she’s calm and regal, as to be expected from one in her positon, it almost makes him want to see how far he can take things with her. almost.

this is to be a respectful interview, no nonsense from him nor the crew. any opinions that they had were to be withheld on the account of a lighthearted view into fashion. the questions were to be simple and non-invasive, he is not a journalist, he is a pacesetter for fashion.

“Alright, we’ll start in around five minutes after you make it to set. You can get moving when you get a chance to.”

---

within the allotted time, Sevastian is set across from Elise, each in black canvas chairs. a stark white background was set behind and under them as lights surrounded them from almost every angle. as the crew moved around in the background, Sevastian spoke into someones ear, a few nods following from both parties before the extra walked away.

straightening out his shorts, the shades sat atop his head at the ready. whether they were an enhancement for the clothes or something he wore for practicality itself was yet to be discovered.

as a countdown began, Sevastian began to wipe some dust off of his shoulder as one leg laid itself over the other, flash cards set into the pit of that cross.

as lights began to adjust, he gave a smile to Elise, and the signal to start was given.

“Hello again all, Sevastian Beau here with, Vanta: Into the Look. Today we have a very special guest with us, a Miss Elise Calcifet; say hi Elise.”

he gives pause for her to greet the camera.

“For those who don’t know or are unfamiliar with Elise, she usually sports a Semi-Classic Gothic, leaning into Neo Gothic. While she is known to have dark type pokemon none would be considered her signature as my Mightyena and Mabosstiff are considered mine. She is Hoenn’s Galarian Ambassador~” his voice pitches up slightly as he turns his head to smile at her, meaning to show that this is an important part of her introduction. “-and she is here to tell us a little bit more about her style and maybe, if we’re lucky, a little about herself.”

straightening himself out a bit he turns from the camera and to her, the interview now taking to a more personal side.

“So, Elise, tell us a little bit about your style. What are some of your signatures when it comes to dressing yourself up? I notice you have roses on a few of your fits, is that by choice or was it just that it called to you?”

Elise Calcifet

with each retelling, Sevastian puts pen to paper, jotting down the important bits of the stories as to properly remember them later. in each he highlights the Greninja’s positive lights more so than the human’s own follys, something he’d imagine Navy would be thankful for.

its only when they get to the part about Xerneas that his pen stopped short, ink beginning to bleed into the paper and form a bitch black spot that seeped into the page below.

his eyes shot up to the Greninja, astonished once more.

“That’s… pretty incredible, honestly. It must not have been easy for you, I can imagine.”

“In Vanta’s research there are stories that tell of Greninja that will lay their lives on the line for their masters, but this is one of the truest examples I’ve had the pleasures of recording.”

he smiles at the Greninja, until as he notices the ink beginning to fill a larger part of the pad and moves to write under it. this will make a beautiful excerpt.

“What do you think your limit is? You’ve fought pokemon at the magnitude of Xerneas in a one-on-one, but do you think there is something that even you won’t be able to handle?”

amber hues return to the Greninja, finishing his jotting with a flick of his wrist.

Michael Navidson

“I meant no harm in misnaming you, Navy. I apologize.” said promptly as he looked to the Elite, then back to the Greninja as it began displaying its words through smoke.

it makes his heart skip a beat as the pokemon used it own smokescreen to beautifully craft a display of its words. Sevastian is diligent in his viewing, brow furrowing as he attempted to decipher the sayings in real time, all to no avail.

only when Navy speaks it out did it all come together, the interviewer feeling a slight twinge of shame at his interpretation skills being calling into question by himself alone. it makes him all the more grateful for Navidson’s help.

he writes down a few notes after the explanation, silence as he made small impressions on the paper.

“Well said.” Sevastian states as he finishes his note-taking, a smile settling on his features.

“Have those feelings forced you into situations where you feel the need to overcompensate at any point?”

Michael Navidson

with his umbrella unfurled, Sevastian had been making his way through the ash, eyes squinted as to scrupulously look into the distance. it was only when he noticed a silhouette coming closer that he picked up the pace toward them.

it’s near immediate that she takes his arm, and in that same moment does he angle the umbrella down in a swift motion, first behind her head and then over it, his free hand catching her hat in the same moment the umbrella settled over her.

before he could offer it back, she had already spoken and begun dragging him back towards the trail.

he can only chuckle as he was led forward.

“Who’s leading who here?” Sevastian joked passively- tensing his arm, when needed, to allow her to use it as a support to make it up the incline.

Charlotte Sakuragi  | Sandstorm Spirit (II)

he couldn’t help but crack a smile at the woman lecturing him on facts surrounding a dark type in any nature, but not everyone is bound to know another's story.

“That’s a very interesting point. I’ve heard about the Flamethrower thing before, it’s a very unique trait for a poison type to be able to do naturally.”

the Mightyena and Mabosstiff come to sit on either side of himself, quiet observing as Sevastian continued on.

this could be interesting. lets see how far we can go.

“When you say good runners, do you mean this with or without you on-board? I imagine with the added weight of a person it has to impede their speed, no?”

Shalin Nariya

a little snack was just what he needed after all that. maybe they’d have those nanab crackers he had at that one shoot in Fortree, those smacked. that with a la croix would go HARD.

as he walked to the concessions a goofy smile appeared on his face, imagining how good something to eat would be at the moment; a deep swallow keeping him from going a step beyond into drooling.

it was only when he heard his name called out that he snapped out of his stupor, the smile settling into a straight line across his face as he turned to the crowd, and then into a different smile- one practiced- small but calm.

a fan. and a very main-character-in-this-thread-looking one at that.

he puts a hand in his pocket as he walked towards the stranger, taking out a sharpie and giving a toothy grin as he motions his hand towards the hat, as if he was meant to sign it.

“who am I making it out to?”

howard slayte

todays fit for the shoot is as follows.

for the jacket: a double-breasted slim-fit suit in virgin wool. this is a dark blue business suit, tasteful and elegant yet stylish and forward. the sharp features of the suit make it so you look professional while also staying stylish, the stuffy design of that same hum-drum blazer unstandardized with fewer buttons and a sleeker appearance. one of the major benefits of this specific suit is its dust-resistant fabric.

for the shirt: a slim-fit button up in printed stretch cotton. this white shirt betrays the standard of business wear by displaying a pattern of small squares across the entirety of its surface. even with this, it still comes across as professional. in this shoot there is a mix of casual and professional, so the top few buttons are often unbuttoned and collar occasionally ruffled. even despite the mild abuse, the shirt doesn’t easily lose its ironed out appearance nor the original shape of its collar, making it stylish and functional.

for the pants: regular-fit trousers in wool serge. the dark blue matches the business suit perfectly and the pleat of the pants doesn’t hit against your legs awkwardly. these lightweight pants find a way to feel comfortable yet contort to your proportions nicely. they also feel nice to lounge around in, so even if you’re in them for hours on hours, you won’t feel trapped in a pair of pants that keeps sticking to your leg; or is too hot, causing perspiration and ruining your nice shirt.

for the shoes: suede double-monk strap and cap toe. dark blue, like the jacket and pants, honestly they're a little too bottom heavy. they’re comfortable to wear and when walking in them they do feel solid, but at times when you put your foot forward to walk, you might have to catch yourself. the cap toes also sometimes get caught on surfaces like carpet making you trip a little. despite these grievances, when you get used to them they absolutely feel like something you’d want to wear again and you may even make an effort to make it a certainty that they end up back on your feet once more.

for the accessories: a watch, a belt, and a document case.

the watch: a black link-bracelet with a tonal dial. this fully black multi-eye watch is accentuated with gold for the hands and the hash marks. the beauty is in it’s simplicity as and elegance, not too boastful but still bold in its accentuation. the black-plated steel link bracelet keeps your wrist cool and fits nicely on either wrist, never clamping on too tightly in any orientation its placed in.

the belt: a kalosian-leather belt with plaque monogram buckle. for this shoot we placed a faux mega key stone into the plaque area as well as the companies logo. the belt is not much on its own so there isn’t much to really comment on it, what really makes it special is the plaque but it’s also kind of tacky to place a mega stone on a belt. if i have free reign, and we were not to look business casual slash professional, it could look good if it was more on the hip than towards the crotch.

the bag: a zipped document case in kolosian leather with embossed (hugo boss) logo. it’s a spacious black case with multiple compartments for storing documents or other needed items such as pokeballs and other baubles; theres even a waterproof bag and specified location for an umbrella. it’s kind of boring but its practical and nice to look at, and the natural weight is light so even if it filled up, you won’t have to worry about the bag itself adding to that total weight.

---

the photoshoot was to be a display of this particular brands versatility. there was already a shoot made with another colleague in Sinnoh at Snowpoint, and another in Orre across multiple cities, so snow and sand was covered. ash was and is a lesser explored natural effect, but when there are multiple cities in Hoenn that are affected by it, it isn’t such a farfetched medium.

in any case, while displaying the fashion forwardness of this particular company, a certain natural element that was being advertised against had decided to come into play; a sootstorm to be exact. it wasn’t exactly uncalled for, but usually these things would be forecasted before they happened, today was different.

one moment there was the normal amount of ash falling from the skies, Sevastian posing for the cameras with his umbrella to the ground, and the next, a violent torrent of ash began pouring from above; completely clouding the hubris of humanity that is lavaridge.

as the crew struggled to hurry and pack up their gear, careful not to damage any of the expensive equipment set out, Sevastian aided citizens and previous onlookers of the public shoot towards the nearest source of cover.

releasing two pokemon, a Mightyena and a Mabosstiff, the man instructed them to continue escorting lost citizens into town while he made an effort- despite the current cinematographer’s warnings not to- to head further up the road so people could have someone to direct them through the smog.

Charlotte Sakuragi  | Sandstorm Spirit (II)

“On god?” he mouths in somewhat astonishment at the confession. sending such a risqué text to two of leagues big hitters takes a lot of guts.

“How brave.” Sevastian mutters as he tucks the voice recorder back into his jacket.

“To hear that such a stoic has a mischievous side is humbling to say the least.”

a chuckle follows as he jots that tidbit down into the open notepad.

adjusting the positon of the glass, he takes another sip from the whiskey, pushing it a little further away from himself as to pace and not overindulge.

“Reliability is a another is one of the most valuable things shared between a pokemon and its partner. I only have two pokemon myself. I trust them with my life and they do what they can to make it easier, but they’re still a lot to manage. I can only image how stressful it must be for one who is at the forefront of this war, of sorts, to be put into so many life threatening scenarios alongside those you love and trust.”

he hovers the pen over his notepad paper and looks to Greninja as he takes a breath and then continues.

“Which begs the question: how do you keep your cool through it all? Is it due to Michael’s training? Is it because of your own personal experiences? Natural talent? Please, enlighten me.”

with this the interview had begun, one leg crossing over another as a flash of the blue sole pierced through darkness before pointing itself towards the bar counter. his full focus rested on the Greninja, giving it the attention he would a human in the interviewee position.

Michael Navidson

the fit for the current moment is what he dressed himself in before he had arrived to the studio.

the shirt: a dior charm relaxed-fit sweatshirt, fully whit. on the back is a logo of dior emblazoned in a light blue font. it’s basically a large billboard for the brand, but it’s also kind of a humble brag in the same instance, showing that you have the money to buy a sweatshirt that’s more than some peoples paychecks. i wear it just because it’s a cotton fleece that feels extremely comfortable in the somewhat cold studio environment.

the pants: cannage bermuda shorts, blue silk twill. now I know what you’re thinking, “a sweater that you say you’re wearing because its cold, but you’re still wearing shorts?” I know, I know. but to that same respect, people wear t-shirts and jeans on a warm day, so why not the opposite with a sweater and shorts? trust the process.

the shoes: b57 low-top sneakers, light blue and white calfskin. not much to say other than it’s stylish and the light blue matches with the rest of the outfit. they’re also extremely comfortable to walk around in with couture hi-socks.

the accessories: dior and parley cap, blue and white. it’s a nice alternative to sunglasses for the walk here, though it’s taken off almost immediately after entering the studio.

other than that, the luxury balls that house his pokemon. he plans on doing an outfit swap a little later so anything he needs is in his dressing room.

---

the location chosen for their meet was a Vanta's own home studio, located in Lilycove. Elise Calcifet had been nice enough to answer his summons for an interview so that the citizens of Hoenn can get a better idea of what counts as fashion for an ambassador.

this wasn't anything Sevastian hasn't done before, but it always felt a little weird to put people like this into a the spotlight of something that they really had nothing to do with. he never felt that it was a bad thing perse, as he got to speak to people that were of a different lifestyle than himself, but it felt kind of... psyop-y?

well... as long as it doesn't impact him in a major way, he can't really complain.

a rap at the door signals his arrival, Sevastian stepping into the entryway to the production studios guest room a few moments after ensuring his guest was decent. leaning into the frame, he gives a pleasant smile to Elise before he begins to speak.

“Have you been properly taken care of Miss Calcifet? I hope our assistants have given you the adequate amount of attention you deserve.”

checking his phone, he eyes the time for a second before sliding it away, taking a step into the room and placing both hands on his hips.

“So, how we’re going to do this is we’re going to have a two-part interview. The first will be us in our current outfits just chatting, I’ll be asking you questions until I get down a good feel for you. Then, after a quick outfit change, we move into the next part; which will be a photoshoot slash interview. Basically, you hold a pose while cameras snap photos and we talk, half is looking at cameras, half is looking at me. It’s semi-awkward for the first question but after that you just get used to it.”

giving her one look up and down he asks her one final question with a soft smile.

“Do you have any questions for me before we step foot into the metaphorical frying pan?”

Elise Calcifet