[Challenge] The Nuzlocke Challenge

Coldweather · Aug 1, 2016

Let's do it!!

Username: Coldweather
Version: Sapphire
Single/Ultimate?: Single

Edit: oh god my wurmple

-Yoshi- · Aug 3, 2016

Username: -Yoshi-
Version: FireRed
Single/Ultimate: Single for now.

Xander729 · Aug 3, 2016

Xander's Pokemon Challenges

Pokemon Soulsilver Nuzlocke

My Badges: 4

Notes: I was able to take down Morty with Fearow - Pursuit, am curretly deciding which gym leader I'm going to take on next.

My Team:

Arbok Lv. 26
Fearow Lv. 26
Gloom Lv. 25
Goldeen Lv. 24
Krabby Lv. 22
Sudowoodo Lv. 21

BlissyMKW · Aug 4, 2016

Let's aim for a powerful episode today, folks. We still got encounters to snag and gyms to destroy along with tons of Messiah's goons to send packing.

Episode 8 - The Eradication of Messiah's Goons

Spoiler:

Well, after the nice stock of encounters we picked up, I'm still considering adding a member in place of Poisma or Frei. But that aside, let's go and destroy a gym.

Forgot to take victory pic. Whoops.

So let me just say I hate Ice gyms. Ice physics in general sucks in video games. Let that be a sign of how I hated this gym puzzle. The gym battle, though, was easy. Got the almighty Scald burn first try on the Beartic, so rip that Beartic. Anyway, let's move on.

Oh, and Frei actually put in work. I might keep her because having two Intimidate mons is fun to have, especially with the physical attackers we'll likely be handling later.

Oh look, it's my punching ba-I mean, my "friends" as most of you would probably call them. Although, this whole thing is cut short by Messiah's ninjas who are basically inviting me over to Dragonspiral Tower. I mean, all I really care about over there is the encounter and maybe the items, but let's humor Messiah and destroy his goons real quick.

But let's hold on and get ourselves an encounter. Like the Axew, I feel this would be a good addition to the team...if I didn't have Reiji. I guess having more power in the PC won't hurt, though.

So it has fists, and I haven't named a mon after any physical skills yet, so let's name him Sonic Punch. Wasn't enough character space for the space, so...ye. Now, for real, let's go destroy Messiah's goons.

rip all those guys.

Oh boy, it's time for my favorite part of the game. Welp, let's get it over with.

Well, actually when you think about it, I'm overleveled. Anyway, Messiah's gonna blab his mouth a bit, and now it's time to slide on over to Relic Castle to (finally) get our encounter. Yeah, I still haven't gotten my Relic Castle encounter. But that aside, let's head on over.

But while we're here, let's finally grab that fossil since I can revive it when we're done here. Alright, let's go destroy Messiah's goons and finally get our encounter.

rip all of these guys too.

Meanwhile, we got ourselves our encounter. I already know what I'm naming this one.

Reiji Kido's Ultimate Persona, folks. Say hello to Mot. Now that all of Messiah's goons got wrecked and we got an encounter, let's go and do the other thing that matters after Ghetsis finishes his little ramble.

The Light Stone. A sign we're nearing the end of the game, folks. So, next time, we're going for the final gym and Victory Road. All of Messiah's goons are dealt with, so that's a thing that's out of the way.

Team Innocent Sin

Frei (Stoutland) ♀ Lv. 43 @ Amulet Coin
Nature: Modest
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Work Up, Aerial Ace, Reversal, Crunch

Masao (Simisage) ♂ Lv. 43 @ Nothing
Nature: Impish
Ability: Gluttony
Moves: Cut, Leech Seed, Crunch, Seed Bomb

Aqua (Seismitoad) ♀ Lv. 44 @ Soft Sand
Nature: Brave
Ability: Hydration
Moves: Drain Punch, Surf, Uproar, Scald

Reiji (Krookodile) ♂ Lv. 44 @ BlackGlasses
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Dig, Crunch, Foul Play, Swagger

Poisma (Garbodor) ♂ Lv. 43 @ Rocky Helmet
Nature: Brave
Ability: Weak Armor
Moves: Toxic, Acid Spray, Take Down, Sludge Bomb

Zionga (Galvantula) ♂ Lv. 44 @ Nothing
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Unnerve
Moves: Electro Ball, Signal Beam, Thunderbolt, Slash

Naturally, Lucky Egg is being passed around.

Stormelli · Aug 9, 2016

I've only ever done one other Nuzlocke before now, and failed miserably. Round 2, START!

Username:
Game: Alpha Sapphire
Single/Ultimate?: Single
Other Rules: Shiny Clause and Dupes Clause. I'm also going to leave the Exp. Share on only for grinding. Don't want to go TOO crazy with difficulty just yet...

I probably won't post about it, but my challenge, personally, will end after I've completed the post game, killed all legendaries that are part of the storyline (so not the Hoopa rift ones), and defeated the E4 a second time.

Tomorrow I'm pre-ordering Sun from Gamestop and I'm gonna grab Soul Silver along with it as I've never played a Johto game before, so maybe I'll try the Ultimate challenge after, as long as this challenge goes okay... heh...

I'll post my progress tomorrow!

BlissyMKW · Aug 12, 2016

So I'm kinda salty right now because a Calm Mind Misdreavus just swept my entire team and killed my Fuligin Nuzlocke. But there's only one way to take out my frustration, and that's by destroying people in my good old Black Nuzlocke.

Episode 9 - The Squad Falls Apart

Spoiler:

We got one gym left, and let me just say, it's my least favorite. Let's just get this one done and over with...starting with an encounter.

.....I have no comment for how bad this encounter for Route 8 is.

A simple nickname for a simple mon that I'll more than likely not use. Let's move onto our next encounter.

Or we can just destroy Bianca instead. Let's be honest, she's a punching bag. Anyway, she's gonna ramble, Ghetsis is gonna ramble, so let's move on over to Route 9 and get an encounter, and then maybe hit up the shopping mall for some items.

Pawniard. Not even bad, to be honest...but like an idiot, I thought using Zionga to weaken it would work, then killed it in one hit with Signal Beam. Welp, there goes a potential good Dark type for the squad. Oh well. May as well go and listen to Ghetsis ramble some more, then I'll do a bit of mini grinding.

So...we did grinding, listened to Drayden's story, and began the gym. Although, during the gym, my luck had to run out at some point. Frei was lost to us...because of a crit Revenge from a Druddigon. I swear, if it wasn't a crit, she probably would've lived. Great. Just great.

Frei (Stoutland) ♀ Lv. 4-45 @ Nothing
Nature: Modest
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Work Up, Aerial Ace, Reversal, Crunch
Why is it always crits that get something killed? I swear, you should've lived. You were one of the first members of the squad (because Gry came first, but we don't talk about her) and proved you deserved to stay on the team. I was hoping you'd make it to the Elite Four because having two Intimidate mons would be amazing, but sadly, we can't all have nice things.

But, my torment aside, let's talk about this gym. I hate this gym puzzle. Yes, I know I ragged on the Ice gym earlier, but this one bothers me too because of the switches. At least it's better in Black 2 and White 2. Speaking of which, let's take down Mr. Spartan Mayor himself and his dreaded Haxorus.

Let me just say I love Intimidate. Haxorus would've done a lot more with Slash if it had gotten to +1, but lucky we have Reiji. Our final badge is ours!

But of course, before we can go lay Frei to rest, Professor Juniper just has to interrupt me. Of course. She does hand over the Master Ball, so I guess I can forgive her...this time. Anyway, let us go heal up, lay Frei to rest, and continue on towards Route 10.

Vullaby. I would say this is decent, but it doesn't evolve until around Lv. 55 or so, which is pretty crazy. Along with that, Vullaby and Mandibuzz are defensive, and we're gonna be dealing with a Zekrom soon, so having a mon weak to Electric is an issue.

Say hello to Yatagarasu the Vullaby...even though I doubt we'll ever use her. With that aside, there's two hurdles between us and the Pokemon League, and it's time to deal with the first.

Cheren, Cheren, Cheren. Once, a punching bag like Bianca, but this man slid in with a Samurott and killed my Zionga. She lived an attack with 1 HP, and I thought a Sucker Punch would kill, but it didn't. After that, Aqua Jet happened.

Zionga (Galvantula) ♂ Lv. 27-46 @ Nothing
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Unnerve
Moves: Electro Ball, Signal Beam, Thunderbolt, Sucker Punch
Poor, poor Zionga. I thought you would be a deadweight team member at first, but after the work you put in against Skyla and even beyond that proved otherwise. You became a valuable member of the squad. It's sad to lose you, but...we will head forward.

So now I need to raise up two team members for the Elite Four. We also have our Victory Road encounter to snag, too.

.......

............

So for some reason or another, this is apparently the episode where the team falls apart. During my travels of Victory Road, I encountered a Black Belt...with a Scrafty. A Scrafty that got a crit Crunch on Poisma and killed him. Is today the day where half my squad has to be ripped apart before the Elite Four?!

Poisma (Garbodor) ♂ Lv. 19-47 @ Nothing
Nature: Brave
Ability: Weak Armor
Moves: Toxic, Acid Spray, Amnesia, Sludge Bomb
Similar to Zionga, I had doubts about you, Poisma. You were on the top of my "replace this mon" list, but I kept you for Toxic. You had your moments to shine, and Weak Armor may or may not be the reason for your death, but you still put in nothing but the finest of work. Let us hope for no more casualties.

But after all the pain, suffering, and the death of half our squad, we finally made it. The Pokemon League. Looks like I have a lot of work to do to build a prepared squad. Ladies and gentlemen, next time will be the finale. The Elite Four, Messiah, and Ghetsis.

Team Innocent Sin

Masao (Simisage) ♂ Lv. 47 @ Nothing
Nature: Impish
Ability: Gluttony
Moves: Acrobatics, Leech Seed, Crunch, Seed Bomb

Aqua (Seismitoad) ♀ Lv. 47 @ Nothing
Nature: Brave
Ability: Poison Touch
Moves: Drain Punch, Surf, Uproar, Scald

Reiji (Krookodile) ♂ Lv. 48 @ Nothing
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Dig, Crunch, Foul Play, Swagger

Mardovelin · Aug 13, 2016

username: mardovelin
game: blue
single/ultimate?: single
other rules: duplicates Clause because i don't want 10 zubats and 10 caterpies...

edit:

part 1...

Spoiler:

BlissyMKW · Aug 25, 2016

So before we begin the finale, let me just say one thing. Up to this point, I've done the entirety of this locke through nothing but muscle memory. I did not look up any gym leaders teams or what mons I could catch on a route. I'm extremely afraid of the Elite Four, so I broke my personal rule and looked up what I'm up against.

Along with that, because I clearly don't have the time to grind three team members 20+ levels for the six remaining battles, so I used experience codes to help make grinding go by faster. Pretty sure that isn't against the rules since it's not like I hacked in any items or gave all my mons perfect IVs. Anyway, with that aside, let us begin the Elite Four.

Finale - Tatsuya's Truths and Messiah's Ideals

Spoiler:

It's finally time. Time to defeat the Elite Four. Our fallen team members shall not be forgotten. With our new squad all set and ready for battle, let us begin the infamous Elite Four.

Out of the members of the Elite Four, I thought Marshall was going to be the biggest threat, so I went for him first. As you can see, Kohryu is part of our new squad. I started secretly raising him up with the Exp. Share after Poisma met his untimely end, but him and Pulinpa, another new member of the squad, put in some work on Marshall, but mostly Kohryu, able to take out his thick Conkeldurr and his big threat, Mienshao. One down, three to go.

Now, Caitlin was my second pick for various reasons, and most of them pertain to Focus Blast Reuniclus and Ice Beam Sigilyph. I led with Reiji, expecting Musharna, but she led with Reuniclus and I was forced to use Pulinpa to handle Reuniclus...not that it did much. He ate the Focus Blast and it missed it's Thunder. Sadly, though, Reiji can't kill Musharna or Gothetelle in one shot without BlackGlasses. Other than that, Bufudyne made quick work of the deadly bird of doom. Moving onto our not so threatening Elite Four members.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm sorry for what I did to Grimsley. Seriously, the only actual threat on his team was Scrafty because of the Poisma fiasco, but Aqua got a crit Drain Punch and insta killed it. Krookodile was nothing but a Scald, and even though Bisharp had Defiant, one Earthquake from Reiji was all it took (it was a crit too, by the way). Liepard and Bufudyne had a bit of fun, but Quick Claw loved to pop in this battle. To be honest, I could've probably faced Shauntel first and this battle would still be a breeze. Speaking of Shauntel...

Now while Grimsley was a pushover, Shauntel was just annoying. Cofag lived on 1% and got off it's Will-o-wisp on Reiji turn 1, Jellicent got a Special Defence drop on Masao (lucky that Jellicent's physical defense is paper thin levels of suck), and Chandy nearly killed Aqua and lived a Surf on 1%. Golurk was easy, so ye. With that, we beat the Elite Four. Now it's time to heal up and take on the Champion...

...is what I would be saying if this was White 2 or Black 2, but we still have a big problem to attend to, and that's Messiah and Zekrom.

And we may have our work cut out for us because Messiah even beat Alder. Sure, he used a legendary, but still, he beat Alder, the man with the Lv. 70+ Volcarona. Let it be known that I like Volcarona, but that's another story for another time. We have to end this. We have to stop Messiah. We have to go and restock on Hyper Potions and heal up, so let's do that first.

Suddenly, N's Castle, because we need a suitable final battlefield.

Let me just say, I like the music in N's Castle. That's beside the point, though. Beyond this door is our final battles. We lost no team members during the Elite Four. Let's keep this up for the true finale, Messiah and Ghetsis.

But first, we gotta catch this guy. I won't use him because we already have an established squad, but...

I believe it's fitting that our final encounter is named after the final Persona used in Persona 3 to

Spoiler:

, the Universe Persona, Messiah. Now, let's take down Messiah once and for all, shall we?

Mother of Arceus, this one was intense. Zekrom only set up a Light Screen, got healed, then died from a crit Earthquake from Reiji. Lucky I shut down it's Fusion Bolt. Then, the only actual threat to my team shows up, the Vanilluxe. Turn 1, it sets up Hail while I was assuming it was Zoroark, then it gets the freeze on Aqua with Blizzard the following turn. I was lucky to switch to Bufudyne, but then it throws out Flash Cannon and nearly kills her. Luckily, I still managed to get a Poison Touch Drain Punch before Aqua got frozen. Other than that, the rest of his team came down to "Oh, this mon is Zoroark...maybe," but instead, this man just sends out Zoroark straight up and it dies from Kohryu's Dragon Claw. Now, let's do the real final battle and put my nerves to rest for a while.

While N was a tough fight, Ghetsis was more of a matter of "kill Hydregion and you're good to go." Toxic stall Cofag wasn't too much trouble for Reiji, but then Ghetsis throws the curveball by sending in Hydregion straight away. Luckily for me, it couldn't kill Aqua in 2 hits because of Drain Punch, so it wasn't too bad. After that, his team fell apart like a stack of cards. Bouffalant only got off one Head Charge, but at -1 thanks to Reiji, it wasn't too bad. A Crunch and an Earthquake dispatched it quickly. Masao just destroyed Seismitoad, and if I had Earthquake, Eelektross would've been instakilled by Kohyru. Oh well, Dragon Claw worked all the same. After that, with some Earthquake action, Reiji took down Ghetsis' Bisharp and brought this chapter to a close. No casualties.

And with that...the game is complete. Our locke is won.

Team Innocent Sin (Final)

Masao (Simisage) ♂ Lv. 54 @ Miracle Seed
Nature: Impish
Ability: Gluttony
Moves: Acrobatics, Leech Seed, Crunch, Seed Bomb
Survivor MVP
One of the original members of the squad. I ended up getting my Pansage killed during my first X Nuzlocke thanks to a Shellder, but this time around, he made it to the end. While he wasn't exactly MVP material, he will have the title of Survivor MVP.

Aqua (Seismitoad) ♀ Lv. 55 @ Expert Belt
Nature: Brave
Ability: Poison Touch
Moves: Drain Punch, Surf, Sludge Bomb, Scald
Squad Co-MVP
Messiah Co-MVP
So back when Aqua was a Tympole and she got added to the squad, I had my doubts. This is a mon I've never used in a locke, or at all in a playthrough before. Although, as time passed, she became quite the member of the team. Sure, there is still someone who surpassed her, but...Aqua was probably one of the best members of the squad.

Reiji (Krookodile) ♂ Lv. 57 @ BlackGlasses
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Earthquake, Crunch, Foul Play, Rock Tomb
Squad MVP
Messiah and Ghetsis MVP
This man, right here. He is the MVP of the squad. Ever since evolving, this man has put in nothing but the finest of work, especially lategame. I don't think I would've won the locke without him.

Kohyru (Haxorus) ♂ Lv. 54 @ Dragon Fang
Nature: Bashful
Ability: Mold Breaker
Moves: Dragon Dance, Slash, Poison Jab, Dragon Claw

Bufudyne (Beartic) ♂ Lv. 54 @ Quick Claw
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Snow Cloak
Moves: Icicle Crash, Strength, Shadow Claw, Brick Break

Pulinpa (Gothetelle) ♂ Lv. 53 @ Spell Tag
Nature: Mild
Ability: Frisk
Moves: Thunderbolt, Psyshock, Psychic, Shadow Ball

And now with that complete, I shall return to the Shadow Realm for now. Soon, we will return to Unova for our Eternal Punishment. Until then, though...back to the Shadow Realm.

XxHarryxX · Aug 28, 2016

So, I just completed a Yellow Nuzlocke and realized that I forgot to even sign up... So...

Username: XxHarryxX
Game: Yellow
Single (for now, I'm working on one for Pearl as well and might just expand to ultimate later)
Other rules: No dupes (if they're alive), event Pokemon not allowed (no Charmander, Squirtle, Eevee, etc.)

I didn't keep the most precise detail as to how every part of the game went, but... I can at least appraise you of my final team and the ones who perished throughout the journey!

Final Team:
Poliwrath: Fished up at Lv. 10 in Cerulean City as a Poliwag, final Lv. 52, Surf/Amnesia/Ice Beam/Submission
Victreebel: Caught at Lv. 12 on Route 25 as a Bellsprout, final lv. 51, Razor Leaf/Body Slam/Wrap/Poisonpowder
Dugtrio: Caught at Lv. 15 in Diglett's Cave as a Diglett, final lv. 53, Earthquake/Rock Slide/Slash/Cut
Dodrio: Caught at Lv. 22 on Route 16 as a Doduo, final Lv. 57, Drill Peck/Fly/Tri Attack/Agility

Observations - Dodrio is one that I'd never really used before, but its high attack and speed make it pretty good, particularly in Gen 1 since it can outrun Alakazams and OHKO them with Drill Peck. Victreebel has a pretty terrible movepool... Poliwrath is pretty easy to level up due to its speed and the power of Surf on the Rock/Ground types - I was leveling it up at ~Lv 30 in Victory Road. Dugtrio - see Dodrio.

Rest in Peace:
Pikachu: Passed away at Lv. 8 while training in Viridian Forest against a Caterpie - got a critical hit. Sad day and kind of embarrassing, but at least I didn't need to deal with Pikachu much later in the game - it is really not that good from my previous experiences.
Oddish: Passed away at Lv. 15 while fighting the Youngster with his Slowpoke on Route 25 - Confusion got a critical hit. Oddish would've been solid and I was looking forward to Petal Dance, but it was just not to be. Victreebel proved to be an OK substitute, but not a great one.
Mankey: Passed away at Lv. 24 on Route 9 while fighting Meowth. Mankey was actually proving pretty useful as a fighting type...
Machop: Passed away at Lv. 19 while training in the wild in Rock Tunnel. Oops.
Butterfree: Passed away at Lv. 32 due to a critical hit from a super-effective Sludge from Koffing on Route 16. Forgot about Bug being weak to Poison in this game... Oops.
Nidoking: Passed away at Lv. 40 due to a critical hit from Drowzee in Silph Co. Thrash was proving quite powerful, it's too bad the common themes of supereffective critical hits affected me drastically...
Magneton: Passed away at Lv. 32 due to a critical hit while training in the wild. Magneton was basically in the daycare for a while, got leveled up once, and then died. Pretty terrible movepool, so wasn't a huge loss, though it did make Lance's Gyarados an adventure...
Seadra: Passed away at Lv. 47 when Giovanni scored a critical hit with his Nidoqueen's Thunder. Dangit. Just wasn't powerful enough... Seadra was proving to be pretty good, too! Though no Kingdra in yellow...
Nidoking: (Yep, another one! Nidorino on Route 23) Passed away at Lv. 50 against Lance's Gyarados. He couldn't OHKO with Thunderbolt (though he did paralyze) and fell victim to a CH Hydro Pump... Cleared the way for Dodrio to finish off Gyarados and for Poliwrath to step in the rest of the way.

Couple other observations that will hopefully carry over to future Nuzlockes:
- I got a bit reckless (probably partially due to the 4x speed I had from playing on Pokemon Stadium 2) and could've probably prevented a death or two along the way.
- I saved TM's until the Elite Four, basically. Prevented me from using up Thunderbolt and Ice Beam on mons who died.
- I had 8 rare candies and used them right before the final battle - I do think that it helped Dodrio outspeed Alakazam!

As mentioned above, I'm working on another one...

Username: XxHarryxX
Game: Pearl
Single (for now, might just expand to ultimate later)
Other rules: No dupes (if they're alive)

Looking forward to it!

Lrachelr5 · Aug 29, 2016

Username: LRachelR5
Game: White
Single/ ultimate: Single
Other rules: Dupes clause active for all evolution lines of caught pokemon dead or alive. And gift pokemon like the elemental monkeys count as a separate encounter so I can still get a encounter on that route.

Magical Horseman · Aug 31, 2016

Username: Magical Horseman
Game: Fire Red
Single/ultimate: Single
Other rules: Nickname all pokemon, Separated areas, NPC trades and gifts don't count as area encounter.

This is my first Nuzlocke challenge so I went a little easier on myself. About to face Brock and my team is as follows:

Charles/Charmander lvl 15
Ace/Pidgey lvl 12
Princess/Kakuna lvl 8
Jessie/pidgey lvl 4

Astinus · Sep 1, 2016

I've been playing through my Emerald game, and finding that I enjoy Hoenn a lot more when there's a threat of death hanging over my Pokemon.

Currently, I'm at Jagged Pass, where I just caught a Spoink. And lost a member of my team, Fluckite the Mightyena. I wasn't paying much attention to his battle. I was hoping to take him as far as he could go, which I guess was up to a battle against a random Magnemite.

The team's slowly falling behind the stat curve, but they're sturdy little Pokemon. Hopefully they can handle what's coming next.

The team:

Spoiler:

skimsy · Sep 6, 2016

Username: skimsy
Version: EDIT: heart gold
Single/Ultimate?: Single
Other Rules: Can't buy potions/other heals, nickname all pokemon, No Duplicate Captures

GatAttack · Sep 9, 2016

Username: GatAttack
Version: SoulSilver
Single
Other Rules: Dupes Clause, Must Nickname

GatAttack · Sep 10, 2016

Episode #1: New Beginnings

Spoiler:

Episode #2: First Death...

Spoiler:

Thepowaofhax · Sep 14, 2016

Username: Thepowaofhax
Version: Pokemon Yellow
Single
Other Rules: Dupes Clause, you must nickname all of your Pokemon, gift clause.

Wish me luck.

Edit: Update 1.

Spoiler:

Alex Taylor · Sep 14, 2016

OP has been updated.

This will be my last update, as ownership will soon (hopefully) go back to Volga.

ShiningKami · Sep 16, 2016

I'm back!

UPDATE #19: SIMON SAYS, "SCREW YOU, CLAIR"

Spoiler:

Losing Maxwell the Magnezone changed things completely. Relying on his defences to do the job was no longer an option, so I needed a new strategy for dealing with Clair's Surf-using Kingdra. Another Water-type, I thought, would probably do the job, so I made the decision to pull Simon the Slowpoke out of the Box. My reasoning was that I could teach him Yawn and Slack Off, put Kingdra to sleep, heal off any damage taken, and let someone with higher offensive capabilities take it out without risk. That was the theory, anyway. Unfortunately, Simon was only level 6, so it was time to grind.

Levelling Simon up took forever, what with the stupidly low levels of the wild Pokémon near Blackthorn City, but I took the opportunity to make the two catches I had available — a Machop in Mount Mortar, who I called Russell; and a Poliwag in Blackthorn City, who I called River. Still, it didn't do much to break the monotony, and beyond that, I had a decision to make: whether to evolve Simon into a Slowbro or Slowking. Eventually, I decided to use my King's Rock to evolve him into Slowking, hoping that his slightly higher Special Defence would allow him to tank more hits from Kingdra. So, several hours and a quick trade evolution later, I had cleared out the Gym and levelled everyone up to 40. I felt as ready as I ever would be to take on Clair.

The battle started well enough. Tristan faced off against Gyarados first, and, as has become a tradition with my trusty Meganium, kicked off with Light Screen before letting Kiba take over. My Crobat tanked a hit before hitting Gyarados with Poison Fang, which, miracle of miracles, actually poisoned it! With that done, and Kiba about to faint, I pulled her out and sent Tristan back in. Kiba's attack and the poison damage had done enough to take Gyarados's health down low enough that, as long as Clair didn't heal it, it would faint during the next turn, so I took the opportunity to heal Tristan. It worked. One down.

I knew that Clair would use one of her Dragonair next, and with Tristan on the field, I knew exactly which one she would use, so, when it appeared, I switched out for my own Gyarados, Scarlett. Clair took the bait, and tried a Fire Blast — as you might imagine, it wasn't very impressive. Scarlett retaliated with Ice Fang, and took Dragonair out with three hits, with Clair healing her Pokémon and Scarlett shrugging off a Thunder Wave with her Cheri Berry in between. Scarlett then proceeded to do the same thing to the other Dragonair, albeit being paralysed in the process. Three down, one to go.

Now for the tricky part. As per my strategy, I switched out Scarlett and threw in Simon, who hit the annoying dragon with Yawn. Kingdra's Dragon Pulse did more damage than I'd expected, so I pulled out Simon and sent in Justin, who took a Dragon Pulse before Kingdra fell asleep. I used the next turn to heal Tristan, who had taken a hit while dealing with Gyarados and might be needed to set up Light Screen again, then decided to spam Sand Attack and ruin Kingdra's accuracy. After two Sand Attacks, Justin hit the opponent with Psybeam, which cut Kingdra's HP by about a third. At that point, Kingdra awoke and launched a Hydro Pump at Justin. Justin held on with just over half his HP left, so I took the chance to let him land another Psybeam. Kingdra tried Hydro Pump again — and missed. Encouraged, I tried another Sand Attack, then another. Kingdra missed Hydro Pump again — my plan was working! One more Psybeam and it would go down! But then the unthinkable happened — Kingdra's Hydro Pump landed. It critted. Justin was gone.

I was horrified. Furious, I did the only thing I could — I sent Tristan back in, set up a Light Screen, and landed Magical Leaf after Magical Leaf until Kingdra went down. The battle was won, but my Espeon had been lost in the process. Having to head into Dragon's Den to receive my prize seemed like adding insult to injury, but I taught Whirlpool to Serra the Seel and went in, using Repels to avoid wild encounters for the time being — I was saving my encounter for a specific Pokémon. And, after receiving the Rising Badge, I went back to pick up the Extremespeed Dratini: a male, who I called Libra.

With all eight badges under my belt, I headed back to New Bark Town and picked up the Master Ball from Professor Elm. My next stop would be Ecruteak City, so gathered my wits and what remained of my team, and headed off.

UPDATE #20: IRONY, THY NAME IS ESPEON

Spoiler:

One of the many things I wasn't looking forward to in this game was having to head back to Ecruteak. Someone tell me, why is this a required part of the game? Just to annoy me, that's why.

As you might have picked up, this didn't go very well.

Back in Ecruteak, I headed into the Dance Theatre, knowing that I would have to face the Kimono Girls. What I forgot, however, was that I'd have to fight them consecutively, without an opportunity to heal in between. This was probably what led to the trouble.

I took out the first three Girls' Pokémon fairly easily: Tristan dealt with Vaporeon, and Terra took out Flareon and Jolteon. My team was getting pretty tired, though, and when I had to fight the Espeon, I began to worry. The only Pokémon I had that knew a Dark-type move were Kiba, Leto, and Scarlett. Scarlett was resting in the Box after flattening Clair; Kiba obviously wasn't going anywhere near Espeon; and as for Leto, his Special Defence was too low to risk it. However, I did have Simon, who knew Nasty Plot and Surf; if anyone could tank Espeon's hits and deal out significant damage in return, it was Simon.

But it wasn't to be. I set up a Nasty Plot, but before Simon could attack, Espeon launched a Psychic attack. And guess what? It critted. After all that time spent training him, after using my King's Rock to evolve him, Simon was gone. Punishment for letting Justin die? Quite possibly.

Needless to say, the mood was low when Espeon and the final Pokémon, Umbreon, had been defeated. And it still wasn't over; I had to face Ho-oh. I pulled Libra from the Box, gave him the Experience Share, and started making my way up the Bell Tower.

The trek was long, but the Pokémon were mercifully low-levelled. Even better, since it was night by this time, my first non-Rattata encounter was a male Gastly, who Libra was able to paralyse and weaken enough for me to catch him in a Dusk Ball. Since I've been on a Tribe Twelve kick recently, I called him Persolus.

At the top of the tower, Ho-oh waited, level 45 and wielding Sacred Fire and Fire Blast. I briefly considered trying to catch him properly, but I remembered how much trouble I'd had catching him on my first HeartGold playthrough. Coupled with the certainty that I would lose more than one Pokémon in this fight and the fact that this was the only required legendary battle I'd have to deal with, I decided to stuff this for a game of soldiers and just threw the Master Ball at him. Ho-oh caught, but, as per my rules, not going on the team.

Next stop, Kanto.

UPDATE #21: LONG ROAD AHEAD

Spoiler:

With Ho-oh caught, there was nothing stopping me from beginning the trek towards the Indigo Plateau, so off I went, Libra, Terra and Scarlett in tow. The trek was uneventful, but for my encounters along the way. Tohjo Falls had no new Pokémon for me to catch, since I already had a Goldeen and had just lost my Slowking, but Route 27 had a male Doduo, who I called Digby. Route 26 only seemed to have Doduo and Sandslash, both evolutionary lines that I already had, so Terra finally got to make use of Headbutt. It took several tries to get something to appear, but it paid off: I found a Pineco, which I caught and named Walnut. Meanwhile, in Victory Road, after a couple of Graveler and Golbat, I found, of all things, a Donphan. It might not have been the Pokémon I was after — that being a Rhyhorn or an Onix — but still, I caught him and named him Phillip.

My team were able to gain a few levels along the way, with Libra especially taking several levels in badass and evolving into Dragonair. Still, he was still too low a level to take on Silver, who confronted me near the exit. Fortunately, Leto, Kiba, Terra, Artax and Scarlett proved to be more than capable of handling his team; Scarlett put in a particularly impressive performance by one-shotting his most dangerous Pokémon, Kadabra.

With Silver beaten, the only thing left to do was prepare for the Elite Four, a prospect that gave me pause. While Koga, Bruno and Karen probably wouldn't cause too many problems, I'd realised that I didn't really have a way to counter Will's Psychic-types. Worse still, I'd have to face Lance and his three (hacked, the cheating so-and-so) Dragonite, and with one of them even packing Thunder, even Scarlett wouldn't be able to deal with all of them. Even the newly-awesome Libra wouldn't be enough to carry the day. It was time to change things up, so I pulled Lars the Swinub and Persolus the Gastly out of the PC.

Assuming all goes well, the team for the Pokémon League will be Terra, Scarlett, Kiba, Lars, Persolus, and either Leto, Artax, or Libra. Wish me luck.

CURRENT OBJECTIVE:
Prepare to fight the Elite Four and the Champion at Indigo Plateau.

ACTIVE TEAM (IN ROTATION):

Spoiler:

BOXED:

Spoiler:

Tori [F] Lvl. 3
Hardy
Often dozes off
Met at Route 31 at lvl. 3
Ability: Chlorophyll
Vine Whip
Cut

Jai [N/A] Lvl. 5
Impish
Very finicky
Met at Ruins of Alph at lvl. 5
Ability: Levitate
Hidden Power [Dark/Dragon/Fighting/Ghost/Psychic/Rock]

Michael [M] Lvl. 8
Rash
Capable of taking hits
Met at Union Cave at lvl. 8
Ability: Sand Veil
Scratch
Defence Curl
Sand Attack

Breeze [F] Lvl. 6
Brave
Proud of its power
Met at Route 33 at lvl. 6
Ability: Leaf Guard
Splash
Synthesis

Nuptup [M] Lvl. 5
Docile
Good endurance
Met at Ilex Forest at lvl. 5
Ability: Chlorophyll
Absorb
Sweet Scent

Piper [M] Lvl. 12
Quiet
Alert to sounds
Met at Route 34 at lvl. 12
Ability: Insomnia
Pound
Hypnosis
Disable
Confusion

Quia [F] Lvl. 13
Serious
Somewhat vain
Met at National Park at lvl. 13
Ability: Mould Breaker
Focus Energy
Bind
Seismic Toss
Harden

Spinner [M] Lvl. 15
Docile
Highly curious
Met at Route 37 at lvl. 15
Ability: Insomnia
Scary Face
Constrict
Leech Life
Night Shade

Jonathan [M] Lvl. 12
Docile
Likes to thrash about
Met at Route 35 at Lvl. 12
Ability: Rivalry
Leer
Peck
Focus Energy
Double Kick

Whit [M] Lvl. 21
Adamant
Often scatters things
Met at Route 29 at lvl. 4
Ability: Insomnia
Uproar
Peck
Reflect
Hypnosis

Racer [M] Lvl. 21
Timid
Good perseverance
Met at Sprout Tower at lvl. 6
Ability: Guts
Bite
Sucker Punch
Hyper Fang
Focus Energy

Fluorine [F] Lvl. 14
Sassy
Loves to eat
Met at Burned Tower at lvl. 14
Ability: Levitate
Poison Gas
Tackle
Smog
Smokescreen

Jam [M] Lvl. 16
Bold
Often lost in thought
Met at Route 40 at lvl. 16
Ability: Liquid Ooze
Supersonic
Constrict
Acid
Toxic Spikes

Ren [F] Lvl. 25
Lax
Good perseverance
Met at Route 41 at lvl. 25
Ability: Water Absorb
Bubblebeam
Headbutt
Wing Attack
Agility

Kellie [F] Lvl. 20
Quirky
Likes to run
Met at Cianwood City at lvl. 20
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Leer
Harden
Bubblebeam
Mud Shot

Serra [F] Lvl. 14
Quirky
Quick-tempered
Met at Route 47 at lvl. 14
Ability: Hydration
Growl
Whirlpool
Icy Wind
Encore

Hoodlum [M] Lvl. 20
Gentle
Somewhat stubborn
Met at Route 48 at lvl. 20
Ability: Anger Point
Horn Attack
Scary Face
Pursuit
Rest

Loretta [F] lvl. 21
Quirky
Scatters things often
Met at Route 42 at lvl. 21
Ability: Water Veil
Supersonic
Horn Attack
Water Pulse
Flail

Jeremy [M] Lvl. 15
Docile
Likes to thrash about
Met at Route 43 at lvl. 15
Ability: Inner Focus
Confusion
Odour Sleuth
Stomp
Agility

Lulu [F] Lvl. 24
Quirky
Quick to flee
Met at Route 44 at lvl. 24
Ability: Own Tempo
Defence Curl
Knock Off
Wrap
Stomp

Scorpia [F] Lvl. 24
Brave
Good perseverance
Met at Route 45 at lvl. 24
Ability: Sand Veil
Knock Off
Quick Attack
Fury Cutter
Feint Attack

Russell [M] Lvl. 13
Brave
Often scatters things
Met at Mt. Mortar at lvl. 13
Ability: Guts
Leer
Focus Energy
Karate Chop
Foresight

River [F] Lvl. 20
Naïve
Mischievous
Met at Blackthorn City at lvl. 20
Ability: Damp
Hypnosis
Water Gun
Double Slap
Rain Dance

Digby [M] Lvl. 28
Docile
Sturdy body
Met at Route 27 at lvl. 28
Ability: Early Bird
Fury Attack
Pursuit
Uproar
Acupressure

Walnut [M] Lvl. 28
Hasty
Likes to thrash about
Met at Route 26 at lvl. 28
Ability: Sturdy
Rapid Spin
Bide
Natural Gift
Spikes

Phillip [M] Lvl. 33
Naughty
Mischievous
Met at Victory Road at lv. 33
Ability: Sturdy
Magnitude
Slam
Fury Attack
Assurance

DEATHS:

Spoiler:

Alex Taylor · Sep 16, 2016

ShiningKami said:
It was at that point that I discovered that it isn't possible to get hold of a Magnezone in HGSS without trading, so - still within the rules - I borrowed my sister's 3DS and her copy of Diamond so I could let Maxwell level up in Mount Coronet. Soon enough, he was at level 31, and evolved into my first ever Magnezone.

I just noticed this after reading through some posts (I read through some of them because it's like reading little stories) :3

I would say this is against the rules, as it's not within the limits of the game. However, I guess I hadn't made this clear, so I can let this one slide and allow it. (It is now clarified in the OP)
But for any future nuzlockes, it'd be good to avoid doing this.

FreakReborn · Sep 17, 2016

Username: FreakReborn
Game: Soul Silver
Single
Optional Rules: No Dupes, Must Nickname

Custom rule: first pokemon is randomly generated.
(hopefully this is acceptable)

[Challenge] The Nuzlocke Challenge

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A special snowflake.

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