Gotta Catch That One

Chapter 84: Gotta Catch That One

Author's Note:

Almost done here. Thank you for reading this far. I know there aren't many author's notes this story, but the ones on FanFiction wouldn't make much sense and I don't have enough time to write 85 more. But I did want to thank you if you've read this far.

Also, I aplogize...this chapter has a timeskip which confused many on FanFiction. So...sorry about that, although some people enjoyed it so maybe you will too. If I ever get the time, I'll fix it. And...title drop.

"So you think it'll still be there?" Ash asked hopefully, staring out at the forest near Professor Oak's lab. He could see his Tauros herd running near the front of the place where Professor Oak had told Ash he should look to find what he was searching for.

"I can't be sure, to be honest," Oak said with a shrug, looking a little nervous as he saw Staraptor and Talonflame beginning one of their flying races. Ash couldn't blame him, as Swellow had broken a window the previous day. Of course, he'd won the race doing so, so Ash had secretly congratulated him.

"Well, I guess I might as well check," Ash muttered, trying to hide how much he wanted to find the thing he was searching for. I have to find it. It'll mean so much to her, he thought. "Alright, I'm gonna go check it out. You wanna go, buddy?" Ash asked, looking up at Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Pi," Pikachu said quickly, looking at Ash like it was a dumb question. Why wouldn't he want to go with Ash?

Ash gave an embarrassed chuckle at that and then turned back to Professor Oak. "Alright, then we're gonna head out and see what we can find. I'll bring Greninja as well, and maybe Noivern and Noctowl to help search." He glanced nervously behind him, towards the door of the exit to the lab. "Um...if you don't mind, could you keep it a secret what I'm doing?"

Oak nodded and gave a mischievous wink. "Will do, Ash. Just make sure you aren't out too long. You're mother is preparing quite the feast for you, remember. This is going to be quite the party."

"Uh...yeah," Ash said quietly, kind of embarrassed that his mom was going through so much trouble to get a big feast ready and set up such a big party for him and his friends. At least Brock and Cilan were able to help her out with the dinner part, and Serena was helping with the desserts. Regardless, all this preparation just for him didn't sit right with him. He wasn't a fan of celebrating himself. Not anymore, at least. "I'll be back in time, don't worry. Just don't let Serena worry and make sure not to tell her what I'm doing."

Oak's eyes lit up and he looked like he was struggling not to laugh. Ash resisted the urge to hit himself in the face, as he started to blush. "I won't say anything. I'll tell Serena, and the others, that you're just out doing some training."

"Awesome, thanks Professor. See you later," Ash said happily turning away and starting to head down towards the field where a large group of his Pokemon were hanging around.

When he made it down to the field, a few of his Pokemon noticed him immediately. Bayleef had him tackled to the ground within a few seconds, happily nuzzling him as he struggled to breathe under her weight. The medal she had received from the Kalos League dangled from her long neck and rested on Ash's chest. Bayleef, like many of Ash's other Pokemon, was quite proud of the victor's medal, and had kept it on ever since receiving it. All of Ash's Pokemon, even those who didn't participate in the league, had received a medal as recognition for their part in getting Ash as far as he'd gone.

Finally, after a couple of minutes of barely being able to breathe, Ash was able to get Bayleef to let him up, and then he greeted some of his other Pokemon who had come up. Totodile did a little dance, Gible bit his head, Leavanny made him a hat out of leaves, Muk smothered him and Glalie nearly froze him, before being stopped by Torkoal. Eventually, they were all coming and greeting him, and before Ash knew it he'd realized he'd spent about ten minutes with them all, almost completely forgetting about what he was supposed to do. He quickly apologized to his Pokemon, telling them he'd spend more time with them later, and started to set off. At least it wasn't like when I first got back, Ash thought, thinking about a couple days before when he'd come back to a massive tackle from all of his Pokemon. He still had bruises from the Tauros herd.