Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or Nintendo, or Game Freak, or white chocolate mochas. I do own the OC's that I use (As of now, Anton and his family. That being said, enjoy the chapter.

I thought today was going to be a normal day. I assumed that I was to go to the mall with my mother and father, grab a few clothes to try on, go to the game store they had there to pick up the latest addition to the Pokémon series that I had pre-ordered - Pokémon X - and then stop at the coffee store for some revitalizing white chocolate mochas, and then leave the mall, go home, and I was going to peacefully play Pokémon X until the break of dawn.

Boy, was I ever so wrong.

Very wrong.

Oh, I should probably introduce myself before I continue. My name is Anton Wells, and I'm not quite sure how I got here in Kalos. Let's see, here… I'm 17 years old, so there's that… I'd say that I'm about 5'11", weigh in at about 170 pounds, and a few other things. I should also add that I'm fairly athletic, but I'm nowhere near athletic enough to get into any professional sports. I'm fairly decent when it comes to parkouring my way around things, but I'm nowhere near good enough to start that up as a profession of mine… I have a fair bit of muscle, but not a whole ton, and it's mostly centered around my arms and legs. If it helps, I can also defend myself fairly well with a knife.

But… enough of that… let me tell you what happened from the very beginning…

"Anton, wake up! We're at the mall!"

My mother's voice rang through my ears as I snapped awake. "Huh? What?!" I shouted, twisting and turning a bit until I realized that I was inside my mother's Dodge Intrepid, which was currently parked in the front of a large shopping mall made of tan bricks. It wasn't until I saw the mall's signature sign glowing on the edge that I realized where we were. "Oh, we're here?"

"Didn't I just say that?" My mother gave me a look of concern after my little 'fit' that I had when I awakened.

"It woke me up, but that doesn't mean I could understand it the first time." I replied curtly as I rubbed my head, having a bit of a headache. Damn, my head hurts… Maybe I should ask my mom for Ibuprofen… … Nah, it can wait. I decided as I got out of the seat I was in, crawling out the back door of my mother's old Intrepid. I saw my brother, who was the age of 22, look at me. "Hey, you okay? I know you've been having a few nightma-"

"Don't bring it up." I said shortly to my brother, shooting him a light glare from under my messy brown hair. Luckily, he received the message, and he shut up nearly immediately. I smirked lightly the moment he looked away.

"Now, now, no excitement. We're here to get in, get what we need, and get out." My mother addressed to everyone as she looked at my father. "Dave, you and I are going to the clothes shop. You have the list of everything that we need?

"Yeah, yeah, I've got everything." My father said as he stretched, making his height of at least 6 and a half feet fairly obvious to the rest of my family. It didn't surprise me, seeing as his entire bloodline was known for their height.

My mother turned to my brother, Lucas and I. "You two, you know where you're going?"

"Yeah, I-" I began, but my brother rudely interrupted me.

"Yeah, Anton and I can handle ourselves, can't we?" He said, looking at me.

I shot him another glare before I replied with a silent "Of course." under my breath. My mother looked at the both of us.

"Good. You know the drill, text me if something comes up, I always have my phone on me." She said, looking at Dave. "C'mon, Dave, let's go… It looks like it'll rain soon." She said. I took a moment to look up at the sky, and saw that it was indeed about to rain. In the distance, about a few miles away, I could even see the rain falling from the sky, looking like a clear curtain from where we currently were. I saw a few flashes in the sky, and knew that we were going to have to do this as quickly as possible if we were to beat the rain.

I turned to Lucas. "C'mon, let's go before the rain gets here." I told him as I made a dash for the entrance to the mall, barely avoiding a few cars that were driving by. The drivers shot me angry glares and a few rude gestures, but I didn't really care all that much. They were much faster than I. I dashed to the entrance and waited there for my brother, who got there within a few seconds.

"You're fast." Lucas said as he stopped to catch his breath. "Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't take longer to catch up." He said, as he looked inside. "Hey, I can see the game store over there. Let's go ahead and go there to pick up your game." He said. I replied with nothing but a nod, and began to walk to the store, taking notice of the bright neon pink sign marking it's location. It was one of those stores that are on the corner, so the entrance was at a 45 degree angle to the rest of the wall, which was entirely made of glass. I smiled and entered for the millionth time. I knew the drill.

"I see you've come." The cashier behind the counter said. The cashier was clearly going through his adolescent phase, having more zits than one could count on his face, along with quite a few freckles to go along with it. He had short red hair that was smooth and appeared to be silky from where I was standing. He also had glasses that were obviously too big for his face, for they kept sliding down, and he would have to readjust them at least once every ten seconds.

"You should know why I'm here." I gave a light smile, having known this cashier for quite a while now.

"Yes. You've come for your Pokémon X game, haven't you?" The cashier studied me for a few seconds, his dronic voice ringing in my head and sort of causing a slight buzzing in my ears, but I simply passed that off as the sound of the electric current running through the wires that I was standing near, connecting the control panel behind the counter to the neon sign out front.

"That would be correct." I replied as the cashier gave me a light smile. He gave me a finger, motioning for me to wait just a second. He pulled out a box from one of the shelves behind the counter and placed it in front of me. I could only envision the adventures that I would have in the game… catching Pokémon all around Kalos… battling trainers… taking down Gyms… eventually beating the Elite Four… And then trading all of my Pokémon to a friend for safe-keeping while I wipe the cartridge and Nuzlocke the game. "And I think that I payed up-front for it when I first ordered it?"

"That would be correct again." He said as he gave me the box, which had Xerneas on it. Design-wise, I felt that Xerneas was an amazing Pokémon, and I've even heard of it's prowess in competitive battling from what my friend said, being one of the lucky few who had gotten the game much earlier than I. "Enjoy your game, and… Try not to die." He said, his dronic voice causing a weird buzzing noise, slightly louder than the last one.

I chuckled lightly. "You need my business, after all." I said, the Borderlands reference being obvious as I stepped out of the small shop, my brother following suit. "I know that cashier all too well."

"Figured as much." My brother Lucas replied with a light chuckle as we went to the wishing fountain that was just outside and sat down on a bench, listening to the sound of the water rushing from the spurt-out points to the body of the fountain as we waited for our parents to arrive. It seemed like a perfect time to talk, or maybe play a quick game, or something.

But that's when things began to get hairy.

"Hey, wait… Do you hear that?" Lucas asked, as he strained his ears. I did the same, but didn't hear anything… except… A subtle 'ratatatatatatatatatatatatat' noise coming from the northern hallway, followed by a scream that echoed down the walls of the corridor. At that moment, everyone went silent and listened, staring down the end of the hallway. I saw a man come into the door with a set of black military-grade body armor, followed with a black helmet that matched the armor, protecting him from anything that could have come his way. I didn't think too much of it until I saw what he was holding; it was an older model of an M4 Carbine, military-grade. I knew something was up then, but when I saw three other people behind him with the exact same armor and slight weapon variances, it became painstakingly obvious what was going on.

The 'ratatatatat' noise? Gunfire.

The people? Terrorists.

There was going to be a shooting going down in this mall.

And Lucas and I were in the middle of it.

There was a long and painful pause as the group of terrorists walked down the hallway, stopping once they were about halfway between the wishing fountain and the door they had walked into. They looked at one another, nodded, and aimed all of their weapons towards the fountain; more specifically, at all of the people that were sitting there.

It didn't even take until the first gunshot for everyone to start running away from the fountain. My brother grabbed my arm and stood up, and I did the same. "Come on, we need to get out of here!" Lucas shouted at me as he ran down a random corridor, leaving the terrorists behind a corner. I looked at the terrorists with a bit of curiosity before they opened fire, killing the few who couldn't be bothered to run away. The people who were shot fell to the ground with visible holes through them, blood spurting out of the wounds. staining the clothes that no longer belonged to them. One of the terrorists, who was holding an M1917 Revolver, looked at me. I took that as my cue to follow my brother, barely managing to keep up to him. I made sure that I still had the Pokémon X box in my hand, and I clutched it tightly.

I looked around for a possible place to hide, and saw a series of stands in the center of the hallway, going down. All but one of them had someone in them, either hiding inside the stands or preparing something to defend themselves with. I eyed the stand that was currently empty; it was a stand offering electronic cigarettes and then normal cigarettes right beside it. I wasn't yet old enough to smoke, but I didn't really care, for if Lucas and I didn't find a place to hide soon, we would both be shot down like the innocent people back at the fountain. "In here!" I shouted, vaulting over the counter parkour style and ducking behind it nearly immediately. My brother Lucas tried the trick that I did, but failed, instead banging his shins against the edge of the counter. Groaning in pain, he joined me by instead going around the side and entering the gate.

"You okay?" He asked me, searching me for any injuries. I sighed and let him do so, thankful to be alive.

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little shaken, but fine." I replied as a single tear slid down my face due to the panic. I could still feel the tension rising, and I heard a single voice screaming from a fair bit away.

"Help! Help me! God help me!" It was my mother's high-pitched, snobby voice. I went wide-eyed.

"I-Is that-?!" I began, but my brother closed my mouth and peeked over the top of the counter in the direction that our mother's voice was coming from. I decided to follow his example and do the same, but it was a bit too late.

Her eyes and mine met as she began to rush in our direction. She had failed to notice the terrorist behind her, aiming his handgun at the back of her head. I couldn't stop myself before I shot my hand out in her direction, knowing that she was too far away to take it by at least fifty feet. "Mom! Look out!" I shouted before I could stop myself. She turned around to look behind her, but it was far too late. The terrorist had fired his weapon, and I could hardly stand to watch as the bullet drilled through my mother's head, going through completely and hitting somewhere about ten feet to my left. I couldn't stand to look away as she fell, the wound too serious to be healed.

As she fell to the ground, everything seemed to move in slow-motion, from her long brown hair flowing throughout the air as she fell to the ground, to her green eyes locking with mine one last time as they closed forever, to the blood spatters that were spurting out of the bullet hole. "MOM! NO!" I shouted as I prepared to vault over the counter once more, but my brother pulled me back down. I heard a few more shots being fired, and could only imagine the terrorist shooting a few more holes into my mother's pink knee-length dress.

"Andro, we have to get out of here, now!" He shouted as he looked into my eyes and nodded. Shedding another few tears, I returned the nod. "Follow my lead" He said as he stood up and began to sprint down the hallway. I got up and did exactly as he did, sprinting next to him. It only took us a few seconds to sprint down the rest of the hallway, about to turn the corner as a few handgun shots flew right past us, one of them barely nicking my ear. I winced slightly as the stinging began to worsen, but didn't bother to check if it was bleeding or not; I could already tell from the trickle running down my neck that it was. As my brother turned the corner, he stopped me, pushing me down to the ground, behind the wall.

"What?" I said, but from the look I could see on his face, I didn't even need to say anything to know that there was a terrorist behind the corner. The only other thing that tipped me off about that was the fact that my brother now had three bullet-holes in his stomach, and I heard the same 'ratatatatatat' sound from earlier, except at least three times as loud. My brother fell immediately backwards, shooting me one last glance as I rushed to his side. "L-Lucas…" I said, another tear falling down my face.

"Anton…" He said, coughing up a large amount of blood as the wounds on his stomach leaked out just as much blood. I was one for optimism, but even I knew that he wouldn't survive this. "I… I am sorry…" He said, clutching his stomach, the blood staining his white tee-shirt and his blue denim jeans. "... I have failed… I… failed… to pro.. protect…" He took a deep breath inward, and I scooted closer to him to hear his last words.

"... I… failed… t-to… protect… y-you…" He whispered as he let out his last breath and his eyes slowly closed, and Death's cold embrace overcame him.

"LUCAS!" I shouted as I flung myself on top of him, sobbing. "No… D-don't die on me, God damn it!" I shook him hard, hoping, just barely clinging to the hope that he would spring back up immediately; the hope that he would get right back up on his feet and knock the terrorist out with a single punch, or a single kick to the crotch, or something. But as I looked at him, the heartrending sensation of knowing that he was dead overcame me, and my body was racked in sobs. "Lucas… No…" I whispered, as I stopped shaking him, tears streaming down my face like a river. At that moment, I felt like the most vulnerable being on Earth, needing constant protection from the outside world…

But, at the same time, I felt like some otherworldly source was shielding me from something. Like a power of divine intervention was preventing me from stopping. I had to go on without my family, I had to go on knowing that I would be scarred for life due to what's happening now. I knew that I had to press on and continue, despite the circumstances.

That all went away when I heard the sound of an assault rifle being reloaded from above me. I slowly and cautiously looked up and saw one of the terrorists with his assault rifle now locked and loaded…

And aimed right at my head.

I blinked away a few last tears in shock as my fear kept me rooted to the ground. The last things that I heard was the sound of 'ratatatatatat' and a large amount of pain going through my head, my eyes, and my chest as my vision went red and black, and I fell over to my side. The last things that I felt was the sensation of pain and the feeling of warm, coppery blood all around me. I barely managed to open my eyes one last time, to see my brother dead beside me, and my attacker being shot at by a blue, blurry figure at one of the doors; the police. Thank God… maybe… Maybe I'll survive this… Maybe I'll be taken out of here in a stretcher, alive. Maybe I won't die.

The moment that I thought that, I felt a boot press itself against my back, holding me to the ground. I managed to weakly groan and turn my head to my left, seeing that the source of the boot was another terrorist, aiming his pistol at the back of my head. The last thing that I heard was the silenced shot of the pistol before my vision went black, and any previous sensation of pain or fear went away.

I was dead. And I knew it now.

There was no going back.

A/N: This first chapter has nearly nothing to do with the RP itself, but it does have stuff to do with Anton's backstory, which will prove to be handy later.