The Only Exception

51.

First off... THIS STORY HAS REACHED 100k VIEWS!? Wow, just... wow! Thank you guys so much! When I first started writing this story back in 2019 (I'm 22 btw and gosh I feel old LOL) I didn't think it would be that good. But seeing your reviews really made me happy ;-; It's been a long ride and we're still going! Thank you guys for supporting this story!

I am also sorry that it took awhile but I swear, I've been trying to balance out writing and doing the comic at the same time ;-; It's HECTIC! But you guys motivate me to do my best so thank you!

And OH MY GOD! Did you guys hear about Pokemon Legends: Arceus and the Sinnoh Remakes!? I'm actually excited!!! Let me know how you feel in the comments :D

Alright, alright. On to the story!

Enjoy!

It was a new day for the heroes as they all sat in a diner eating breakfast. Serena and Dawn talked with each other, though things were still a bit awkward, they easily got along when they started a conversation about Showcases and Ash's embarrassing moments.

"Wait, wait... he really did that?" Serena laughed.

Dawn nodded, "yup! I even have a picture."

Ash began to blush furiously as he looked over at Dawn in embarrassment. "When did you take a picture and why do you still have it!?"

Dawn chuckled at him, "it's a funny memory!" She said as she took out a small photo album and opened it to reveal a picture of Ash in a maid's outfit.

The group began laughing as Ash hid his face in embarrassment. Serena could barely contain herself. Clemont and Bonnie had shed tears when they saw the picture.

"I can't believe you actually wore something like this!" Serena laughed. "Dawn, you've got to give me a copy of this!"

Dawn laughed at her. "You bet!"

"Hey!" Ash pouted at them. "Dawn, that's not fair! I thought you loved me."

Dawn rolled her eyes at him and chuckled, "of course I love you, silly."

Ash let out a goofy smile at that as he went back to eating his food. It always made him happy to hear Dawn say she loved him back.

Serena smiled at him as she looked over at Dawn. "Hey, can I see the whole album?"

Dawn nodded her head at the girl as she handed the photo album to Serena.

"I wanna see it, too!" Bonnie shouted from across the table. Clemont placed a hand on her shoulder and told her to sit back down. "You'll get to see it after Serena's done. You haven't even finished your food!"

Bonnie pouted as she began to eat her food again.

Serena looked through the photo album and saw different pictures of Ash and as well as Dawn. She noticed someone else in some of the pictures and pointed at them. "Hey, Dawn. Who's this?"

Dawn looked over at the photo, "oh! That's our friend, Brock. He was studying to become a Pokemon Breeder but decided he wanted to be a Pokemon Doctor. Ash and I learned a lot from him."

"That's amazing! I definitely would love to meet him someday." Clemont smiled.

"Brock definitely knows his stuff about Pokemon breeding. He was a great friend and not to mention a great chef!" Ash smiled as he thought about Brock's cooking.

Dawn sighed, "Ash, you think more with your stomach than your head."

Ash scratched the back of his head, "What can I say? Food is best! Next to you, of course."

Dawn chuckled at him while Serena gagged playfully. "Calm down, Ash. Some of us are still trying to eat too, you know?"

Ash laughed at her, "Sorry, Serena."

The group continued chatting with one another about Ash and Dawn's past journey together. From Ash's Sinnoh Gym battles to Dawn's Pokemon Contests and the time they helped save Sinnoh from destruction.

"Wow! You guys did a lot of exciting things on your journey!" Bonnie smiled happily.

"Yeah, and I'm looking forward to having an exciting journey with you guys!" Dawn smiled.

They all gave her a soft smile as they continued to stare at her. Dawn looked at them and noticed as she let out an embarrassing smile. "What?"

"Like I said, Dawn. You're too nice for your own good." Serena smiled.

"It's true. But that's why she has Ash, so no one takes advantage of that." Clemont said.

Ash looked up at the group as they all stared at him. "take advantage of what?" He blinked in confusion.

Serena sighed and chuckled to herself. How typical of Ash to not pay attention to the conversation. She figured he might have been too busy stuffing his face with food or thinking about Dawn again. She'll admit, that she's still kinda sad that he didn't see her that way, but she learned to be happy for them. She actually started to take a liking to Dawn and was interested in hearing more about her contests in Sinnoh.

The group simply laughed at him as they continued talking about the couple's journey in Sinnoh.

Serena turned a page in the album again and saw a picture of Dawn standing next to her mom and... her dad? For some reason, the picture of her dad's face was torn off.

"Hey, Dawn. What's up with this picture?" Serena asked pointing at the photo.

Dawn looked over at the photo. Her eyes widened a bit as she let out a sad smile. "Oh, that's me, my mom, and Dad... before he um... left..."

This caused Ash to look up at the girl with a worried look on his face. Ash knew about Dawn's father. He remembered her telling him the story of how he left and never came back. He remembered how she'd sometimes be crying in the middle of the night thinking what she did to make him leave. In short, Ash disliked Dawn's father for the way he made her feel.

"Oh, Dawn, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" Serena apologized but was cut off by Dawn placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm okay. No need to worry." She smiled as she said her signature phrase.

"That's when I worry the most..." Ash mumbled under his breath. Luckily, no one else had heard him.

Serena handed back the photo album to Dawn as she put it away in her bag. They then continued to eat in silence.

Dun dun DUUUUN!

It's about to get ANGSTY! Don't worry, this story is still about Ash and Dawn! But of course, we'll be going into more depth about Dawn's father in future chapters HEHE

See you guys soon!!!

Thank you guys again for 100k views! ;-; Y'all give me the motivation to keep on writing <3