Rescuers Side Mission: Go to Tao Ranch!

PMD-Explorers Mission 4 Part 3

*** Tao Village ***

Peter knew that they didn't have much time. The mulch had to be applied early for it to have maximum effect. They had now dragged the cart a good distance from Tao Ranch, with the guidance of Puzelle, and Tao Village was finally in sight. Puzelle indicated the site where Trubbish kept the trash, a building just like a Trubbish. Nodding, Marston and Peter pulled the cart some more metres and stopped in front of the entrance. Their expression changed as soon as they got near that entrance. There was a repugnant odour coming from inside and a small dark green figure was hopping left and right inside the building. Peter and Marston looked alarmingly at each other.

"Trubbish! Could you come here for some time?" shouted Puzelle not really looking forward to go inside.
"Huh? I've got visitors?" said a little voice as the green figure stopped hopping around.

That very figure then hopped towards the entrance into more light, revealing itself as the Trubbish. It had a huge smile on the face.
"I've got visitors!" he exclaimed, then suddenly caught himself. "Oh um sorry, I got carried away. Anyway, what brings you here Puzelle? And, I see you have two Pokémon I have never seen around too?"
"Good day Trubbish!" replied Puzelle with a smile. "Those two Pokémon are Peter and Marston," she told Trubbish pointing to the respective Pokémon. "Would you mind to supply us with some of your trash? More specifically some of the stools of Pokémon that you've got."
"Huh? It's the first time I get such a request, but I'm sure I can do something for you," replied Trubbish happily. "Erm... Let's see... they came here last time to help me sort it all out and they put it... er... ah! Can you see those big crates over there? They contain the stools of-"
"Oh Trubbish, spare me the details and let's get this done already, would you?" Puzelle cut Trubbish short.
"Oops, sorry, I got carried away again," noticed Trubbish his cheeks growing red a little. "Yes, you can take those crates."
"Thank you Trubbish," replied Puzelle. "Would you help us putting some in our cart outside?"

And thus, the four Pokémon started taking the crates full of Pokémon and despite the unbearable odour, they reluctantly moved them one by one into the cart which was now inside. Two by two, they lifted up the crates from the pile, trying to hold their head as far as possible from the opening of the crate. What was inside... probably shouldn't be described. Surprisingly though, the odour seemed to be a little, but only a little less dreadful the longer they worked.

"I say, what do you need all those for?" queried Trubbish after some time.
"We're making Growth Mulch out of it. Udon, the maid of Merlot came to the ranch and threatened to go on a rampage if she didn't get all the food. Our two friends here proposed their help and we need to make a bunch of mulch," answered Puzelle.
"Woah woah woah! You want top grade mulch?" asked Trubbish more surprised than ever. "You should have told me so earlier!"
"Wait, you know what is mulch?" said Puzelle surprised.

Trubbish didn't answer and threw the crate he was holding and ran at the back of the room, much to Marston's dismay, who was holding the other end.
"HEYYYYY!" screamed Marston as Trubbish did so. "WAAAIIITTT!!!"

As you can probably imagine, the crate, and its contents of course, fell all over poor Marston. On the other side, Peter and Puzelle were giggling a little and put down the crate they were holding.

"Aww..." moaned Marston. "And don't you laugh at me!"
"Come over here guys!" Trubbish's voice echoed in the room. "Help me move that biggie!"
"B... biggie?" stammered Marston trembling, his eyes becoming watery.
"Come on, I won't be able to move this myself!" Trubbish declared again.

Puzelle, Peter and Marston went to where Trubbish disappeared and saw him with a huge barrel.
"There you are!" Trubbish concluded. "Oh Marston! I didn't know that you enjoyed playing with that too? Quick everyone, help me move this barrel. It contains... er, I think I better not going into the details" he continued, getting red again a little.

Marston grumbled as he helped the others push on the barrel and load the cart with it. With the 'precious' contents, they pulled the cart outside.
"Hey, thanks a lot Trubbish," thanked Peter shaking paws with the Pokémon.
"It was a pleasure! And now, there is more room to collect more garbage!" replied Trubbish holding Peter's paw happily. "Oh, I almost forgot something. As a token of my gratitude, please also have this Paras Tinymushroom. It is a booster for the mulch."
"Really? Alright, thank you very much Trubbish!" Peter waved at the small Pokémon. "I hope we'll meet again!"

And the three Pokémon made their way back to Tao Ranch.

*** Tao Woods/Lake ***

"I really hope we get this done quick... rotten leaves doesn't leave any good thoughts to me..." said Kiefer as they were getting out of Tao Woods, Tao Lake in sight.
"Ohh, so pretty leaves!" exclaimed Ruben.

Ruben dropped the handle of the cart and jumped into the biggest stack of leaves that she found, rolling herself in. Behind her, Malt and Kiefer were looking at her with puzzled faces. Tanith however didn't seem as surprised, on the opposite, she was giggling. She then lept in the stack of leaves too and shuffled in, throwing some leaves in the cart they had brought with them.

"Come on you guys! You're not going to watch us girls do all the work, are you?" giggled Tanith.
"Heh?" let out Kiefer even more surprised and not quite sure what to say.
"Okay then, let's get going!" declared Malt as he brought the cart closer to the stacks of leaves.

With her wings, Ruben was blowing the leaves up and with Agility, Kiefer was grabbing the leaves and putting them into the cart. Tanith on her side used Quick Attack to zoom through the leaves on the ground and pick them up, before neatly placing them in the cart. Malt took out the rake he had brought from the ranch and was stacking up the leaves which got scattered on the ground. In less that no time, there was quite a big pile of leaves in the cart.

"Wooo! I guess we did it then!" said Tanith jumping up and down joyfully.
"It seems so, indeed," added Kiefer. "And it was more fun than I thought."
"Okay, let's get back quick, I don't like to hang in here too long." whispered Malt as they had secured the cart.
"Huh? Why is that?" asked Tanith cocking an eyebrow.
"According to the rumours, there are ghosts which sometimes appear in those woods," Malt continued. "And those who met the ghosts never returned."
"Wahhh?" exclaimed Tanith.
"Don't let yourself be entangled by those stories Tanith," Kiefer pointed out shrugging. "Everyone knows that ghosts don't exist and it remains a rumour. And... who do you think started the rumours if no one returned? Or just think about our way in here. We didn't see any ghost, did we?"
"Yes, don't worry Tanith," reassured Ruben. "I'll be there to protect you if you are in danger," she went on with a giggle.
"Fine!" let out the unconvinced Eevee. "But let's be quick. We can't lose time or else, the berries won't be ready for this evening."

Tanith grumbled all the way as it seemed that nobody believed her, with her head tilted down, looking at the ground. She was only trying to keep everyone safe after all. But they were probably right; Malt himself didn't seem as afraid as she was. It was a while they had been walking through the woods and Tanith suddenly noticed she hadn't been paying attention to for some time. The forest had become quiet. She stopped walking and with fear starting to become apparent on her face, she looked at the trees, shifting her eyes at the sky then to her companions. They continued walking, oblivious to the change.

"Tanith, I thought you wanted to be out of this forest soon..." winced Kiefer stopping too. "Come on."

Tanith opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, a cold, loud and horrifying laugh resonated. Tanith's blood froze as she dropped motionless on the ground.
"Tanith!" shouted Ruben and Kiefer at the same time.
"We really need to get out quickly," Ruben continued, picking up the unconscious Eevee and putting her in the cart with the leaves.

The three Pokémon weren't sure who or what caused this terrifying laugh, and none of them wanted to confirm it either. They were then going as fast as they could among the woods, the wheels of the cart rolling on the ground, frequently jumping due to the rocks and roots of the trees, leaving a small trail of dead leaves behind it. The large piece of grey cloth covering neatly the leaves to prevent them from flying was now floating in the air like a flag and kept down only by the fainted Tanith. The latter regained consciousness as the cart was rocking up and down.

"Wha... what's happening?" Tanith asked, apparently forgetting what happened.
"Tanith!" cried out Kiefer running at the same speed. "Make sure we lose the least amount of leaves."

Tanith was confused about the rush, but then remembered.
"I had warned you!" she snapped.

Tanith got on top of the pile of leaves and used her own weight to keep down the cloth. The end of Tao Woods shouldn't be far now. Tanith looked back, but saw nothing. No ghost, no creature, no horrifying monster were following them, but she was relieved it was so. Seconds later, they arrived at the Ranch, with Ovaltine, Strawberry and Iceburg waiting for them. Puzelle, Peter and Marston were nowhere to be seen though.