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Having been taught the basics of how to use his phone, Adaman had become enthralled with the thing. Through his natural charms he’d gotten the phone numbers of practically everyone on Pasio and for a solid two days wouldn’t stop calling or texting those he considered friends. Every single time it was to gush about a new feature he’d discovered while playing around with the device. It should have been annoying, but in all honesty his excitement was endearing.
Then he discovered the camera.
Suddenly everyone in his contacts was privy to every last thing he was doing because he wanted to take pictures of everything and share them with everyone. Was there a cool rock on the ground? He took a picture. Was there a pretty sunrise? He took a picture. Was he eating lunch and trying something new? Yep, he took a picture. Did Leafeon yawn cutely? You bet he took a picture!
Finally somebody got tired of their phone constantly going off and pointed him in the direction of Instagram, telling him to “post your pics there like the rest of us!”
And that’s how Adaman’s Instagram addiction started. In no time he’d filled his profile with all the pictures he’d taken and more. Those who were actually interested followed him, and those who didn’t care were finally left alone again. A win-win all around!
Eventually Adaman learned how to take selfies. His pictures then frequently featured him standing and grinning in front of whatever he was trying to show off. He still took normal photos, but he made liberal use of the selfie cam.
The first time Adaman had posted a selfie, a certain dragon trainer happened to awaken in a cold sweat only moments after it happened. Feeling an inexplicable sense of dread, he picked up his phone and decided to do a bit of scrolling in order to calm his mind. That's when he first saw the newly posted picture of an excited Adaman face. Raihan smiled and gave it a like.
Around two weeks after Adaman had learned to use his selfie cam, Raihan once again found himself scrolling mindlessly through Instagram late at night. He’d of course been on the receiving end of Adaman’s photo barrage via texts, and had decided to keep half an eye on the time-traveler's account. He hadn't followed him, only checked up on him once in a while.
Raihan had to admit, the guy had a way with the camera. Be it a regular picture or a selfie, Adaman had an eye for photography. Not to mention he was surprisingly photogenic. Well…perhaps that wasn’t the correct wording for what Raihan was feeling. Adaman was, as many people on Pasio happened to be, very handsome. But he always seemed to find just the perfect angle and lighting for his shots. Not a single picture that he shared was unflattering in any way. And while Raihan knew from experience that for every good, sharable photo there were at least half a dozen subpar or even ugly shots that got deleted, something about Adaman’s pictures bothered him.
“How is he such a natural?!” Raihan whined aloud.
A pillow struck him in the face and his bed partner groggily moaned, “It’s fuckin’ 2am, mate! Go ta sleep!”
Raihan breathed a sigh and complied. He gave Piers back his pillow and set his phone on the bedside table. Sleep didn’t come quickly, though, as Raihan couldn’t stop fuming over how easily Adaman seemed to have picked up the finer points of photography. It’d taken Raihan a decade to get as good as he was! How could a man who didn’t even know what a phone was a month ago learn so quickly?!
For the next few days Raihan stalked the man’s Instagram religiously. And with every picture that got posted his jealousy grew. It wasn’t just that Adaman had talent, but the guy was starting to gain followers outside of Pasio. While that alone wasn’t enough to irk Raihan, because despite what people might say about him he wasn’t so vain as to think only he was capable of having a thriving Insta account, there was still an odd nagging feeling as he scrolled through Adaman’s selfie collection. Something about his pictures felt off and he couldn’t quite place his finger on it.
Then suddenly on a warm and clear morning, something happened that changed Raihan’s whole entire opinion on the matter.
Adaman appeared in front of him suddenly and, with the most serious expression Raihan had ever seen on the man, immediately bowed so deeply that his head should’ve hit the ground.
“PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO TAKE SELFIES!” the time traveler shouted earnestly.
Raihan stared down at him, utterly bewildered by the sudden request and how the man had gone about making it. His first instinct was to tell him no, that there were plenty of tutorials on the internet that Adaman could learn from instead. After all, while Raihan considered himself friendly he didn’t really feel like giving up the secrets to his hobby. Especially to somebody he didn’t know beyond having made their acquaintance once or twice. But then Adaman raised his head just a bit. Enough to make eye contact with Raihan through his bangs hanging in front of his face.
And good Arceus did Adaman have the puppy dog eyes down! In that moment Raihan absolutely hated that he was such a sucker for a pretty face with big, watery eyes. The last person to use such a technique on him had been Leon, who had previous knowledge of this weakness. Adaman had only accidentally hit it so spot on. But still Raihan wanted to scream!
“Yeah…okay.” Raihan agreed, deflating. “I guess if you want to learn, you’ve come to the right place.”
Instantly Adaman perked up and finally stood upright. His face was glowing with excitement, further casting aside Raihan’s frustration. “Thank you! I asked around and everybody said you were the guy to talk to. I looked at your profile on Instagram and they were right. You really are amazing!” he laughed and shot Raihan a peace sign. “I’m just glad you agreed so easily!”
“Yeah, because you just so happened to find my one weak point!” Raihan grumbled internally. He put on his best press smile. “I’ll admit, I’ve seen some of your pics on Insta. You’re pretty good yourself. So, what do you need me to teach you?”
Adaman paused like he hadn’t actually thought too much about it. For a second Raihan was about to get frustrated again, but to his surprise Adaman actually found an answer to his question. And it was one that was surprisingly reasonable.
“How to explain it… The only thing I know how to do in my photos is smile.” Adaman stated, clearly still thinking about every word he was saying. “I can never have any other expression. I’ve tried and it always ends up looking forced or fake or…bad. I can’t be real in my photos the way you can.”
Something clicked in Raihan's head at that moment. The thing that had been bothering him about Adaman's selfies; he was always smiling in them. Whether it was a toothy grin or a simple upward turn of the lips, no other expression was ever on his face. “So… You want to know how to take pictures where you’re frowning or angry or something? And you don’t want it to look terrible.” Raihan said, making sure he understood the request.
Adaman nodded and rubbed his forehead. “I can’t seem to get it right no matter how much I try. It’s frustrating. I like taking happy photos, but sometimes happy isn’t the feeling I want to convey, you know? Sometimes I find a piece of trash on the side of a trail and I want to show my displeasure, but it doesn’t look right when I frown at the camera. Or sometimes I’ll be tired and my hair isn’t cooperating and I want to share it and laugh but I end up looking like some kind of surprised tangela even though my eyes are half open!” he paused and looked back up Raihan, almost pleadingly, “You understand me, right?”
The dragon trainer couldn’t help but chuckle at the mental image of Adaman with a tangela for a head. “Nah, I get it. I’ve shared thousands of pics, and probably taken tens of thousands. Sometimes the face just doesn’t do what you want it to.” Raihan breathed a sigh and brought out his own phone. “Let’s see… It’d probably be easier if we went somewhere more private.”
The two of them found a quiet little area for Raihan to dish out his sage advice. It boiled down to “think about something that gives you an intense feeling of whatever you want to be feeling”, which was simple in theory but Adaman found difficult in practice. Raihan found this amusing, considering Adaman was very expressive in casual conversation.
“Let me try to give you an example. Let’s say I was the one who found some rubbish in a bush or something that was right next to a bin. I’d be angry, yeah?” Raihan began his explanation, earning a nod from Adaman. “So, I’d want to think about something that makes me angry. Such as losing to Leon for the third time in one day.” Even just speaking those words, Raihan could feel his expression falling. “I don’t like losing in the first place, but when it’s to Leon it feels so much more personal. He’s my friend, but he’s also my rival. A rival I’ve never beaten.” He practically snarled and spat out those words like they were venom. His face had twisted as he spoke, his fangs flashing dangerously in the sunlight. “So thinking about losing like that gets my blood boiling!”
Adaman chuckled softly. “I can tell…” he stated. “Okay, I think you’ve demonstrated your point. At least with anger. But does it work for other things, too?” He shrugged a shoulder. “What if I want to be looking wistfully out at sea while dreaming about times long gone by?”
Raihan grinned and winked. "Got some romanticism in you that you just gotta get out, eh?"
Adaman shook his head. "More like sometimes I miss my friends and family back in my time. I've enjoyed meeting new people and seeing new things, and I have Irida, but there are so many that I've left behind…" he rubbed his forehead again. "I wonder if this is how they felt…" he murmured.
Raihan's grin faltered. That's right. Adaman had come to Pasio from the past, and he hadn't been in the current time very long. He was bound to be feeling some complex ways.
The dragon trainer hummed thoughtfully. “I’m no expert on those kinds of feelings, but I mean… Why not just think about that? All of those things you’re thinking right now. You’re very expressive when you’re not thinking about it.”
“That’s the problem, though. I am thinking about my expression. I can’t help but think about it while I’m trying to take a good picture.”
“Fair enough. I guess all I can say about that is it takes practice." Raihan thought for half a second, "You only have the poryphone, right?” he asked and Adaman nodded his confirmation. “Damn! If you had a rotom phone I’d suggest just letting the rotom do its thing when it comes to taking pics while you focus on trying to get your face right.” He thought for another moment. “Let me see your phone real quick.”
Curiously, Adaman handed over the device. Raihan poked through its settings, humming and muttering to himself as he did. Finally, he let out a triumphant “Ah-ha!” and took a step in order to stand beside Adaman and show him what he’d found.
“If you do this, it’ll set the camera on a timer. And then here you can choose for it to take more than one pic in quick succession. I use something similar on my rotom phone if I want to do things manually. It might help you figure out your expression if you don't have to worry about pressing the button yourself.”
Adaman’s eyes lit up as he took back his phone. “That’s handy! I still don’t know if it’ll solve my problem, but it could definitely help regardless. Thanks!”
“No problem. Now, anything else you want to ask about?”
“Any other random advice you could give me?”
Raihan shrugged. “Well, I could go into excruciating detail about how lighting and shadows affect your pics, but I don’t think you’re there yet.” he laughed.
Adaman laughed with him. “No. I don’t believe I am. But thank you, regardless.” He smiled down at the phone still in his hand. “This has been a most informative use of my time.”
“No problem!” Raihan said again with a toothy grin. “Now… Before I let you go, I think there’s one little thing I’d like you to do for me. Think of it as a way of saying thanks. And to test out the advice I just gave you!"
The time traveler was puzzled, but as soon as Raihan explained he was more than willing to do it.
Later that night Adaman lay on his bed on his stomach, feet raised and idly kicking at the air as he scrolled through Instagram. He’d tried out some of Raihan’s advice and actually managed to get a decent picture of himself looking over his shoulder and off into the distance of the ocean. A frown had painted his lips and a forlorn look filled his eyes. He still thought his expression wasn't quite right, but it was better than his previous attempts. He’d captioned the photo “Thinking about friends…” and it was actually doing some decent numbers. At least, for his photos it was.
But it was nothing compared to the response the other picture of him from that day was doing. The picture of him and Raihan standing shoulder-to-shoulder holding up their hands in a claw-like manner with their mouths open in a roar easily drowned out Adaman’s own more solemn photo. Not that Adaman minded. He smiled as he liked the dragon trainer’s picture, as well as a few of the comments left on it.
Suddenly a pillow struck him in the head.
“Ow…” he grumbled, despite it not hurting at all.
“I’m turning out the lights and going to sleep. I suggest you do the same.” Irida announced from the other side of the room.
Adaman sighed and turned his phone off. “Okay.”
Irida hit the light switch and retrieved her pillow from the floor before returning to her own bed. “Honestly. Boys and their selfies…” she muttered.
“I can’t help that it’s fun.” Adaman grumbled as he made himself more comfortable under the sheets.
“Seems like a waste of time to me.” the girl snarked back.
“I’m sharing my enjoyment of Palkia’s space. Doesn’t seem like a waste of time to me.”
Adaman could tell that the girl had rolled her eyes, even if he couldn’t see it. “Whatever. Good night. Sleep well.”
Adaman smiled over in her direction. “Good night.”