Ted had been itching for a new animal to play with for some time now. He’d spent more and more time playing as the current ones that he already had acquired. He felt that it was time for him to go out and expand his tiny collection. As it stood he only had about half a dozen forms and he had control over most of them. As it stood his rabbit form was the weakest of them all. He didn’t particularly see a reason for that form except that he would make a good Easter Bunny about once a year, and most girls liked to cuddle with stuffed bunnies. But other than that he didn’t use that form very much.

The young boy waited outside the mansion for the bus to show up to take him to the city. He didn’t have much money with him but he did have enough to get him into a few places and to eat if he got hungry. Teddy didn’t really have any idea of where exactly he was going, he just knew that he was going to be heading into the city for a while to pick up some new stuffed animal forms. His little discussion with Alina, and his meeting with Amber seemed to give him an idea of trying things with his mutation that he hadn’t thought about trying yet. One idea was the whole breathing underwater and the other was using his stuffed animals like they were real animals. He was very nieve with his powers and this trip would hopefully be one of many to open his eyes to the possibilities of what he can do.

As Ted saw the bus coming closer to his stop he heard someone coming close to him. The young mutant hoped that it was someone that he knew that could possibly accompany him on his trip. He turned around expectantly looking to see who it was that would be riding the bus with him.

Shin stood by the bus stop, holding a pocket-sized book casually in one hand. His eyes skimmed the page with interest as the bus approached where he was. He liked the book he was reading. It was a good one, about a strong-headed princess running away from an arranged marriage, and living with dragons. The author had a way with words and actions. It was simple and unassuming, but captured personality well. The book was amusing. It reminded him a little of the things Pratchett had written. Fairy Tales were skewed, and characters were unique and interesting. Yes, he very much liked the book.

The bus slid to a stop in front of him, and Shin looked up, triangular pupils falling on a familiar face. "Oh hey," He smiled. "Ted, wasn't it?" Shin slipped his book into one of the pockets of his coat, and glanced towards the bus. "You boarding too?"

As the guy drew closer Ted could see that he was immersed in a book. He could also tell that it was the first person he’d ever met at this school. Shin was a friendly guy and he’d also been the first person, outside his family that he’d shown his powers to; and now here he was coming up to ride the bus too. Teddy smiled. “Ya” He said as the bus pulled up and opened its doors for them to board it. “Yup, I’m heading to the city.” Ted took the first steps into the bus and started towards an empty seat near the middle of the bus. He hadn’t left the school more than once since he’d moved into the mansion and he thought that the coincidence of Shin riding the bus too was a good omen.

“So what are going to town for? Another book?” Teddy asked inquisitively. He hoped he wasn’t asking too much but since the questions seemed to be no more than mere curiosity and not very personal he figured that Shin wouldn’t mind all that much. Who knows maybe he didn’t really have any plans and wouldn’t mind going with Ted to look for a new form or two. Ever since his encounter with Amber as a real dinosaur he had been thinking about how he could get more exotic forms. And by exotic he merely meant forms that weren’t usually found in the everyday stuffed animal section of Wal-Mart or Quips & Quotes.

So they were both headed to the city. "Me too," Shin said, following the kid up onto the bus. He found a seat across the aisle from him, so they could talk.

Teddy asked him what his poison was today, book, or not. Shin smiled. "Not quite. I'm actually not sure. I want to get my girlfriend something. As for what it is, I'm up for suggestions. I want to surprise her." He also wanted to surprise himself. While he was certain Kealey would love a book, she worked in a library. Books, she had in spades. He wanted to give her something she would enjoy.

Hugs didn't count. Those, she could get whenever.

"What about you? What are you out and about for?"

Shin didn't sound to sure about what he had planned for spending the day in the city. Teddy didn't feel to confident trying giving someone suggestions on what to get their girlfriend; especially if he didn't know the girl and he though he'd never had a girlfriend either, he figured that it didn't really matter what Shin got her she'd like it.

Ted looked around quickly before answering him. It didn't matter that they were both mutants, it still made him a little uncomfortable talking about it when he was talked about it in the open. "I'm looking for a few new stuffed animals to play around with." Teddy said to Shin. "I'm not sure what I'm looking for either but I bet we can find what were both looking for if you want to come along with me." If Shin didn't have any actual plans then Teddy figured that Shin would agree to going along with him.

"Oh yeah?" Shin asked. He held his chin for a moment in thought. "Well... guess I could get Kealey a stuffed animal. That'd be cool."

When Teddy had said 'a few new stuffed animals to play with', Shin had instantly remembered the fact the kid turned into plushies. By 'play with', did he mean 'forms'? Because if so, Shin could certainly help him shop. That right there could be fun. Shin decided.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll tag along with you. I can get Kealey something nice, and help you pick out something cool. Like..." He glanced out the window, speaking into the glass casually. "A Bulbasaur."

“Sure you can come along.” Ted said smiling. Maybe this trip was going to turn out to be more productive for both of them than he first thought. The bus pulled out of the stop and headed toward the city. His anticipation grew a little just thinking of what they might find and the cool new forms that he would be able to find.

Teddy was puzzled a little. “What’s a bluebeesaur? I’ve never heard of that kind of dinosaur.” He said. Ted wasn’t the kid that got to play with Pokémon when he was in school. He was the kid that got a mock archeological site for Christmas rather than a Pokémon game for his Game boy. “And besides, what girl doesn’t like getting stuffed animals?” he asked rhetorically. Even girls that were evil could find a stuffed animal that they liked. Just like Deathstar liked him when she thought he was just a regular stuffed animal and not someone trying to blackmail her.

Shin arched a curious eyebrow. "You haven't heard of Pocket Monsters?" He asked, worriedly. "Well... they're these popular video game monsters from this game where ten-year-olds stop an evil gang that gets stopped by ten-year-olds often. Bulbasaur is one of the choices for your starting monster. He's a little dog-cat-hamster-dinosaur thing with a grass bulb on his back, that attacks using tentacle vines and razor leaves. I think Kealey adores him."

The last part didn't really matter, so far as descriptions went for Teddy, but it mattered to Shin.

"The game also has other monsters, like a raging bull, a giant sleeping bear/panda, a dragon, a pathetic fish, and a rock with a muscle builder's face. It's fun. Girls dig it."

"Oh." Now that he thought about it the name did sound familiar. "I was one of those kids that never got a gameboy for Christmas from my parents cause they were always giving me other stuff. So I'm not to familiar with the reference. But I do seem to remember my friends talking about it." Ted admitted. He didn't remember them getting girls numbers from playing the game; but it did seem like something that they enjoyed, and some might even venture as far as to say that they were addicted to the game.

Teddy couldn't see how becoming one of those Pokemon things was going to be useful in the real world; however, it seemed to be something that would at least be fun to mess around with. It didn't matter that the was mostly focused on getting his powers better and more under his own control, because it was still fun for him to just transform and play around in these different forms. The bus made a few different stops to pick up a few passengers here and there. Mostly the trip passed by pretty uneventfully. The young boy glanced out the window and noticed that they were finally entering the city. He wondered how long it would take for them to find some place that was going to have the right stuffed animals that he was looking for. The city was just so big that there didn't seem like any real way of finding the things that they were looking for, unless they already had the address of the place that they needed to go to. Otherwise he thought that they might spend the whole day just wandering around the city and not really finding anything for either of them.

Shin frowned for the boy. "You poor deprived youth... I should give you my Gameboy," he said. "And my copy of Red Version." The boy was missing out.

The bus rattled along. Finally, it reached the destination. It was a homely store, not too large, with the name ' Duncan's Toy Box' in charming stenciled red letters across the front window. Inside, it was bright, festive, already decorated for Halloween. There were ghosts and goblins hanging from the ceiling, and plenty of devilish stuffed animals to inspire a scare.

Shin looked to Teddy as they entered the building. "Certainly lots to choose from."

Ted smiled and agreed. His parents didn't really believe in letting him spend his days with his face buried behind a game console of some kind or even stuck in the house for very long. They'd kept him busy and it seemed to have not made him terribly bad at making friends. If nothing but a bit awkward when put in certain situations. But now that he was living at the mansion; what was to stop him from 'learning' about something that could help his mutation grow.

The bus rolled to a stop and Ted and Shin got off. He wasn't going to immediately jump on his offer of the game boy. "Ya know. Maybe I came during the wrong season." Teddy said looking around at all the decorations. "Seems like everything’s Halloween related." He had nothing against the holiday its self; however, it always seemed that around the holidays most of the stuffed animals were dressed in some weird little pumpkin outfit or something like that rather than looking like normal stuffed animals. "Ya, there certainly is." Teddy agreed as he looked around for a stuffed animal or two that caught his attention. Some just plain looked funny because of what they were wearing was supposed to be its Halloween costumes. He started wandering around the store, making sure that he got a look at everything in the place.

There some pumpkins with faces, some monsters like Frankenstein or Dracula, some black cats, bats, etc. Many looked unimportant to him and they didn’t look very special or memorable like some of his others he already had. One that caught his attention was a multi colored dragon; but he wasn’t sure how well he’d like it. Well, he did enjoy the dinosaur form and the dragon was nothing more than an imaginary dinosaur form; why wouldn’t it be fun too. Ted didn’t give the small dragon much thought; however what really caught his attention was the much larger dragon that was relatively close to where he was. “Hey Shin, check this guy out. He’s huge.” Teddy pointed to the large dragon that looked like it was close to 3 feet long and almost half that tall. He’d seen large stuffed animals before but he hadn’t actually had the opportunity to become one. Mainly because he didn't know that he was a mutant when he had seen one.

Teddy placed his hand on it and within a few seconds he removed his hand and he had the feeling that a piece of the dragon had come off in his hand. “Let’s see if we can find you some Pokemon stuff for your girlfriend.” Ted said to him. he wasn’t done looking yet but he’d already found one so why not at least see if they had what Shin was looking for too. If he didn’t find anything there then they could always try some different store. The young boy was confident that they would be able to find another place that would have what Shin was looking for if it wasn’t where they currently were.

"Halloween-related would be cool, though. Stuffed skeleton form, anyone?" That was but one of the many things this shop had available to them. Other options included pumpkin-wearing witches, bats, bears, and ducks. Goblins, golems, robots, ninja... there were so many different things, it was easy to get lost in them. Shin didn't even notice when Teddy wandered off. Once he had realized, Shin decided to take it upon himself to wander a bit, too.

He hadn't gotten far though, before he heard Teddy calling him. Apparently, they hadn't been that far apart. Shin stopped by the racks filled with Pokemon plushies, and turned to eye Teddy's discovery. "Neat," He said. It was big, and it was green. He liked it. Teddy did what he had to, and then he turned the mission back to Shin.


Shin held up the Bulbasaur he'd found. "What about this guy?" He offered. Teddy had never really played Pokemon, so he wasn't certain the boy knew what they looked like. "It's a Pokemon," Shin explained. "I think it's one of Kealey's favorites." It even had little vines for tying it around a neck in a hug. It was cool.