So, I feel the need to post this as it feels important, especially as of late.

Firstly, people have been asking where the first chapter is. Rightfully so. And that's really on me; it was a mistake to post that previous chapter so early on, and give off the impression the full chapter would be coming out immediately. Simply put, that was never on the table.

For those unaware, the story itself is going to be 18 chapters in length (the poll came out as wanting longer chapters over those separated into parts). For the past two months, I've been balancing several duties. These include but are not limited to:

• Deciding upon and finalizing storylines, eliminations, challenges, etc.

• Writing the chapters themselves.

• Ensuring that characters aren't written incorrectly based on the information I was given prior. This has been the issue that has taken the longest time, as I truly want to make sure the cast that was given to me is written in such a way that'll prove satisfactory to those who submitted.

• When the chapter is "finished" per se, that's where the drafts come in; with how I'm currently handling it, every chapter is going through roughly three to four drafts. First, the initial draft is written up by me based on my outline. Then comes the second draft, based on anything I noticed with the initial draft. This is followed by a third draft, which is based on feedback from a personal friend of mine. And finally, the fourth draft, which acts as the final version that'll be published publically.

As a result of all this, this story has been an undertaking. However, I am happy to finally give a concrete release date for chapter #1.

September 30th, 2021.

And each following chapter will be released 1-2 weeks following, depending on how quickly I can maneuver through the draft process for those chapters.

Thank you to everyone for your patience. And don't worry, your virtue shall soon be paid back in full. And to ensure you didn't waste your time reading this, here's another sneak peek from chapter #1 in the form of the first contestant introduction. Enjoy.

Clapping his hands, the camera crew took the hint and adjusted their equipment ever so subtly toward the end of the dock, where off in the distance, something was sailing toward the island at great speeds. They were long-necked and blue, with a nice, comfy shell on their back; a Lapras.

Floating up the dock, someone stepped off of the plesiosaur. She was a quadrupedal, blue-skinned creature with white fur that covered the majority of her body. She had a sickle-like horn jutting around from under a comb-over of fur and had long claws poking out from each of her feet. Sunglasses were laying atop her head, linking comfortably to her horn, and a small, blue handbag was wrapped around her head. She had on a bright, big smile, and though her posture was notably sloppy for her species, she nonetheless held a youthful love for life.

"Introducing, Absol, of Serene Village!"

The Disaster Pokémon grinned at this, walking forward while saying, "Hi! It's really nice to be here-"

As she was saying this though, the dock began to give way, as she stepped forward only to have her paw break through the wood, dropping her body slightly as she yelped out in surprise. Blinking, she attempted to pry it out of the newly formed hole, only for cracks to form underneath her, something she didn't notice until it was too late, as the dock caved in and dropped her into the water below with a scream. The whole moment had been so fast Bidoof hadn't even had time to react to it; one second Absol was there, and the next, she was gone, a good portion of the platform having gone with her.

"Can someone repair that please?" Bidoof called off-screen, before walking up to the hole and watching to see if the girl would resurface.

He got his answer. Surfacing from the water, Absol spat up a thin stream of it, pouting as she felt a thick layer of damp fur fall over her eyes. "Dang it..." Looking up, she called out, "Can I redo that?"

"Sorry, one-take show," Bidoof explained with a knowing smirk, "you want some help getting outta there or you think you can swim to land?"

"Uh...I'll be fine!" She called back a bit too quickly, already swimming off, "I'll be up there in a minute!"

Chuckling to himself, Bidoof turned back to the camera, explaining, "Yeah...If it isn't obvious, most of the stuff here is pretty old. Nobody's lived here in a couple of decades. Or at least, nobody worth acknowledging." With a smile, he added on, "Which is why we told them we'd be staying somewhere totally different. No way would they have agreed to compete otherwise."

Bringing up one of his paws, he scanned the waters, before saying, "Speaking of, here comes our next contestant now!"

A short sneak peek, I know. But I do hope it'll suffice that something shall be coming very soon. Once again, thank you all for your patience, and well...

See you on the 30th.