"What is an exploration team?" I asked.
Katrina looked at me in confusion. Maybe she forgot that I didn't know anything. She quickly caught herself and pulled a pin from her scarf. It had two gems inside the same symbol that was from the council room. Two circles, one large and the other half the size sitting inside. A line went through the center of the big circle, but not through the small one. It created the space for the two cut gems to sit. A crimson gem sitting on the top and Black gem sitting on the bottom. Two silver covered wings were set on both sides.
"There are multiple teams in the guild here. We have rescue teams, exploration teams, and arena teams. The black gem means that I am a part of the exploration teams, we carry out assignments given to us. In turn we are paid with free food, training, and a small cut of the reward. The rescue teams are like the exploration teams, but they don't have an official affiliation with the guild so they are free to decline assignments and do as they do with jobs. All the guild does for them is provide a place for them to go to train and housing."
Then there are the arena teams that train really hard to go and fight in tournaments setup by the guild and other guilds. They are sometimes used for hard missions, but they mostly stick to training and being stuck up. Seeradans is a member of an arena team. Usually teams are made up of a group of two to four pokemon and we are given items to help us in the dungeons. The teams have to be made up of willing pokemon."
The crimson is the rank I have. I have the lowest rank in the guild. You move up in the ranks by performing assignments. If you are stupid and receive too many writs from captains or generals then you can be demoted. I have never received a promotion due to how little I have succeeded in assignments."
"Is that why they call you a handicap?"
She flashed a glare at me and continued, "I am called that because everyone knows about how I grew up. Nobody really wants to create a team with someone who could lose control at any moment."
I laid there feeling sorry for her. There was someone like me, someone that felt what it meant to be a monster. I never really looked at her being like me. An outcast.
"How did you grow up here?" I asked.
The question seemed to catch her off guard by my question. She had so much confidence before, but this seemed like this was something hard for her to talk about.
"It was… I was found by sir lance. A lonely egg abandoned by it's wild parents. Sir Lance had already taken out what he believed to be my mother protecting the nest. My father, no where in sight." She paused.
I looked up and saw her wincing from the emotions. She was clenching her paws in anger, tears were running down her cheeks. She was hurt. Was she upset due to her father not being there to protect her?
"When I hatched, I had attacked the nurses that had helped to hatch me. I wouldn't let anyone into my room except for Sir Lance. Every member on the council thought that Sir Lance was a fool for trying to keep me from turning. For centuries, pokemon have been turning to their dark side and rampaging in villages. There were stories of a time before this where pokemon wouldn't succumb to their darkness. That wild pokemon in mystery dungeons had a choice. Sir Lance believed that it could be like before."
A dream and the hope for all wild pokemon resting on the shoulders of a baby. I couldn't imagine the pressure she must have felt, that she must feel all the time. Always representing a hope and the thought that no one believes in you and already say that you are a failure walking.
"I eventually began to learn and lose the animal instinct inside. The council began to believe in Sir Lance's motives and sent out small exhibitions to find more eggs from the wild and raise them."
She turned away from me and looked as if she was having a terrible flashback.
They brought back many different eggs and hatched them as I continued to progress more and more. I was told that I was going to have friends, brothers and sisters like me. That is what they told me."
The others showed signs of learning capabilities, but nothing more than learning how to calm down for food. The council grew restless, but that isn't what stopped them. You never take a child from it's mother."
They came and destroyed the city, searching for their young. They found them and wreaked havoc on the guild. Many died. After the destruction the mother's left with their stolen young and the guild was left in ruins. The experiments failed. I was the only one that made full progress."
Sir Lance protected me from the council by having a family adopt me and raise me. The guild had to rebuild and everyone knew. No one forgot. No one forgave."
A river of tears was streaming down her face when she turned back to me.
"Everyone looks at me and sees the destruction that happened. I was raised like a civilized pokemon, but treated like a monster." She yelled and left the room. I could hear crying from the hallway.
I looked up to the ceiling and imagined the story that was just told to me. I can only remember the past few days, but she has years of terror in her head and many others constantly reminding her of it. I feel sorry for her. I am sorry.
I felt tired and my eyelids were beginning to feel heavy. Sleep loomed over me and I fell into my dreams.