A/N: Right... I suppose its about time I put something up, instead of just freeloading and watching everyone else do the writing, ha...

Anyway, here's my first project, (only my second fan-fic ever written) currently titled "Cycles' End"; I suppose the reason I chose that title is because... well, you'll probably find out.
On to the story! Hopefully, someone out there will enjoy.

(small note: probably best viewed at 1/2 or 3/4, dependant on screen resolution)

Chapter 1: The Aftermath

It was so confusing... she had awoken with a start when a loud noise erupted through the forest she found herself in— gunfire...? All she could pay attention to was the canopy above her motionless form; her thoughts were in terrible disarray. What made the situation worse was she was completely alone; not a soul in sight for as far as she could see. But... she felt weird; as though something was amiss with her. She could remember a fight breaking out inside an enormous warehouse, freeing Pokémon stolen by a trusted company, trying to find evidence it was them... but the rest was a blur—how had she ended up where she was?

She moved slightly to sit herself up when a sudden pain gripped her; that was when she noticed blood covering her left arm and an open wound where she recalled she had been shot by—'Who?' She racked her brain for the information, but couldn't piece together who had actually shot her. She was with Ryan and Tori when they entered the complex; Fletcher and Arc had met up with them once they had disengaged the facility security and opened the warehouse gates for them to enter with the truck... but the question of who shot her still rang empty in her mind.

She was in a bad way; she had lost a lot of blood from the bullet wound in her arm, but also from the wound in her side. She could see another hole in her side as she pushed herself further from the ground. It had seemed to miss anything majorly important in terms of organs, but the pain... is was intense. She could feel herself going a little woozy at the thought, pulling herself back from throwing up at the thoughts she had in her mind. She didn't have time to be thinking about how this had happened now... she needed to find help—fast.

It took all her strength to pull herself up from the floor, where a small puddle of blood remained from where she had been lying down, unconscious. She stripped her gaze from the sight, feeling her stomach lurch again at the sight of it and slowly staggered towards the opening in the trees. She could smell smoke as she progressed, trying to keep herself steady as she pressed forward, trying to unsuccessfully block the pain out. Her right hand held her side, while her left arm was held limp; it hurt far too much to move and she needed to hold onto her side to at least try and numb down the pain, anyway. 'What the hell happened...?'

As she came into the clearing, she could see the ruins of a building smoking heavily, but with little to no flames, as though the fire had been dealt with not long ago. But that seemed of little importance as she staggered forward, hoping she could find help, or even her friends nearby. She could remember Fletcher calling for her to look out—'Before I got shot?' Everything was a mess... she could barely think at all and when she did, it was mostly on survival. There was a small hill just before her that she barely managed to climb, but reaching the top, she had wished she had gone the other way...

Below her, about 12 feet away, was the body of Fletcher. He was piled in a bloody heap, his left arm twisted in ways not humanly possible, with several bullet wounds covering his body and a look of complete horror across his still face. It was obvious to her who had gotten to him before her, but her thoughts wandered through her despair at the sight; was anyone else alive? Mere minutes from being gunned down by those scum?

She nearly threw up again, falling to her knees at the thought of the horrible things that had happened; everything had gone horribly wrong... but she needed to get out of here—as far away as possible to get the truth out there, to the people. At the very least, she could recall the thefts of Pokémon by Cyclone Inc.—whatever else there was she would have to rummage through her mind to recall; from the injuries she had sustained and the shock she received from seeing Fletcher's slain form, she was far from being all right.

She just barely managed to pull herself up and forced herself to walk away from the wreckage of the broken-down facility and back into the forested area she had come from—travelling in the cover of the trees and foliage seemed far safer than guiding herself along the hill.
"Fletcher," she murmured in sadness as she wandered through the forest— quietly, but as quickly as her wounds would let her. There were several times where she could feel herself falling back to unconsciousness, but her fighting spirit kept her going. She had to do this, now—not only for Fletcher, but for the rest of her friends, who could be in a worse off position then her, if they were still alive. She just hoped that Arc, Ryan and Tori were still alive; fighting like she was...

As time passed on though, things started looking very bleak; at least more than they were. She had been stumbling through the forest for what felt like an hour now and found no end to the trees. Her mind was in complete panic, she cursed herself for ending up lost in a place where few people would think to look for her and even fewer would probably find her. She kept falling to her knees as she travelled, just barely managing to pull herself up each time she did. It felt like the forest was out to get her—once she gave up, everything would come and finish her off. The train of thought terrified her as she pressed onward, hoping that she would find some sign of humanity—soon.
Thud.

She couldn't take it anymore; the pain she was enduring had finally caught up to her and she collapsed from it, unable to pull herself back up from the ground. Streams of tears started flowing out of her eyes as she slowly started to lose consciousness; her thoughts on the friends she would never be able to meet again.
"Arc... Fletcher... Ryan... Tori... I'm sorry... I failed you all," she managed to utter, before blacking out, the cold forest embracing her fallen form...

A/N: Well, that's Chapter 1 of "Cycles' End". I'm a lover of Chapter conclusions like this... kind of.

Anyway, Reviews are welcomed, as is criticism! I know I'm not the greatest writer in the world, (far far from being so) so criticism is appreciated-- so long as its constructive!

Until next time, this is YukitheRedFox, headin' out!