Notes: Disgruntled/Disgruntlement: Unhappiness caused by the failure of one's hopes, desires, or expectations.

Jupiter, Cyrus, random grunts, Cleffa, Clefairy, Team Galactic, and Pokemon in general belong to Nintendo. But Cyrus is working on that.

…

Disgruntled

…

"You… wanted to see me?" The young grunt edged into the room, nervously fingering his uniform shirt. It was slightly grubby and starting to thin out in that spot, belying more than an occasional nervous habit.

Commander Jupiter looked up blankly. "Did I? Which one are you?"

"I'm -"

"-Your registration number." She turned her eyes back down to her desk, glancing over a paper before she signed it.

"Oh! Uh…" He fumbled in his pocket for his membership card. "It's… 5783."

"Hm… Oh, right." Jupiter fished a file folder out of a neat pile on her desk. "You're new to my squad, I see."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"And I see Saturn wrote that you acquired a Cleffa on a recent mission?"

"Right." He was fidgeting around with his uniform again. She frowned at that.

"You weren't on this list to receive a new Pokemon. Can you explain yourself?"

"Oh, of course!" The grunt grinned nervously. "I was telling some of the other grunts how it had always been my dream to have a Clefairy, and they said there were lots of Cleffa in Mount Coronet, and one of them even gave me a pokeball, and on our way back from the Eterna building we passed through there, and I caught one on my first try, and she's the nicest Pokemon you'll ever meet, even better than I imagined!" He drew in a deep breath and let it out blissfully. "And she's the cutest, too! Commander Saturn even said she's in great shape, and we've bonded faster than most Pokemon he's seen. I can show her to you if you want! I know you'll love her. She just evolved, can you believe it?"

Jupiter's frown deepened as the young man before her took out a shining pokeball and released a small, pink Pokemon. The Clefairy gave a cry of joyful welcome as she hugged the grunt's leg, then turned cheerfully to look up at Jupiter.

"Isn't she just the best?" The grunt let out a completely besotted sigh.

The commander eyed the two steadily. "Return that Pokemon now."

"Oh! Uh, sure." He gave the happy little Pokemon one final affectionate pat before drawing her back into the pokeball.

"Let me see," Jupiter said, deadly calm. "Capturing a non-regulation Pokemon in an unapproved manner… I'll have to talk to Cyrus about this, not to mention the rest of the squad you were with. Give me that pokeball."

"…What?"

"Give me the pokeball."

He hesitated, his dilemma clear on his face as he swayed back and forth slightly.

"That wasn't a request. It was an order. Now."

Slowly, reluctantly, the grunt stretched out his hand with the ball in it. Jupiter plucked it from him and dropped it immediately into a desk drawer. His eyes followed it down, and he flinched as if he had been stabbed as it bounced on the bottom of the drawer.

"When… can I get her back?" he asked softly.

"You won't. You're on watch on the south side of town until further notice. Keep your radio on, I may contact you to meet with the boss, if he has time."

"Wh-what? Why? I -"

"I just told you, this illicit Pokemon. Not to mention, your last mission failed. A failure to Team Galactic doesn't deserve a new Pokemon. I wouldn't say you deserve a Pokemon at all in fact."

The grunt stared at her, his eyes growing with her every word and his mouth hanging half-open.

"Well? You have your assignment. Tell the grunt you're relieving to report to me directly. Go."

"But -"

Jupiter frowned. "Don't you think you've dug yourself a deep enough hole as it is? You're shaming Team Galactic."

"…Yes, ma'am." The grunt bit down hard on the insides of his cheeks, trying to keep from crying. He turned, but not before taking one more glance over his shoulder at the desk where his beautiful Clefairy was now being held. His vision blurred as he quickly fled towards the warp panel. They had promised he could finally have his Clefairy, had sworn that was all there was to it. He had finally thought that things would be okay now.

But they weren't. And it didn't look like they ever would be.