Pokemon Y

Pokémon X and Pokémon Y have been out for a good while now. Many of you have probably captured all the new Pokémon that Kalos has to offer. Not that it was difficult. This generation has one of smallest offerings of brand new Pokémon to date. I imagine a lot of people’s teams that consist only of new Pokémon are going to be very similar this generation. Regardless, now seems like a good time for me to do an arbitrary top 10 list of my favorite new Pokémon from the Kalos region.

Before we get to my list, I’m going to lay some ground rules. First off, there are no Mega Evolutions on this list. As cool as they are, they’re really just new forms of older Pokémon. When I get a new Pokémon game, I want to create a team of brand new Pokémon, even if they’re just regular evolutions of older ones. I’m also not a hugely competitive person, much like our own Josh Speer. Therefore, the Pokémon on this list aren’t based on its stat distribution or what tiers they’ll end up in or any crap like that. If it looks cool and has some interesting moves, it’s going on my list.

Oh, and I’m not counting those event legendary Pokémon that have been revealed because they aren’t available yet. If I get my hands on them and I like them, maybe I’ll add an honorable mentions somewhere about them. Until then, I don’t really care that much.

All right, let’s get this started.

10. Heliolisk

Nickname: PaRappa
Nickname: PaRappa

Man, Kalos was not kind to Electric types. This generation only had two new Electric families to choose from. One of which was another Pikachu clone, the other had a weird typing. So I went with Helioptyle, which I eventually evolved into Heliolisk. This Pokémon is pretty decent. Its pre-evolved form bears a striking resemblence to PaRappa the Rapper and it could learn ridiculous moves like Dark Pulse, Grass Knot and Surf. The thought of surfing on the back of a Heliolisk was way too hilarious not to pass up.

The reason why this Pokémon is so low on this list is a bit personal. When I was organizing my team, I realized that half of my party was weak to fighting types. I needed to swap some of my Pokémon to balance it out. Unfortunately, with Heliolisk’s weird Electric/Normal type combination, it ended up being one of the first to go.

9. Tyrantrum

Nickname: Ryu
Nickname: Ryu

It took Game Freak six generations, but we finally got a T-Rex Pokémon! Tyrantrum is undoubtedly the coolest fossil Pokémon that’s ever come into being. I mean, it’s a friggin’ T-Rex for crying out loud! The fact that it’s a Rock/Dragon type just adds to its badass-ery. Its ability Strong Jaw also powers up any biting moves like Crunch. Naturally, it can also learn moves like Ice Fang, Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, and Poison Fang. As you can probably imagine, this will be amazing.

Yeah, I know Aurorus has the ability to turn all Normal-type attacks into Ice-type attacks and can use Freeze-Dry, which is super-effective on Water-types. And I know that the Rock/Dragon combination isn’t all that great. But guess what? I have a ****-mothering T-Rex. Your argument is invalid.

8. Yveltal

Nickname: Fear Turkey
Nickname: Fear Turkey

Considering how Pokémon X had the exclusive Charizardite X, which allowed it to finally become a Fire/Dragon, that was the main reason why a lot of people I know got X instead of Y. But I stuck with Y. The main reasons were because it has the Mega Mewtwo form that I like more, but it also has Yveltal. And really, what’s not to like about Yveltal? It’s red (my favorite color), it has claws on its wings and its tail, it steals the souls of other living beings and causes death and destruction wherever it goes.

And this is something that a 10-year old kid can catch. Game Freak is allowing you to capture a creature of such immense power that could basically cause the end of the world. It basically gives children unlimited power. And in the end, isn’t that what Pokémon is all about?

Now for numbers seven through five.

Kyle Emch
Kyle has been studying music at college for about three years now. He's played the piano since he was 6 years old and has been recently been learning how to write music. He has followed the Operation Rainfall movement on Facebook since it started and was happy to volunteer for the website. Just don't mention Earthbound or the Mother franchise around him.