Chapter 5

A/N:

Ash and Co. was immediately herded into the house by Greenie's mother, Nancy.

"You can call me Nan if you want," Greenie's mother has an air of mother-ness that reminded Ash of his own mother, Delia. The five of them introduced themselves as travelers from some imaginary town called Ruriet Town, courtesy of Ash's creative mind. Dawn's head went red from smacking herself in the forehead.

"Now then, you five need a bath and some wheat congee. Go to the river and scrub yourself, especially you, Greenie, and Dawn dear," said Nancy. Dawn bathed separately from the boys in an indoor bathroom.

After a bath and a very big meal of congee (Ash ate a straight five bowls of congee before being satisfied), Greenie and the four friends went to the living room to rest while Nancy washed the dishes in the kitchen.

"Do you mean it?" asked Greenie.

"Mean what?" asked Ash.

"You want to form a rescue team with me?" Greenie seemed scared. Dawn smiled reassuringly.

"Sure, Greenie," confirmed Ash and Dawn. Sena nodded.

"We're friends, Greenie, don't worry about it. We'll form a team with you, no problem," said Brock. Greenie instantly broke into a wide smile.

However, at that exact moment, an urgent knocking came on the door of Greenie. Greenie quickly opened the door. A Plusle came staggering into the door. Greenie started. It was Pluslie, his neighbor! However, there was something odd about this.

"Where is Minun?" asked Greenie. Pluslie was panting heavily. He managed to calm himself down after a few minutes.

"We...went to Rage Canyon to pick some berries but… a Marowak came and snatched Minun away! Greenie, help me get …Minun back!" Having said that, he fainted. Nancy came to take Pluslie to rest. She looked worried.

Greenie looked around at Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Sena. They nodded. It's time for the first mission of the newly created rescue team.

-

Greenie proceeded to explain Rage Canyon to the four newcomers.

"Rage Canyon is not far from here. It's called 'Rage Canyon' because of the abundance of Shuca berry trees there. The leaves are red and yellow in colour. Besides that, there's also an unknown Pokemon that lives there. It's said that it's always angry and sometimes its rage could take down a large tree," said Greenie.

"Could that mysterious Pokemon be the Marowak that snatched away your friend?" asked Sena.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, we have got to save Minun. Who knows what the Marowak would do to her." Ash nodded.

"But we just couldn't go and save someone without a lead. Where the heck are we going to find that Minun?" asked Sena.

"I agree. We must have some kind of lead to find it first," said Brock.

"Well, we know that she's in Rage Canyon. And we could ask the people who live there if they have seen her. I have a Spinarak friend there who could help us." Greenie was getting impatient. His friend was in danger, for Arceus's sake!

"Confirmed location and possible lead, I'll take it, even if you don't, Sena. Let's go then, Greenie. Lead the way, team leader." Greenie's chest puffed up with pride as he heard this. They proceeded to follow him along the river.

-

After a few minutes, the five of them reached a forest. True to its name, the whole forest is populated with red and yellow-leaved Shuca berry trees. They followed a forest path into the forest. The forest was not very dense as the trees are spaced at two meters from each other. The path had a few sign boards showing the way.

The forest sounded creepy with random screeches and caws emitting from various places. It was a whole experience for the four pre-human pokemon, as they had to walk on the forest floor barefoot. The forest floor was a little mushy as it had rained at the previous night. All of them cringed a little when their feet hit the mud. Greenie, however, seemed undaunted by it.

Not long after they entered the forest, Greenie called out to someone called 'Silky'. Ash concluded by its name that it was the Spinarak friend of Greenie's. Sure enough, a green spider came hanging from an almost invisible silk thread at a nearby tree. Sena shuddered for a moment as he saw the spider, almost as big as him, crawling its way near the group.

"You afraid of spiders?" Dawn was concerned as Sena was starting to shiver in spite of the warm weather.

"W-what? Oh, no. I mean, yeah…" answered Sena. Dawn nodded once.

"Try not to look at the spider," she advised. Sena turned his head away.

"Hey, Silky! Have you seen Minun?" asked Greenie.

"Yeah, Marowak took her away. I could bring you to his lair, but beware, he's not in a very good mood lately," said Silky the Spinarak.

"Bring us to him, please,"

"Sure thing. Oh, I guess you have your rescue team already?"

"Yeah!" Greenie's face bore an extremely wide smile. Silky nodded.

"Try to catch up," said Silky as he scrambled up his thread back to the tree and spit another thread to the tree to the left.

"We got your confirmed lead, Sena," sniggered Ash, who obviously was still dissatisfied with Sena. Sena simply ignored him and followed Greenie. Dawn pressed her lip together and hit Ash's head.

'Grow up, would you?' thought Dawn in her head. Ash shrugged.

A/N: A smile that says it all. Review, please!