The Only Exception

54. [Thank you for 130k reads!]

LATE UPDATE ONCE AGAIN! MY DETERMINATION FALTERS BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON THIS STORY YOU HAVE MY WORD!

Also, thank you guys so much for 130k reads! 🥺 That really makes me happy that you guys enjoy what I write. (Even though my writing is eh) I look forward to creating more content for you guys in the future 🥺

If none of you have access to my TATBILB AU Comic, I will be posting it here. No, it won't be written as a story, I will post the comic here :)

Enjoy!

Ash made his way inside the Pokemon center with a goofy smile on his face. Bonnie looked up at him with a confused look.

"What's up with your face?" She asked.

"H-huh? N-Nothing?" He said nervously.

"Hmm... Wait a minute, did you and Dawn—"

"Anyway!" Ash interrupted, "where's Clemont?" He asked her trying to change the subject.

"Oh, right, you had a call from Gary so Clemont decided to take it for you." Bonnie told him.

"From Gary?" Ash's eyes widened in realization as he ran to find Clemont. He wasn't at the video phone anymore so he could only assume he was inside their room working on an invention. He made his way towards their room and heard a small explosion. Yup, he was definitely in there.

Ash opened the door to see Clemont covered up in black dust. "Hey, Ash. Good to see you." He greeted hazily.

Ash chuckled, "hey, Clemont, you were talking to Gary earlier, right?"

"Yes, actually. He said he was looking for you but unfortunately you weren't here yet so he decided to leave a message."

"What did he say?"

"He said that we should meet him at Dendemille town. Says an old friend of yours wants to meet up with you."

Ash couldn't believe it. He actually found Calem. It's been long since the two of them talked with each other. Is he still the same as he was back then? He always used to cry a lot when they were kids. He'll just have to see for himself. "We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"Leave where tomorrow morning?"

Ash jumped in surprised as he turned around to see Dawn and Serena with Bonnie beside them.

"Dawn! Serena! Y-You're back!" He said nervously.

"We came back a few minutes ago. Valerie gave us some really good advice for our next Showcase." Serena smiled.

Dawn nodded, "yup, we're definitely looking forward to the next one. Anyway, what were you saying about leaving?"

"O-Oh. I was just saying that we should be leaving tomorrow for Dendemille Town. We'll stop by there, grab a few supplies, and then-"

"Wait a minute, Dendemille? That's where the next Showcase will be!" Serena said as she took out her digital map. "See? It's between here and Anistar city." She said as she showed Dawn.

"Awesome! So our next Showcase will be in Dendemille and then afterwards we'll make our way towards Anistar for your next gym battle." Dawn smiled as she looked over at Ash.

Ash, however, did not respond. As of now, he was sweating bullets. Things were going good with Dawn and Serena, they formed a good friendship. He also just patched up things with Serena, too. How would they react if they found out he was trying to set up Serena and Calem?

The thought of Dawn breaking up with him and a ruined friendship with Serena sent cold shivers down his spine.

"Ash?" Dawn said with a worried look on her face.

"That sounds great!" He smiled as he looked over at Serena, "Hey, Serena. Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Uh, what for-" Before she could finish her sentence, Ash had already grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room leaving everyone confused. He knew what had to be done. He knew the consequences but it was better to tell her now than never. She may hate him, but it's better than him keeping it from her.

Eventually, the two were outside of the Pokemon center and Serena gave him a look of curiosity wondering what he wanted to talk to her about.

"Listen, Serena, there's something you should know..."

"I'm listening." She replied as she crossed her arms at him.

Ash sucked in a breath. "Alright... Before we broke up, I... I asked Gary to meet up with Calem so I could set him up with you and you'd get over me." He said as he braced himself for what was about to come.

Serena had said nothing. She simply stared at him.

"S-Serena?"

Serena figured she might as well answer him. It was her fault anyway that it lead him to doing that. "It's fine. I just... Why Calem? You know I never really liked him when we were kids. What makes you think I'll like him now?"

"Yeah, I know. I thought it would work, you know?"

Serena sighed, "so, I'm guessing Gary met up with him already?"

Ash nodded his head at her.

"And am I to assume that we're meeting them in Dendemille Town?" Serena asked.

Ash nodded his head at her again.

Serena sighed again as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright. I'm pretty mad at you for pulling something like this but it is my fault that you ended up resorting to that sort of thing. Once we arrive in Dendemille, I'll tell Calem everything."

"You sure? I mean, I was the one who—"

"No worries. Besides, it'd be nice to catch up with him. I may have not liked him when we were kids, but he was always nice to me." Serena smiled.

Ash smiled back at her. "Yeah, that would be great. Maybe we could all catch up together."

Serena nodded. "I'd also tell Dawn about this unless you want her getting mad at you for it later on."

"You're right... I will. Thanks, Serena and, I'm really sorry." He told her.

"It's fine. I'm gonna head back in now and help Clemont with dinner. Meanwhile, you can check on Dawn and get some alone time with her." She winked as she made her way back into the Pokemon center.

A huge blush appeared on Ash's face realizing what the girl meant. "SERENA!" He shouted at her in embarrassment as he ran inside the Pokemon center.

That was sort of a short chapter I'm sorry. I'm brain dead and it's been a busy and stressful week. Next chapter is already in the works!

Also... DAWN IS BACK! THEY'RE REUNITED ONCE AGAIN! I don't even care if it's just for the remakes, I'm just happy she's back.

See you guys in the next chapter!