Introduction:

After trying a few times to actually come up with a challenge, I finally thought of one that I think is mostly original. Before we get any further, I would like to give credit where credit is due. Lately, YouTube has been recommending many Nuzlocke variants to me, and one I stumbled upon was DeadBedSpread's Looplocke Challenge. Another challenge I've been thinking about lately is Marriland's Wedlocke Challenge. However, the main inspitation for this challenge is the card game SET! It's a lot of fun, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a thinking puzzles. If you want to play it, you can play daily puzzles on their website, the NYTimes website, or you can play a full game here. I don't know if this all really counts as advertising (I'll remove it if it is), but this challenge is not entirely my ideas.

The Challenge Itself:

In SET, your goal is to match groups of three cards, and each card has four attributes: its color, shape, quantity, and pattern. In order for a SET to be valid, the four attributes for the three cards must be all the same or all different for each attribute.

For example, if I had a single red striped oval, a double purple empty ovals, and a triple green solid ovals, I would have a SET, because all the colors are different, the quantities are different, the patterns are different, and the shapes are all the same. This is great and all, but how does this apply to Pokemon?

SETlocke Rules:

Normal Nuzlocke Rules:

1. If a Pokemon faints, it is considered dead.
2. You may only catch the first Pokemon encountered on any route.
3. You must nickname all Pokemon.

SETlocke Rules:

1. At most, you may have only two SETs of 3 Pokemon in your party at a time.
2. During battle, you may only switch between Pokemon in the same Set.
3. If you have 3 or more Pokemon in your party, you must form one complete SET. For the extra Pokemon, either deposit them in the PC for later or don't use them.
4. If you can't form a single set with any Pokemon, use whichever ones form the closest SET until you can make a valid one.
5. If you switch out Pokemon or use any HM Slaves, they must be compatible in a SET, or you must rework your party to form a complete set.
6. To win, you must defeat the Elite 4 and Champion.
7. If you do not have at least one complete set when you challenge the Elite 4, you have lost the challenge.

How to form a SET:

Considering this is the most important part of the challenge, I will now tell you how to make a SET. I would recommend keeping track of your Pokemon's stats in something like a spreadsheet so it is easier to find a valid SET. The goal is to make it easy to make SETs that work with different groups of Pokemon.

Anyway, here are the criteria:

1. Pokemon's type: This one is pretty simple. If you are going for a SET of Pokemon with the same type, they must all have at least one typing in common. However, if your SET includes Pokemon with different typing, all of their types (including subtypes) must be different. The type you used is determined by the Pokemon's current form. For example, if you have a Chimchar, its type is Fire, not Infernape's Fire/Fighting.

2. Pokemon's nature: There are a lot of different natures, so to simplify things, I categorized them by which stat they buff. The groups are as follows:

Neutral: Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, Quirky
+Attack: Lonely, Brave, Adamant, Naughty
+Defense: Bold, Relaxed, Impish, Lax
+Speed: Timid, Hasty, Jolly, Naive
+Sp. Atk: Modest, Mild, Quiet, Rash
+Sp. Def: Calm, Gentle, Sassy, Careful

3. Pokemon's color: To make this challenge look a little bit like SET, Pokemon's color is also a factor. I used Bulbapedia to find the different colors that Pokemon can be, so I've once again grouped them below:

Warm Colors: Red, Pink, Yellow
Cool Colors: Blue, Green, Purple
Neutral Colors: Black, White, Gray, Brown

These color groups might not be the most accurate, but I'm no expert on color theory (or colors for that matter either).

4. Pokemon's egg group: Since SET has four criteria, I've decided to include another aspect every Pokemon has. Like typing, the egg groups are all separate, but you can group together the Water ones if you want (since I'm not sure why there are three of them in the first place).

And that's it for the criteria for making a SET. For each of these criteria, they must either be the same for three Pokemon or different for three Pokemon. Let me give a couple of examples to help clarify:

In this example, we see that although the natures are the same group and the types are different, the colors are two neutrals and a cool, and the egg groups overlap with the field group, making this SET invalid. However, given how big the field group is, you may decide to let it slide if it overlaps with another Pokemon. Even if we ignore the egg groups, the colors would still not be completely the same or different, making the SET invalid.

This is an example of a valid SET. The natures are all from different groups, the colors are all neutral (or even all blue in this case), they all share the Water type, and they are all part of the Water egg group. If you want to, you could say that since both Lumineon and Gyarados are in Water 2, it is not a SET, and you would be right. For all intents and purposes, it is up to you whether or not the Water egg groups are the same or not. Another possibility is ignoring the primary groups altogether and deciding that Piplup is in the Field group, and Gyarados is in the Dragon group. Then, the SET would be valid. Again, it is up to your preference.

Conclusion:

And that is everything essentially. I want this to be an easily accessible challenge, so if you want to play with only 3 out of 4 criteria, be my guest. If you think the egg groups should have their own individual groups, feel free to play by your own rules. As such, I ask that you include any special rules you are playing by in your signup form. If you would like to do an Ultimate version (one game from each region I think), be sure to clarify in your signup form, and remember that Gen I and II aren't really compatible with the criteria.

Here's my signup as an example:
Name:EpicJackman
Type: Single
Game: Platinum
Optional Rules: Dupes Clause, Shiny Clause

Challengers:


Winners:


Anyway, I hope you enjoy the challenge, and be sure to update your progress!

Wow, this looks amazing! I can already see myself forgetting half of the rules during the playthrough.

Name: Zemanahrad
Type: Single
Game: Blaze Black 2
Optional Rules: DUPES and GIFT clause are ON.

@Zemanahrad: Thanks for the feedback! I added you to the Challengers section, and I clarified the rules a bit. Basically, if you do not have a SET when you go to challenge the Elite 4, you have lost the challenge. This does not invalidate Rule 4, though, because that rule states that you can use an incomplete SET until you can make a valid one. When you make it to the Elite 4, there should be no more wild Pokemon eoncounters, given you have caught something on every route.

All right, since I got the first badge, it's time for my first update!

-First, I was given Turtwig based on by Trainer ID, named him Tyrone
-Then, I caught Shaniqua the Shinx, Sylvester the Starly, and I KOed a Bidoof encounter (which kind of sucks, because I like Bidoof).
-I was really close to immediately getting a set! However, Sylvester's nature was the same group as Shaniqua's, and Tyrone and Shaniqua had the same color group.
-In her very first battle, Shaniqua almost died from a crit Tackle oof
-While grinding, I got greedy and let Shaniqua die. I am so stupid (can't stress that enough)!
-On the bright side, I get to use Sylvester, but I really wanted a Luxray...
-Grinded Sylvester a bit (and didn't have him killed).
-Caught Ricky the Kricketot on Route 204, but since he has the same nature as Sylvester, I boxed him (since I don't want to box Tyrone)
-Caught Zorro the Zubat on Route 203, but since he's party Flying, he goes into the PC with Ricky
-In the Ravaged Path, I caught Phil the Psyduck, completing my first SET! (Sucks that Phil has awful defense though)
-I can't stress how scary Phil's defense is. There were many close calls during grinding.
-My encounter on Route 203 was an Abra, but it teleported away
-I caught a Geodude in Oreburgh Mine, and I could make another set, but I don't want to change my team right now.
-Roark is a stressful fight, but his Cranidos didn't do anything to me, so I beat him easily with Phil and Tyrone.

Basically, everything went better than expected! Other than my Shinx dying, I'm very happy with how my run is going so far.

Anyway, here is my current SET:

Here are my current boxed Pokemon:

And here is my dead box:

Okay, I finally had time to start this. My ID ends with 3, so I picked Snivy - Satoshi and oh boy, it's probably best starter for this hack. Why? Because Blaze Black 2 gives starters their Hidden abilities. So I have Contrary Snivy. Which mean that I not only negate Leers and Growls, I get stronger thanks to them. This is gonna be good run. I also decided to make a table in excel to keep some info about my Pok?mon. You can find it at the end of this part.
So after tutorial, I got to Route 19 and caught Patrat... I decided to play this hack to have bigger diversity of Pok?mon and 1st one I catch is Patrat... Great! Welcome on the team, Serena.
I spent some time to train both of them on Route 19 and then went to Route 20 to catch Sewaddle - Misty. Trainers here are at the same level as me, so another training. On Floccesy Ranch, I got Tyrogue - Chuck and cleared the story part. Now I can make my 1st SET - Satoshi, Serena and Misty. I trained them to level 13 and challenged Cheren.
And I wasn't prepared for his team. Satoshi almost died to his Minccino, but somehow won even after Attract. His Lillipup was the easiest. I used Serena to beat it. Now the biggest challenge... Munchlax. I started with Satoshi, but did almost no damage to it, so I switched to Serena. Munchlax set itself with Work Up and Stockpile and one-shoted Serena. 1st death is here. I sent out Misty and Bug Bited my way to victory.
The part after this is pretty boring. I got Super Rod, returned to Asperia City and fished up Magikarp - Dawn. Then I continued to Virbank and fished up Krabby - May. In Virbank Complex, I got Nidoran?. And surprise, surprise I can't get any more sets. So I don't have set for next Gym.
I then remembered the gift clause and the fact that this game gives away free starters in few cities. And one of them is Virbank. Cyndaquil Blaine joins the team... And I still can' make any SET. So I think I'll do temporary SET from Blaine, May and Dawn given that May and Dawn have everything except Egg Group common and Blaine have color and nature in the same category as them. I can finally do Audino training in the Virbank Complex, so that's great. I'm looking forward the battle with Roxie.

And here's the table:

I never thought it would take me a week to get the second badge, but it was definitely stressful! Here are my thoughts as I experienced them. After reading through my notes, I noticed that they get progressively angrier over time, but it ends on a happy note, at least.

-Caught Pyro the Ponyta on Route 207, but I am still close to completing a second SET
-Caught Bonnie the Buizel at the Valley Windworks. I like Buizel, but I already have Phil. However, I can make another SET.
-After looking through my Pokemon, my second SET is now Ricky, Zorro, and Bonnie, since they are my only immediate SET
-That means I have to grind them up, but it shouldn't be too hard, honestly.
-During grinding, Ricky evolved into Kricketune! Thankfully, that doesn't break the SET at all.
-And because I hate learning lessons, Zorro died from a Bide during grinding...I was so close to level 13 and Bite, too, which is when I was going to stop grinding...
-This means all my grinding was mostly useless, since I don't have a second SET anymore. Oh well, I'll try again next time. I've never used a Kricketune before, but Buizel's a good Pokemon, so I hope I get to use her.
-The fight with Mars was the worst battle yet. Not only did my team not do well against her, but her Purugly critted Tyrone to death.
-Honestly, it's a miracle I managed to beat her, since almost every attack she made was a crit.
-On 205, I caught Paula the Pachirisu, and I made a valid SET of Sylvester, Paula, and Googi.
-The stupidity never stops...While grinding, Googi learned Magnitude, and since she was able to one shot one wild Shellos, I figured she could do it again. I was wrong...
-Now, I don't have a valid SET anymore, so now I'm stuck with Sylvester and Paula.
-After grinding, fighting Hiker Daniel was really fun to fight, especially since he had THREE Geodudes. Of course, that did not end well. Depsite setting up against him, he still managed to KO Sylvester, and, of course, I could have healed him to stop it. Things are looking pretty awful for me, especially since my best Pokemon just died. It's not like it's the game's fault either. This is the worst decision-making I've ever made in a Nuzlocke ever.
-For Sylvester's replacement, I chose Ricky, since I learned that Bug is super effective against Grass, and he needs nowhere near the amount of grinding that Pyro needs to be viable.
-In the Eterna Forest, I caught Sidewinder the Budew, and this caused Paula to be boxed in favor of my new SET of Ricky, Bonnie, and Sidewinder (so you know what that means...more grinding!)
-I honestly hate this game right now. Literally the first trainer in Gardenia's gym killed Ricky. Her stupid Roselia just kept poisoning me without fail, used Mega Drain, and then got some Leech Life HP for good measure. Words can't describe how mad I am right now.
-I decided maybe catching a Pokemon on 211 would help me, but, of course, I critted a Hoothoot and killed it.
-So my only viable option is grinding Pyro to Level 20. At this point, I'm really hating the fact I have to grind every two seconds. It's also really annoying that I have more dead Pokemon in my PC than alive ones, and I don't even have the second gym badge yet. The real kicker is that Gardenia is supposed to be really easy, yet the first trainer in her gym is the one that screws me.
-Anyway, grinding Pyro was really easy thanks to the Eterna Forest, and he swept through Gardenia without a problem. It is kind of sad that she has a Roserade, when Sidewinder doesn't even like me enough to become a Roselia...

Also, @Zemanahrad, I also kept track of my Pokemon in an Excel spreadsheet, but it's not as clean as yours is.

My current party:

My current boxed Pokemon:

My dead box:

Satoshi, Misty, Dawn and Blaine evolved during the training. Blaine learned Extrasensory and was able to solo Roxie. Picking him was good call. Cheren was bigger challenge.
Then I noticed error in my table - I painted Blaine's nature as Neutral instead of Defense. It still doesn't change anything as I can't make SET. So I completed next part with the temporary SET of Blaine, Dawn and May.
Finally I got to Castelia City. After Hugh knocked out my encounter in sewers, I was able to catch Timburr in Relic Passage and Munna in the grassy area outside from sewers.
It's Autumn now. I caught Trapinch on Route 4 and got my next and last gifted starter - Totodile.
In the end I made new two SETs and started training for Burgh. Given that I don't have anything super effective against him, I'll probably have hard time with him.
And finally here's the table:

I knew this will be bad, that's why I trained everyone to level 30 and evolved everyone as much as I could. But the type disadvantage really made a difference here. I decided to go with SET γ into the battle and it was mistake. I thought Chew Two would be able to beat everyone with Ice Fang, but Burgh's Leavanny was faster and took 3/4 of Chew Two's HP with Leaf Blade. So I decided to switch and the show started. Satoshi came in, beat his Leavanny and then died to Scyther. Tracy came in and dies to Scyther too. Last member of the SET, Chew Two had to take care of him and Parasect before falling to the Masquerain. That's one SET down... I continued with Misty, who got destroyed quickly. I really hoped she could outspeed the Masquerain. Dawn finally ends this terrible battle.

So I'm continuing with only Dawn and Iris until I can form new SET. <- You see the mistake there? No? Then look at the next picture...

And with the black out, this run ends in failure. I had really bad luck on the SETs. I feel that if I got Blaine into one SET, this could be much more easier. But I still had fun with it and will probably return with another run.

This section of the game started off terribly, but it finished great! Near the end of it, I decided to stop limiting myself to two Pokemon if I don't have a valid SET. I mainly did this so I could stand a chance against Barry, but it also did this so I wouldn't have to grind as much in general and always have to rearrange my team.

-In the Old Chateau, I managed to catch Zapp the Rotom! This completed a SET of Sidewinder, Bonnie, and Zapp.
-I knew the Eterna Building would give me trouble, but, of course, Zapp is weak to Dark type moves, and Budew is weak to Dark and Poison. By the time I got to Jupiter, Bonnie was having an easy time, but Night Slash is what ended Sidewinder's life. I'll admit that I potion spammed a lot in this fight, but it did absolutely nothing, since I knew Sidewinder coudn't survive. I'm not too upset though, because Bonnie and Zapp are a good duo.
-I was hoping to catch a Cleffa in Mt. Coronet, but I, of course, critted it with a Quick Attack.
-On Route 206, I had to get Sidewinder out from the Dead Box as an HM Slave, which is okay, since he fits in with the SET of Zapp and Bonnie.
-So I go into the Wayward Cave, hoping for a Gible, right? Not only is my encounter an Onix, but it, OF COURSE, crits Bonnie with a Rock Throw and kills her. Can my luck honestly be any worse?!
-For 206, my encounter was a Machop, but, of course, I crit it with a Shock Wave. It's so easy to crit Wild Pokemon, but when I need it for an important battle, I fail every time.
-Thank God my Togepi hatched, though!
-Since I can't just do a solo run, my current party consists of Zapp and Pyro
-On 208, I finally caught a Pokemon! And a Ralts no less! This means my new SET is Rolltide the Ralts, Paula the Pachirisu, and Jon the Togepi. I really don't want to use Togepi, but that's what the Exp Share is for. (Also, grinding!)
-Well, it was great while it lasted...Rolltide died during grinding. Considering its awful Defense across the board, I can't say I'm surprised.
-On the bright side, I don't have to use Togepi anymore (Sorry, Jon)!
-Since I currently have no counter to Hiker trainers, I decided to bring Phil along for the fun.
-For the first time in my whole run, I've decided to use 3 Pokemon in an invalid SET instead of 2. It was okay early game, but it's silly at this point to restrict myself to only two Pokemon if I can't complete a SET. Therefore, my current team consists of Paula, Phil, and Pyro (Triple P).
-This grinding session is brought to you by the Vs Seeker! I love this item, and I hope it comes back in the next core game.
-Wow, Fantina's fight was a piece of cake. I'll admit, I was overleveled, but let's not focus on that...

@Zemanahrad, I honestly didn't expect you to lose the run so soon. If anything, I was really worried about losing to Fantina or Barry, so I also over trained. Then again, Platinum may be hard, but I don't think it's anywhere near as hard as the Drayano hacks.

My current party:

My current boxed Pokemon:

My dead box:

It didn't take long and I started my 2nd attempt. My trainer ID ends with 1, so once again, Snivy is my starter. Now the hardest challenge of the run started... What theme should I use to name my Pok?mon? After hours and hours of thinking, I decided to go with Czech names. Welcome to the team, Jana.
Then it was pretty easy. I got my Route 19 and 20 catches - Purrloin (Dominik) and Sewaddle (Eva). And Riolu (Ondra) on the ranch. Great, Fighting-Type Pok?mon... With Counter as it's ONLY Fighting-Type move. Jana, Dominik and Ondra are compatible. They're my 1st SET.
After some grinding, I was ready for Cheren. And this time really ready. I was able to COUNTER his strategy really well (You see what I did there?).
I continued to Virbank, when suddenly, double battle. Jana and Dominik vs Sewaddle and Venipede. I quickly switched Jana for Ondra, but Dominik took 2 SE attacks and died.
So I decided to catch everything I can at this point and formed new SET of Ondra, Finneon (Dan) and Electrike (Lenka). I'm training them right now for the Roxie. I wish I had Cyndaquil with Extrasensory. That would be easy once again.
And here's the table:

Glad to see you're back, Zemanahrad! I caught some great Pokemon this time around, not that the life expectancy of my Pokemon is any good. I like that in this section I really took my time to plan out my SETs, even if it doesn't have the best result.

-I received an Eevee from Bebe. I made his name a smiley face, because I couldn't think of anything better...
-He doesn't complete a SET, though, so he's going to the PC.
-I thought about getting Spiritomb on 209, but I realized that I need to do underground shenanigans to get him, so I guess I'll get something else.
-Instead, I caught Nightwoman the Duskull on 209, forming a SET of Paula, Nightwoman, and Jon.
-In the Lost Tower, I knocked out a Ghastly, but I don't think I need anymore Ghost Pokemon anyway.
-I caught Funown the Unown in Solaceon Ruins (what a surprise), but I don't feel confident going through this cave until I can counter Rock types.
-Funown may not fit into a SET, but I did get some Seals out of it, which is nice, because a huge "F" appears when I send out Paula now!
-I caught Snipps the Scyther, completing my second SET of Snipps, Zapp, and :)
-Welp...there's always a casualty during grinding. This time, Jon died, which doesn't really upset me at all. Then again, Funown took his place, and I'm not sure that's any better...
-Well, decision making was never my strong suit. What I mean by that is Snipps died to a Rollout from a Bibarel. As much as people like to poke fun at the Bidoof family, they don't mess around!
-Not having a second SET makes things easier in terms of grinding, but now I'm just back where I started...
-Now, because we're in Solaceon Town, I decided to do something I've never done before: grind using the Daycare!
-On 215, I caught Azure the Marill, completing my new second SET of Azure, Zapp, and :)
-During grinding, Azure evolved into Azumarill! Since I now have a Water type back in the party, I'm going to quickly go through Solaceon Ruins and pick up all the items.
-Well, I decided a Double Battle would be fun...until I realized it was a terrible idea. Essentially, Zapp is now dead two steps away from Veilstone.
-Also in Veilstone, I found out Funown's Hidden Power is Dragon! I kind of respect him for that...
-I never actually knew this, but I received a Porygon in Veilstone, which would have been great if it wasn't Normal, because :) is Normal. However, if I evolve :) right now, my second SET will remain intact!
-Since I have no ace for Maylene, I've decided on getting Espeon as my Eeveelution.
-Or so I thought...If I do that, I still won't have a valid SET, since I would have Cool, Cool, Warm.
-Instead, I've decided to change my SET. I've decided to use Pyro, Azure, and Nightwoman. The best part about using Pyro is that he's so overleveled from Gardenia, that I don't even have to grind him!
-And for the grand finale: Maylene! Her Meditite and Machoke went down pretty easily, but it was her Lucario that scared me the most. Sure enough, a Force Palm critted Azure and killed him. By some miracle, Nightwoman confused Lucario, and he hurt himself in confusion enough times to faint.

Am I happy I lost a great Water type? No, but I'm surprised I was able to get past that Gym at all without any super effective moves (other than for the Meditite). I also have a new problem of having no current SET, but I can fix that later.

On a completely unrelated note, I would like to put out there that Pickup is officially the greatest ability ever conceived. I didn't even know you could get a King's Rock until now, not to mention Paula's been killing it with great items from Pickup.

My current party:

My current boxed Pokemon:

My dead box:

EpicJackman said:

Glad to see you're back, Zemanahrad!

Click to expand...

I see you're having much more luck that I do. I just wiped for the 2nd time, this time. I keep forgetting that trainers in this hack are actually smart and have good movesets. I think I will have to really grind. My SET was at level 20 and Roxie's Pokémon were at levels 16-20 and I didn't even got to her level 20 Pokémon. I even helped her when Dan set Rain Dance - her Croagunk had Dry Skin so it healed all the damage I've done to it. I can't even remember last time I had failed one run twice.

Good luck on your run and I'll be back soon with another attempt.

Zemanahrad said:

I see you're having much more luck that I do. I just wiped for the 2nd time, this time. I keep forgetting that trainers in this hack are actually smart and have good movesets. I think I will have to really grind. My SET was at level 20 and Roxie's Pok?mon were at levels 16-20 and I didn't even got to her level 20 Pok?mon. I even helped her when Dan set Rain Dance - her Croagunk had Dry Skin so it healed all the damage I've done to it. I can't even remember last time I had failed one run twice.

Good luck on your run and I'll be back soon with another attempt.

Click to expand...

You're too kind! I get lucky when I don't expect it, but when I need it, it's nowhere to be found. It's been forever since I've played a Drayano hack, but I'm sure I'd be worse off than you if I was playing Blaze Black or Storm Silver.

This session definitely had some setbacks, but in the end, everything turned out better than expected. There's a balance of good and bad decision making, and there's a little luck sprinkled in for good measure.

-As far as Eeveelutions are concerned, my choices are Vaporeon, Leafeon, and Espeon to complete my SET.I think Espeon is the best bet, since it can deal with Team Galactic well. For Crasher Wake, I can change my SET to include Paula.
-It sucks, though, because my Eevee hates me and won't evolve! I massage him every day, but he just doesn't want to max out his friendship!
-Galactic business aside, I'm using a SET of Nightwoman, Paula, and Funown for Pastoria.
-So my encounter for 214 was a Graveler. Knowing Electric types and Gravelers don't mix well, I switched into Nightwoman. Considering the Graveler used Self-Destruct, I think I made a smart call!
-I went into the Ruin Maniac Cave expecting nothing special, but I ended up catching Bumbo the Hippopotas! I also found out female Hippopotas look different than the male ones, which is cool. It's also cool that I had a 5% chance of encountering Hippopotas!
-Because Funown is useless, I'm switching it out for Bumbo! Or so I thought...As it turns out, Bumbo just barely doesn't fit into a SET, but I think it's fair to use the Exp. Share on her as long as I don't use her in battle.
-At the Valor Lakefront, I encountered a Houndour, which would have been a decent catch if it didn't Roar me...
-Route 203 was kinder to me, and I caught Snelly the Shellos! After rearranging my party, I settled on two SETs:
1. Paula, :), and Bumbo
2. Pyro, Snelly, and Funown
-Now, here's definitely the dumbest mistake I've made this whole playthrough. Despite Pastoria giving me nightmares as a kid (specifically trying to beat Crasher Wake using my Infernape and many Revives), I somehow forgot that Barry fights you in front of the Gym! Needless to say, I'm lucky Paula was in the front of my party. Unfortunately, :) died, but I must say without his Sand Attacks, Paula would be dead, and Bumbo would definitely be dead. Why is it the Pokemon I spend the most time trying to make happy always die before they evolve form happiness?
-This also broke my "All Field" SET, so back to the drawing board...
-Because Paula is my ace against Wake, and I like Nightwoman's Will-O-Wisp, I'm going with the tried and true Paula, Nightwoman...and Funown for good measure (or healing fodder).
-In the Great Marsh, I caughr Nootnoot the Noctowl. Thanks to her Neutral color, I can replace Funown with her and form a competent SET! I'm also ecstatic that I can finally teach something Fly!
-I caught Whacka the Quagsire on 212, but he unfortunately doesn't fit into a SET (even if he's not useful for this Gym).
-I'm glad Nootnoot learns Reflect, because I'm pretty sure a Prinplup would have killed her with Bide if I didn't set one up.
-I caught Hart the Pikachu in the Trophy Garden, but I still can't complete a second SET...
-I also got a second Soothe Bell, which is something I never knew you could do!
-As I said before, Wake gave me nightmares as a kid. Paula may be awesome, but she wouldn't stand a chance against his Quagsire, and neither would Nootnoot. My only real strategy is Will-O-Wisp and hoping I don't get destroyed!
-I was about to go into the battle with Nightwoman at level 36, but I'm glad I remembered she evolved at 37! Since she's now the beefiest member of my team, I think I should be fine with Wake (hopefully).

Here's a rundown of the battle:
-His Gyarados went down in one hit, which isn't surprising.
-For his Quagsire, I burned it with Will-O-Wisp, and I confused it for good measure. Despite his Quagsire never hitting itself in confusion, it still went down easily.
-Finally, his Floatzel went into red after one Discharge, but its Sitrus Berry brought it out of healing range, and its Crunch didn't matter, because Paula was faster.

Overall, I think I stressed a little too much over that fight, but I'm glad I didn't get swept. I was talking about luck earlier, so I think it's only appropriate to include another great find with Pickup! Sure, this one was only a 4% drop, but it might come in handy if I ever get a Murkrow.


My current party:

My current boxed Pokemon:

My dead box:

Well, it's that time of week again: update time! This time, the journey to Canalave! Like every other update I post, it has its ups and downs, but I'm excited to near the climax of the game with Team Galactic!

-After dealing with SecretPotions and stuff, I must say the trainers North of 210 are really hard! Although there were no fatalities, my potions and Paralyz Heals were depleted.
-The fight with Cyrus was pretty easy, but I am a little mad. Sneasel's first Ice Punch froze Nightwoman! She immediately thawed, but Sneasel's next Ice Punch froze her for five turns! There is kind of a silver lining, because Nightwoman's Pressure drained all of Sneasel's Ice Punch PP, so it couldn't do anything against me.
-...I hate myself so much. My Repel wears off, and I tell myself, "It's okay. You can make it past 3 tiles of grass! It would be a waste to use another Repel!" Of course, I run into a Graveler. Knowing it will probably Self-Destruct, I switch into Nightwoman. Instead, the Graveler used Rollout. Because of her abysmal Speed, Nightwoman could not escape, and she died. I was never really a fan of Graveler, but I really hate them now.
-I'd also like to mention that I spent a decent amount of time altering the ROM so Dusknoir wouldn't require a trade evolution. Once again, all my hard work has gone to waste! Dusknoir is a beast, too, so I'm really upset!
-Because I need Surf to progress, I need a way to work Whacka into a SET. After going through all possible combinations of Pokemon in my PC, my only compatible SET is Paulie, Whacka, and Funown, the SET fixer! My work for evolving Nightwoman may have gone to waste, but maybe I can take advantage of the alterations I made to Porygon's evolutions (aka instead of trading with an Up-Grade, I just have to level him up with an Up-Grade)!
-Grinding is not fun, especially when you rematch a trainer, and he's 10 levels higher than you...I think it was acceptable to potion spam in this scenario.
-Anyway, in this grinding session, I grinded (ground?) Whacka and Paulie to Level 30, and I evolved Paulie during this. For the next 10 Levels, I think I will grind somewhere else, but I'm so glad the Vs. Seeker exists! It helps refill the hole in my wallet from wasting all my Super Potions...
-For my second grinding session, I grinded to Level 40 with Paulie and Whacka to match my old SET. Funown remains at 28. I grinded outside the Mansion on 212, and the trainers gave me many nigthmares with critical hits.
-My encounter for 218 was a Tentacool, but since I forgot how Type effectiveness works, I killed it with a Psybeam...
-In Canalave City, it's time for the Battle on the Bridge...aka Bad Luck with Barry. His Toxic Spikes were probably the worst to me. Anyway, I finally sacked Funown to help heal Whacka, but it wasn't enough. I thought Whacka would survive, but the poison killed him. I was really hoping my Surf user wouldn't immediately die, but I guess that was just wishful thinking.
-Since I no longer have a SET, my new one consists of Pyro, Snelly, and Nootnoot. It's not a valid SET, but it's the closest one I have, and I need Pyro as my semi-ace for the gym.
-And now for my favorite hobby: grinding!
-I grinded Snelly and Pyro to Level 40 to match Nootnoot, and both of them evolved! This made me realize my whole team right now is two-stage evolutions.
-In Iron Island, I got the Riolu egg, but I haven't hatched it yet. In other news, I'm ready for the Gym!

Steel is definitely an interesting type, and I love Byron, but he stood no chance against Pyro and Snelly.
-His Magneton went down easily with a Fire Blast.
-His Steelix went down easier with one Surf.
-Finally, his Bastiodon survived with just a sliver of HP after Surf, but its berry took it out of healing range.

Overall, this session was filled with the same bad decision making as ever, and I noticed that I over-grinded. I also had a few hours of grinding, which was not fun, but as long as my Pokemon don't die...I should be fine. I'm also looking forward to hatching my Riolu. Lucario is a fantastic Pokemon, and I hope I can fit him into a SET.

For today's images, I have "Bide in a Nutshell" and what I guess is a "Fact of the Day."


My current party:

My current boxed Pokemon:

My dead box:

Well, this part came sooner than I expected. I know there isn't much story between Canalave and Snowpoint, but it was all said and done sooner than I expected. While a bit shorter than my other entries, there are some fun SET changing shenanigans this time around!

-In the Canalave Library, explosions! I also stopped to read the lore, because I like doing that whenever I play Platinum.
-Team Galactic at Lake Valor was pretty easy, but Jupiter's Toxicroak is scary! It almost killed me with its Poison Jab.
-Right before my fight with Mars, Lucas the Riolu was born! For convenience sake, I'll quickly take out Mars with the Exp. Share on him.
-As it turns out, Lucas does form a SET! Therefore, my new set consists of Paulie, Lucas, and Paula
-At least, that's what I would say if I didn't have to go through Mt. Coronet...For right now, I'll just take back my old team.
-On 216, I caught Achoo the Sneasel! I was honestly hoping for something better.
-On 217. I caught Michelle the Snover, aka a much better Pokemon than Sneasel! The thing is, if I replace Nootnoot with Michelle, I have a complete SET, and I'll have nowhere near as much grinding! So once I get to Snowpoint, I think I will make my new SET Pyro, Snelly, and Michelle.
-Finally, At the Acuity Lakefront, I caught Porka the Swinub, and she also doesn't fit into any SET.
-After thinking about it more...I want to use Lucas in my SET, because I don't want a Lucario to go to waste, since I am close to evolving him. Furthermore, my new SET will be Pyro, Lucas, and Michelle
-Only a few minutes after typing this, Lucas evolved into Lucario! This was a lot less painful than the other friendship Pokemon. Also, since Lucas is the only Pokemon in my party that can learn Rock Climb, I feel inclined to use him even more.
-However, his new Egg Group of Field/Human-Like broke my SET, so I have to replace Pyro for Paulie.
-Grinding Lucas was pretty easy, since he's awesome, but Michelle was a lot harder to grind. Mainly, her attacks were weak, and I noticed her experience curve is awful. However, thanks to the Exp. Share, she is now competently leveled, and she has Wood Hammer, which is awesome!
-Michelle also evloved into Abomasnow, which is pretty cool, despite having 7 weaknesses!
-Candice was always the easiest Gym Leader in Sinnoh...and her fight was no different this time. Aura Spheres and a Flash Cannon defeated her in record time!

And with that, this entry is pretty much over. Michelle can also learn Rock Climb as an Abomasnow, so I probably shouldn't have given it to Lucas so early...I guess I can always delete it and relearn sommething else. Sure, I'm running out of things to catch, but everything I catch is a Field Pokemon! If I had almost anything else, I could complete my second SET and stand a chance in the late game!

And for today's inspirational message:


My current party:

My current boxed Pokemon:

My dead box:

It has been while since I did this. Last time I had bad luck and wasn't really paying attention to the games as I was kinda bored of them. But now, after refreshing pause, I think I can dive deep down to this SETlocke again.
For the 3rd time, my starter is Snivy, male this time. I quickly formed SET this time. It consist of the Snivy, Mareep and Meowth. Pretty interesting SET if you ask me. I challenged Cheren with this team and thanks to the Mareep's Thunder Wave, I was able to not only hit first, but also got few free turns. After the battle Mareep evolved into Flaaffy.
The journey continued and I caught more Pok?mon, but sadly I wasn't able to build another SET. After quick training I decided to challenge Roxie. It was hard battle, but somehow, I was able to heal all the poison damage and beat her with just Meowth and Flaaffy. I would be crazy if I would sent out Servine.
And with that I saved in the Castelia City before catching any new Pok?mon.
Here's the table as always:

I caught pretty much everything I could in Castelia and form new SET made by Finneon, Treecko and Elgyem. Oh and Meowth evolved during this time. I decided to challenge the Gym and when I was thinking that Persian is the MVP of this run, this happened:

So that was great. I had to create new SET consisting of Flaaffy, Chimchar and Butterfree. If you look at the table below, you can notice it's not a valid SET and I realized it when Chimchar died later in the run. I meant to use Starly or Spearow instead of Butterfree, but somehow mixxed things up and used Butterfree. Originally I wanted to use Starly/Spearow/Butterfree, but it wasn't valid once I caught Butterfree, so I had to put the one above together. Chimchar was great addition to the team and was pretty much my winning condition against Burgh.
I moved to the Nimbasa and in the battle against Elesa, my Chimchar, well now Infernape, died. And so I had to make another SET. This is when I realized the old one wasn't valid, so I swapped Butterfree with Spearow and added Baltoy to it.
Right after the Elesa, Beheyeem died in the Rotation Battle and so I had to made yet another SET. And with that, I saved the game.
Here's the table as always:

Well, you can already guess what happened... I challenged Clay's Gym. I was slowly beating all the trainers in the Gym and had only problem with a Gligar, because I had no effective way to deal with it. But then, the last trainer before Clay came... And he had Gliscor! So Jaina and Sis died and I had to build new SET. Here's the problem... I can make only one SET and it's pretty bad against Ground-Types and even worse against Rock-Types... So what is this new SET? Farfetch'd, Ampharos and Slakoth.
I knew I wasn't moving past Clay, but I still challenged him. I was able to beat his Krookodile with Farfetch'd, but his Nidoking was too strong. Just look at its face:

It was able to beat my whole SET and I blacked out, so that means I have failed 3rd attempt. I have to say that I had pretty bad luck this time. I had nice variety of the natures, but encountered so many Pokémon with neutral color or with same typing.
Here's the final table:

(Sorry for the hiatus. I go into it more later, but for now, enjoy an entry that is months old!)

-Well, I found a Reaper Cloth near Lake Acuity, which would have been great if I still had Nightwoman...
-Y'know, I've been lying a little about my SETs. As it turns out, I can form a second SET, but I neglected to, because I didn't want to grind. Instead, I'll just use the Exp. Share. Without further adieu, my second SET is Hart, Snelly, and Nootnoot.
-At Lake Acuity, I picked up Blizzard for Michelle (although Snelly can also learn it), and I caught Chip the Snorunt! In fact, it's kind of sad that Chip has better starter moves than Michelle did as a Snorunt.
-Planning the fight against Cyrus, I wanted to use Lucas for his Sneasel, but I didn't have anything for his other Pokemon, so I went to get Thunderbolt for Paulie. I then discovered that I was maxed out on money, which is something I wish I knew earlier!
-In the Galactic HQ, I found a Dubious Disc, which is good news for Paulie!
-Maybe it's because I've pretty much been playing with one SET for most of the game, but I realize now almost through Galactic HQ that I haven't really used my second SET at all other than keeping the Exp. Share on Hart. I really do like my team though, and I'm especially grateful to have my HM users back on my team!
-The fight with Cyrus was pretty stress free...except for the part where his Sneasel froze me on the very first turn. I call hacks! Other than that, my strategy worked, and Paulie evolved into Porygon-Z in the process!
-Because I used my first SET for Cyrus, I decided to use my other SET for Saturn. He was a lot harder! Once again, his Toxicroak was really a pain to deal with, mainly because it badly poisoned me.
-Because I don't want to use the Exp. Share on Hart forever, I'm going to once again grind to get everyone to similar levels. I also need to consider when to evolve her into a Raichu.
-After a near death experience with Hart, I said to myself, "Wait. Why am I waiting to evolve Pikachu until after it learns Thunder when I can just buy it?" I then decided to buy Thunder and promptly evolve Hart into Raichu! Maybe I've grinded too much in this playthrough (probably more than I have for any Nuzlocke), but I keep maxing out on cash! I spent loads of money on potions and repels, but I just went right back to 999999. I ended up converting 210K into coins at the Game Corner so I can get a nice TM later if I feel like it. The reason I keep spending money is because I hate it when money goes to waste when I'm maxed out. On the bright side, it means I can pretty much buy whatever I want without restriction.
-Despite playing this game for years, I always get lost in Mt. Coronet, even though I know its layout! I love the troll grunt that has no Pokemon who's only there to waste your time!
-Again, I did not utilize my second SET at all unfortunately, but Michelle was a lot more useful than I expected her to be. I guess this is obvious, but she is a lot bulkier than when she was a Snover, so she can take a lot of Super Effective attacks (y'know with her seven weaknesses).
-Given the double battle ahead of me, I will be using Paulie alongside Lucas. I think it's fitting that the climax of the game takes place on the peak of the region. Although, I guess the Distortion World also counts as part of the climax in Platinum.
-Wow! Jupiter and Mars were hard! Even with Barry's (not really) help, I only survived, because I had one Full Restore to get rid of Lucas' Burn. Team Galactic really likes hacks, don't they?
-Because I used my first SET to face Jupiter and Mars, I will use my second SET to face Cyrus.
-And what a tragic battle it was...His Houndoom and Gyarados went down easily, but then he switched into his Weavile. I figured, "Nootnoot is weak to this, but she'll survive, right?" No, no she didn't. After Snelly took care of Weavile, I sent out Hart to deal with Honchkrow. She was then critted to death. Snelly suffered the same fate. Finally, I figured with one SET dead, Paulie would be able to deliver the final blows with Thunderbolt. Cyrus' Crobat hung on with a sliver of HP, and I knew then that Paulie was screwed. I healed him, but a crit killed him. This is the most I've lost in this entire playthough, which worries me, because I need a complete SET to complete the game.
-Anyway, I was going to kill Giratina in the Distortion World (since using legendaries is lame), but then I saw how much its attack hurt, so I caught it in the Master Ball. I'm not going to use it, though.
-At Sendoff Spring, I caught Dingaling the Chingling...Whoopee...The worst part is that it's the only Pokemon that fits into my SET, so it'll have to do.

Yeah, so this has been sitting in NotePad++ for a while now...Everything above this was probably written in I want to say July? Well, it's December now, so I figured I would try and start the grind again...
-To be honest, It's been so long that I forgot that I had to talk to Rowan before I could go to Sunnyshore!
-Aaaand my encounter for Route 222 is...a...Chatot......Because it's me, Dingaling critted it. I don't even like Chatot, but why did I have to kill it?
-Well, it looks like my dumb decisions caught up to me quick. Thinking Dingaling couldn't take a Machoke, I switched to Lucas, thinking he could survive any fighting moves, despite them being super effective...To be fair, Lucas did survive the Cross Chop, but he, unfortunately, did not survive the hail that Michelle set earlier. Friendly fire sure is tragic.
-The real kicker is that Dingaling survived a Vital Throw just fine and killed the Machoke with a single Psychic...
-Now, I don't officially have a SET anymore, but I will just go with my best Pokemon currently in the box...which is Pyro at Level 45! While I would love to use Bumbo my ground type, I really don't want to spend even more time grinding than I have to.
-Well, I always talk about my dumb decisions, so how about a smart one for a change? Because Raichu decided to use Dig, I just switched Pyro out for Dingaling. Dingaling survived the attack with 5 HP to spare and finished him off with Psychic!
-Unfortunately for me, the fun didn't last much longer. Out of all things, a Magneton killed Pyro from a crit Thunderbolt. I have no real hopes for this Gym Battle, but I must persist!

However, I really can't. Looking at what's in my party and the PC, I know I can't beat the game with the Pokemon I have left, and I've lost all hope at this point. The main reason I kept this on hiatus for so long (other than school) is that the battle against Cyrus completely destroyed my team, and I've only lost essentially all my other big hitters since. I have Paula at Level 40 and Bumbo at Level 25, but I can't see them holding their own against the rest of the game. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to call it quits here. I have no SET, and I won't have a viable one before the Elite 4 if I even get there.

On a brighter note, I really enjoyed this run, and I will definitely try again at some point (maybe with another game though). Also, huge shoutouts to you, Janp, for sticking around all this time! It really motivated me to (try) and finish my run! Also, sorry for ignoring your posts. I planned on getting around to this earlier, but I really need to do some cleaning up on my posts.

At some point in the near future, I will go through this thread and update images and posts as necessary. It looks like the original rules are gone, so I will draft them up again. Anyway, for now, enjoy my final team from a run with more ups and downs than a roller coaster!


My final party:

My final boxed Pokemon:

My dead box: