The Only Exception

43.

Hey, I'm back with a new update and WOW! I can't believe you guys really like this story. :D That makes me really happy and I really appreciate you guys :')

I uploaded my new story so I'll be updating that along with this :D As for my Pearlshipping AU, I'm still working on it. :)

Enjoy!

There was an awkward tension in the gym. Ash looked between Dawn and Serena but mostly at Serena. He wasn't looking at her like she was the most amazing of the two, he was looking at her like she had been run over by a makeup truck. Really bad.

"Go, Ash! You're number one! Just beat Clemont and get the job done!" She cheered.

"Thanks for also cheering me on." Clemont mumbled to himself.

Ash cringed at the way she had cheered for him. He didn't like the way it sounded coming from Serena. She also just put Clemont down with that cheer. He looked over at Dawn with pleading eyes as if he were asking her to save him from this torment.

The bluenette chuckled at him as she took out her pompoms and began to do her very own cheer.

"Come on, Ash, number one! Win the battle, have some fun! Let's go Clemont, do it right. Give your all and fight fight fight!"

Clemont smiled over at Dawn. "Hey, thanks, Dawn!"

Serena simply glared at her as she crossed her arms at the bluenette. "Really, Dawn? Cheering for the guy that's against Ash?"

"Why not? Clemont's my friend too! So why shouldn't I cheer for him?" Dawn retorted.

Ash smiled over at Dawn as he turned back towards Clemont. Dawn was right. Clemont was also her friend so he didn't mind that she cheered for him too. It would give the both of them the strength and the motivation to compete with each other and that's what Ash wanted. No holding back, just giving it your all.

"Hope you're ready, Ash. I'm definitely not going to hold back!" Clemont said with confidence.

"Neither am I!" Ash smiled as he called out his first Pokemon.

[I'm not good at writing battle scenes so I'm just going to write what happened during the battle.]

The battle went on with Ash having two fainted Pokemon and Clemont with only one. Ash definitely had to admit that Clemont was tough in battle aside from his inventing skills.

Right now, it was Pikachu against Luxray. Pikachu had taken some bad hits but also made some good ones on Luxray. Both Pokemon were almost at their limit but kept fighting on.

"Go Ash! Go, go, go Ash! You're the best! The the, the best!" Serena cheered causing everyone to cringe at her.

"What are you... five or something?" Dawn said with annoyance in her voice.

Serena glared over at her. "And what about you? You only cheered once and that's it? You're pathetic."

Dawn mentally smacked herself in the face. There was a reason she hadn't been cheering and it was to help both Ash and Clemont focus on their battle. Cheering would only distract them and she knew just how important this battle was to them both. "Maybe you haven't noticed, Serena, but this battle is important to both Ash and Clemont and I'm doing my best to not be a distraction to them."

Serena scoffed at her as she went back to her cheering.

Ash sighed as he tried to suppress a major headache that was coming up. He looked over at Clemont who was literally face palming himself. Ash realized he couldn't take anymore of this and looked up at Serena angrily. "Serena, PLEASE for the love of Arceus, STOP. Clemont and I are trying to battle here and it's really distracting when you keep cheering after every move!"

Serena stared at Ash in disbelief. She couldn't believe he didn't appreciate the fact she was cheering for him and only him. She glared over at him then gritted her teeth. "If that's how you feel then I'm leaving! Good luck winning without me here to cheer you on, Ash!" She shouted as she left the gym angrily.

Once they heard the door close, all of them let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally." Clemont breathed. "She was driving me crazy! Don't know how you put up with that Ash."

Ash blinked at him then remembered he hadn't told Clemont about Serena's deal and his relationship with Dawn. He needed to remind himself to tell him after the battle.

"Well, shall we finish this Ash?" Clemont grinned over at him.

"You bet." Ash smiled.

The battle continued on and it was a close call for Ash. Luckily, Clemont's Pokemon had fainted right before Ash's which meant that raven haired trainer had won himself another badge.

"Great job, Ash! You beat Clemont! Although, I did see that coming." Bonnie snickered.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Clemont shouted.

Ash chuckled over at him. "Don't worry about it. You were actually pretty tough out there. As expected from the Lumiose City Gym leader." He winked.

"Thanks, Ash." Clemont smiled as he looked over at Dawn. "Oh! Thanks for cheering for me as well, Dawn. It really motivated me to battle to the best of my abilities as a gym leader."

"Of course! I definitely wanted you two to give it your all out there so it was only right to give both of you the motivation to do so." She smiled. Either way, she knew they would've given their all out there even if she hadn't cheered them on.

Ash smiled as he took her hand in his and placed a small kiss on the back of it.

This surprised Clemont as he looked between the two. He was confused at what just happened in front of him. "I... I don't... What? Did something happen while I was away?"

Ash chuckled as he placed an arm around Clemont's shoulder. "I actually do need to talk to you about that. Dawn?" The trainer looked back at the girl as she smiled at the two of them.

"Go ahead. I'm going to teach Bonnie how to make different types of poffins."

"Have fun you two!" Bonnie smiled as she followed Dawn back to the Pokemon center.

"So, what's going on?" Clemont asked.

"It's Serena..." Ash sighed, "I need your help."

I'm sorry this was short. But I plan to make the next chapter longer :D Hope you guys enjoyed and PLEASE don't forget to comment your vote!

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