A/n I don't own Pokemon.

It was laughable. She was right. In his blindness, he concluded that she must be right. She was, after all, always right.

She hadn't meant to hurt him by it, of course. She'd never hurt him on purpose. It was just a laugh, and one that he particularly liked at that. So it didn't hurt his feelings. Nope, didn't hurt in the slightest.

Sure, he'd been preparing for weeks on how to talk to her. He'd wracked his mind, searching for the best way to express all he felt into English. It was, needless to say, incredibly difficult. He worked so hard. He dreamed of that moment.

It didn't end up how he'd wished it.

But that was okay, of course! She was right. It was a silly thought. They were best friends. They weren't anything more than that. They'd never be more than that. That was fine, though. It was all right. In fact, it was great.

He wouldn't want to ruin what they already had. Backtracking would be a nightmare, and typically, once backtracked, there was no wandering back up the path you'd gotten so far on.

He thought she'd take it differently. But, you know, it was funny. It didn't matter that he took it seriously. He didn't need to take it seriously, obviously. He hoped, then, that he would have enough time to add a 'just kidding' to that previous statement of his, or if it was a given.

It was laughable, he had to admit. It was just feeling. Not like they mattered, or something. That would be ridiculous. And yes, she had every reason to laugh. After all, she was always right.

Lyra was too far up for him. After all, she was the champion of Johto. She had more important things to deal with than his petty emotions. Besides, there was that 'Silver' guy that she liked to gush about sometimes. Something about changing him. He supposed that this guy was her project. She used to tame wild pokemon, so it was no surprise she'd try with people, too.

It didn't matter that this guy meant more to her than Ethan did.

It didn't matter that she thought about him more.

It didn't matter that she was so much higher, so much better than he was.

It didn't matter that Ethan was hopelessly in love with her.

And it didn't matter that she'd laughed. She thought it was funny. Right. That was okay.

None of that mattered.

"I'm just kidding," Ethan forces a smile, a laugh, a statement, and an unaffected wink.

She grins and tells him he teases her too much.