The Only Exception

50. (Happy Valentines Day!) ❤️

❤️ Happy Valentines Day! ❤️ Yup, I decided I'd save this chapter for Valentines Day cus why not? It is about Ash and Dawn, right?

I love you all and appreciate you for reading my stories! Thank you very
much! Hope you all have a great and safe Valentines!

Enjoy!

Gary and Calem sat down at a nearby cafe in Anistar City and started catching up on a few things.

"How's your gramps? Still doing research?" Calem asked.

"Yeah, I decided to help him out, so I ditched gym battles and started doing research for Pokemon on my journey. Right now, we're working with Professor Sycamore to study Mega Evolution." Gary explained.

"That's great!" Calem smiled as he took a sip of his drink. He then looked up at Gary again. "So how about you tell me the real reason you came here."

Gary blinked at him a few times and sighed as he let out a smile. "You've definitely changed since that Pokemon summer camp."

"Yeah, well, I'm not the same crybaby I was when I was little." He told him.

"Oh, right. You did cry a lot when you were little." Gary laughed. "I remember I always used to take away your—"

"Gary! Getting off topic here." Calem cut him off with an embarrassed blush on his face. "Now what did you come here to talk to me about? You said something about Ash?"

"Right, right. Yeah, see, our little friend, Ash, is in a sort of... predicament." Gary told him.

Calem furrowed his brows in worry. "Did something happen to him? Is he alright?"

"You could say that. Let's just say a certain girl has gotten him wrapped around her little finger."

This caused Calem to blink in confusion at what he just said. "A girl? You came to talk to me about a girl problem?"

"But you know this particular girl and she just so happens to be the girl you had a crush on back in the summer camp — Serenity!" Gary said confidently.

Calem raised a brow at him and began to laugh. "You mean Serena?"

"Almost got it... Well, anyway, I was wondering... Maybe you could help out our old friend?" Gary smirked.

Calem simply furrowed his brows at him and sighed. He knew what Gary was getting at and he didn't know if he liked it one bit. "Gary... That was in the past. We were kids, alright? I don't like her anymore."

"I'm not saying you gotta like her or anything! Just saying maybe... have her fall in love with you?" He suggested.

"HA! Like that's happening. If she didn't like me then, she wouldn't like me now. Why are you so desperate about this anyway? Didn't you and Ash get into lots of fights before?"

"Arguments." Gary corrected. "But hey, we're still good childhood friends. I just like teasing him and all."

"Right... Like the time you had a Squirtle use water gun on him to make it look like he peed his pants? Hilarious."

Gary laughed at that. "Oh, wow. You still remember that? That was funny."

Calem rolled his eyes as he got up from his chair and was about to leave when Gary had stopped him. "Calem, wait. Come on, man. You gotta help him out. Ash has helped you out before, hasn't he?"

That was true. Ash had helped Calem out and he was very grateful to him. He was the reason he started his own journey in the first place. He first saw Ash compete in the Kanto league and it made him realize his dream of wanting to compete in Gym Battles and one day becoming the Pokemon Champion. It was all thanks to Ash for sparking his confidence.