Top Five: Favorite Pokemon New to the Sixth Generation

As I said a few posts ago, I have been spending a LOT of time playing Pokemon Y. It's a little ridiculous how much time I've logged into the game since getting it the day after Christmas. I've finished the story lines, almost caught 'em all, and my time with the game is winding down as I find less and less reason to play it. But all the time I've spent playing Pokemon Y has made me an expert on the new generation Pokemon, so I present you my list of my five favorite new pocket monsters. These aren't the best, or strongest, or most badass--just the five I've enjoyed the most. I ruled out the Mega Evolutions--because they're either awesome or silly--but otherwise, everything is fair game. 

Litleo

Litleo was the Pokemon that I was most excited to catch and train (read: play with in Pokemon Amie) in the sixth generation. He’s a little lion cub, which is adorable. He also has fire on him, which is awesome. Of course, Litleo and its evolution, Pyroar, are pretty much just average when it comes to Pokemon battles. Good thing I only keep this guy around for his looks.

Tyrantrum

While I chose the Sail Fossil and received the Pokemon Amaura (and its evolution, Aurorus), Tyrun and Tyrantrum are obviously the cooler choice—which is saying a lot, since Amaura is an Ice-type (see what I did there?). Who hasn’t wanted their own badass T-Rex? Tyrantrum is also the more powerful of the fossil Pokemon in the Sixth Generation, and a pretty stable member of your party. His attack and defense stats are great, and he learns better moves than Amaura/Aurorus. Also, I may not have mentioned this: he’s a T-Rex.

Sliggoo

The internet is pretty crazy about Sliggoo’s predecessor, Goomy. It’s also fond of Goodra, Sliggoo’s evolution. But I haven’t seen Sliggoo get much love out on the web, which is a shame. Sliggoo looks like a pink and purple snail, and has a goofy smile and goofy eyes. Sliggo learns some excellent moves, had decent stats, and is a pure Dragon type—which has few weaknesses. I liked my goofy-looking Sliggoo more than my, well, goopy-looking Goodra. Team Sliggoo all the way!

Aegislash

You may have heard of Aegislash—this is the Ghost-type Pokemon that looks like a sword and shield. They hype about Aegislash online was huge before the game came out, and he didn’t disappoint. A third evolution, Aegislash has excellent attack and special attack stats, making its weaknesses not that upsetting. He also learns some fantastic moves. Also, I gave mine the nickname Sting. That is all.

Yveltal

Yveltal is the legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Y. My brother got X, and I was initially sad because I wanted the pretty deer legendary Pokemon. And then I met Yveltal. He’s a Dark/Flying type BIRD OF DEATH. Literally. He was going to be a weapon used to destroy most of life on the Poke-Planet, but then I caught him and now we’re besties. I pet him on the head, and feed him Poke-Puffs, and also use him to mow down the Elite Four and the Champion without breaking a sweat. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Yveltal.

Have you been playing Pokemon X or Pokemon Y? If you have, you should add me as a friend: my friend code for my 3DS is 3883-6512-3963. You should also leave a comment below telling me your favorite new Pokemon! Narrowing the list down to five was so difficult! I didn’t even get any of the starters on there (and, though I deliberately left out the Mega Evolutions, those are awesome, too).

Come back tomorrow for a mini edition of Gamer Drama for Pokemon Y!

How to Turn Your Little Brother Into Ash Ketchum (Or Make Your Own Sewing Pattern)

Also, how to create your own patterns for costumes! Which may be more useful for some of you.

The first step for turning your brother into Ash Ketchum is to buy him an Ash hat during Chicago Comic Con, but the first step to creating your own costume pattern by scratch is to snatch all the free newspapers from your student union. Or get yourself a newspaper through some more legitimate means. You really only need one newspaper. I went a little overboard because my brother is abnormally tall.

I'M 5'10" DAMMIT.

I then got my brother's measurements--across the chest, from the underarm to the hip, neck to shoulder, end of the shoulder to where you want the armpit to hit, and from the shoulder to the hip.

Then I searched online for patterns for button-down shirts. I wanted to see what the collar and arm holes looked like, but I didn't want to copy it exactly because the only free patterns I could find were for women. So I adjusted things a little bit in my head, and began to sketch the back and front of the shirt on the newspaper. Each of these are only half of the shirt. So you have one of the front pieces and half of the back piece. Don't worry, it's still all under control.

Use your cutting mat to measure the distance from the neck to the shoulder, and mark that across the top. Then sketch in the length from the shoulder to the armpit. Following that, measure from the armpit to the waistline. Basically, it looks like this:

You can use these points to sketch in the neck and the armholes. These will be curved lines, but you want your shoulder and side seams to be straight lines.

This is your front piece. Your back piece will be exactly the same except that the neck hole will be much, much shallower.

I don't have a picture of this step either (I suck) but then you measure how long you want the sleeve to be. You mark this length for each side of the sleeve (also determine the width and cut your pattern to be that wide, plus the seam allowance). The top of the pattern will need to be arched to have enough room for the roundness of the shoulder. At least, that's why I think there's an arch. Dammit, Jim, I'm a gamer, not a seamstress! Also, I'm a Trekker.

NO! BAD KITTEH!

Here's a picture of my cat. Because reasons.

The far piece is the front pattern. The middle piece is the back pattern. You lay it out so that the center is on a fold of the fabric, so it opens out to be the whole back. The near piece, of course, is the sleeve.

Now I don't have pictures do to a total walk though, but here are a few in-progress pictures.

Adding the sleeves to the "vest" of the combined fronts and back.

The basic piece of the shirt. 

Added the yellow trim and now hemming the opening of the shirt.

And here's my brother wearing the costume! And that's how you turn your little brother into Ash Ketchum.

Have a nice night, guys!