(Almost five months on hiatus. And I'm truly, truly sorry for that, I am. I didn't mean to make anyone wait. I've had a very hectic summer and school year's end term, so I haven't been at my peak. Also, for the first entire month of June, I had no meds, making me useless and emotionally unstable. Please forgive me. I tried my best to make this chapter worth it—and now I've got a schedule going, a SERIOUS schedule, which I will do my very best to adhere to.

Thank you so much, for all of my fans. Thank you for sticking by me and waiting through my nonsense. I promise to make it up to you with the best work I can muster.)

Olivia merely watched as they tied her up. The Umbreon was pinned to a board by rope and poles—the girl was chained next to him. Jimmy began to caress her, and tweaked her nipples, giggling like a very large child. She shook her head, and gripped her Pokeballs for comfort.

The Murkrow looked at her, eyes pale rubies in the glow of the candles. She could only blink. The other children stood, waiting as Jimmy began to stroke the Umbreon as well. He began searching for something—searching--what is it?

Apparently, he found it. He made a satisfied sound, and began to stroke the Umbreon lower. Olivia blinked. But...he was, well... She coughed, and tried to hide a blush. Jimmy was teasing the Umbreon's penis out of the little flap of skin covering his, well, penis. The girl looked horrified—and vaguely aroused.

For the first time, Olivia realized that girl looked a hell of a lot like her. Her throat convulsed again, as Jimmy had the full length in his hands. He spoke now, as the children watched expressionlessly. "Now, we must give to the flesh what comes from the flesh, as the Unknown God tells us. Tell me, little one," he addressed the girl now, blinking kindly at her, "are you a virgin?" The girl nodded rapidly, making emphatic sounds from behind her gag. Jimmy's smile grew wickedly wide.

"Oh, that's wonderful." He said, as Olivia noticed something—he was tugging on the Umbreon's penis now, and tugging hard. "Too bad I don't believe you."

With an odd schlup noise, he had ripped the penis clean off the Umbreon's body. Olivia felt the bile rise in her throat, as the Umbreon's screaming pain bounced off the walls of her mind. Jimmy turned to the horrified girl, and removed the gag.

"Oh, oh, please sir please he's just my Pokemon please don't hurt Blacky anymore, please—" Jimmy stroked her face, and shook his head.

"It will be quite all right, dear. Trust me," he whispered, "I'm saving your soul."

He began stuffing the limp and bloody flesh into her mouth, as she screamed in abject horror, muffled by the inches of flesh he'd shoved into her mouth...down her throat...he didn't even need to fasten a hand around her windpipe. His huge fist and the decent amount of bloodied flesh did the work for him. She made one last futile gagging sound, and died. Olivia watched with disinterest, until Jimmy turned back to the kids.

"All right, my flock," he rumbled, "it is time for our communion."

Out of the shadows, the largest Marowak Olivia had ever seen glided, a large bone, (femur, maybe? It was hard to tell), clenched in his fist.

"Wak wak. Marowak." He rumbled, and began to efficiently tear at the body. It was businesslike, executed with blasé efficiency. Strips of flesh began to tumble playfully away. Jimmy held up a hand.

"Wait!" He cried, stopping the Marowak. He stepped forward, and removed the flaccid flesh from the girl's mouth. "Five second rule."

With that, he popped it in his mouth and smacked his lips noiselessly. "Right then, Marowak, back to your work. We've got an extra to feed tonight." Olivia was jolted back to reality by that statement, and suddenly remembered she had Pokemon to take care of. She was their only hope for getting out alive.

/Useless, Grimwald, Santi, Levi...even Jayel, I promise we'll get out of here./ She nodded at Jimmy, as Marowak finished.

The other children began eating the flesh heartily, lapping the blood off the floor as well, as someone chanted an ancient song. Olivia made to look as if she too was participating, quietly formulating a plan.

/Well, realistically, I could just run. But this guy's got the city in the palm of his hand, what would I say? I could get my dad, but...they might just kill him too. No. No one else will get involved./

She paused. /Wait. He's...the Gym Leader, isn't he? I remember it on the sign before I came into Saffron...if I beat him, while he's weakened I can escape. I don't have a choice, anyway./

She close her eyes to the carnage, and stepped forward. "Saint Jimmy, my name is Olivia Kent. I challenge you for the Badge of Saffron Gym."

"Not too retarded, I see." Grim muttered from his Pokeball.

"Shut up." She hissed.

Jimmy grinned indulgently at her. "Of course. You must understand, however, that I only have my one Pokemon. My Marowak shall have to do." Olivia watched intently as the monstrosity stepped forward. He—it? He, she supposed. He tossed his bone from paw to paw, watching. His eyes challenged her, the glare from the fishlike pupils making her blink and back down.

"I will fight!" Olivia blinked. Jayel stood at her feet, small femur in her hand. The Marowak looked down at her balefully.

"Hey, no, wait, I want to pick another Pokemon--" Olivia didn't even have time to finish. The Marowak darted forward and slammed a bone into Jayel's stomach. The Cubone promptly went flying, skidding past the slick blood-stained floors and into a wall. Olivia closed her eyes and groaned quietly.

There was no way it would end well—wait. Was Jayel getting up?

The Cubone had. She darted upwards, and chucked her own bone weapon at the Marowak. The beast caught it with ease, and slammed it into her face. The children watched silently.

Olivia was already devising eighteen different ways to slit the man's throat, grab the badge, and duck out of this place as fast as possible. Jimmy just stared.

Jayel looked back at Olivia. And maybe it was because she saw that no one—absolutely no one—believed she could do it, that she paused.

The world shifted. The balance tilted in her favor.

With that, she ducked and slammed her own skull-clad head into the soft skin under the Marowak's skull. She snarled, and snatched her bone back from the Marowak, dodging and then blocking a Bonemerang. The Marowak grunted, and lunged forward. Olivia's eyes began to glint with interest.

Jayel jumped and caught a blow to the stomach, however she managed to grab the Marowak's arm and stop it moving long enough to catch her breath again. She then tried her own Bonemerang, darting far enough out of reach that it could fly forward and then back without repercussion. Marowak began to get angry.

Olivia had seen enough. "Jayel!" She callled. "Get him angrier! Make him loose his focus!"

The Cubone heard and obeyed. She poked him in the eye with her femur-blade, as the Marowak roared in pain. Olivia cracked up, as the Marowak lunged blindly forward, roaring in rage and agony. Jayel's paw shot out, bone effectively cracking both of Marowak's ankles. The Marowak tumbled to the ground.

Jayel howled and slammed a femur-blade into the Marowak's face. The beast grabbed the femur-blade and flipped her forward, as she tumbled and skidded into the wall. She got up and swooned on her feet for an instant, before spitting on the floor and leaping up, eyes wild as she lunged for the Marowak's soft belly.

The small nubs on the femur-blade managed to rake the skin, but not deep enough to be fatal. It succeeded, however, in driving the Marowak further mad, to the point where it tossed its' bone aside and began ripping indiscriminately at Jayel, trying to get all the flesh it could reach.

Olivia grinned wickedly. The Cubone leaped forward and swung up past the Marowak using its' skull-horns for leverage. She gripped it tight, and flipped the Marowak over backwards. Jimmy blinked in surprise. Olivia chortled to herself.

Then Jayel's eyes glinted. She held the Marowak down with her femur-blade, and began tugging at the skull-helmet. Olivia watched with an eyebrow raised. An interesting way to get stronger, she surmised.

The Marowak's screams of pain were inhuman, echoing off the walls over and over as Jayel lifted the skull of the misshapen, lumpy brown head. The underbelly of the exoskeletal head was soft. A final swing from Jayel's femur-blade, and it fell silent.

She took her own skull, and began inching it off gently, with as much care as possible so as not to harm the soft skin below. She tossed it to the side, and lifted the Marowak skull on her head.

Instantly, she shifted. Became larger, stronger, more fierce looking. More like a warrior.

The girl had grown up, in the most macabre of ways.

With a final gesture towards the dead, she picked up his spinal weapon. She tested it in her palm, and found it satisfactory. With a snort, she turned to Olivia.

"Do I make you proud?" She asked, a voice still young and tinged with hope. Olivia smiled and knelt.

"Yes." She mumbled softly. "You do." She stood, and faced Jimmy.

"And you," she said, "owe me a Badge."

Jimmy stared at her for a moment. His response was to fumble for the bible in his pocket, and chuck it at her. She dodged easily, and grabbed the Badge, glinting on the front of his preacher's stole. She darted past the grasping hands—and ended up facing the children. Their blank faces watched her as her eyes darted from Pokeball to Pokeball. She closed her eyes.

Here goes. She opened her mouth, and yelled, "FREE YOURSELVES!"

The Pokemon, mangled and maltreated in some cases, all exploded out of their circular cells. All stared at her, waiting for her to make the first move.

"Don't attack." She said. "We need to move on. No point in more violence—wouldn't that prove them right about you?" The Pokemon all blinked. The children didn't move, seemingly unaware their next move would decide if Olivia won out or their Pokemon brought justice.

The Murkrow from before stepped forward, head held high.

"Lassie's got a point," he croaked, "what are we, animals?" The Pokemon nodded, and stepped back. Olivia turned and pressed the release button on Santi's Pokeball.

The Murkrow hopped up on his head like he'd always been there. Olivia snorted in amusement as Santi opened his wings and darted forward, conveniently clipping Jimmy with his wing and tearing his flesh open down to his spine.

"God, we are horrible people, aren't we?" Santi remarked with grim amusement as they sped out of Saffron, over the charred remains of Celadon, and down straight to Fuschia. Olivia snorted.

"We should be so lucky."

The team all laughed, as Jack cuddled closer to Olivia, content with hearing her heart beat against his ears. And for a moment, they all had peace.

Morgan tilted his head upward, stroking Tristan's soft black hair as he nuzzled the Champion's neck, teasingly rubbing his lips close. They finally had some peace and quiet, after a few hectic days of raising Psychic hybrid children and press conferences. (They were currently trying to determine which was worse—however, they were both in agreement that either could be solved by consuming sufficient amounts of alcohol.)

Derek was outside, again stuck with the job of answering calls and accepting visitors. He sighed deeply, and watched a woman approach his desk. He blinked, and observed her. Brunette with wavy hair, and a simple colorful dress. Her eyes were kind, but there was sadness clouding them.

"Excuse me," she asked him, "may I please speak to the Champion?"

"That'd be me," Morgan said, striding out of his office, "is something wrong?"

"Sir!" Tristan called. "You still have a hickey!" The woman smiled, and giggled, as Morgan glared in Tristan's direction, and pulled the collar of his shirt up higher.

"Besides that, as my idiot assistant demonstrates." He said smoothly.

"I'm not just an idiot, I'm a spunky idiot! I'm practically ready-made sidekick material!" Morgan slammed the office door shut, and sized up the woman.

"Anyways, what can I do for you? You don't look like one of the typical senator interns." She shook her head, and the cloud of sadness surrounding her eyes shifted.

"That's because I'm not. Sir, I'm here to ask you something. You've just recently been outed, haven't you?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed, yes. Is there a problem?" His tone shifted slightly. The woman shook her head.

"None. Simply a question." She looked at him, and the weight of her gaze fought him down.

"My name is Polly Clark. My son is your lover's age, sir. He's a good boy, and a sweetheart. He'd be a devoted and attentive husband. The thing is, you won't let him be that. Why? If you are yourself dating a man, why won't you fix what you've broken?" Morgan continued to stare.

And then he laughed.

"Because," he said, turning back to open the door, "I'm lazy, and give it a few more weeks. My daughter will do it for me." Morgan turned to go back into the office—

"I'M UNDERWEAR LAD! DEFENDER OF THE DOWNTRODDEN AND PANDA WHISPERER!" Tristan darted out, rushing past both Derek, Morgan, and Polly.

"Was he just—"

"I'M NAAAKED!"

Morgan bit the inside of his cheek until Polly turned and raised an eyebrow. Then he burst out laughing, clutching Derek's desk and shaking with hysteria.

Derek sighed, and bit his pen before tapping it on the desk. "Honestly, sir," he muttered, "you could stop doing this sort of nonsense when I'm on paperwork detail."