Okay, so I finally have an update for the story. I know that it was an extended wait, but I've spent a majority of that time compiling ideas for this story, as well as working on my other stories. Anyway, we shall begin, but first, I have a review to respond to.

Vulpix's Flame: Y'know, I really hate to say it, but I truly don't know. I mean, I know that Latios is a gender specific Pokemon, so that will be a challenge, but at the same time, I truly don't want to exclude him. I actually just sat for a little while, thinking of ways to do it, and I only came up with three options: I could exclude him, as most do, even though I really don't want to. I could do a gender swap, and turn him into a female, which I also don't really want to do. Or I could make him an extremely... effeminate male. Yeah, that's all that I could come up with, to be quite honest, and the one I like best is honestly the third option. I don't really know, I'll honestly either have people leave in a review which one I should do, or just choose the one I like best.


I Fear That Your Optimism Is Misplaced

I dropped to the grass, falling roughly, as my attack was easily parried by Darkrai. She sighed, exasperated, as I flipped from my stomach to lying on my back, sitting Strife down next to me.

Darkrai bent down, holding her hand out to me to help me up, but I just pushed it away, saying, "Don't bother, I might as well just lay here for a little bit. It's not like I'll actually accomplish anything if I get up."

"Don't say that." She said, sitting down next to me.

"Why the hell not?" I said, sighing. "We've been training for almost seven months, and I still haven't gotten any better. Hell, I haven't done a single thing since I got here. Besides, it's not like I'm even wanted here."

"C'mon, you know that that isn't true." Darkrai said.

"Oh really?" I said, sitting up. "There are seventy of us here, thirty five legends and thirty five Champions, and if you take me out of that and that leaves sixty nine. You like me, Celebi likes me, and Mew likes me, while Articuno, Anna, and Arceus just seem indifferent, and all of the others, being sixty three people, despise me. That means that I'm hated by more than ninety percent of this places population. So, please remind me, how am I not unwanted?"

"Don't worry about the others, their just sexist assholes." She said. "And besides, you and I both know that those aren't the only ones who like you." I looked at her, confused, and she said, "C'mon, did you really think that I wouldn't know about you and Shelby, did you?"

"What?" I asked, shocked. "How did you find out?"

Darkrai giggled, before saying, "I have my ways."

"Please don't let anyone else know," I pleaded, "Especially Entei. She'd kill Shelby, before taking me out as well."

"Relax," she reassured me, "your secret is safe with me. But, speaking of you two, aren't you running a little late for your meeting?"

"What?" I said, worried. I quickly dug my phone from my pocket and, seeing the time, said, "Shit, your right. When I told her the time, I hadn't expected our training to take this long."

"Well, how about this," Darkrai said, "I'll let you leave early, but you have to promise to start trying harder in our sessions. Agreed?"

"Agreed." I said, leaping up and grabbing Strife. "Thank you so much, Darkrai."

I sheathed Strife and started to run out of the clearing that we were training in, when Darkrai said, "Shane, wait." I turned and she put her hands on my shoulders, before saying, "Listen, I know that you aren't exactly very popular here, and it kills me to see you beat yourself up about it, when the others already do that enough."

I sighed, saying, "Did you just start this conversation to depress me and make me hate myself even more, or is there some other reason?"

"Of course there's another reason." She said. "I want you to remember, no matter what they say or do to you, they aren't any better than you."

"It's nice to know that someone here has some belief in me," I replied, "but I fear that your optimism is misplaced."

"No, it isn't." Darkrai said, pulling me into a hug. "I promise you, you'll be one of the best Champions this hall has ever had. Mark my words."

"Whatever." I said, pulling myself from her arms. "Anyway, thanks for letting me go early, but I should probably get going now."

With that, I dashed through the trees. I immediately started for our meeting place. Ever since the first day that I got here, Shelby and I have been friends, but we had chosen to keep it a secret, as we both knew that it would call down more of the others wrath, especially Entei, and neither of us wanted that. As I was running, my mind began to stray to other matters. I still don't understand why Darkrai chose me, or why she keeps trying to cheer me up. It's not like I don't understand that I'm useless and unwanted, and I'm honestly surprised that I am actually still here, as I would have thought that the others would have come up with some stupid bullshit reason to get me kicked out. My mind continued to be clouded with these thoughts until I reached the small clearing. As soon as I entered the clearing and saw the familiar Flareon sitting on the grass, a small basket next to her, all of my dark thoughts and worries were immediately expelled from my mind, to be replaced by joy.

"Hey." I greeted Shelby, sitting down across from her. "Sorry for being late. Our training took a little longer than I had anticipated, but Darkrai let me go early."

"It's alright," Shelby said, moving the basket to where it was between us, "I actually just got here, as well. Entei did another fucking room check, and apparently we hadn't cleaned up as well as we thought we had the other night, as she found a chip in the floor."

"Sorry." I said. "Next time we decide to watch movies all night, we can do it my room."

"Thanks." Shelby responded. "While Clint Eastwood is a wonderful actor, his movies aren't worth having to do everyone's laundry for two weeks."

"Seriously?" I asked, slightly surprised. "That's your punishment for one fucking chip?" She nodded, so I said, "Seeing as it's my fault as well, I'll help you."

"No," she said, holding her hands up, "you don't have to help. I mean, you already help me with any other punishments I get."

"I don't care." I said, shrugging. "I mean, that's what friends are for, right?"

"Not normally, no." She said. "Why, did your friends ever help you this much?"

"I, uh," I started awkwardly, "I never really had friends."

"Oh." Shelby said, sounding equally awkward. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I said, shrugging. "I mean, I never really had time for friends, anyway."

"Okay then." She replied, awkwardly. She opened the basket, saying, "Anyway, I'm starving, so let's dig in."

With that, she pulled two sandwiches from the basket, before throwing one to me. We sat there, eating, and talking about our respective training sessions that we had earlier. At one point, we both just got quiet, and I could tell that something was on Shelby's mind.

Just I was open my mouth to question her, she cut me off, saying, "Hey, Shane?"

"Yes?" I replied.

"I was just thinking," she said, "what you said about friends made me realize something."

"Okay." I said, slightly confused. "What?

"Well, we haven't really talked about your life before being a champion." She explained. "I mean, we've had multiple conversations about my life, to the point where you know almost everything about it, but you haven't really ever brought up your own. How come?"

I just shrugged, saying, "There isn't really anything to talk about. I pretty much just existed."

"C'mon," she insisted, "please. I feel like I barely know who you really are."

I sighed. She had a point. Over the time that we've been friends, we had had multiple conversations about her and her life. I had learned that she, along with all other Champions, were technically in their teens, although some of them had been a Champion for quite a while. Shelby was the newest Champion, other than me, having only been here for about two and a half years before I got here. She also confirmed that I was the only Champion here that was technically dead, while all others had been contacted by their legends and are given the offer, which for them would involve leaving their loved ones behind. While most had found the thought of never being able to see their friends and families again a disastrous prospect, but others had seen it as an opportunity to help the world, or just escape a shitty life. When the Champion had left their family, the family was merely told that they had volunteered to help the legends, and it was left at that. I had discovered that Shelby had become a Champion for the former reason. She was fifteen, and in the process of her first year in high school, when she was asked to be a Champion. She accepted the offer, having always had the tendency to try and help others whenever possible. I guess it truly isn't fair. I know all about her, yet she knows nothing of me.

"Alright," I said, coming to a decision, "I'll tell you about me, but you must promise to tell no one, as it could get Darkrai into a large amount of trouble."

"Alright." She agreed, obviously confused, but sounding intrigued all the same.

I sighed, before starting the story of my fucked up life. When I was finished, Shelby just sat there, silent.

After a few seconds, she said, "Wait a minute, so you're technically dead?"

"Yes." I said, nodding. "I did, in fact, die from jumping off of Black Watch Tower."

"Holy shit." She said. "Then how are you here?"

I shrugged, before saying, "I don't really know, to be honest. I didn't really feel like questioning it at the time, so I just let it slide."

After a few more seconds, Shelby said, "I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry about?" I questioned.

"I guess that I'm just sorry for how shitty your life was, and how it all came to an end." She replied, shrugging. "And I'm also sorry about asking you to talk about."

"Don't worry." I reassured. "I have no issue with talking about my life. I mean, it sucked horridly anyway, so why would I care about discussing it?"

"I don't really know, I just assumed that it wouldn't exactly be one of your favorite topics." She replied.

I just shrugged, saying, "I've just grown to live with it now, really."

"So," she said, "hypothetically speaking, what exactly would happen to you if you were kicked out of being a Champion?"

"I don't know," I said, shrugging, "I assume that I would be sent to my original destination."

She was about to say something, when my phone went off. I pulled it from my pocket and saw a text from Darkrai, which I read.

"C'mon," I said, pocketing my phone and rising, "Mewtwo's crew is back from their scouting mission, and apparently Arceus is calling a meeting of all of the legends and Champions."

"Alright." Shelby said, closing the basket and rising as well.

She grabbed the basket and we took off for the Hall. When we entered the Hall, Shelby quickly dropped the basket off in her room, while I headed for the meeting room, keeping us apart to make sure that we weren't seen together. I entered the room and was struck by a sickly sweet smell, which seemed to cause a knot to appear in my stomach and making me feel slightly tired. I just blocked it out, not really caring much about questioning it, and found my seat next to Darkrai, making Strife disappear from my back as I walked.

"Any idea what this is all about?" I asked, quietly.

"Nope." She replied. "All I know is that Mewtwo is back, and they have important news."

At this moment, Arceus entered the room, followed closely by her Champion, a Lopunny named Anna, Mewtwo, and her own Champion, an Espeon by the name of Jasmine. As they entered, the room fell quiet, and I looked over to where Entei to see, to my relief, that Shelby was able to make it without being late. Mewtwo and Jasmine took their seats, while Arceus and Anna sat at the center table.

When they were all seated, Arceus cleared her throat, before beginning, "I assume that many of you are curious as to why this emergency meeting has been called. The reason is, that the Organization had stepped up their brutality."

As she spoke, four large projector screens, one pointing to each wall, came from the ceiling, followed by a small hole opening up in each fall, facing a screen. As she continued, the lights dimmed to near off.

"As you all know, for the past few months the Organization has been secretly eliminating anyone whom apposes them, without alerting the public." She began. "We have discovered, thanks to the work of Mewtwo and Jasmine, that they have recently lost all use of discretion and secrecy, having opened up hundreds of concentration camps scattered across their territory, which they use to keep their opponents as prisoners."

At this, pictures began flashing onto the screens, some of large, stone buildings, others of other people, morphs and humans alike, all of them starved and almost completely nude, covered in blood, mud, and bruises. The slideshow continued with pictures of this nature for multiple minutes, before finally ending with a few shots of mass graves, all of which appeared to contain anywhere between hundreds and thousands of dead bodies, all in similar state to the living beings that we were shown. As the screens retracted and the room slowly brightened, I looked around and saw looks of disgust and horror plastered to every face in the room.

"Therefore," Arceus continued, "we have decided that we must hurry and defeat them quickly. We have decided that all training must be sped up and intensified, and any Champions that have proven themselves to be skilled in combat are to go on missions to collect intel or to attempt to liberate some of these camps."

With that, she left the room, with Anna trailing behind her. The room stayed in shocked silence for multiple minutes after they left, until someone cleared their throat.

"Very well." Giratina said, speaking up. "Arceus and I have already discussed new training regiments, so I would like all legends to report to me immediately to receive their Champion's schedule."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the room was filled with the sounds of scraping chair legs, as everyone rose from their seats, eager to begin training. Darkrai and I were the last pair to make it to Giratina, but we were eventually able to approach her.

"What training does Shane have?" Darkrai asked, curtly.

Ever since the ordeal with my first day here, Darkrai had tried to keep interaction with most of the other legends to a minimum, as they have since begun treating her like a child that shouldn't be allowed to make her own decisions, so it was no surprise that she was wanting to get away as soon as possible.

"Ah, yes," Giratina said, scanning the paper that was in her hand, "the male." At this, I saw Darkrai roll her eyes, but she said nothing as Giratina replied, "He is to report to the simulation room every day for practice."

"Is this immediate?" Darkrai asked.

"No," Giratina replied, "it will begin at eight."

"Okay." Darkrai said, nodding, before we both left. When we were in the hallway, she checked her phone, before saying, "It's only about seven right now, so you can have the next hour off."

"Thank you." I said, before leaving to go outside.

I began pacing the courtyard, not able to think of anything else to do. After a few minutes, though, I was distracted by a dismaying sight, and I stood still as I watched Chelsea, Heatran's Champion, a Blaziken named Jenna, and Maggie walk towards me.

When they reached me, I calmly asked, "Yes?"

Instead of answering normally, Chelsea just growled out, "Shut up, male. I thought that I made it damn clear that you are not to speak to me unless I address you."

I merely sighed internally, having to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"So, male," Chelsea continued, once again using her favorite name for me, "I assume that you got a new training schedule?"

"Yes." I replied, simply.

She scoffed, before saying, "I don't see any reason that you should've been given a session. It's not like you'll ever be an effective Champion, anyway. You'll always just be another useless male that thinks that he can do what is obviously a woman's job."

With this, they all started laughing, and I sigh, before saying, "Whatever."

They stopped laughing, and Chelsea glared at me, saying, "What did you just say?

The question seemed to be extremely redundant, as she delivered a swift punch to my jaw before I could even answer, knocking me on the ground. I brought my hand to my mouth, hoping that I wasn't bleeding.

Chelsea then sent a kick flying directly to my stomach, knocking the air out of me, as she said, "Never use that tone of voice with me again!"

She was about to kick me again, when a voice yelled out, "Chelsea!"

We all turned to see Anna striding towards us, a stern look on her face.

When she reached us, she said, "There better be a damn good reason as to why you just hit Shane, Chelsea."

"Oh, so now you're taking the male's side?" Chelsea said.

"I am taking no sides." Anna responded. "I am merely doing my duties as Arceus's Champion, which includes enforcing the rules, one of which is that there will be no bullying."

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Chelsea replied, sarcastically. "Are we gonna fight, or something?"

Anna glared at Chelsea, before saying, "No, but I will be sure to report your name to Arceus. And don't ever let me see you bullying anyone else again, or there will be hell to pay."

With that, she walked away, leaving a seething Chelsea standing there.

"I can't stand her fucking attitude." She said. "She only acts like that because she's Arceus's Champion. We all know that I could kick her ass in any fight, and I could prove it if she'd fucking accept the challenge."

She then stalked off; Jenna and Maggie following her.

I let my head fall to the ground, before closing my eyes and saying, "Fuck. At least I'm not bleeding again."

"Need help?" A voice asked.

I opened my eyes to see Shelby standing above me, a slightly pitying look on her face.

"I'm good." I said, sighing. As I stood up, I said, "Is it just me, or is she much bitchier than usual?"

"Not that I'm trying to defend her or anything," Shelby said, as I dusted myself off, "but it isn't completely her fault this time."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious.

"Well, um," she began, awkwardly, "around this time is a heat season that affects a majority of the Pokemon in the world."

"Okay." I said, confused. "But your morphs, so how does that affect you?"

"Well, I guess that you're an exception to this rule," Shelby said, "as you had already technically died, but when we all became Champions, to make it to where we don't age, they had to use Pokemon DNA, and they still haven't found out a way to do it perfectly, so some of the normal Pokemon genes still get in there. So, that causes us Champions to be effected by heat."

"I guess that that would explain the smell in the meeting room. And the effect it had on me." I said, remembering the sweet scent in the room, as we walked towards the trees. "So, are the legends affected by heat, as well?"

"No," she said, "for some reason they don't go into heat, the lucky bastards."

"Oh." I said. "Wait a minute, doesn't that also mean that you are in heat, as well?"

"Yes." Shelby said, sighing. "But I know what effects the scent of a female in heat has on males, and I wasn't sure whether or not it would do anything to you, so I decided to hide it, anyway."

"Oh." I said. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." She reassured. "It's just something that happens."

"I know," I said, "but that doesn't mean that I'll be alright, knowing that you're in pain constantly."

Shelby sighed, before saying, "Yeah, it really fucking sucks. Although, I'm slightly worried about you. You mentioned that it had an effect on you, correct?" I nodded, so she continued, "Well, that can't be good, seeing as we both know what the heat scent does to males."

I just shrugged, saying, "I don't really care about that. Whatever happens, I can repress it and keep from acting on my primal instincts, don't worry. The only thing that I'm not really looking forward to is that this apparently means that I'll be getting my ass kicked even more for a few months."

She shrugged, before saying, "Well, it beats the alternative. I mean, they could just spend all of their time wanting to fuck your brains out."

"Yeah, I guess." I said. "I just can't stand knowing that my only friend is in constant pain and I can do nothing about it."

"Well, you technically can do something about it." She said. I looked at her, shocked, and she laughed, before saying, "Calm down, I'm just joking. Don't worry, I would never ask you to do something like. I mean, I could never force you into doing something like that, especially if you didn't want to do it."

"Alright, then." I said.

Shelby then stopped and grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me to face her, taking me by surprise. Due to the close proximity, I could now clearly smell her heat scent, and I had to resist the urge to act upon my instincts.

"But I need you to listen to me." She said. "I should probably prepare you for what effects this will have on us. Since we are in heat, our emotions are heightened, which includes the three most prominent ones that you will see for the next four or five months, being hatred, lust, and love."

"Wait a minute," I interrupted," the heat lasts for four or five months for you guys? It normally only lasts for two or three for Pokemon."

"Yes." Shelby said. "Now, don't interrupt me. Unlike the others, who will have their hatred towards you heightened, I will most likely have my lust and love towards you heightened, merely due to the fact that you and I are friends. You must be prepared for this. In this time, I may make advances on you or, if it gets extremely bad, even try to get what my body wants by force. When this happens, I want you to remember that this is not me doing it, but the heat. Do not succumb to your instincts, okay? No matter what I say, you have to keep me from doing anything that could harm you, or our friendship. Do you understand?"

As she was speaking, I could feel my resolve weakening, and I felt myself slowly drift into a numb state of mind. I was jolted back to reality by a sharp smack on my face.

"See?" Shelby said. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. I could tell that you were drifting off. Please, for both of our sakes, you have to constantly remain alert and block out the scent. Can you promise me this?"

"Of course." I said.

"Let me hear you say it." She demanded.

"I swear that, no matter what you say or what my body says," I began, "I will not give in to my primal urges. I promise that, no matter how much I hate the thought of it, I will not help your heat and I will leave you to suffer."

"Thank you." She said, releasing me with a sigh. "That takes a load off of my mind. I mean, you don't know how difficult it already is to be in this close of proximity to a male and not want to fuck you into unconsciousness."

"Um, your straying into some gray territory there, Shelby." I said, awkwardly.

"Right, sorry." She said, shaking her head. "But this is what you may have to put up with for this time. Anyway, let's get off of the topic. So, what new training do you have?"

"At eight I have my first round with ESTR." I replied.

"Awesome!" Shelby exclaimed. "That means that we get to train together!"

"So now I get to embarrass myself in front of you, as well as Darkrai and anyone else whom is with us." I said, sighing. "Great."

"Stop being so pessimistic." She said, putting an arm around me. "I'm sure that you'll do fine. I mean, there's no way that you could do worse than five minutes."

"I doubt that." I said.

We continued walking through the forest, just talking, until I looked at my phone and saw that it was getting close to eight.

"Hey," I said, pointing this out, "we're cutting it close. We should probably start heading back."

"Alright," Shelby replied, "you lead the way."

We started back to the Hall, and by the time we reached it, it was already time for training to start.

"C'mon, let's hurry." I said.

We took off sprinting down the hallway towards the simulation room. I entered first, followed by Shelby, to try and not raise suspicion. In the room, I saw Darkrai, with Entei standing close by, and, a few feet away, I saw Jirachi and Alexis, with ESTR standing in the center of all of them.

I went over to stand next to Darkrai, who quietly said, "Finally you're here. I assume that you two were out together?"

"Yes." I responded quietly. "And, when we're done with this, you and I need to have a serious conversation. I'm slightly pissed at you."

She looked at me, confused, but chose not to voice her confusion.

"Alright," Jirachi said, as Shelby went to stand with Entei, who shot her an accusing glare, "now that those two are here, who will go first?"

"Why not Alexis?" Darkrai responded. "I mean, you always say that she is one of the best, and that she just needs to hit the course to show it."

"Very well." Jirachi replied. "Alexis, center field."

The Mawhile went to the center of the room, as the rest of us retreated to the edges to watch.

"ESTR, start the practice!" Alexis demanded.

"Yes, Master Alexis." ESTR said, before snapping her fingers. "Begin."

As Alexis began, I turned to Darkrai and asked, "Master?"

"When given an order," Darkrai explained, "ESTR has been told to refer to all Champions as 'Master',"

"Doesn't that seem slightly degrading?" I asked.

Darkrai just shrugged in response, before turning back to watch Alexis. When she finished, the large timer read out two minutes exactly. We all watched the leader board as Alexis's name was moved from the twenties up into number eleven.

"As I said," Jirachi said, "one of the best."

"Very well." Entei said. "So, who's next?"

"How about your Champion?" Jirachi said, motioning towards me. "I mean, he has yet to even do the course."

"Of course." Darkrai said, nodding. She turned to me, saying, "Shane, if you will."

I nodded and stepped out into the center of the room.

"ESTR," I said, "could you please bring up the target practice?"

"Of course, Master Shane." ESTR replied.

I need to talk to her about the whole 'Master' bullshit. Way too degrading. After a few seconds, the timer appeared on the wall and the forty eight targets surrounded me. Well, here goes nothing.

"Begin." ESTR stated.

As soon as I heard these words, I began swinging wildly at the spinning targets. When it was all done, I looked up at the timer to see a time six minutes and four seconds. I let out an exasperated sigh, as the room exploded in laughter from Entei, Jirachi, and Alexis.

I started to walk to the edge of the room, my head down, but I stopped as Entei yelled, "No, go ahead. Take another round, I haven't laughed this much in months."

I looked at Darkrai for an answer, but she just shrugged. Deciding that there was no harm in it, I returned to the center of the room, and had ESTR call up the targets. I started at her go and starting attacking randomly again. When I was down to just a few targets left, I suddenly felt an intense heat on my left leg. Looking down, I saw that Entei had apparently launched a Fire Blast at me without me noticing it. My suspicions were confirmed, as I looked over and saw Jirachi, Alexis, and Entei laughing again, and Shelby staring at me in shock and Darkrai glaring at Entei in rage. I quickly stopped and started trying to smack the fire off of my jeans, trying to keep them from being destroyed. As I did this, I felt my fur and skin starting to burn, and a dull, burning pain began, surrounding my calf. I saw Shelby and Darkrai start for me, but I sent a quick glare to Shelby, telling her to remain where she was. She ignored my silent demand, and rushed over to me anyway. By the time they reached me, I had managed to put out the flames and I was examining the burnt cloth and lack of fur that extended from just above my boot to the bend in my leg.

"Are you alright?" Shelby asked, dropping down to look at my leg.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reassured.

We both looked up as an outraged voice yelled, "Shelby!" We saw that Entei was staring at Shelby, outrage and anger plastered to her face, as she said, "What the hell do you think you are doing with that male?"

"I'm checking to make sure that my friend is okay." Shelby responded, indignantly, as she stood up.

Entei glared at Shelby, before saying, "What did you just say?"

"You heard me, bitch!" Shelby yelled back, taking everyone by shock. "Shane is my friend, and I wanted to make sure that your stupid fucking prank didn't hurt him."

Entei began slowly stalking her way over to us, but Shelby met her halfway.

"I advise that you pay attention to how you address me." Entei said, getting in Shelby's face. "After all, I am your legend."

"I don't care what the fuck you are." Shelby responded. "I'm tired of you being such a stupid fucking sexist cunt, you bitch."

I could tell that Shelby hit a major chord with this, as Entei clinched her fist and brought it back, about to hit Shelby. Without thinking, I used Extreme Speed and dashed in front of Shelby, easily catching Entei's fist in my hand. Everyone looked at me in shock, and I heard a few gasps around the room. As I stood there, Entei's fist in hand, I became aware of the difference in our heights. I wasn't exactly towering over her, but my six foot four height allowed me to be a little more than a head taller than her. And this realization absolutely intimidated her, as I saw a welcome emotion in her eyes. Fear.

"I advise," I growled out, putting pressure on Entei's fist, "that you pay attention to how you treat my friends. Understood?"

She didn't answer, so I put even more pressure on her hand, eliciting a small whimper of pain from the fire dog.

"Are we clear?" I growled out.

"Yes." She said, whimpering again. "Crystal."

"Good." I said, releasing her hand.

As soon as her fist left my hand, she dropped to the ground, holding her hand. Without waiting for anyone to respond, I stalked past Jirachi and Alexis, being sure to glare at them as I passed, and exited the room. I turned and began walking down the hallway blindly, the rest of the Hall quiet. I was only walking for a minute or so, when Shelby and Darkrai caught up to me. Darkrai opened her mouth to speak, but I held my hand up to silence her, and turned into the nearest door, which happened to be the cafeteria. As we entered, I saw Mew coming out of the kitchen, and she stared at us, confused, but I simply waved to her. I leaned up against the wall, before signaling to Darkrai to continue.

"Shane, what the hell was that?" Darkrai asked.

I just shrugged, before saying, "I don't enjoy people threatening my friends. Therefore, I was fixing it."

"What are you guys talking about?" Mew asked, coming over to us.

"Shane here damn near broke Entei's hand." Darkrai explained.

"What?" Mew asked, shocked. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"She found out the we have been hanging out together," Shelby explained, "and she didn't exactly take too kindly to it. So, I stood up for myself, and she was about to hit me, when Shane intervened."

"But I thought that you said that you couldn't fight?" Mew asked. The rest of Shelby's explanation seemed to hit her then, as she said, "Wait a minute, you two are friends?"

"Yes." I said. "We've been friends since I got here, but we chose to keep it a secret, as we knew that Entei would react this way. And, for the record, I can't fight; I just had the element of surprise."

Darkrai sighed, before saying, "Shane, I really don't understand you. I mean, you kick the asses of multiple cops to save me, but when I bring you here, you can't fight worth shit."

"Listen," I said, "I don't understand me either; I just roll with whatever the fuck happens. I don't know why I have these sudden outbursts of heroism and luck, but that's all that they are: luck."

"Whatever." Darkrai said, sighing again.

"Hey," Shelby said, "I think I'm gonna go for a walk. Shane, you wanna join me?"

"Sure." I said. "Go ahead and go on, I'll be out in a second."

She nodded, before leaving the room. Mew just gave me a slightly confused look, before following suit. Darkrai went to leave as well, but I stuck my arm out in front of her, barring her way.

"I believe that I said that we need to talk." I said.

"Alright." She said, turning to me. "What about?"

"Why didn't you warn me?" I asked.

"What do you mean, warn you?" Darkrai asked, confused. "Warn you about what?"

"About the next five months." I hissed out. "About the heat season."

A shocked expression spread across Darkrai's face, and she covered her mouth, saying, "Holy shit, Shane. I am so sorry. I forgot all about it; I'm not used to having a guy around here."

"Yeah, well it would have been nice to know." I said.

"Please don't tell me that someone tried to do anything to you." Darkrai said.

"No, don't worry." I reassured. "Shelby and I had a conversation about it already."

"How are you going to deal with being friends with her during this time?" She asked.

I sighed, saying, "I'm not quite sure. I mean, obviously she's affected by the heat, and, as I am a male, I'm obviously affected by the scent of it. We already had a fairly close call when she was just standing near me, and I couldn't help but smell it when we were in the meeting. We both just decided that we'll have to keep our urges and instincts under control."

"Do you know how having a male around will affect the others?" Darkrai asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I already ran into Chelsea, and it mostly just seemed to make her even more of a bitch, which, as Shelby pointed out, is much better than the alternative."

"Yeah, I guess." Darkrai said. "I'm just worried for your health."

"I know." I said, wrapping her in a hug. "And I thank you for that." I released her from my arms, before saying, "Anyway, good night, I guess."

"Right." She said, nodding. "Good night."

With that, she left the room, and I left shortly afterwards, and headed for the main entrance. When I got there, I saw Shelby sitting on the steps, staring at the sky.

"Ready to go?" I asked, coming up behind her.

"Yep." She said, rising. "Let's go."


It was later that night. Shelby and I had gotten back into the Hall at about eleven, and we had had a slightly awkward conversation about what happened, followed by an extremely awkward hug in thanks for us standing up for each other, that I could tell was full of awkwardness, as we fought to resist our urges, as my nostrils were filled with her heat scent. After this, i had went back into my room to change clothes, before putting my plan into action. I entered the simulation room, closing the door silently.

"Hey, ESTR." I whispered. "You up?"

"Of course." ESTR's voice said, as she appeared before me. "I never sleep."

"Alright." I said. "Could you please keep it down a little, I'm trying not to wake everyone up with this."

"Very well, Master Shane." She said, quieter this time.

"And stop with the 'Master Shane' bullshit." I said. "Just call me Shane, I can't stand that degrading term."

"Very well M- Shane." She replied. "So, do you mind if I ask what you are doing here this late?"

I sighed, before saying, "I wanted to get some late night training in, if possible. Is that alright?"

"Of course." ESTR said. "Would you like me to pull up the leader board and timer, as well?"

"Sure," I replied, "just put the timer on mute, and please don't use the PA system."

"Of course." She replied, as I stepped into the center of the room.

Within seconds, the targets appeared around me. I sighed, steeling myself for what I was about to do. I think that it's about time to show them that I can become something.

"Begin." ESTR said, as the targets started moving.


Holy shit, fuck the English language. If there is one word pair that annoys the fuck out of me, it is "affect" and "effect". I mean, seriously, do we really need both of them? They mean almost the exact same fucking thing! Oh well, minor rant over. Anyway, I honestly loved writing this chapter, granted I enjoy writing every chapter for this story. I've actually noticed something odd about the story, though. With my other stories, especially NSMNS, I occasionally have issues with getting 3k+ words, but this story just flows so easily, that I have yet to run into any issues with it. Oh well, I have no complaints, and I hope that none of you guys do.

But, in regard to the chapter, did anyone actually think that I would omit the whole heat ordeal? I mean, obviously I put my own twist on it, as this is a HGW story, so I sorta had to. And, please, if anyone of you guys actually care, I highly advise leaving a review telling me what to do with Latios. If I don't get one of the choices to get a majority vote by the next update, which I've actually already planned to include Latios, than I will just go with the third option. So, if you have an opinion on it, tell me, please.

Anyway, until next time.