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"Almost... there... just... a little more..." Harmony groaned, stretching her arm out as much as she could, her chest crushing up against the paving stones she laid on. She was getting dangerously close to the water herself, but she was so close to reclaiming her lost prize…
—
Harmony had just been walking along the picturesque Saison Canal when something golden flashed in the water below, catching her eye. When she turned to see what was glimmering in the water, she saw a Magikarp, glinting gold as the bright afternoon sun bounced off its metallic scales. She gasped in excitement at the sight of the shiny pokemon, and quickly began digging through her satchel for a pokeball.
After taking a minute to consider which ball to use, Harmony pulled out a dive ball, and carefully took aim at the fish pokemon in the canal, still unaware of her. She lined up her shot just right, tossing the blue toned ball squarely at her target. It soared through the air, hitting the fish right on the back of the head, and encapsulated it. The dive ball then bounced in the air one, two, three times and click! The glittering golden fish was hers! She pumped her fist in the air victoriously, when...
...Suddenly any celebration she showed immediately left her body as she soon heard a splash from the canal that sounded suspiciously like a pokeball falling into the water. She slowly opened her eyes to see exactly what she had feared most, the dive ball floating down the stream away from her.
Her feeling of accomplishment turned to shock and then panic as she stood stock-still before beginning to chase the ball and shouting after it, "No, no, no! Come back!!" as if it could somehow hear her.
The runaway dive ball soon bumped into another Magikarp floating lazily down the stream, causing it to float sideways to edge of the canal, scraping a bit along the brick walls until it came to a tenuous stop against a small ledge.
The good news is that the ball was no longer floating away from her, at least for the time being. The bad news was that she now had to find a way to claim her prize. She took a second to calm down and catch her breath before quickly removing her satchel and belt of pokeballs and setting down her Rotom phone, discarding them on the ground next to her. She was not going to risk losing anything else to the canal today.
Forgoing any sense of pride or dignity, she quickly got on the ground, laying on her stomach, deciding she’d get it herself. The only pokemon she had that could swim was Gyarados, and given the ball was trapped in a narrow corner, it was unlikely to be able to reach it. Inching towards the lost dive ball, she couldn't quite reach it, so she slid down the sloped edge a little more, hoping she wouldn’t fall in.
It just so happened at that exact time, Urbain was taking a leisurely stroll down the sidewalk above her with one of his pokemon. He spotted her distinct green jacket from afar, and was immediately curious as to why she seemed to be reaching into the canal for something, her things scattered around her on the ground, her long hair flipped over her head as she reached. He tried calling out to her from afar, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Hey! Harmony! What're you doing down there??" Urbain called out again to no response, breaking into a light sprint to reach the ramp down to where she was, his pokemon following behind him.
Harmony didn't notice the repeated cries of her name from behind her, nor the rapidly approaching footsteps, as she focused in completely on the pesky dive ball. It had just barely began to graze her fingertips as Urbain reached her, stopping behind her and taking a second to look at her haphazardly scattered belongings in confusion.
"Almost... there... just... a little more..." Harmony groaned, stretching her arm out as much as she could, her chest crushing up against the paving stones she laid on. She was getting dangerously close to the water herself, but she was so close to reclaiming her lost prize...
Harmony made one final little push forwards, just enough to grasp the dive ball right as Urbain spoke:
"Uhh, Harmony? What are you-"
But before he could finish his question, Harmony lost her precarious balance against the ledge, startled by his presence, and promptly began sliding head over heels into the canal. Urbain dropped to the ground to hopefully grab and stop her, but he was just a fraction of a second too late as her legs escaped his grasp, followed by the sound of a loud ker-SPLASH that made him wince.
Harmony had just managed to grasp at troublesome dive ball when all of a sudden the surface of the water began rapidly approaching her face, and before she could even react, she was totally underwater. She could hear a faint yell from above the water as the water muffled her hearing instantly. In her disoriented panic, she tried to gasp for air but only ended up getting a breath full of water that caused an immediate searing burn in her chest; squeezing her eyes shut tight from the pain as she sunk deeper into the water.
Urbain instantly flew into a panic, watching his friend slip away into the canal and disappear into the water. Every other thought in his head disappeared in an instant as he could only sit there in shocked distress. He absolutely would've dove in after her himself, if it weren’t for him not being able to swim himself. He restrained himself, knowing two people drowning was worse than one, trying to think of literally any other solution. It was not going well.
By some miracle, the pokemon he had been walking with was Feraligatr, of all pokemon. The mon turned to its mortified trainer, his arms still outstretched desperately, and without even being told, Feraligatr dove into the canal itself. Harmony abruptly felt something press sharply up into her chest as her eyes shot open again, Feraligatr quickly scooping her into its scaly arms, and then shooting back up out of the water.
Feraligatr quickly climbed back out of the canal with Harmony slung over one its teal arms, and then releasing her as she dropped to her hands and knees, coughing furiously.
Urbain immediately rushed to her side to support her, as she continued coughing and spitting up water as he firmly pounded her on the back a few times to help her get it out.
She moaned in pain from behind her long soaked hair, "Owwwww....."
"Oh my god, I am so so so sorry!! I-I didn't mean to make you fall in like that..." Urbain apologized profusely, still somewhat panicking.
"didn't think you did..." Harmony was able to moan out weakly in response between coughs. She knew that she probably shouldn't have tried reaching into the canal herself. If only that stupid golden Magikarp hadn't shown up in the first place.
"Are you okay, though?" Urbain asked softly as he brushed strands of soaking wet hair out of her face as she sat upright, a little calmer now.
"'m fine now, yea..." Harmony mumbled in reassurance before getting the last of the water out of her lungs.
"You sure?" he asked again, quietly yet emphatically, face full of concern.
"Yea, 'm sure. Promise," she reaffirmed, her voice clearer but still quiet. "Even got my dive ball back," she added, picking up the blue-hued pokeball next to her to show him.
"Is that what you were reaching for before you.... uhh...." Urbain trailed off awkwardly.
"Yep. It's a shiny Magikarp. The ball fell in the water when I caught it..." Harmony explained with a bashful smile, back to her regular tone.
"D'you want it?" she offered, holding it out to him with both arms.
"Wh-wha? No, y-you should keep it," he stammered, pushing it back towards her. He looked away, "I don't deser–"
"Take it," Harmony interrupted, setting the pokeball in his lap. That made Urbain blush a little as he looked back at her.
"I've already got a Gyarados, so now you can have one too, and it'll be special cuz it'll be red," she justifies. "Kinda like you right now," she teases under her breath with a sly smile.
Well, if she was gonna put it like that, he couldn't say no now. He wished she didn’t have to be so damned cute so that he could, though.
Desperate to change the subject before he got any redder, Urbain asked, "Do you... need any help getting back?"
Harmony knew this meant he felt like— or more like needed to— do something for her, whatever it was. To apologize of course.
"Do you wanna visit Noveau Café on the way back? It's just around the corner from here," Harmony proposes with a little smile.
"Oh, o-of course! Sounds great!" Urbain agreed with an awkward smile as he stood up, extending an arm to help Harmony up, too.
"I'll carry your stuff too, so it doesn't get wet..." he added as he went to retrieve her things, still scattered about the ground from before. He was so damn cute like this, Harmony almost couldn't bear it.
—
As they began to walk over together, Urbain suddenly stopped for a second and took off his jacket.
"Here," he offered, "I don't want you to get cold."
"But it's midday..." Harmony pointed out as he put the jacket over her shoulders anyways. She got the feeling this was not actually about the temperature and resisted no further.
As the couple approached the café truck together, they couldn't help but notice the faces of the staff as they noticed them. The man Grisham looked sort of concerned or maybe confused, and the waitress Griselle appeared to be grinning, trying not to laugh.
"And just what has happened here?" Grisham asked with mild disbelief. Harmony was still soaked, her clothes still drooping from getting wet, her hair was still dripping water, which is what she assumed prompted their reactions.
"I... I fell into the canal trying to catch a pokemon..." Harmony began awkwardly, "Well, I had already caught it, but the pokeball fell in the water and I couldn't reach it... then I fell in," she clarified, looking embarrassed.
At Harmony's admittance, Griselle burst out laughing, unable to stop herself any longer.
"Griselle!" Grisham snapped at her, scowling.
"I'm sorry," she apologized completely insincerely, still laughing, practically doubled over. She appeared to regain her composure for a minute,
"Excuse me," she said, walking off and around the corner, still grinning.
"My deepest apologies for her," Grisham says through gritted teeth, attempting to hide clear annoyance.
"It's ok," Harmony offers politely, "It is kind of funny."
They then heard what sounded like distant cackling, presumably from Griselle now around the corner. Nobody comments on it.
"It is NOT funny, you almost drowned!" Urbain protests, turning to Harmony, yanking on her arm.
"I can swim, I would've been fine," Harmony defends, shrugging.
"Oh yea, you were totally fine back there," Urbain jabs sarcastically.
—
A few minutes later, (back from around the corner) Griselle came with Urbain and Harmony's drinks, which Grisham had offered they not pay for as an apology, but Harmony insisted on doing so anyways.
"You're a good boyfriend, taking her on a date like this," Griselle teases.
"Well it was kind of my fault in the first place..." Urbain replies sheepishly, "And we're.... uh... not dating..." he finished quietly, rubbing at the back of his neck, his face getting red again.
"Sure you aren't," Griselle comments smugly before leaving. Urbain turns back to Harmony, still wearing his jacket, who has her head in her hands, staring at him lovingly.
"Don't look at me that way," he whines, covering his face and looking down in embarrassment. His eyes land on the dive ball, now attached to his own belt. She laughs cutely in response to his flustering.
"Hey Urbain," Harmony asks flirtatiously, still gazing at him. He looks back up at her hesitantly.
"If we're not dating..." she starts inquisitively, "... wanna change that?" Harmony proposes, half-lidded eyes full of love.
After a moment of stunned silence, Urbain lets his shocked expression melt, reaching across the table to gently grab her hands, "I think I'd like that,"
"After you've dried off."