They were sat at the dinner table. Ori and I were staring at them intently.

"Who's up for sayin' somethin'?" I asked.

"I don't know, you gave me the idea to set them up."

I gave my friend a coy half-smile. That was the closest anyone would get to seeing Gym Leader Marnie grin.

"That's true. I wasn't aware that they went through what they went through with each other.  I didn't know that I was causin' them trouble."

"They're gonna hate us for this, aren't they..."

"Probably. Ori, there isn't a single reason to worry. I can always send Team Yell on 'em if ya want."

She grinned for the first time in the last few hours.

"You're right. As long as they get along, eh?"

"As long as they get along," I agreed.

We stared at them for a bit as we ate our meals. I ordered seared salmon and Wedgehurst-style broth. My friend, — or rather, ex-rival — Challenger Ori had ordered the pork curry. I stared at the two boys intently. When would they realise that we had been staring at them for the past four-and-a-half hours?

The time had to be now. They looked eachother in the eye again, and bashfully hid their hands under the table. Bede was the first of the two to pick up on what we were doing.

"What are you two goofballs doing, lookin' at us all smug-like." He phrased it like  a statement the first time, carefully pronouncing each syllable.

His face was beet red. So was the face of the ex-champion's brother. They both locked eyes again. Was that from love or hatred? Were they both aware that we were watching? I looked at Ori, who was glancing at her curry. She didn't deal well with this sort of thing, I don't think.

"What should we do?" She mouthed to me. "Bede knows."

"But what's-'is-name doesn't," I mouthed back, staring at the dark-haired boy.

"His name's Hop." Ori was stifling laughter. "You'll need to remember that, they may end up getting married."

Now it was my turn to hide a schoolgirl like chuckle. I felt the lemonade coming up my nose, ready to spurt out. I covered my mouth. It was twitching. My lips knew I wanted to smile.

Ori nervously sipped her milkshake, waiting in anticipation for when Bede would  stare back up at us. The fairy-type gym apprentice was staring at the ex-champion's brother, talking to him about something.

"What in Zacian's name are you looking at?" Bede hissed, his tone gradually becoming more icy.

We just stared down at our food, not wanting it to look like we were staring at the two, which we were. Ori and I continued daintily chewing on our food and sipping our drinks. My palms were sweaty and shaking.

"What are you staring at?" Bede repeated. He sounded ever so slightly like he was losing his patience.

We both held hands over our mouths.

"I said: 'What are you staring at?' Are you not hearing me?" Bede asked, his voice giving the impression that he was frustrated.

I could tell from the tense silence that fell over the table that, eventually, both parties were about to burst — Ori with inevitable laughter and Bede with shouts of rage and rude remarks. I stroked Ori's shoulder, as if I were telling her to calm down a bit.

"Do I need to repeat myself another time or can you two pathetic idiots understand what I'm asking? I'll say it one more time for the both of you: What are—"

His angry tirade was interrupted by a squeal of mirth from Ori, who clearly  couldn't hold it in any longer. She laughed and laughed, nothing seeming to encourage her to stop. I had this warm feeling in my chest, and my lips were twitching. I felt the rumble in my throat as well. It was clear that I, too, wanted to join in this laughter-filled mess. Laughter is the best medicine was what I knew Milo, the grass gym leader's, motto was, and it was starting to ring true for me as well.

I just couldn't stop it! I eventually gave into that desire, and let out a strange sound that I hadn't done in a while. Was that my own laughter? It sounded awkward — like a Dynamax Indeedee and an Onix squabbling, or the mixture of a squeal and a moan. I repeated the awkward sound over and over. Something made me feel that this laughter would never end.

Tears stung my eyes. Is this what laughter felt like? I hadn't felt this sense of euphoria in ages. It feels enjoyable, but also excruciatingly embarrassing at the same time. Laughing definitely hadn't been my cup of tea after Team Yell was going around, causing hell for other Challengers. I'd secretly lost the plot with them, but I acted so serious that I forgot who I was underneath. My body seemed fully filled with this light-hearted feeling. So damn strange...

The lemonade began to spew out of my nose as I was laughing, which Ori tried to prevent by dutifully holding up a napkin as some sort of barrier. We were laughing and laughing. The only ones that weren't in on the nonexistent joke were Bede and Hop, who were staring at each other, confused.

"Oh my... Oh my, oh my! You've got to be joking!" Ori said in between squeals of mirth that didn't seem to end.

"Oh my... Oh my lord! You're just joshin' me, right?" I was repeating to nobody in particular. That was also happening in between the moaning squeals of my mirth.

Ori and I continued laughing, and it began to hurt both our sides. The tears from laughter were stinging my eyes. Bede was glaring at us, but what does that matter? We were having a ball, and that was all that mattered at the current minute. Laughing is so enjoyable. I felt full of beans, all of a sudden.