It wasn’t Shaylor Duranleau’s first go-around cosplaying as Ash Ketchum this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, but as Ash Stormrider? That’s a totally different story.
Duranleau, re-invigorated with his love for Pokémon after Niantic and Nintendo unleashed the smash hit Pokémon Go, combined his usual Ketchum garb with that of House Targaryen of Game of Thrones to make him the ultimate Pokémaster of Dragons.
Tech Insider spotted him in the lobby of the convention center and snapped some shots of Duranleau’s three dragons (three evolutions of Charizard from the expanded universe), his roughed-up Ash Ketchum hat (obviously a result of dragon fire), torn up jeans, and box of foam “Pokéball eggs.”
Duranleau said his obsession with Pokémon began when he was 10, the same age as Ash Ketchum. He’s been cosplaying ever since.
“Pokémon Go is something I’ve been training for my entire life,” he told Tech Insider. “Now, it’s a reality.”
The ash on his costume (no pun intended) came from leftover firewood, which he smeared all over his body — after he tore up and lit his old Ash Ketchum costume on fire, of course. He told Tech Insider that the whole production took almost 20 hours to create, and cost about $20.
Tech Insider reports that the Pokéball eggs were handmade from craft foam, and were “inspired by the dragon eggs Daenerys carries before her creatures hatch.”
Duranleau also carried around a banner with the Targaryen sigil, the dragon, but with a twist. The flag featured a three-headed Charizard, ready for any Pokébattle.
The banner read his house’s motto (which he created), calling him the “master of the first generation,” “victor of the ‘Orange Isles,” and “first of his type.”
