"I-It's alright Toge! I'm sure you didn't mean to mention Team Misfits burning Apple Woods down!" Furret tries to console me by patting me on my back as I sob.
"And bringing up how you were previously an outlaw is a slip-up anyone could make," Smith says as he hands me a cloth to blow my nose on with his tail.
"That Togekiss Chief was just overreacting when you said KFC was from the Blaziken Tribe!" Furret continues to try and comfort me, but I ignore her.
"I-I'm... I-I'm a c-complete fuck up! I-I c-can't e-even... sniff... I c-c-can't even f-finish a m-mission as s-simple as th-this!" I gasp for air between my cries. My tears have completely clouded my vision, making me see Furret and Smith as brown and purple blobs. "I-I c-can't do g-guild r-requests, I-I'm t-terrible a-at delivering p-packages, a-and I-I can't e-even defend m-myself! Th-the only th-thing I-I can do i-is get m-myself i-into t-trouble, a-and then I-I a-always n-n-need s-some other g-guildmember to s-save me!"
"Toge..." I feel Furret trying to give me a hug, but I pull away.
"I-I'm w-weaker than B-Booker! D-Dumber th-than Ross! M-More u-useless th-than Cyndaquil!" I let out a primal wail as I cry into my hands. (Why... why can't anything go right for me?)
(Maybe I was right about joining the guild being a mistake.)
(Everyone else is so much more competent than me, every time I've tried to help, I've only made things worse, like when Chespin got hurt because of me. Why do I even try? I should just lock myself in the storeroom all day...)
Furret and Smith continue to try and do whatever they can to cheer me up, but their attempts are futile.
(I... I think I want to go home...)
Suddenly, I hear a soft, sweet voice call out to us. "Hey! There you guildmembers are!"
I look up and wipe my eyes to see a Togetic with two white lilies between her head crests approaching, with a Togepi wearing a flower clown following close behind. (Oh, I bet they're here to make fun of me-)
"Could you please tell us some more stories about your guild and the adventures you've gone on!?" Squeals the Togetic as she flies right up in my face.
"Solace, we're gonna get in trouble!" Squeaks the Togepi as he looks around worriedly. "We're not allowed to get too far from camp!"
"Y-you... w-want to h-hear m-more?" I ask, totally baffled.
"Please! We're never allowed to stray from the clan until we're grown up, and we almost never get visitors, so it's rare to ever hear stories from Pokemon who have explored the world like you have!" the Togetic eagerly explains. "Oh, I should introduce myself! My name is Solace. And this is my brother, Piyo."
"I-I'm T-Toge, a-and th-this is S-Smith and Furret. Y-You should r-really be a-asking th-them... sniff... a-about their a-adventures i-instead of m-me..." My voice cracks as I struggle to stop myself from breaking down again, and I can feel tears welling up like a dam ready to burst.
"But you talking about how you were previously an outlaw is so cool! And how you got saved by some other kind adventurers, then ended up saving them when your old partner attacked you! Has he ever tried getting you back again?! Have your other guildmembers burned down any other forests!? Ooooh, I bet they had a really big fight that led to that forest fire!" Solace talks a million words a minute, emphasizing her words with passionate arm movements that end up spreading her Joy Dust everywhere. Some of it lands on me, making my body tingle with a relieving warmth that allows me to get a grip of myself again.
(Looks Team Cozy's going to have competition on who has the biggest fan at this rate.) I can't stop myself from cracking a smile at Solace's earnest enthusiasm.
"See Toge? Sometimes you just need to hear things from a different perspective!" Furret adds. "Even if you've stumbled a few times, you've done a lot of things other Pokemon wish they could do."
"B-But... b-but c-compared to o-other g-guildmembers, I-I'm-"
"Still useful in a fight, even if you aren't the strongest," Smith comments. "I might not have been able to fight off those gold rank guys on my own."
"You fought a gold rank team?!" Both Solace and Piyo yell in shocked unison.
"Well, they weren't that strong..." Smith says bashfully as he tries to hide his blushing face behind the tip of his tail.
"Y-Yeah, and it w-was a t-team e-effort," I say as I join Smith in being modest and underplaying our accomplishments.
However, Furret decides she isn't going to let us be humble and speaks up. "Oh come on, you two were awesome in that fight! You guys should've seen how Toge flew, and how my little buddy ripped out giant boulders out of the ground! Oh, and when..." Furret regales the Togepi and Togetic siblings about our fight as we walk back to the guild. Smith sneaks in a comment every once in a while whenever one of the kids asks if what Furret said really happened, which usually results in Smith failing to remain stoic from all of the praise. And sometimes they'll shift their attention to me, where I usually have the same reaction as Smith.
The doubt that was poisoning me earlier begins to slowly fade away as the sun sets, moving behind the tree line and painting the sky with a relaxing orange hue. Once we reach the edge of the forest, the two siblings wave us goodbye.
"Wait, before you go!" Solace takes one of her lilies off of her head and hands it to me.
Stunned by the gesture, I stare at the flower in my hand, then stare at Solace. It takes her giggling at my silence for me to respond. "Th-Thank you."
Solace beams and does a giddy flip in the air at my reply. Her little brother sighs and taps her, pointing with his other arm towards the forest. Rolling her eyes, Solace follows Piyo back towards the direction of their clan. "Tell us some more stories next time we visit!" Solace shouts at us just before she disappears behind the trees.
I attach the lily to my scarf by sliding its stem through the cloth, making it sit nicely next to my Clover Guild badge.
(Sometimes, even failure can have its own rewards.)
* * *
"... a-and that's wh-what happened. I'm r-really s-sorry, M-Mister Slurpuff."
Chef Slurpuff sighs, his body deflating like a marshmallow losing some of its air. "It's alright, my boy. Just the fact you managed to reach the clan is impressive in of itself. And while getting attacked on the way, it's a good thing you didn't get cracked open!" Chef Slurpuff pats my back reassuringly.
(Yeah, I almost got poached.) "... M-Mister S-Slurpuff? Y-You're r-rubbing my b-back p-pretty hard."
"Oh, my bad!" Chef Slurpuff says as he retracts his hand, and for a moment I spot him holding a glass vial that he quickly stuffs into his apron pocket. "Well, I must really get going! Don't be a stranger!" Chef Slurpuff swiftly scampers out of the main hall of the Clover Guild, closely followed by his Machoke entourage.
(Did he just steal some of my Joy Dust?)