The Only Exception

22.

Sorry for not updating. I haven't been sleeping good for the past few days :)

Enjoy!

Today was the day of Ash's third gym battle in the Kalos Region where he'd get his third gym badge. It was early morning, him and Dawn were both training with each other. Dawn noticed Ash's battling style and looked at him confused.

"What's up?" Ash asked.

"I'm just wondering.. did you change up your battling style?" She asked him.

"So you noticed! That guy Tierno from the summer camp taught me a bunch of new moves that we can use in our gym battle." Ash smiled.

"Well, don't you think you should stick to your own battling style?"

"No way, these moves are gonna work for sure!" Ash said confidently.

"If you say so." Dawn chuckled as they continued on with their training. Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie walked up to them and watched as the two battled each other. Serena noticed Ash's new battling style and walked up to him.

"Wow, Ash! Is that a new battling style?" She smiled as she held his arm.

"You noticed it too? It's really cool, huh?" Ash asked.

"It really is! You're definitely going to win the Shalour Gym Badge for sure!" Serena smiled.

"Hey, thanks, Serena." Ash smiled. Serena winked at him as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, surprising Ash and annoying Dawn.

Dawn rolled her eyes at them as she walked towards Clemont and Bonnie annoyed. "Did Ash change his battling style?" Clemont asked.

Dawn nodded his head at him, "he learned it from someone in the summer camp. I told him he should stick with his own style but.."

The three of them watched as Ash talked with Serena about his battling style while Serena smiled at him as she held his arm. Ash then looked over at his Pokémon and smiled at them — feeling pumped for his gym battle today.

Afterwards, the group all started making their way to gym. Once they arrived, they were all greeted by the gym leader — Korrina.

"Hi, my name is Korrina and I'm the Shalour City gym leader." She smiled.

"I'm Ash from Pallet Town and I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle!" He said confidently.

"I feel like a great battle is going to happen. I accept your challenge, Ash." She said as she lead them inside the gym. Ash walked onto the battle field while the others sat on the bleachers and watched.

"You can do it, Ash!" Serena cheered.

Ash chuckled in embarrassment, "uh.. Thanks, Serena."

"Give it all you got, okay?" Dawn shouted at him.

Ash smiled at her, "thanks, Dawn! You bet."

Dawn smiled at him while Serena glared at her in envy. Why did Ash smile at her, but feel embarrassed when I said it!? Is there something wrong with me!? Serena shouted in her head. She pushed it away and focused on Ash's battle.

"Show me what you got, Ash!" Korrina said.

"You got it!" Ash said confidently as he called out his first Pokémon.

The battle had begun. Korrina had sent out Mienfoo while Ash sent out Hawlucha. Unfortunately, due to Ash using Tierno's battling style, Hawlucha ended up taking a lot of damage, leaving Ash cornered.