HELP THIS SAD OTAKU!

OK, guys, this one has been buggin’ me for YEARS. I saw an anime on TV in the 90s or maybe even 2000 involving a teen(?) aged boy and some companions riding around in a tank/van/shuttle or something in the middle of a desert. The plot revolved around the antagonist (if I remember correctly, a fat bald generally evil/sterile looking guy) chasing after this silver or white-haired girl. The boy meets up with her somehow and tries to protect her, but the bad guy nabs her eventually and then there is a distinct scene with TONS of these girls falling out of flowers or pods in the sky and hes running around catching them like “nope…not this one” but much more melancholy and serious. I have no clue what the hell else happens. This has been the bane of me for so long and I have literally scoured anime databases and found NADA. MERCY. PLEASE, someone find this!!!!