Toxic

Chapter 1

Troy watched as the slots landed on triple 7's. He cleared the coins out into a bucket held by his childhood friend Evan.

"We're halfway to a Scyther, my friend!" Troy said.

"Or you know, we could save up for a Porygon." Evan replied. Troy scoffed and inserted a coin into the machine. "Porygon would be cool and you know it."

"Dude, giant bug with scythes for arms. Nothing is cooler than that." Troy said. He inserted another coin into the machine and hit triple 7's for a second time. Earlier that day Evan had fiddled with the wiring on the machine to change the odds on the slots. The two delinquents were winning on nearly every spin. Troy entered a coin and triple 7's came up like clockwork.

"Jackpot!" Troy said as he flung his arms in the air. Evan responded with a sharp punch to the arm.

"Do you want to get caught?" Evan said.

"It's a little late for that, gentlemen." A mysterious voice came from behind the two. They tried to bolt for the door but were quickly met by two large guards and slammed up against the machines. A slender man walked up and slowly examined the two friends. He was dressed in a slick blue suit and his undershirt was unbuttoned to show off his grayish chest hair.

"Listen, guys. We don't want any trouble. We're just here testing our luck with the slots. What's wrong with that?" Troy said.

"It's not luck when you screw with our machines, you little worm." One of the guards said.

"Hold on a second, Gionni. These guys could be of use to us." The man snapped his fingers and the guards released their grip from the necks of the scared duo. "Do you know who I am, boys?"

"N-no, sir." Evan said. Troy shook his head no.

"My name is Rocco Bonavicci. I manage this here fine establishment." Rocco started pacing slowly in front of the two. Seemingly deep in thought. "I don't like it when people steal from me. In fact, I don't think the boss is gonna like it when he finds out that two schmoes were cheatin' him outta Pokemon."

"I say we break 'em in half, boss." The shorter and stockier of the guards said.

"I say we don't!" Troy quipped with a smile. Evan jabbed Troy in the side.

"What are you? Some kind of wise guy? You think you're funny? You think bein' a smartass is gonna get you outta this?" The taller guard said as he placed his grip firmly beneath the chin of the wise cracking thief.

"Gionni, what did I say about them being useful to us? Did I stutter? Did you not understand? Let him go, ya brute." Rocco slapped the large guard upside his head.

"Sorry, boss." Gionni released his grip once again.

"Can we go now?" Troy asked.

"Excuse me?" Rocco looked at Troy like he had just insulted his mother.

"I apologize for my idiot friend here, sir. I swear, if you let us go you will never see our stupid faces again." Evan pleaded with Rocco but his gaze never broke from Troy's direction. Slowly Rocco nodded.

"You, I don't like your smart mouth." Rocco pointed at Troy and then moved his hand towards Evan. "But you, you got gumption. You came in here, stole from a known criminal organization, and now here you are tryin' to talk your way out of it. I like you, kid."

"Thanks, I guess..." Evan looked over at Troy and shrugged.

"I'm gonna be honest with yous twos. I'm either gonna let my guys here use you for target practice, or you can come work for me and pay off your debt. Your choice." The guards behind Rocco cracked their knuckles.

"One question though." Troy said.

"No. No. No. No. No." Evan whispered under his breath.

"How good of a shot are they?" Troy cracked a smile much to Evan's chagrin.

"We'll take the job." Evan said. He offered his hand to Rocco as a sign of agreement.

"Keep an eye on your friend, kid." Rocco met Evan's hand and shook it firmly. "Gionni, Bernard, show these fine young gentlemen to my office in the back. I want to get them set up for success."

"Right this way, fellas." Bernard shoved Troy and Evan towards the back of the Game Corner.

"Handsy, jeez." Troy said as the two were slowly dragged to the back.

Rocco's office was a dark, smoke filled, cramped room in the basement. The lights were dimmer than the guards who stood watch outside the door. Troy and Evan were seated on a dirty leather couch within the office. Across from them Rocco sat shuffling papers in his executive chair. He slapped a document in front of the two.

"First thing's first, boys. Do yous have any pokemon?" The two shook their heads no. "Wonderful, a clean slate. Looks like I'm gonna have to hook you up with some partners of your own."

"Wait, seriously?' Evan shot a look of excitement to Troy. They had wanted their own pokemon since childhood but had never had the chance to be a real trainer.

"Yeah, how do you expect to get any work done without a pokemon? Now I think I got a few back here somewhere." Rocco opened his desk drawer and starting rifling through it.

"Hey, if you have any Scythers laying around I'll take one." Troy said.

"Full of jokes, this guy." Rocco went back to rummaging through his desk.

"What kind of work are we talking about anyway?" Evan asked.

"Here we go." Rocco placed two pokeballs on the table in front of them. Behind them he placed two documents labelled 'Summary Sheet'. "I'll get to the details later. First let's get this outta the way. In front of you are two pokeballs. Behind them are the details for what's inside. Attacks, evolutionary patterns, type advantages, the works. Now each of yous gets one. It's up to yous twos to decide who gets who."

Rocco slid the summary sheets towards the two friends. Troy picked up the first one and studied it.

"A Poliwag. Water type. Evolves into a Poliwhirl...then into either a Poliwrath or a Politoad."

"That Politoad reminds me of you." Evan said with a chuckle. Troy huffed and picked up the pokeball.

"What's in that one?" Troy asked. Evan lifted the document and read it closely.

"Grimer. It's a poison type usually found in the sewer in cities like this one. Evolves into Muk. Even the pokeball has a...distinct smell." Evan picked up the pokeball and grimaced.

"Are you two happy with the ones yous got?" Rocco asked. Both shook their head in agreement. "Always a good time to see two young trainers get their first pokemon. So I gotta ask, you gonna nickname your new partners?"

"I think I'll leave mine the way it is. Grimer." Evan smiled at the thought of his new pokemon.

"Forget that, I'm naming mine Mr. Punchy." Troy smiled at the unique name he gave his Poliwag.

"He doesn't even have any arms!"

"Not yet. But he will and Mr. Punchy will live up to his nickname."

"How old are you, kid?" Rocco said.

"Twenty two." Troy replied.

"Alright then. You guys will have plenty of time to bond and whatnot later. We need to get down to business. The reason I brought you guys in is because we're lookin' for some research files." Rocco placed a manila folder labelled 'Operation Toxic' in front of them. He flipped it open and pulled out some photos. Most of them were of the old laboratories on Cinnabar Island. Some were of newer labs unrecognizable to the two friends. "As you two know, scientists researched a legendary pokemon in the old mansion on Cinnabar Island. That pokemon was called Mew. The first pokemon ever. Well what you might not know is that Silph Co. decided to continue that research."

"What does this have to do with either of us?" Evan asked.

"I'm gettin' to it. Didn't your mother teach you any patience?" Troy smirked at the response. "I digress, a couple years ago our organization discovered that Silph had done some research on it. From what I've heard they got pretty close to clonin' this legendary pokemon."

"Didn't someone already clone Mew? I'm pretty sure Mewtwo tried to destroy the world at one point and time." Troy said.

"Yeah, but this was different scientists doin' different work. Rumor has it that Silph found DNA belonging to the legendary pokemon and are about to run it through a clonin' process. However these files are heavily encrypted and hidden somewhere in the Silph building. We tried to find it a few years ago, we even took over their HQ. But before we could find it, some schmuck kid came through and destroyed everybody. It was embarrassin'."

"This must be where we come in." Evan said.

"Bingo. I saw what you did today, yous guys know your way around a computer. I need yous twos to find those files for me."

"How do you expect us to do that? We just got our pokemon. There's no way we can storm into Silph HQ and steal their top secret files they've had hidden away for years." Troy said.

"That's the thing, kid. The files aren't in Silph HQ. They're hidden at one of their branches. See, each town has a small lab where Silph does their research. I want you guys to go to each one and try to find it. While you do that me and my guys are gonna stage another attack on Silph HQ. With the focus on us, yous twos can quickly go through and find those files." Rocco spread more papers over the table. He tapped on the one closest to Evan. "This here is the lab in Pewter City. Easy target, most of the trainers out there are gonna be bug catchers so you two don't have much to worry about."

"How are we supposed to get to Pewter City from here?" Evan asked.

"You can take Diglett Tunnel. You might have some trouble with them bein' ground types and all that but your smart mouth friend and his 'Mr. Punchy' will have a field day. I'm gonna give you a stipend of $500. Spend it wisely, my friends, because this is the last money you'll ever be takin' outta my pocket." Rocco tossed a wad of cash in Evan's direction which was then quickly intercepted by Troy.

"I think I could get used to working for you guys." Troy flipped through the bills counting meticulously.

"Yeah, sure. Just don't screw it up, kid. Yous twos have PokeNavs, right?" Rocco asked. The two nodded in unison. "Good. Keep me updated. I don't want yous twos goofin' off. Get goin'."

Troy and Evan grabbed their pokeballs and their documents and quickly left Rocco's office. As they headed to the elevator being 'gently' guided by Gionni and Bernard the two whispered under their breath.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Evan said.

"Dude, we got pokemon and a giant wad of cash out of this. How bad could it be?" Troy replied.

"I hope you're right. What do you think they want to do with those files?" Evan asked. Troy responded with a look of concern. Before anything else could be said Gionni swiped his card key and threw the two new goons into the elevator and on their way.

Troy and Evan walked side by side through the streets of Celadon City. The street lights had just came on and everyone was either rushing to the department store or trying to find their way home. Troy nudged Evan and pointed to the bar across the way. Evan nodded and the two crossed the street and entered the building. They ordered their respective drinks and sat at the bar contemplating their new assignment. Troy pulled out his pokeball and gazed at it.

"You know, I've always dreamed about getting my first pokemon. I didn't think this is how it would happen." He said.

"I know, man." Evan said as he took another sip from his drink.

"When I was a kid I grew up idolizing the way my father was with his pokemon. He had so much faith in them. I always figured he'd be the one to give me my first partner." Troy spun the pokeball in his hand. "Do you think they caught this guy?"

"Doubt it." Evan pulled his pokeball out and glanced at it.

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to be the best trainer he's ever had." Evan glanced over at Troy and could see the sincerity in his eyes. Slowly he nodded in agreement. He thought about his Grimer and how he ended up in Rocco's possession.

"We should go, before it gets too late." Evan said. He threw some cash on the bar and the duo left. Together they headed towards the main gate between Celadon and Saffron ready for whatever their journey had in store for them.