Deep beneath Dawn Hurst Town, in a heavily fortified underground base, many powerful trainers were gathered in a large assembly room.

The room was wide and circular, built from reinforced steel and concrete. The air felt heavy, tense, as if even sound itself hesitated to linger.

In the center of the room sat a man in a dark military uniform.

A mask covered everything above his nose, leaving only his eyes visible. The rest of his face was exposed—but even that was enough to tell a story.

His lower face and hands were covered in countless small scars. Thin lines, thick lines, old and new. Violence had carved itself into his skin.

One scar stood out more than the others.

It began at the edge of his lip and stretched across his cheek toward the side of his face. Because of the mask, no one could see how far it truly extended.

Besides this man, five other figures sat in the chamber, forming a half-circle around him.

The Generals.

Only these six individuals were seated. The remaining high-ranking trainers stood along the walls in complete silence.

All five Generals wore the same mask as the man in the center. Yet despite their immense strength, despite their reputations, none of them felt as dangerous as him.

The name of the man in the center was unknown. They only knew one thing.

He was the leader of the Company of Toxin and his code name was Botulinum. Nothing more.

Suddenly, Botulinum began staring directly into the eyes of the trainers standing along the wall.

Every trainer who felt his gaze experienced the same emotion. Fear.

Most of them knew how abnormally ruthless their leader was. They knew that if they crossed him, a quick death would be the best possible outcome.

For all of them, every single one, Botulinum was the most terrifying person they had ever encountered.

His eyes suddenly stopped. They locked onto one particular trainer.

Luis Greyson.

The moment Luis met his leader's gaze, he understood.

It was over.

For a brief second, a desperate thought crossed his mind.

If he bit off his own tongue hard enough, maybe he could die quickly. Maybe he could escape what was coming.

But the thought vanished almost as fast as it appeared.

Not because he didn't want to die.

But because he remembered what Botulinum did to those who tried to evade punishment. He remembered watching such a person being punished for hours.

The screams. The begging. The silence afterward. It was something he had never forgotten, no matter how much he wished to.

Botulinum's cold, rough, powerful voice filled the chamber.

"Luis Greyson. What are you waiting for? You've been here long enough to understand what you have to do now."

Luis' entire body began to tremble. Slowly, mechanically, he stepped away from the line of trainers and walked toward the center of the room.

There, placed directly before Botulinum, stood a new torture machine.

Luis had seen several before. Each one different. some worsed. some better.

He often wondered whether their leader designed them himself or somebody else did that.

The new machine looked deceptively simple. A steel chair bolted firmly to the floor, fitted with heavy restraints that made it impossible for hands or legs to move.

Above the chair hung a large steel cylinder.

It could contain anything. Luis didn't want to think about what was inside.

Without being told again, he sat down.

The restraints locked around his wrists and ankles with a metallic click.

He felt no anger againgst Botulinum. Only fear. so much fear. Not of the machine, but of the man watching him.

Botulinum spoke again, his tone almost light.

"Luis, why are you so stupid? You know what happens when you try to mess with me. You've seen what I do to such pests more than once."

He paused slightly.

"I'm a little disappointed."

Luis, the five Generals, and the trainers standing at the walls were completely shocked.

Disappointed?

How could a man like this use such an almost human word?

One female General, in particular, nearly broke down. Her shoulders trembled as if she were about to cry.

Botulinum ignored her completely.

"Was your greed really strong enough to overcome your fear of me?" he continued calmly. "Am I really that soft?"

That's why he's disappointed? most of the trainers thought in disbelief.

The female General, however, reacted differently.

A fanatical smile formed beneath her mask, and tears began to run down her face. She began to weep tears of joy.

Botulinum's voice hardened slightly.

"The emotion greed, Money..." he said, "for such a pathetic thing, you dared to break my rules."

His eyes narrowed.

"I must admit, you managed somehow to personally insult me with your actions. You also showed me that I was far too gentle before."

Luis' entire body shook violently, the restraints rattling in uneven bursts as panic overtook him.

"This is a nightmare," he whispered hoarsely. "This can't be happening. No… impossible… no, no, please wake me up… please…"

His voice broke into desperate sobbing just as the steel cylinder above him emitted a faint mechanical hum.

Then it stopped.

Instead of anything dramatic, only a few drops fell.

One. Then another.

They landed on his forehead and cheek, cool and almost harmless. Very slowly. Deliberately.

Luis' first reaction was blind panic—but after several seconds, he realized something strange. It didn't hurt.

There was no burning. No immediate agony. Just liquid sliding down his skin. A fragile thread of relief formed in his mind.

Maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe— But imagination was crueler than reality. What kind of poison caused no pain at first?

Botulinum's voice filled the chamber again, calm and clinical.

"The human body is far more resilient than most people believe. Especially when it comes to poison or physical damage."

He began to walk slowly around the restrained chair.

"Through repeated experimentation, I discovered something interesting. Humans possess a form of energy—primitive, inferior, but measurable. Comparable to the life energy Pokémon (Hp) use. As long as incoming damage does not exceed a certain threshold, that energy compensates and It protects."

"Human energy is weaker in both quality and quantity to Pokémon's life energy. It is easier to kill a human at full energy than a Pokémon at full energy . But the principle remains the same."

He stopped directly in front of Luis.

"Luis," he asked softly, "do you know what happens when a human is poisoned?"

Luis' eyes were wide and wet. He could barely breathe.

"Please… please…"

Botulinum ignored the plea.

"The body begins consuming its own energy to suppress the toxin. The stronger the poison, the faster the energy burns away."

He spoke as though giving a lecture. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"And once that energy is sufficiently depleted, and the poison remains untreated, death follows quickly. Particularly when using Pokémon venom."

A faint spark of interest entered his gaze.

"But tell me… what happens when a poison bypasses that energy entirely?"

He leaned slightly closer.

"When the body does not recognize the substance as harmful. When the defensive response never activates."

Luis felt the cold drip against his skin again. He understood. Instinctively.

His voice trembled as he forced the words out.

"The body… dies quickly… without the energy fighting it? Please… please… that must be it. Right? Please…"

Botulinum straightened.

"You're wrong."

His tone remained light.

"As I said, the human body is far more resilient than most people think."

He clasped his hands behind his back.

"The outcome depends on the poison's design. But in every test I conducted, none of the subjects died quickly. Their bodies were consumed by pain. Every one of them wanted a fast death but none received it."

A pause.

"Perhaps you will be fortunate enough to become the first."

Luis began to feel it then. Not a burn or a sting. Something deeper.

The areas touched by the liquid started to throb violently, as if invisible hooks were being dragged through his nerves. The sensation spread in thin, branching lines beneath his skin.

Within seconds, the pain multiplied.

It intensified so rapidly that sound itself seemed to distort. Botulinum's words blurred into barely comprehensible meaningless noise.

And the worst part— It kept getting stronger.

Every second.

Luis knew what happened to those who tried to shorten their punishment by biting off their tongues. He had seen it fail before, every time, but his pain crushed his reason.

With a broken scream, he bit down with everything he had.

There was a sickening snap. He succeeded on the first attempt—something not everyone in his position had managed.

Blood flooded his mouth. He spat the severed piece onto the floor.

Botulinum watched without emotion.

"Luis," he said evenly, "you're a real idiot."

Luis choked and shudder.

"If you truly wished to die quickly, you should have attempted suffocation. with this method, you must force the tongue backward to block the airway. Blood loss is to inefficient and slow for a fast death. Apart from the fact that this poison has the side effect of significantly slows bleeding down so even trying to fasten your death with this is completely useless."

He paused, a faint smile forming at the edge of his scar.

"Luis, today really isn't your day."

Luis, already beginning to vomit from the escalating pain, heard enough to understand.

He screamed—raw, animalistic sounds mangled by the ruin of his mouth. His body thrashed violently against the restraints.

No one in the room could understand what he was trying to say.

***

(In the Pokémon world, where the human body is strong, blood loss from a severed tongue is still fatal if not treated quickly. Although Pokémon humans can survive longer with blood loss than in our world it is still fatal.)

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if the story gets 100 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.

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