tl;dr: Yes, this is a real game that's actually being made. No, it's nowhere near ready to be released.

Long version: About a year or so ago, you may recall I drudged up the Japanese visual novel Yaminabe Aries from the depths of the internet and put together a nice little guide on how to install it (http://www.khakain.com/dunkinbean/yaminabe.html). It got quite a bit of attention and people are still downloading and playing it. That is, playing what little they can, as the entire game is untranslated Japanese. It got me to think (as I'm sure others), "Boy it sure would be great if there were some english furry visual novels." and then shortly thereafter, "Well, these visual novels aren't going to make themselves." I threw around some ideas at the time, but didn't really do anything with them as I don't have any real programming knowledge. I threw the idea in the back of my mind until a few weeks ago when I discovered Ren'Py (http://www.renpy.org/wiki/renpy/Home_Page), a pretty simple interface designed specifically for crafting your own visual novel. I dove right in and have been using almost all my free time the past few weeks to work on it. The screenshot you see above is a small showing of what I've been able to do so far. Here is what I have planned for it:

- A cast of Zangoose characters, each with their own unique look and personality. Other Pokemon will also be present.
- 3 separate releases to 1 big story. This should help so the project is actually manageable, and so I can do other things like improve the art in between releases.
- Decisions made in the first game will be carried over to the second, and third.
- What I think will be a strong story. This won't be a silly 'slice of life' style thing with minimal consequences. You'll have to help the characters make difficult, life changing decisions.
- Like Yaminabe, this isn't an eroge (Hentai game), but a visual novel. Emphasis will be put on the characters and story, although Yiff isn't entirely out of the question.
- Multiple endings.

I've really only just begun to work on this so it's nowhere near being complete, but I figured it was worth sharing anyways so I can get some feedback on the idea. I still have a lot to learn about making good, quality backgrounds but once I do that and get the character art all done progress should really speed up.