Chapter 46: Scores Getting Higher…

Yolei felt unbelievably contented: she was in the same room with the rest of her family. This was a thing that very few other people could say for themselves. But her sister, father, mother, and husband were all in the same room together…the only thing missing was Tina. Yolei was thinking hard about this, and it was apparent that she was deeply pensive…

"Yolei, what is it?" her mom asked.

"It's nothing…it's just that…" Yolei sighed. "If you had known back in 2001 what all was going on with me and Hawkmon, would you have punished me and put me in a convent to protect me?"

"Probably."

"But what if you had done the same stuff as a child?"

"…Yolei, why are you asking such hard questions?"

"It's my daughter, Tina."

"I can hardly believe that my baby has a baby," Mrs. Inoue sighed. "It's just…too…much! And yet I see so much of you in Tina, and vice versa…she acts a lot like you did when you were her age, although she's a bit more adventuresome…"

"I know, that's the problem…I just sent her to baby-sit one of our spire-hunting parties…and…I'm worried about her."

"Now you know how I feel every time you go out there."

Yolei hadn't realized that she was causing her own mother grief. "You feel this way about me??"

Mrs. Inoue sighed. "Yes…I do."

This was beyond Yolei: Yolei wasn't a girl anymore. Yolei was a woman, trapped in a girl's body. Her mother looked at her with her eyes and saw a girl, but she looked at Yolei with her heart and saw a woman…which was beyond her mother's understanding, too. Her mother's last memory was of Yolei as a girl, and now, she was a woman. This situation was alien to both women, but there was one thing that hadn't changed: they loved each other.

"Mom…I know I can handle this. I saved the world back in 2001, and I can do the same thing now."

Mrs. Inoue nodded slowly. "I believe you…after a situation like this, I'm ready to believe anything. But there's one thing I realize: if you can save the world, so can your daughter. She is what you are…and what your husband is. I know she can help this miserable planet."

Yolei sighed. "I keep telling myself that…but it doesn't take away how much it scares me when she's out there."

"I keep telling myself that you're good at your job while you're out there, too, and that doesn't help me feel better, either. That's how it is; it's the paradox of motherhood: you love your child, and yet you don't want to give them freedom. But it's just how things are." She put an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "And I know you can adapt."

Yolei sighed. "Thanks, mom."

"Don't mention it."

Davis was sitting next to them, munching potato chips and watching television, as usual. He mused, "All this from a dead woman."

"Huh?" Mrs. Inoue asked.

"Shut up, Davis!" Yolei spat, smacking his head with a pillow.

******

The purple smoke cleared, and was replaced by glowing red smoke---which wasn't even smoke: it was flame. Something had happened, and it wasn't clear what…until a new, huge super pokémon emerged from the dust cloud: Charybdis.

"What?!" The Unnamed Figure asked, mouth wide open.

"I said, 'Hydramon, co-op digivolve to…Charybdis!'" the huge pokémon spat, in a voice that sounded like Charizard's roar.

"You're another of those steals on the Empire's co-op digivolution, aren't you?"

"What's it to you if I am?" Charybdis asked. "Dragon rage!" she shouted, hurling tornadoes at the two giantors. They were hurled into the air and blew about uncontrollably until the hit each other and smashed to pieces.

"I'd say that it's a good reason for revenge if you are!" The Unnamed Figure yelled back as he summoned more giantors.

"I'm not really liking what you're doing," Charybdis warned, hurling more tornadoes at the incoming menace machines. "And you don't want to see me mad!"

"Ho-hum!" he answered.

The battle raged on, and Charybdis couldn't avoid taking a few hits. Finally, she came to this conclusion: "I've had enough of going after these bees: time to attack the queen! Whirlwind!" A blast of air picked up The Unnamed Figure and hurled him away. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Charybdis taunted as she finished off another pair of giantors.

"I'd rather see Team Rocket again than meet that guy again," Ash said. After a pause, he added, "I never thought I'd say that!"

"Piiiii-ka," Pikachu agreed.

"Do I even want to know?" Tina asked.

"No…and neither would Hydramon, but she does, now," Charybdis answered. "So…seeing as it's a long way back to base, what say you ride me over there?"

"Thanks, Charybdis!" Ash said, climbing aboard. "You know, I was almost afraid that Charizard wouldn't like me if he evolved this high."

"I learned my lesson the hard way to like you, Ash," Charybdis answered.

As they flew off, Rika said, "Man…those machines really seemed to come out of nowhere…and there were a lot of them."

"Come to think of it," Hare agreed, "I've never seen that many giantors in one place before…I wonder where they're coming from…?"

******

"The design of your Totemmon was clearly the reason for your failure," the sub-major said, looking over his report. "We shall terminate those responsible."

"We also need to get rid of that Ash-kid's Pidgeot: it costs them, sometimes, but that Pidgeot can mimic its opponent's moves."

"Indeed…a disturbing problem. We shall have to see to dealing with that… As for your mobility, we are assigning you a new tor to help you."

"Oh, great. Another dumb robot."

"Not this one. It has no DPU of its own and cannot make its own decisions. Although it is a 'smart vehicle', it only acts at your command." The sub-major held up a view-screen for his operative to see.

The Unnamed Figure smiled. "For once, your tor will be a good idea…"