Miyamoto had to get away from that woman before the scientist's saccharine sentiments suffocated her. A look around her lab had confirmed Miyamoto's suspicions after a day of watching the base's landing zone. All the parts delivered so far for Ariana's machines were small ones - likely flown in by inconspicuous air courier Pokémon like Fearow. The bulky fluid shipments would arrive by heli-jet, under the cover of darkness.
It was going to be a late night. She stopped on her way out of the building to pour herself a cup of coffee.
By the time she reached her accommodations, she had nearly drained the hot drink. For the better, as the moment the door was open, Jessie flew to her and wrapped herself around Miyamoto's knees.
"Mom!"
Miyamoto put a hand on the girl's head to stabilize. "Hey, Jessie-bean."
Jessie reached behind Miyamoto and grabbed the Pokéball off her belt. "Tangela, come out!"
Tangela gave a happy squeal as it solidified and noticed Jessie. At five years old, Jessie was roughly as tall as the vine Pokémon. The two played together often. Miyamoto sometimes found it jarring to watch the Pokémon execute some of the more brutal commands she gave it. Vines that she watched suck the life force from a grown man gently lifted her daughter and swung her until she giggled.
Tangela was as vicious about protecting its loved ones as Miyamoto was, she thought. She pushed aside the idea that the creature might not care at all, might only be a verbal command away from wrapping its vines around more precious necks.
Miyamoto greeted the Rocket Corp employee watching Jessie and thanked them for staying late. They replied gracefully about it not being a problem, but she knew the sitter had drawn a short straw to end up here. Hurriedly, she fished in her satchel for a couple small coins for a tip before they left.
Laughter echoed through the small apartment. Miyamoto put down what she was carrying and followed its sound to Jessie and Tangela.
They had run through Jessie's room and were standing in the shared bathroom. In one sinewy appendage, Tangela held a hairbrush. In another, a toothbrush. In yet another, a washcloth. All of these hovered around Jessie's face.
"I'll take care of this tonight, Tangela." She took the hairbrush from its grasp. "Thank you."
The creature radiated disappointment as it placed the other items on the edge of the sink. Miyamoto leaned closer to it and said, "Watch out the front window. Let me know if anything arrives by air."
Tangela drew in its vines and appeared to stand up straight. It took instructions very seriously.
"Tang."
And it was off, leaving mother and daughter alone.
"Did you wash your hair after swim practice?" Miyamoto stood behind her daughter, both of them facing into the mirror over the sink.
Jessie nodded just as the bristles of the brush touched her head, making Miyamoto cringe as the hair tangled. She put light fingertips on either side of Jessie's head and guided her to be still. Then she began to brush, in long strokes, Jessie's thick magenta hair.
"I swam the fastest, Miss Myrtle said. I asked if that meant that I swam faster than all the other girls but she didn't answer. But that's what fastest is, right? I did the best?"
"The best? That sounds like you, Jessie," Miyamoto replied in a reassuring voice. She loved to see Jessie take pride in herself. She wanted Jessie to feel all the self-assurance and confidence that she had missed out on growing up - that she was just now discovering for herself.
"That's true."
The matter-of-fact way Jessie declared her superiority made Miyamoto choke on a laugh. No, this girl would never want for confidence. Miyamoto leaned over Jessie and wrapped her arms around her, burying a kiss in the hair atop her head.
"It's the truest thing, Jessie. You're the very best."
Miyamoto understood what Madame Boss had told her, all those years ago, about motherhood being the impulse that drove her out into the world on a mission to change it. But for Miyamoto, motherhood was the thing inside her that ached to be home, holding her daughter, thinking about her future instead. Motherhood was the thing smothering Miyamoto's ambitions.
She released Jessie from the hug. "Now brush your teeth. If you do a good job, I'll let Tangela tell you a story."
"Mooo~ooom! Tangela is no good at stories! You tell it!"
"Don't let Tangela hear you say that!" Upon hearing its name, the Pokémon came waddling back into the room. "Tangela, she says you're no good at telling bedtime stories."
"GAHhahhh?"
Oh, the poor thing seemed genuinely offended. It had played at holding the story book and gurgling as it turned pages before, but she hadn't realized that was a sincere effort.
"Mom, you're a bully! Stop!" Jessie ran to Tangela and threw her arms around it as best she could. Miyamoto chuckled as the scene played out. She glanced towards the front room and its window facing the tarmac, then back at her Pokémon and her daughter.
"Alright, here's the deal. We both tell you a story, but we have to go twice as fast."
"MOOOOM."
"Okaaay okay, sorry, Tangela. You get back on watch. Jessie, go brush your teeth. I'll do the storytelling."
Miyamoto had to get Jessie to sleep and soon. The window to sabotage the incoming shipment was narrow enough as it was.