As Unofficial Team Komala eagerly awaits the release of Pokémon Moon (koalas are, after all, mostly nocturnal creatures!), shopping around to see new Pokémon merchandise—and playing lots of Pokémon Shuffle while minding Snapeton in Animal Crossing: New Leaf to make sure Melba Koala doesn’t ever move away!—has helped to pass the time. Of course, the amiibo update later this year for ACNL might throw a wrench into Pokémon Moon playtime plans, but one thing that always stays the same is the quest for cute new Pokémon plush! As you can see by the photo, I snared a Tomy Pumpkaboo some weeks ago at Wal-Mart in the wave that also included Banette, Pikachu and Eevee. I noticed Pojo sponsor Toywiz had that particular wave listed, so I didn’t present an update, especially since Wal-Mart received a monster size kiosk load of the wave, figuring my news would be after the fact. However, this past weekend, I spotted a newer Tomy wave in the trading card aisle of Wal-Mart that included Purrloin, Cubone, Zubat and the Pikachu in the photo, who happens to be holding… a pumpkin! Tomy has really given us a great spooky Pokémon Halloween in two waves of awesome plush—but the plush hunt doesn’t stop there! I noticed a report on the Livejournal website today about GameStop and headed there immediately after Muggle duties. GameStop indeed has Pokémon Center plush for $14.99 each—the original Pokémon starters along with the Sun/Moon starters! I snared Popplio and gave a sidelong glance at (from an Animal Crossing player’s perspective) dat owl Pokémon wot looks like Blathers’ kin. Barring any additional surprises, I’ve set my sights on Meloetta come December from the Toys ‘R’ Us 20^th Anniversary collection, but let’s hope Pokémon Center or Tomy fulfills my holiday dream of a Komala plush (not pictured, assuming it’s playing spooky drop bear for Halloween-? *gasp*) release. In the meantime, Unofficial Team Komala will keep working to spread the word about endangered koalas, visit www.savethekoala.com to read more about the Australian Koala Foundation and join The Koala Army! 

BELLOW! Pika! 

Loretta