The Only Exception

8.

Here's another update for you! Enjoy :)

"Alright, time to get some training done before our gym battle! What do you say Pikachu?" Ash said excitedly as he looked over at his partner. Pikachu smiled at its trainer happily.

Ash looked over at Dawn, "hey, Dawn. Mind helping me train a bit?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Why not." Dawn smiled.

"Ash, if you'd like, I'd be happy to train with you too." Serena jumped in.

"Oh, thanks Serena." Ash said as Serena went and locked arms with him and they began walking towards the beachside of Cyllage City. Clemont and Bonnie walked up to the coordinator. "You okay, Dawn?" Clemont asked.

She nodded her head at him, "I'm not gonna let her get the best of me."

"That's the spirit!" Bonnie smiled.

The three of them then started making their way towards the beachside to meet with Ash and Serena. Once they were there, they noticed the two battling one another. However, it didn't seem like an ordinary battle.

"Serena, you've gotta really give it your all. How else will I be able to train my Pokémon?" Ash groaned.

"But, isn't that the point? To land a hit on my Pokémon?" Serena asked.

"Ugh.. I want a tough challenge. That way, I'll be able to actually train my Pokémon." Ash said.

Dawn, Clemont, and Bonnie watched as the battle went no where. Serena barely called out any moves and didn't even tell her Pokémon to dodge. Instead, she let Ash attack which in turn made Ash frustrated because he was wasting time on his training.

"You're doing great, Ash! You're definitely gonna win that badge for sure!" Serena smiled. Ash sighed as he fell to the ground and looked over at Froakie in the battlefield. He then noticed a bubble beam launched towards Fennekin.

"Fennekin!" Serena cried out as she went over to the Pokémon. Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie looked over at Dawn who had her hands on her hips and displayed an angered expression on her face. "Listen, if you're not going to call out any moves at all for your Pokémon then you might as well not battle at all!" She shouted.

"Who asked you!?" Serena shouted, "Fennekin, use ember!"

Fennekin launched small flames towards Piplup but it had countered it with hydro pump, making the flames disappear and land a critical hit on Fennekin.

Ash got up from the ground and looked over at Serena. "Hey, Serena. I'd really like to train with Dawn."

"But, why?" She asked sadly.

"It's just that.. Dawn gets my training and I'm pretty sure her Pokémon have gotten a lot stronger. It's that kind of thing that I wanna be able to stand up against when I'm battling Grant." Ash said.

Serena furrowed her eyebrows at him. She didn't want him to train with Dawn but, she couldn't say anything that would defend her side. "Fine." She said as she picked Fennekin up into her arms, "I'll be taking Fennekin to the Pokémon center." She then started making her way back into the city.

Dawn sighed as she walked towards the opposite side of the battlefield. "You ready, Ash?"

"Yeah, definitely! How about you Froakie?"

The frog Pokémon jumped up in excitement getting ready to face its opponent.

"Alright then! Mamoswine, let's go!" Dawn shouted as a giant tusked Pokémon came out from it's pokeball.

"Wow, a Mamoswine! A perfect matchup for Ash's training." Clemont said.

"Mamoswine is also ground-type so this'll be perfect training for you." Dawn said.

"Alright then! Froakie, let's do this!" Ash said in determination.

The two battled it out, not once holding anything back. All their hard work from their past journey was let out on to that battlefield. In the end, both Pokémon were equally matched up against each other.

"Great job, Ash." Dawn smiled.

"Hey, thanks. You and Mamoswine have really been training hard." Ash smiled.

Clemont and Bonnie looked at each other and nodded their heads as they left the two trainers alone to talk with one another. Ash went up to Dawn and smiled at her as he thanked her once again for helping him train.

They then noticed their Pokémon playing with one another and smiled. They both sat down on the sand while their Pokémon played.

Ash looked over at Dawn. She seemed a bit happier now than she was back in Ambrette Town. "Hey, Dawn, about the guy you like.." Ash started.

"Yeah?"

"How come you won't tell me about him? Is it because you don't trust me?"

Dawn looked at him surprised. Did he really think that? That she didn't trust him? She didn't think that he'd still be thinking about it till now. She furrowed her eyebrows at him and smiled, "no, it's not that. I really do trust you, Ash. It's just that I don't think you should know who he is just yet."

"Well, can I guess?" He asked.

"Hmm.. sure." Dawn chuckled.

He smiled at her, "you said he's from Johto, right?"

She laughed at him nervously, "I kinda lied about that."

"Hey!" Ash pouted.

She laughed at his expression, "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to find out."

He chuckled, "well, it's fine. Can I have hint about him then?"

"No." Dawn laughed.

Ash groaned. He thought about who could Dawn like. She told him that he knew the guy for a long time but, who? Just then, he came up with an idea.

"Hey, I've got an idea. How about.. after every gym battle I win, you give me a hint about the guy you like." He told her.

"Well.." The coordinator thought about it for awhile. She thought that it was a great idea as well because maybe then, she'll be able to tell him how she really feels. Even if he didn't like her back, she'd finally be able to let him go.

"It's a deal." She smiled.

"Great! Then I'm definitely going to win that gym badge for sure!" Ash said, getting all excited to win his 2nd gym badge.

"You're really that curious, huh?" She asked him.

"Well, I guess you could say that." Ash winked.

"Huh?"

"It's nothing!" Ash smiled as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the ground, "how about we go get some ice cream? I'm starving!"

She chuckled at the trainer, "Sure."

They both returned their Pokémon to their pokeballs as they started making their way to an ice cream shop together.

Lame chapter, I'm sorry :( but I'm feeling really sick today and I tried to write this the best I could!

Idk when I'll update but I promise you, I will!