Portrait of a Shutterbug - Manuel's VG

[ShadowDRGN]

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Adventures
Mystical Realm: #1R | #1U | #2R | #2U | #3R | #3U | #4R | #4U | #5R

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• Stella Cadente (2022)

[ShadowDRGN]

The parched desert air was choked with stardust, faintly glittering as it passed in front of its distant ancestors. A wind storm had just passed in the evening, leaving the land in complete disarray as Manuel hiked through the night. He could feel the rosy sand settling against his downy jacket, sifting beneath his feet, filling his Kricketune scarf with a strangely burnt, metallic scent.

As if to punctuate this otherworldly scene, the moon had absconded from the sky on this night, leaving only the breathless vastness of the stars above. Far from civilization, they shone in their full radiance, revealing twinkling rubies, emeralds and amethysts that normally lay hidden between the white-blues that could pierce the urban haze. Somewhere up there were the fields of elysium, but they didn’t have the time to set-up to catch a glimpse of the space colony transiting the galactic core.

If Lumiose City was a sea of light upon the Earth, then this landscape was its antipode, as though he were traversing the abyssal seabed beneath the surface of a sacred, ancient ocean. An electric lamp bounced on his hip as he crossed the sands, reaching only faintly into the distance where tall dunes and vaguely crystalline rock formations crept at the edge of recognition. His backpack clung desperately to his shoulders, eager to slip off once their planned campsite was in reach, and his feet were all too eager to complain about the slippery, uphill climbs.

The figure ahead of him, however, was having the absolute time of her life. Vivian dashed readily toward the next dune, a metal board slung underneath her shoulder. Manual had to veer slightly to the side to avoid all the sand she kicked up, and watching her light reach the crest, he knew exactly what was coming next.

“Hey, Shutterbug!” she called to him. Still using his screenname, of course. Planting the flat end of her board atop the dune, she sat there, goggles faintly glowing green as she turned to peer down the slope before her, “I think I see the spot you were talking about!”

Before the journalist could give her a response, Vivian tipped forward and disappeared over the edge. A shrill holler deafened the desert, spurring Manuel to power through the climb before they ended up getting separated from each-other. The fine sand wore at the toes of his leather boots, while the gloves Goto had sewn for him held up impeccably as he clawed for very top.

Peering over the edge, Manuel saw Vivian’s lantern speeding through the darkness. Dark, porous rocks littered the ground ahead, the gradual smoothing out of impact craters creating a plain amidst the ever-changing tides of sand. This was the place, alright, and the daredevil was weaving through it like flags on a ski resort.

What else could he expect, though? After sharing a community with her for years, Manuel knew full well that when Vivian set her mind on something, she was going to wring as much fun out of it as possible. It might’ve been his information bringing them out here, but it was her drive that made it happen.

Following the trail her board carved into the sand, the journalist carefully shimmied down the dune. A rubber band around his pant legs proved to be the only thing saving his socks from taking a sand bath as he made his way to the bottom. Twiggy muscles were pleading with him to stop, but he didn’t let himself stop just yet. Picking up his feet, he trudged through the asteroid field, eager to catch up to Vivian’s guiding light.

“You finally made it!” she said, laughing playfully at his half-crumpled jog. The photographer’s breath was ragged, and he plopped down on a nearby rock to recuperate for a moment.

“Tanner’s right... this stuff... really isn’t my wheelhouse...” he muttered to himself between gasping like a fish.

Vivian frowned slightly, and leaning forward she clamped her hands to the journalist’s sunken shoulders, “but you made it! Nobody can nail their first time at something like this, y’know?”

Glancing up, he noticed that her goggles were dangling from her neck, but her pale eyes shone just as brightly in the dark. It was odd to see her not posing in-costume, and wearing something that any other person would wear... well, mostly. Her bright orange zip-up jacket was already eye-catching enough without a bunch of kanji plastered all over it.

“Yes, I suppose that’s fair. Thank you,” Manuel replied back, smiling tiredly, “I just need a moment to catch my breath.”

Vivian nodded, and wordlessly opened up her bag to start setting up camp. The sand here was shallow, mere centimeters from a floor of firm clay where her pitons would take root. As Manuel lay back and wondered at the stars, the sound of canvas ruffling and hammering eased his weary body. Rest was at hand—at least, until it was time for the show to start.

Warmth radiated throughout the camp as Manuel took a lighter to the pile of firewood they brought with them. His shoulders sighed with relief, and he sat down across from the fellow Bug enthusiast. She was already putting together a snack for herself... some sort of sandwich made from snapped halves of a graham cracker, a fire-roasted marshmallow, and a piece of a chocolate bar.

“S’more,” she stated, answering his curious look by holding out a lightly-seared campfire fork, “want one?”

Taking the cheap cork handle, Manuel impaled a marshmallow and held it over the dancing flames, rotating it slowly. This must’ve been some kind of Unovan snack, given its undoubtedly horrific calorie count... but, then again he knew dishes in his native Region that were similarly decadent.

When he saw the surface start to crisp, he quickly lifted the jumbo puff away from the heat. Mimicking Vivian’s method, he pressed the mallow against one cracker, and slid the fork out. Cracking the chocolate bar in two, he topped the other cracker with it and pressed both halves against each-other firmly, until the gooey marshmallow was bonded with the rest of the ingredients.

Trepidatiously, he brought the sugary concoction to his lips, and bit into it. Vivian giggled, watching as his pupils dilated instantly. The crumble of honey tinged crackers mixed with the sticky bitter-sweetness of molten marshmallow and chocolate. A hint of salt and smokey notes took what would be an overwhelmingly saccharine experience to a downright heavenly one. Bonne Femme, a perfect encapsulation of simplistic and rustic charm.

Vivian was already on her second one when she looked at him and smirked playfully, “so, Tanner the guy you’ve been talking about lately?”

This caught the photographer off-guard. He opened his mouth to speak, but the marshmallow kept it glued shut. Pawing around his ankle for his water bottle, he popped the cap and chugged it down to wash away the mess.

“That’s right,” he replied, dabbing his mouth dry with a napkin, “I guess I never did say his name on the server.”

“Last you mentioned him he’d gone off on another climb. You talk to him much since then?”

Manuel shook his head, “he’s popped in to say he’s doing fine, here and there, but he seems focused on his expedition.”

Vivian canted her head slightly, eyes narrowed. The light danced on Manuel’s face, but it didn’t seem as lively as it ought to be. She noticed his fingers worrying marks into his bottle, and with a soft voice she replied, “are you worried about him, or are you just missing him?”

Manuel paused for a moment, nestling his bottle in the sand. The man shook his head, and then flashed a faint smile toward her, “I do miss him, but I’m not worried. He has his journey, and I have mine. I’m just glad we’ll have plenty to talk about when we do see each-other again.”

The inventor quietly nodded, and fidgeted with her goggles. Though this was their first time meeting in-person, he knew underneath this silence there were gears turning in that brilliant head of hers.

“How about you? You mentioned meeting someone new recently, as well. A guy from... Sinnoh, was it? How is he faring?”

“Something like that,” Vivian said, her melancholy gaze still affixed to the jade-colored lenses, “I’m not really sure where he’s at right now. I get the sense he’s not really used to keeping in touch with people.”

Though he didn’t understand the meaning of her words beneath the surface, nonetheless he knew they were in the same boat. No matter how close, to forge any bond with another person meant opening oneself up to negative feelings. Loneliness, worry, doubt—these were necessary counterbalances to the happiness and excitement that came from spending time with people you cared about.

Yet, for all the distance they had from friends right now, he took comfort in the fact that they all slept under the same sky. As the stars connected to form constellations, the bonds they made connected to form a complicated, but beautiful web of emotions and experiences... and those were the lodestars that would guide each of them to their place in this world.

A flash of light caught Manuel’s eye, and he looked up to see myriad streaks flying across the night sky. It was finally time! Shooting up from his seat, he ran over to his bag and threw the flap open, where his camera had been waiting for this very moment to arrive.

“Woah...” Vivian marveled, leaning back in her seat to watch the procession of falling stars. It was like the fire in her eyes was rekindled by falling embers, and she sat mesmerized by the sight until the sound of a shutter snapping shut caused her cheeks to turn red.

“Ask, Manuel!” she shouted, head whipping in his direction to see the photographer kneeling on the ground, hands hastily fumbling with his tripod, “I don’t have to be in cosplay for that to be a rule.”

“Ah, please, excuse me...” he said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, “you just looked so focused, I didn’t want to lose the serendipity of the moment.”

The inventor just brushed it off with a sigh, before turning her gaze back toward the stars, “they’re moving so fast... you really sure your camera can catch ‘em?”

“Astronomical photography requires long exposures. I’ll only be able to take a few photographs, but if I set this up correctly, they’ll be magnificent,” he explained, hands steadily angling the camera toward the densest part of the shower. All the settings had been adjusted in-advance, all that was needed was the simple press of a button.

Yet, Manuel wanted to make absolutely sure the framing was just right. Bending down, he peered through the viewfinder, completely oblivious to the broader picture. Just a little more to the right, and...

“Manuel, look!”

The next few seconds were a blur to him, as Manuel turned toward Vivian’s voice, to see her pointing toward a corner of the sky! All he could catch was a brief second of light descending toward the earth, before a plume of sand shot up from the ground. Like a flash of lightning, the sound soon rumbled throughout the camp. It was close. Too close.

Vivian grabbed her lantern and her bag, and took off without a second thought. Manuel had to take a moment to unscrew his camera from its base, but he soon followed. The screaming of his feet was no matter to him, as he would run and fast and as far as he needed to catch up to her. A fresh impact, right before their eyes—meteor shower be damned, there was no way he was going to miss this!

When he finally reached Vivian, he was perplexed to see her frozen at the edge of the crater. Surely, she would’ve dove down without a second thought, but something seemed... off. The glow that came from beyond the rim, it didn’t look or feel like normal heat.

Then, he saw it. No chunk of rock, not even the scattering of space dust. No, what he saw beggared belief. A capsule of heat-scarred metal lay half-buried in the sand, its surface riddled with strange, pulsating lights, but no obvious door or propulsion system. It was like a massive soda can just slammed into the ground.

“I’m not just dreaming this, am I?” Vivian said, glancing at Manuel with a mixture of bewilderment, wonderment and shock. The photographer glanced down at his watch, and shook his head. It was still ticking, and this was certainly no dream... was it?

It took a moment for his brain to catch up, but once it did, Manuel immediately raised his camera. His fingers shakily tried to change the settings to be more suitable to something this bright and this close-up, and as he looked through the viewfinder, he noticed smoke pouring from the object. An invisible seam opened, and the hatch fell forward, gently disturbing the cooling glass at the center of the crater.

An eerie light poured out from the opening—a dusty, cosmic hue, nebulous and all-encompassing. The view on his screen blinked as he captured a photo, and only then did he have the thought to reach for his Pokeballs. Only, he couldn't feel them on his belt.

He didn't realize he'd been blinded at first, not until he tried to find Vivian through the dazzling light. Something was wrong. He could feel another presence, but he slowly realized it wasn't hers. It was something... else.

His head felt like it was ready to split open. The presence spoke to him, but not in words nor pictures. It was like raw information was flowing through his brain, tendrils worming their way through his synapses as they fired wildly. Memories, senses, thoughts, beliefs, even constructs of his imagination were activated and analyzed in mere moments, burrowing deeper down into the center of his mind. Intent on reducing him to a mere pile of biological data.

Through all the incomprehensible noise, he looked up, and caught a glimpse of the stellar rain, and beyond that, the constellations above. What were the people in his constellation doing right now? What would happen if his star were to snuff out, would they notice? His mother, his father, Vivian and...

Suddenly, the pain stopped. Manuel felt himself falling, and something slender and warm caught him in its arms. He couldn’t see what it was, only that a faint aura shifted around it. Exhaustion had caught up to him, and in this comforting embrace he slipped into a deep sleep...

“Wake up, Shutterbug!”

Manuel’s eyes fluttered open, and he felt the cold of the night brush against his face once more. The night sky above him was starting to dim, and a faint orange haze crept along the jagged horizon. He sat up, and saw Vivian stirring a pot of broth above a rejuvenated fire.

“Vivian? What happened? Why are we back here?” he asked, pawing at his eyes.

The inventor gave him a quizzical look, “what do you mean? You fell asleep after you set the camera up. I’ve been waiting for you to get up so we can look at the pictures together.”

That’s right, the camera. Manuel blindly patted the ground around his sleeping bag, until at last he felt nylon against his fingertips. Pulling the strap to his chest, he brushed the sand off his camera bag before opening it. Inside was his pride and joy, undamaged, but strangely oriented compared to how he usually stored it. Perhaps Vivian had tried to put it away, but... then...

Quickly opening up his gallery, Manuel was astonished to see what the last pictures he took were. The starry sky was framed at a perfect angle, showing streaks of light like laser beams, arcing across the Milky Way. He tried desperately to find the bright light that had emerged from the capsule, but the pictures before then were simply ones he took of the Oasis that day. Even his garbage bin was exactly how he had left it, with no trace of it being filled or emptied.

“Woah, those turned out great!” Vivian beamed, “everyone’s gonna be super jelly when we post these!”

Manuel just sat there in disbelief. Maybe it was all a dream. Just a wild fantasy from over-exerting himself. He looked to Vivian, and her oblivious smile told him there would be no point trying to explain the missing picture. But... just what was it that he saw?

“Anyway, breakfast’s on. You should eat up, we gotta walk back before it starts getting too hot,” she joked, sitting down with a steaming bowl of noodles. Manuel shifted around, trying to wriggle out of his sleeping bag, and in the process he knocks his Pokeballs off the chair where he’d left them. They rolled through the sand, coming to a rest by a nearby rock before the lightly-dressed photographer could stumble out of his bag.

Cleaning them off as he picked each one up, Manuel noticed something odd. His Ledian, Cassiope, was housed in a Space Ball, but... why was there a second one here? Not just that, but he had no Pokemon that were in basic balls, and yet here one was, clipped to his belt. Pulling out his phone, he quickly brought up his PC to check his Pokemon’s status. The two Pokemon he was missing were safe in their box, but in their place were two new ones. Elgyem, and...

“Tu te fous de moi!?”