"You're not actually using that worm, are you?"

Silence gripped the Miller household as six year old Tony Maruko looked up at his mother. The boy was holding a small Caterpie in his arms, whilst he fed it is small leaf. "Why not?" he asked, curiously. "Me and Lucky always fight together! Right, girl?"

Lucky nodded her green head, before chewing on her leaf.

Anna Maruko rolled her eyes. "And you wonder why you always lose," she said.

There was silence for a few moments after that.

Anna almost never visited her only son, Tony. She had more important things to do; namely, running her company. So, Tony was usually in the care of Brad and Sally Miller. Sally was Ann's sister, and Brad was her husband. The two lived together with Brad's slightly senile father, Pappy, and usually Tony. Whenever Ann came for her monthly visit, Tony was delighted.

Anna wasn't.

"Tony," Aunt Sally said to her nephew. "Is Lucky ready for the Pokemon battle today?"

Tony nodded eagerly. "Sure is!" he said, happily. "Maybe today we'll win!"

"I doubt it," Anna said, out of earshot.

"How about you go get your shoes and go to the battle," said Uncle Brad. "I'm sure there's plenty of kids who want to see Lucky in action!"

Tony nodded. "Yeah! Mom, you wanna come, too?"

Ann winced. "Sure, why not," she said. "You go ahead. I'll catch up."

Laughing, Tony grabbed his shoes from the door and ran outside, heading to the center of town, where the kids would practice with their Pokemon at sunset.

"You're discouraging him again. Stop it."

Anna glared at Sally. Her sister and she were polar opposites. Ann was tall, and Sally was short. Ann had blonde hair and Sally had dark hair. Ann was a business woman and Sally was a housewife. Anna was a horrible mother, and Sally wasn't a mother at all.

They did have one thing in common though: they were both as stubborn as a Tauros. "I don't need you to tell me how to raise my child," she informed her sister. The two sisters were sitting in the coffee room with Brad. Anna was drinking her coffee and taking her sweet time in getting to her son's battle.

"You need to stop talking down to him like that!" Sally said. "You're his mother! He looks up to you! If you don't believe in him, he'll be crushed."

Ann rolled his eyes. "You don't need a mother to get through life. You and I know that better than anyone."

Uncle Brad decided to enter the conversation. "That doesn't change the fact that he looks up to you. He does have a mother, a mother he that he wants to love him. Do you think he'll grow up happy with a mother who is always out on business in Celadon and only visits for one week and once a month?"

"I visited twice last month," Ann pointed out.

"You came back because you forgot your planner!" Sally all but shouted.

Ann shrugged. "Details," she said, before sipping her coffee again.

"And now you're not even going with him to his Pokemon fight," Sally said, thoroughly disappointed.

"Why bother?" Ann asked. "He has one Caterpie. He's going to lose. Why should I go if he had no chance?"

"Because you're his mother," snapped Brad. "You need to support him!"

Before Ann could snap back, her cell phone rang out. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out. "Hello? What? What do you…? You're serious? Alright, I'll be right there." She put the phone away. "Stocks just dropped," she informed her family. "I'm needed."

Sally rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said, angrily.

"What about Tony?" Brad shouted. "What will he think when you leave early? You only just arrived today!"

Ann stood up. "He'll learn to live with it, if he ever wants to be strong."

Tony sighed as he walked down the dirt road back to Aunt Sally and Uncle Brad's house. He lost the battle. However, he did do better than usual, managing to take down a Ratatta and an Abra (though the Abra couldn't do anything but Teleport) but in the end, he still lost. Most of the other children mocked him for it. Who expected to win by only using a Caterpie? It was stupid and ridiculous!

But the loss wasn't why he was unhappy. He was unhappy because Mom hadn't shown up. And she had promised, too. Tony knew his Mom was busy, and that she had a very busy job, but he still wished that they could spend more time together. Thankfully, his mom always put aside a week for them to be together. But Mom and Aunt Sally were always glaring at each other, and it made Tony feel uncomfortable. He was just glad that Mom would always spend some time with him. She had promised him, and she always kept her promises.

Or did she?

Tony sighed as he carried a battered Lucky down the road. He stared down at the Caterpie and smiled.

"Hey, girl," he said. "Don't worry about it. You'll be big enough to evolve into a Butterfree one day! Then we'll show them what you can really do!"

Lucky nodded, chirping happily, despite her wounds.

"Great!" said Tony, giving the Caterpie thumbs up. "We'll get them next time for sure!"

The two rounded the corner, eager to get back to home, where Mom and dinner would be waiting.

Then, he saw his Mom's car, turned on, and driving away.

Tony's eyes widened.

He put Lucky on the ground and ran after the car.

"Mom! Wait! No!"

The car kept driving, heading down the dirt road of Route 1.

"Mom, please!" Tony shouted, still running. "Don't go! Don't go…"

The boy collapsed on the ground, his eyes were filled with tears. His lower lips trembled.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, kiddo," Uncle Brad, standing behind him.

Tony sobbed. "She promised…" he cried. "She promised…"

Brad picked him up and picked up Lucky, who crawled on her trainer's arm and stared at him, concern in her eyes. "Come on," he said. "Your Aunt's getting some ice cream. How does that sound?"

Tony didn't answer. He just stared at Route 1, praying for his Mom to come back.

Midnight. It was midnight, and Tony was still staring out his bedroom window, waiting for Mom to come back. Lucky and his Aunt and Uncle were already asleep, leaving him alone with his thoughts. All he could think of was his Mom, and how she had lied to him. Her own son.

Why? He screamed in his mind. Why? Why did you lie to me? I trusted you, Mom! You're my Mom! You're supposed to tell the truth. He wiped a tear from his eye. It's not fair…

He looked out the window for a few more seconds, before pulling his covers over his head, and going to sleep.

I don't care! I don't care if you go away! I don't care if you never come back again! If you don't want me as a son, I don't want you as a Mom! One day, you'll be sorry for this! I'll show you! One day, I'll show you!

He closed his eyes and began to fall asleep. One day… I'll show everyone…