Last time, on Tony's Journey...

Tony met up with Nicole and her friend, an heiress named Marissa, who could've swore she had met Tony before at the Maruko Corporation Charity Party, much to Tony's chagrin. Then, our hero met with his one-sided rival Karen, and beat her in an epic battle between his Paras and her Lickitung. However, we also discovered that Karen is Anna Maruko's daughter!

What will happen next? Find out now!

"And that's what ya do with a drunken sailor, that's what you do with a drunken sailor..."

A strange old man walked down the halls of the hotel, with two large fishbowls tucked underneath his arms. He hummed and whistled as he approached his room in the hotel. The elderly fisher was happy. He loved Cerulean - it was his hometown after all. He loved the sights, the smells, the diner that had been there since he was just a boy, and he loved the fishing. Which is what he had been doing.

"Alrighty, yer majesty," Pappy said, placing the two bowls onto the floor. One contained Cap'n, and then other contained Pappy's newest fish, a female Goldeen he had nicknamed Queen. "Welcome to our home away from home," the sailor said, pulling out his card key and slipping it into the lock. He happily carried both Pokemon into the hotel room.

However, a sad sight was waiting for him.

Sally Miller was sitting on the couch, her face between her hands, sobbing softly. She was unaware of Pappy's return.

"Sally?" Pappy asked. "Sally girl, what's wrong?"

Sally sniffled, looking up at the old man. "P-Pappy," she said. "You're back..."

"I am back," Pappy said. "And I wanna know why yer cryin'! Come on, you call tell ol' Pappy..."

"Anna..." Sally said, wiping tears from her cheeks. "She came here..."

Pappy froze. "She wha-?"

"She said... She said she wanted Tony back..." Sally sobbed. "She said she was going to take him back too... And that there was nothing I could do about it..."

Pappy sat down on the couch, placing Cap'n and Queen on the coffee table. "Well," he said. "If she wants Tony back, she's gonna have to go through me to do it!" he said, angrily. "Who does that woman think she is? First she abandons her kid and then she says she wants him back! She made her choice a long time ago! Besides, Tony wouldn't go with her even if she could get through me!" he promised the weeping woman.

"B-but what if she tries to take legal action?" asked Sally. "She's rich and powerful... what if... what if she can bribe the courts... and buy off all the witnesses?"

Pappy sighed. Sally had been watching too many cops dramas. Then again, this was Anna they were talking about...

Finally, he spoke. "Sally... Look. Anna left Tony. She's been gone for over five years, and she hasn't paid either a visit or child support. Any court that sent Tony t'live with her would have to be made up by a huge bunch of idiots!"

Sally sniffled again.

"Look," said Pappy. "There's no way in heaven 'r the other place that I would let Anna lay one finger on Tony. You are a thrity year old woman, Sally, you have got to let Anna stop pushing you around! Besides, you got Pappy watchin' out for ya, Sally-girl. Ya don't have to worry about a thing!"

Sally hugged Pappy. "You... you're right, Pappy. Thank you."

"I always am..." Pappy bragged.

There was a knock on the door.

Sally felt her heart beat faster. Could Anna be back?

Pappy wasn't taking any chances. He picked up Queen's fishbowl and slowly walked to the door. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Um... Kelly..."

Pappy paused. "Who?" he asked, after a second.

"I'm a friend of Tony's...? You know... Kelly? The girl from the caves?"

Pappy narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're really this Kelly?" he demanded.

"Are you serious? ! I just had to walk up three flights of stairs because the elevator was broken with a cast and crutches! You're gonna turn me away? !"

Sally sighed, putting on her cheerful face. "Let her in, Pappy. Any friend of Tony's is welcome in our home... or hotel room."

Pappy nodded, before opening the door a crack. "Alright, you can come in. But don't try anything funny - I've got a Goldeen, and I'm not afraid to use 'er!"

"Deen," chimed Queen, lazily. Personally, she was hoping that Pappy would go out and buy her a bigger bowl. Maybe with one of those little divers and a little castle. (Keeping fish Pokemon can be pricy, if you couldn't tell.)

The door opened, and a silvery haired girl came in, a pair of crutches propelling her into the room. "Uh... Hello," she said as politely as she could muster.

"Hello!" greeted Sally, as cheerfully as she could. "You must be Kelly! Come on in, have a seat! Would you like a drink? We have water, lemonade, soad, apple juice, orange juice..."

"Water would be very nice, thank you," Kelly said, surprised. She wasn't used to being waited upon. Well, at the hospital, sure, sure, it was the nurse's job to wait on her - but this lady was doing it without any real reason.

Weird.

Kelly found herself with a cup of water (she was begining to wish for some juice - she hadn't had any in years) and quickly discovered that both Sally Miller and Pappy Miller (Kelly hadn't been able to discover his real name. He was just "Pappy".) were quiet intent on learning everything there was to know about her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Do you like the water? Did I add too much ice?"

"Are your parents in town?"

"How did you get out of the hospital?"

"Was the food okay? Are you hungry?"

"How's your leg feeling?"

"Would you like a sandwich?"

"When will your leg heal up?"

"We have cheese, if you'd like some!"

"Do yer parents know about what happened and Mt. Moon?"

"We have some egg-salad!"

"Pretty rough for such a young girl, isn't it?"

"If you want, we have some..."

"Okay, okay! said Kelly, already feeling taxed. "I'm not hungry," she snapped at Sally. However, she quickly remember her position, and added, "Thank you for the generous offer, though. And, uh, I'm feeling fine, thank you, the leg should heal in a couple of days and please, don't worry about me. I've been through worse."

"Did your parents pick you up?" asked Sally.

"Yes, they did," Kelly lied smoothly. In reality, Giovanni had called a pair of Rocket Agents in the area to pretend to be her parents. He also produced some false documents to prove she existed, and that the two agents really were "Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes." Very few people knew of her actual parents, and they never talked much about having a daughter. If someone who had actually heard of the real Rhodes asked her about her name, she could simply shrug it off. After all, it wasn't uncommon for two people to have the same last name and not be related. Heck, there were probably a dozen Miller families out there not even related to Tony.

"Well, it's a good thing that yer're okay," Pappy said. "Is this yer home town, or are yer parents gonna take you there?"

"Oh, no, I was born in Johto," Kelly said. Another lie. "My parents like to travel a lot, and, well, I do too. Speaking of which, I was wondering if it would be okay if I tagged along with Tony for a while."

Sally blinked, surprised. "Travel? While injured?"

"It's only a small injury, don't worry!" Kelly said. "I've travelled with a broken leg before!" Another lie. This is the first broken limb she had ever had.

"Well, it's okay, I guess..." Sally said. "Tony seems to like you a great deal, and travelling without friends is very boring and unhappy." She looked at Kelly curiously, though to Kelly it looked more like suspicion. "But why Tony? Don't you have other friends to travel with?"

Kelly shook her head. "No I don't," she said, honestly. None of the other Rocket Grunts liked her that much. They were all just jealous, or so Kelly thought. "Besides, I reallly like Tony," Now that was a lie "and I really think I could learn a lot about Pokemon training from him." Another lie, and a very funny one too. The thought of Kelly learning anything from Tony ws quite humorous to her, especially in the Pokemon department.

Sally smiled suddenly, her face brightening. "Well then, I'm sure Tony would love to have you come with him!" she said. "You seem like a nice young lady!"

"That's what they tell me!" Kelly said, smiling with false kindness that neither Sally nor Pappy could see. "Don't you worry about a thing, Mrs. Miller! There's a lot I can lean from Tony. And who knows?" Her smile turned into a bit of a smirk. "I'll bet there's a lot he could learn from me."

"One two! One two! One two!"

Cerulean City's Pokemon Center. Like almost every city or town in Kanto, it stood near the entrance to the town, ready to provide medical attention to any Pokemon that were brought in. It stood as a sort of headquarters for travelling trainers; a symbol of rest, peace and free food.

Tayuyu Yamaki was breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down her brow. Her arms pushed her body up and down endlessly as she reached her one hundreth push up. "Done!" she panted out.

Blaze and Mach both gave a gasp of relief. They stood up, their own arms tired from their push-ups. Mach had reached about five thousand by the time Tayuyu made it to a hundred, while Blaze made it to three hundred. Only Kyubi wasn't working out with the others. The Ninetails was flopped lazily on a patch of soft grass napping, much to Tayuyu's chagrin.

Yesterday, Tayuyu had nearly been beaten. Fighting off Team Rocket had proven a deadly challenge, and she had almost lost.

Tayuyu Yamaki had almost lost.

Tayuyu hated losing more than just about anything. It made her face redder than her hair, and it made her feel hot and angry. And losing to Team Rocket made her feel very hot and angry. So, whenever she lost, she trained.

And her Pokemon trained with her.

Except for Kyubi. Lazy Ninetails...

Tayuyu took a massive gulp of water from her water bottle, her dry throat becoming moist and refreshed. She gave a gasp of relief and wiped the sweat off her brow. She gave herself a whiff and made a sour face. She was going to have to take a shower later...

"Done your workout?" asked a voice.

Tayuyu looked up. Sitting in a high branch on the tree that was by the Pokemon Center, was Kirby, sitting there with a loaf of bread and a dozen or so Bird Pokemon, flocking around him as he passed out crumbs to the Flying-Types.

"Yeah," Tayuyu said. "Well, most of us are..." she added, giving Kyubi a glare.

The Ninetails yawned ignorantly.

Tayuyu sighed. "Laziest Ninetails I have ever seen... Anyway, how's the weather up there?"

"Pretty good," said Kirby, looking out to the sun. "Looks like it'll be a sunny day tomorrow. The air is pretty clean too." He took a deep wiff of air, but then made a sour face. "Hmm... There is a hint of Yuyu fumes coming from below, though..."

Tayuyu scowled. "You are so lucky you're up in that tree right now..."

Kirby chuckled, sitting back as he gave what was left of the loaf away to a small Pidgey. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a blonde boy heading towards them.

"Hey! Tony!" the bird-catcher called, waving his hand.

Tony and Lucky came to a stop, Tony breaking on his bike. He swiftly folded up the bike and put it into his backpack. "Heya, guys," he said, breathlessly.

"'Bout time you showed up," said Tayuyu. "Everytime I called your aunt she said you were out training!"

Sorry," Tony said, rubbing the back of his head. "Training and all. Had to train up Tochu and Alph for the Gym Battle."

"Who?" asked Tayuyu.

"Oh! Right!" Tony said, pulling out a Pokeball. "I forgot that you haven't met him!" He activated the Pokeball and released his Paras, Tochu. "This is Tochu!" he said. "Say hi, Tochu!"

Tochu looked up at Tayuyu and Kirby, blinking his large blue eyes. "Paras..."

"Hey, a Paras," said Kirby from his perch. "Pretty cool!"

Tayuyu covered her mouth and nose. "Uh... Yeah, nice... Just keep it away."

"What's the matter?" asked Tony. "You don't like Paras?"

"No, it's not that!" Tayuyu said. "All those spores are aggrivating my allergies." She pulled out her inhaler and took a wiff.

"Oh," Tony said. "Sorry then. Back in you go, Tochu!" he said, returning the slightly dissapointed Paras.

"Well," Kirby said, sliding down from the tree, landing on his bare feet. "Tomorrow's the big fight, right?"

"Aye aye!" said Tony, saluting. "We're gonna face down Misty and take our badge! Oh, and by the way, Aunt Sally is making lasagna tomorrow, and she wants everyone to come and try some!"

"Oooh, sounds good!" said both Tayuyu and Kirby in unison. Neither of them were willing to pass up lasagna, both knowing how amazing Sally Miller's hospitality was.

Tony nodded. "All I have to worry about now is taking down Misty..."

"Do not speak such words lightly, boy!" a voice hissed.

The trio of teens turned to see a dark cloaked figure staring at them from behind the tree. "Misty Waterflower may seem to be just a cute rich girl, but she is no push-over. She has wiped the floor with trainers better than you before, boy!"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Josh. We've talked about the disguise..."

"Shhhhh!" snapped the figure, who was so obviously Josh. "I'm incognito, dummy!"

Tayuyu rolled her eyes. "Oh, no. Not you again..."

"Oh, hi Tayuyu," said Josh. "You too, Kirby."

"Hey," Kirby said, waving.

"Well, as I was saying," Josh said. "Misty isn't anyone to fool around with, so don't take it lightly!"

"Sure, sure..." Tony said. "I'm good, Josh. Don't worry about me!"

"You'd better be," Tayuyu said. "Remember the Vermillion Tournament? Well, it's in three days! We need to get moving ASAP!"

"Right, Yuyu!" said Kirby. "We have to hurry down to Vermillion!"

"What's the rush, Kirby?" joked Tony. "You in a hurry to lose?"

Kirby laughed. "Big talk from the kid who has a crippling type advantage against everything I can throw at him!"

"Well, I know one for sure!" Josh said, "None of you are gettin' past me!"

"I could get past you with a blindfold on," said Tayuyu.

Josh smirked. "Oh, alright, bring it, Yuyu."

Tayuyu growled. "Do NOT call me Yuyu!" she hissed.

Josh blinked, raising his hands in defense. "H-hey!" he said. "You let Kirby do it!"

Tayuyu blinked. She did do that. "That... that's different!"

"How so?" demanded Josh.

"I kind of like Kirby!" snapped Tayuyu. "You on the other hand, I do not!"

"I'm wounded," Josh said, not really meaning it.

"Hiya guys!"

Josh jumped, whirling abour to see a red headed girl skipping towards them, followed by a dark skinned man. "Oh no!" he peeped.

"Hi guys!" said Katie, waving.

"Hey there!" Brock, following behind, greeted. "Great to see that you all are looking good. Yesterday's events were pretty hectic, weren't they?"

"You're tellin' me!" Tony said. The adventure at Mt. Moon now felt very far-away and distant, like it had happened months ago.

"You heading back to Pewter City?" Kirby asked Brock.

Brock nodded. "Yup. I have to get back to work as a gym leader ASAP! That, and, well..." He smiled shamefully. "Misty kinda scares me..."

"Misty does what now?"

It was Brock's turn to peep at the sound of a woman's voice. He whirled to see Misty Waterflower, wearing her usual tankin, tapping a flip-flop clad foot on the ground with her arms crossed.

"M-Misty!" Brock spluttered. "How nice to see you again!"

"Uh-huh," Misty said, grabbing Brock by the ear. "So, we meet again," she said, turning to Tony. "Ready for out battle tomorrow?"

Tony grinned. "Don't worry about me!" he said. "I can handle myself."

"You'd better!" said Misty. "Otherwise, I'll mop the floor with ya! Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta handle Mr. Snarky here..." She dragged an unhappy Brock off by the ear.

"Heeeeeelp..." Brock said, waving his arms at Katie.

Katie chuckled. "Come on, Brock! You know if a girl torments you and beats up its because she likes you!"

"WHAT WAS THAT? !" snapped Misty, turning to Katie. "YOU'RE DEAD, KATIE!"

Katie swallowed. "RUUUUUUN!" she screamed, shooting into the Pokemon Center. "NURSE JOY, PROTECT ME!"

Misty charged after Katie, shouting and screaming.

The teens sweatdropped. "Uh... They have a past?" asked Tony.

"Oh, no, they're good friends!" said Brock, thankful that Misty wasn't shouting in his ear right now.

"They have a funny way of showing it," muttered Josh, equally thankful that Katie hadn't discovered him. He looked at his watch. "Well, I gotta go now, guys. Sorry."

"Don't be," Tayuyu said.

"Well, I have to get ready for my act and all," said Josh. "Plus, I gotta do some training for the big tournament! Thank goodness Mrs. Maruko is providing me with some training facilities."

Tony felt his blood freeze. Lucky began to flit slowly about. "Wha... What?" Tony managed to murmer.

"Oh, right, didn't I mention that?" asked Josh. "I'm working for Anna Maruko from Maruko Corp. She's helping finance the tournament."

Tony blinked. "Oh. That's... nice."

"Yeah, it is!" said Josh. "She pays pretty well, and working for her is a step up on the ladder of fame."

Tayuyu nodded. "Well, Maruko does have the Maruko Department Store, so she is rich enough to help with something like the Vermillion Tournament. Besides, it'd be great advertising for her."

"Of course!" said Brock. "Everyone loves the Maruko Department Store!"

Tony didn't hear any of what they said. They went on talking for some time. But he wasn't listening.

Out of all the people Josh could work for, out of all the possibilities, he had to chose Anna Maruko. Why Anna Maruko? !

Tony felt his frozen blood thaw and then boil. Anna Maruko. The woman who had abondoned him, who left him with his Aunt and Uncle for all those years. Who had always treated him like an inconvenience; an accident that shouldn't have happened. A woman who he tried to get to love him. He had drawn her pictures, made her breakfast in bed, and tried to be the best son he could. But he never won that battle. He never won her love.

Tony felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Lucky, looking sympathetic. They stared into one another eyes for a while, before Tony spoke again. "Thanks girl," he whispered to her.

"Bree," Lucky said with a nod.

"Oh, there she is!"

Tony whirled about at the sound of Josh's voice. There, driving towards them, was a limo. Inside the front he could see a familiar face. Jerry Higgins, driver to Anna Maruko for over ten years.

Tony felt his breath hitch. He quickly show away from his friends, as quickly and quietly as he could. He zoomed past his friends, Lucky following him. He zipped behind the Pokemon Center, breathing heavily.

He heard Josh greet Anna. But he didn't listen in. He didn't want to know what she was saying, or what Josh was saying to her. He felt hurt, and almost betrayed.

No, he thought. Josh doesn't know what my mo... what Anna did. It's not his fault.

He heard tires screech as the limo drove off. Then, he heard Tayuyu's voice.

"Tony?"

Tony sighed. Part of him wanted to tell them why he had hidden. But what could he say? How could he say it? What, should he just walk and say "Hi guys, glad to see you met my mother, who abandoned me when I was a child and hasn't tried to contact me in several years"?

"Tony?"

Tony turned and saw Tayuyu, who had followed him behind the Pokemon Center. "What are you doing back here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, Lucky thought she saw something," Tony said, forcing a smile. "I came back to check on what it was. Guess it was nothing."

"Oookay..." said Tayuyu. "Well, you missed Josh heading off with Mrs. Maruko. He seemed kinda dissapointed."

"Life is full of little dissapointments," Tony said, shrugging. "We'll see him around Vermillion, right?"

Tayuyu nodded. "Yeah, too bad. Well," she said, "if you're done looking at nothing, come on. It's about dinner time."

"Right!" Tony said, realizing how hungry he was. "Come on, Lucky!"

"Bree!" Lucky chirped.

They ran back to the rest of the teens and Brock. "Where've you been?" asked Kirby. "You missed saying good-bye to Josh."

"I'll live," Tony said. "Well, I'm gonna head back to the hotel for dinner!" he said, pulling his bike from his backpack and unfolding it. "Guess I'll see you all around!"

"Guess so," Tayuyu said. "Come on, Kirby, let's find Katie..."

The door to the Pokemon Center was flung open.

A very, very angry looking Nurse Joy stomped out, both Misty and Katie slung over her shoulder. "NO... FIGHTING... IN... MY... POKEMON CENTER!" she shouted, tossing both red heads on the ground.

Both girls shot up, terrified. "Yes ma'am!" they peeped in unison.

Nurse Joy glared at them like a feral animal, before returning to her happy dememour. "Don't let it happen again!" she chirped, stepping back inside.

Tony fell onto his back. "So scary..."

"This city is insane," Tayuyu muttered.

Kirby was too scared to think or say anything rational.

"Wow!" Brock said, impressed. "What a girl!"

BOINK!

"Ow! Misty!"

"Shaddap, Brock!"

Author's Note:

Well, that brings an end to this chapter!

Looks like Tony's gonna have to deal with his mother sooner or later now that he knows Josh is working for her. And it looks like Kelly almost has Sally and Pappy wrapped around her little finger too! Will this all work out, or will it end up an unpleasent and angsty series of heartbreaks?

Well, we'll find out eventually. In the mean time, tune in next time for Tony vs. Misty!