Two Lives, Chapter 13

I saw Brandon look at the bloodied piece of metal in his hands. The colors came to life under the crimson liquid and Brandon stood in awe. He seemed like he couldn't breathe while twisting and turning the circular token in his hands. He looked into the sky and sighed loudly.
"I... Did it..." He said before falling to his knees. His body fell to the floor as well, Brandon's breathing being barely apparent.

"Brandon!" I shouted, getting up and rushing over to him. I flipped him over on his back, seeing his eyes closed and his breathing shallow.

"Don't worry, he's fine. That fight took a good amount out of him." I looked up at Master Sei.

"He... Yeah. Himari, can you help me?"

"Don't, Sonata. Roland, assistance, if you please?" Master Sei commanded. The dark skinned goliath of a man came from the back and walked over to my dark skinned friend and picked him up with ease.

"To the nursing wing. Get our nurse to tend to his wounds." He ordered, Roland turning around and walking off. Sei turned to me again.

"I'd suggest that you and Himari head back to the Pokemon Center. Come back her with his stuff in the morning, he'll be patched up by then."

"But, sir-"

"Go. He is in good hands, I promise you." I stepped back, surprised at how stern he was. I turned around, but not before saying one more thing.

"He better be okay by tomorrow." I said, stepping back to Himari.

"Let's go."

"But Sonata-"

"Himari, please... Let's just... C'mon." I said dryly, walking out of the doors. As my pace became faster and breaking into a run, Himari started struggling to keep up. She was calling my name, but I wasn't listening. I just let every noise start to become one blur as my vision became dark.

"SONATA!" One voice cried. It belonged to Himari, and as I was preparing to turn, on my left was a Semi with no intention of stopping. It's horn blared, but it was no use. I was frozen. Himari wasn't close enough to push me out of the way. I... I just let it come...

I was expecting a lot more pain than that.

Thankfully, the Semi stopped... But not before hitting me rather hard. It was slowing down, but it was still fast enough to hit me with some force. I was knocked into the middle of an intersection, a local police member stopping all traffic to take a look at me. I was just... Laying there. I didn't feel anything really. My mind was just... Dead. Himari came bounding over to me at a far faster rate than her attempts at catching up to me. As the blood stained my shirt and the bruises formed, she lifted me up and took a look in my eyes. She hugged me as tight as she could have.

"You're alright! Oh thank Arceus you're alright!" She released me from the embrace and sat me upright. I put my head in my hands and tried to stand up. Of course, the pain shot through me as hard as needed, but I couldn't care less. I started to walk back to the Pokemon Center, actually making an attempt to see where I was going. Himari, though, had another plan. When we were on the sidewalk, she put a hand on my shoulder, turning me around. She smiled at me, before rearing her hand back and slapping me straight in the face. My senses immediately came back to me. I looked at her as I placed my hand to my cheek.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" She started. Her rage was visible, people on the street stopping and looking at us. Her regular voice had changed to an Scotlin Region accent.

"Brandon was injured enough in that fight with Team Mega! Are ye fucking daft, punk? You have no fucking idea how much I am worrying about Brandon, and then ye go ind get hit by a fucking truck? Where the fuck has yer mind gone?!"

"Hi... Himari..."

"Don't ye 'Himari' me, punk!"

"Himari I... I'm sorry, I just... Can we talk about this back at the center? Calmly? Your accent changed..." She seemed to come to a realization. She looked around, seeing people staring at her and I. She covered her mouth and blushed profusely. She grabbed me by the wrist and ran towards our current sleeping space. When she stormed into the Pokemon Center, she threw me in the room and shut the door. Holding her hands on the button, she took herself some deep breaths, calming herself. She straightened her hair a bit and turned to me. Sitting down on the opposite bed(Where our Pokemon were) and cleared her throat.

"Sonata... Why are you so... Out of it?"

"Himari... Brandon is my best friend. He's been there since we were kids. I... I look up to him. I always wanted to be like him, really. My parents... Their fame caught up to us, and when I was born, all hell broke loose. Everyone expected me to be a whiz with Pokemon training. They expected me to just be... Great. I usually just wanted to hang out with Brandon. Be with him and just... Be us. But... People were always 'wow-ed' by me. Brandon always just... Put up with it. He's... He's a great fighter, he's tall, he's strong, he's... Everything i'm not. I've always wanted to be like him. He really is something that I... That I aspire to be. I know I'll never make it, though."

"Sonata... Didn't you hear him? He feels like you're the better one here. Like he's the on dragging you down."

"What? No! We decided to do this as a team. We're family until the end! I've just wanted to help him!"

"Sonata, listen to me. Think about how Brandon feels? You got your first non-starter Pokemon before him. You got the badge before him. You're the son of two former champions of the Kalos Region!"

"What does that matter? We're both trainers, now! We are equals!"

"Tell that to him! He thinks that he's been living in your shadow! He thinks that you're a shining brilliance to look up to!"

"What's there to look up to? Nothing! I'm a novice trainer! I could never get the guts to even do half the shit that he has done!"

"Why do you think that?!"

"Look at me, Himari! I'm short, I'm weak, I'm nothing! He can command his pokemon without words!"

"Sonata, shut the hell up! You're both great trainers! But you have to realize that he feels inferior!"

"But I-"

"Sonata, I swear to Arceus. Look... Think about his. You two... Balance each other out. Brandon is a little rough around the edges, but if you shave him down like you have, well, he's a smooth guy. Nice, even. Sure, there's some toothpaste in that vanilla cookie sandwich, but you deal with it because you really like the vanilla, right? And you, you're not rough enough. Brandon is there to put some edge onto you. Two lives, one heart. He is dark, and you are light."

"But isn't the dark a bad thing?"

"Not at all. In order for there to be, well, order, light and dark must be in equilibrium. There is dark in all light, and light in all dark."

"Where did you get this sort of speech?"

"I played Kingdom Hearts a lot when I was younger. It was a lot of fun. But it's true."

"Keh. You got your advice from a video game?"

"So says the guy who frequently acts like he came straight out of an anime?"

"Shut up." I ended, yawning.

"Listen... I know that... Look, I'm sorry about tonight, Himari.

"It's okay, Sonata. Let's just go to bed. When we get up, we'll go grab Brandon and head out to the next city. Alright?"

"Y-Yeah..." Himari laid herself in the bed across from me, the Pokemon all gravitating toward her. I laid my head back and thought about what had really transpired.

Brandon... Does he really think that I'm the limelight over here? Is that why he gave me the credit for saving that one girl's Skitty as a kid? When I broke that window with a Pokeball... He took the blame for it. Why..? If he didn't do those things... Ugh! I've known him for 11 years and I still don't understand him! Arceus dammit! I hit the nearest soft object, and even then it still stung a bit. I just decided to fade into sleep... . . . . . . . . . .

In a white space, I stood there. Brandon was behind me, back turned, in his black clothing as usual. I was in an all blue outfit, mirroring his. We turned to face the same entity, Arceus. A white ghostlike figure approached Brandon and a Black and Blue figure approached me. We extended our hands out to the colors, and they both ran right through us. Me and Brandon switched hair colors as our clothes changed. My forearms had 3 gold rings attached to them, blue colorant extending. From my neck, the rest of my clothes turned into a black hue. A tail sprouted from my back, along with two feathery wings. Brandon, his hair now white and now a tad more... groomed. A black horn extended from the exposed side of his face, wings sprouting from his back. A blade of a tail grew too as his sleeves became noticably fluffier. A bright white light enveloped the place, blinding my vision.

The morning was here, and I woke up with a scream, Himari at the side of the bed, all ready for the coming day.

"Sonata, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I... I didn't even have a bad dream or anything."

"Then why are you screaming, silly?"

"I... I don't know. Let's... Let's just go." I said, flipping my legs over the bed with pain surging through my entire body. I stood and touched my chest, feeling something under my X shirt.

"What the..?"

"I waited for you to fall asleep. You were out like a light, so I was worried about anything. I called the nurse in to take a look at you, and we cleaned and bandaged you up. I hope you don't mind." I was barely listening, honestly. I started to pat my legs and felt bandages there, too.

"You... got my legs, too." Himari visibly steamed at that statement.

"I-I-I d-didn't do a-anything around that a-area! I swear!"

"I believe you! I believe you. Just... I'm surprised you'd do this for me."

"Well, we couldn't have you all cut up, now could we?"

"Yeah... Thanks, Himari."

"No problem! Now get dressed and wake your Pokemon up, we have to go see a certain moody boy." She said. I got up with some pain, grabbing my grounded hoodie and slipping it over my body. I grabbed the Pokeballs on the nightstand and pointed at my Pokemon, touching the buttons and watching them become enveloped in the red light. I dropped the shrunken balls in my pocket, grabbing my bag and sliding it over my shoulder. Grabbing Brandon's baggage, I flung it over my other shoulder and the two of us were on our way back to the gym. Walking out, I had a question pop in my head.

"Hey Himari? Why were we sleeping in the same bed?"

"O-Oh! I-I... Um... I was cold and I, um... It's just hard not sleeping without anything to hold, and you don't seem to mind, so..." I think I was blushing, but I know for sure she was because of how red her face was.

"Well, It's no problem here! I was just wondering, that's all!" I reassured. We kept walking towards the gym eventually reaching there with no being hit by cars. Upon reaching the doors, we saw a construction crew reconstructing the building that was destroyed the night before. We opened the doors, and there stood Brandon next to Sei at his battle position. They both seemed to be talking, Brandon barely moving. He was covered in bandages, visible under his new beanie. Well, it didn't look new anymore.

"Brandon!" I shouted, running over to him.

"Sonata? What the hell are you doing here?"

"To get you, idiot! Why else?"

"Shut it."

"Come on, man. We're in this to the end."

"Why do you insist on keeping me around? I'm just your shadow, anyways." I had enough of his shit. I reared my hand back and decked him right across the face. Granted, I had to aim upward, but still.

"What the fuck, man!?"

"You're my best friend you fucking shithead!" I punched him again.

"We've been by each other's sides since we were kids!"

"Then why have I always been shoved aside?! I'm not the kid of two fucking champions from a different region, I'm just me! Shitty old me! No'one knows who I am!"

"Why do you fucking think we came out on this adventure whatever? So you can finally be noticed!"

"Like that's gonna fucking work!"

"It is gonna fucking work, dipshit! You think that I could've done any of that shit you did last night? You think that I wanted to be famous?! You think I liked seeing you pushed aside?! What kind of guy do you think I am?! You're my best fucking friend! My only real friend! Everyone else only saw my parents! You're the only person who ever saw me for me, goddammit!"

"Bull fucking shit!"

"Don't you 'bull fucking shit' me you incompetent!" One more slug.

"Pessimistic!" And another.

"Asshole! How about you stop seeing yourself in such a negative goddamn light! You have more worth than you fucking realize! It's okay to be you! It's okay..!" I stopped my assault on the already injured teen and... I just hugged him.

"You're such an idiot, man..."

"I'm your idiot." We just stood there like that... It took me a second to realize what was going on, so I released him and patted my clothes down. I handed him his stuff and he threw it over his shoulder. Rubbing his cheeks from the pain, he turned to Master Sei and bowed, as if in respect.

"Thank you, Sei." He turned to me with a bit of a smile.

"You're the darkness that my light needs, man. And there's nothing at all wrong with that. C'mon, let's go!" I said to him, a massive grin on my face.

"Yeah. Let's get going." And with that, we walked out of there. We said our goodbyes to Master Sei, and headed out from the gym and the city entirely.

-

Route 3, 01:00pm.

We were walking through the marshlands of Marsen, having exited Bluefire City with no incident. I checked the time on my XTransciever, and as if I timed it perfectly, my mom called. I hit the button and her face appeared.

"Oh! Sonata! Hi!"

"Hey Mom. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. Where are you?"

"We're half an hour outside of Bluefire, Route 3."

"Oh, for the love of! You guys walk too fast!" I saw my mom turn over to my father.

"Calem! Call out Rhyhorn!"

But honey, he only listens to you!

"Baby, I love you, but DO AS I SAY OR YOU WON'T GET ANY MORE CAKE!"

NOT THE CAKE! Rhyhorn, Go! And a bright light filled the screen. The gray horned Pokemon came up to my mom and nuzzled her, mom getting on top.

"Sonata, stay there. We have something for you." And the call cut off.

"What the hell was that all about?" Brandon asked.

"Huh. I dunno. Mom just said to wait here." And off in the distance, there was a massive dust cloud. It got bigger and bigger and... bigger... and... Oh shit it's coming right for us! I grabbed Himari and pushed her to the side of the road, Brandon dodging to the other. A Rhyhorn came to a stop right in front of us, my mom standing atop the Pokemon and laughing.

"AHAHA! Didja see that Calem? Rhyhorn here is the fastest Rhyhorn alive! Hey, I just saw them right here..." She said. I hopped out of the bushes and called out to her, my parents looking over at me.

"Sonata!" She said, jumping off Rhyhorn.

"Hi sweetie! Where's Brandon?"

"Right here." Brandon said, rolling out of the bushes. Literally rolling.

"Oh MY Arceus sweetheart what happened to you!?" She exclaimed, running over to Brandon and reaching up to touch his bandages.

"Nothing, ma'am, I promise!"

"Don't you 'nothing ma'am' me, young man! Tell me!"

"Mom, please. We had a rough night."

"We as in..?" I lifted up my shirt to show off my own wrappings.

"You two...!"

"Babe! Calm Down! I'm sure it was just an accident. Sonata must have fallen off of something, you know how he is!" Dad tried reassuring her. She took a deep breath and composed herself. Himari snuck out of the bushes and was hiding behind me. She started whispering.

"Sonata, those are your parents? I thought they'd be more... calm?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Oh? Who's this?" My mom asked, pointing to the girl behind me. Himari squeaked when she was called.

"I'm Himari Palm... Professor Palm's daughter..."

"Oh, aren't you cute? Oh my, I almost forgot! Brandon!" Mom turned to my tall friend and retrieved something from her pocket. It was a small watch with a screen on it.

"We bought you a X Transceiver, honey!"

"Wait, what? Ma'am, I couldn't."

"Take the damn thing." She pushed it into his hands and looked up at him.

"Thank you for being there for Sonata, Brandon. You're a great son, to both us and your own mother. You have your father's face, you know that?"

"Yeah... I do. Thanks, ma'am."

"Well? Go on, put it on!" Brandon just stared at it. He slid off his challenger icon and replaced it with the black X Transciever.

"I already programmed a few numbers in there. Even your mothers!"

"Mom's? But she doesn't have o-... You didn't." Mom pulled out a receipt for two X Transcievers, one red and one black.

"I did~"

"Ma'am, you didn't have to do this!"

"We totally didn't, but we did anyway. You're our son just as much as Sonata is, Brandon." Brandon looked down at her, surprised. Mom just hugged him.

"I'm sorry we couldn't bring your mom."

"No, it's fine, I just... Thank you."

"It's the least we could do! C'mon, Calem. Let's head home." They both mounted the Rhyhorn and turned to leave.

"Good luck, guys! We love you!" And they sped off, back to Riki Town. Himari came out from behind me.

"She wasn't surprised that I'm the daughter of the Professor?"

"Himari, they're former champions. They fought Pokemon that could steal souls, met a guy who tried to revive his Floette and lived for 1000 years, and have been around the block a few times in competitive Pokemon battling. They've been around the block a few times." Brandon and I said. You know, with how much we do stuff in sync, I've been kinda seeing that we are brothers, kind of. Brandon looked at the X Transciever he had just put on.

"Let's keep going, man!"

"Right."

The scene opens up, Sonata sitting in his studio, Brandon asleep with a few empty coffee mugs next to him. Sonata looks to the camera.

Sonata: Hey everybody, I'm your friendly neighborhood Shushiroto! Oh, shit, this isn't my YouTube channel! Hey everyone, back again with Two Lives, the story of Sonata and Brandon! Of course, Sonata has many forms. Including this one. Black hair, glasses, 200+lbs, 5'9", job at YouTube and here on . Y'all know the deal!

He stands up and pulls out his phone.

Sonata: But I also have other forms! Such as this!

Sonata grows taller and sprouts a tail, his clothes and hair changing. A sword appears in front of him and he takes it.

Lux!Sonata: I have this form, too!

He reverts to his original height, but the sword disappears and his clothes and hair change again.

Trainer!Sonata: Well, here's another form.

He reverts back to his original form and plops back in his chair.

Sonata: Well, now i'm here, in my apartment. Listening to the Muppets. Cuz the Muppets are da BOMB, man! Shit, man, I wanna do a video with the Muppets.

So, guys, how didja like the chapter? I think I illustrated what went on in Sonata's brain kinda well. It's hard for me to write inner turmoil. I might leave that to my bro there, sleeping. God he doesn't sleep enough.

So, if you liked this chapter for some reason, go ahead and drop us a follow and/or a favorite! It'll mean a sheit ton to the both of us, so please. Do. I'll give y'all a cookie~

Also, please consider leaving a review to tell me how shitty I did. Actually, change that request to an order. THAT'S AN ORDER, READER!

Also, on a shameless self promotional note, Go check out my YouTube channel where you can hear from me every week on Fridays, where I upload myself playing The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. I'm sure you'll be entertained.

As Always, Keep Sparki.

~Sonata Haruka Tsuzihri VII, Head Seraph of the Electric Angels.