Blue II

in

Rules Updates

Figured the list of rules are going to expand as I run into new situations and remember what I like about actually doing Nuzlockes, and what I absolutely hate.

  1. No looking online for anything.
  2. No using special event pokemon.

Rules Explanations

Also should actually explain some of the rules that I have in place so they're not just arbitrary.

  1. Pokemon dies when it faints: This is kinda the whole point of Nuzlocke. It's Ruby Hard Mode, and it's not hard if your skimp on the death.
  2. No Revives: So I have played a few Nuzlockes where I could use Revives that I found in the wild (non-purchased) as a bit of a crutch if I mess up somewhere along the way. And it worked out okay. Until I played Sun, where that game wanted to throw 20 revives at me before I even left the first island. It ruined any actual difficulty, and is against the spirit of the challenge, so it's gone.
  3. Catch the first Pokemon in a new area: This is also inherent to the challenge. I'm specifically forgoing any kind of leniency that makes sense. Mostly because it conflicts with some of the other rules (if I make each memeber of the team an individual, then why do I immediately exclude duplicates), and because I want to see what happens when I have an entire team full of nothing but Pidgeys.
  4. Except for Legendaries: This is also a pretty common rule in Nuzlockes. Because you can cheat the system to grab them pretty easily (use the No Wild Pokemon poison until you see them), and it ruins a bit of the challenge of having to figure out a way to play with what you get. Instead of going through the entire game with a Dustox, you just sweep with a Zapdos.
  5. Challenge starts when I have Pokeballs: I am not counting the 5ish pokemon I see before the game even lets me catch them as "first" pokemon.
  6. Starter is based on Trainer ID: I've seen this rule around a bit, and I like it. Mostly because I have my favorite for every generation and part of this challenge is specifically for me to experience new pokemon that I don't do all that often.
  7. Nickname my team: Why not? It's supposed to get me attached to all my Pokemon more than just throwing out "Bulbasaur," and I still fondly remember some of the best pokemon from previous challenges (Fido the Mightyena and Rygel the Dustox being the only two to survive the finale of Alpha Sapphire).
  8. No EXP share: I don't like this item when I'm normally playing, for the same reason that I don't like skipping to high levels on RPGs. I skip the hard parts to get to the powerful parts. Gaming is nothing without the struggle, and EXP share is training wheels.
  9. Use Set mode: If opponents have to use Set mode, why should I be any different. It's also easy to game the system otherwise, from swapping to another Pokemon after using Hyperbeam to training up my scrubs by constantly starting with them on every Pokemon and immediately swapping them out.
  10. Use HMs on my actual team, not on slaves: Slavery is wrong (don't think too hard about it, specifically in connection to Pokemon). Also, it's just a toll to have to play the game - you have to give up some of your move slots to be able to progress.
  11. Pokemon enter the team in the order I get them: I haven't seen this anywhere else, but I like the rule. Mostly because it makes me stick with the same team forever and whenever someone dies, I'm going to have to get used to a brand new person and I'm not going to like them as much as my normal team and they'll be bullied or neglected a bit until they show that they love me despite everything and we'll have this heartwarming moment when I'll acknowledge that I was displacing some of my own guilt onto the newest member of the team and that, while they'll never be able to replace the one that I lost, they're still a valuable person in their own right. And it makes me feel powerful when I'm defeating the Elite Four with a Butterfree I originally caught in Viridian Forest.
  12. No Online Resources: Pragmatically, it takes a long time to do this and makes me even more reliant a computer than I already am in calculating various powerlevels for my pokemon. Less pragmatically, if I see someone evolves or learns a move at a certain level, I'm more likely to grind up there before progressing, which is just mind-numbing.
  13. No event/special Pokemon: This includes Snorlax in the original games. Or Sudowoodo in gold/silver. Or lucario from X/Y (or was that black/white?) It's similar to the Legendary reason - they're generally powerful pokemon. And I specifically want to have as unique an experience as I can, and getting whatever random luck gives me, instead of gaming the system to always end up with a Snorlax and just Resting my way to victory.

Clarifications

And finally, a few things that I noticed may have been a bit ambiguous from my last post.

First, my eventual Trainer ID ended in 0, so I would have been fine choosing anyone. I think I would have rather gone with a Charmander if I'd known about that now, but Bulbasaur is basically as close as you can get to Easy Mode, so it's fine.

Petrokolos did not actually die in the fight against Fido, though it was very close. His Pidgey crit him down to 1 HP, but he survived and managed to Quick Attack the Pidgey's death before he could be hit again. He's a glass cannon - very strong when attacking, but almost no defenses to speak of.

Uve did evolve into Butterfree at the end of last session, but still only knows Harden. Catching Metapod is the worse; at least evolving into Metapod gives him Tackle so he's not just sitting there forever.

Up Next Time

I've actually beaten Brock and I'm making my way through Mt Moon (with two new members of the team as well - spoilers: I'm basically a Flying Gym Leader now). Writing up justifications for everything took way too much of my time, so I will have to tell the tale another time.