoping voice died out with a whimper.

At least they would all be together, she thought about herself and her Pokemon. The others who were fainted – they would simply never wake up. She'd never get another warm hug from Ampharos, or go swim with Greninja, and Noivern – Noivern. She had let him follow her from Terminus Cave, into the unknown on only an unspoken promise to fight Team Flare, and she led him to death. Her Pokemon, who had loved and trusted and worked with and played with her, were going to die, and it was her fault. She had to be the worst Trainer to ever live.

00:02:09 . . . 00:02:08 . . . .

Consciousness was slipping away, and she heard Charizard cry softly. Serena rested a hand on Charizard and stroked the scaly skin underneath with her fingers, and she started to sing softly as tears cascaded down her face.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine."

00:01:45 . . . 00:01:44 . . . .

"You make me happy when skies are gray."

00:01:27 . . . 00:01:26 . . . .

"You'll never know friend . . . h-how much I love you." Her voice cracked as each breath became more shallow and harder to carry out. Through her almost-shut eyelids, she felt the warmth and glow of Charizard's flames, an ethereal blue that was almost like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

00:00:29 . . . 00:00:28 . . . .

"Please don't take my sunshine uh-"

Serena's eyes closed, and everything faded away.

00:00:03 . . . 00:00:02 . . . 00:00:01 . . . 00:00:00.