The Nuzlocke Challenge! Pokemon Hardmode!

Might as well write something in here~

Yesterday , while reading through the 4chan archives, I found something awesome between the lulz and the filth:

The Nuzlocke Challenge!
Its basically a harder and alternative way to play a Pokemon game. The rules are:

1: every Pokemon that faints is deemed dead, and has to be released.

2: you can only catch the first Pokemon you find in each area. If you fail to catch it you cant try again in this area.

it is all based on this guys attempt to make the game more interesting:
http://www.nuzlocke.com/?p=4
He made a comic about it, and so far its awesome.

The thing about the run is , that it makes the game a lot harder and makes you appreciate your pokemon a lot more.
Its a nice alternative to my typically competetive type of playthrough, and it will make me use pokemon that I wouldnt use otherwise.

All in all, I wanted to share it with you people just so you might think about it, and maybe even try it, I know that I will, as a matter of fact, Im restarting my HG game right now.

Oh Christ, that sounds hard. I'm currently doing a replay of Platinum, but once I beat the E4, I'm going to try this!

[Magpie]

Call me a sucker for a bunch of pretty looking pixels, but I don't think I could do this XD

If I had my lovely Manectric and late in the game it fainted... I honestly think I'd be upset. Quite upset. Or Murkrow... or Sceptile. Plus knowing my luck I'd run into all the Pokemon I can't stand first, like Lotad <<;

I love the comic though XD

Thats exactly the point :D

All the Pokemon you find are random, and well, you kinda get some pokemon together, while you miss some that you would like to use.
Right now Im about to face whitney in HG, and so far I have a Croconaw , a graveler , a noctowl and a drowzee.
The thing is, I wouldnt usually use a graveler and a noctowl, but the situation made me use them, as the first 3 gyms are easy to beat with a rock type, and the rival has that bayleef that hurts me a lot.
The Drowzee is the first Pokemon I actually like to use, while I still have some reserve Pokemon in my box like Nidoran Female,Pidgey, mareep and togepi.
Its kind of annoying to find rattatta in the first patch of grass in a new area so that you have to abandon stuff like abra but so far it really works.

The battles are more intense, at least for me, as I usually used to sacrifice Pokemon and throw around revives all the time.
Thats the first time I've actually cared for a geodude D:

So after all, I think its a nice way to get used to different kind of Pokemons and actually really care for them.
I never go out of town without at least 10 antidots and 234235235 Potions.

The whole thing isnt about getting your favourite Pokemon and finishing it, its about using what you get :D
I mean most People have multiple versions of Pokemon, so for them it might be a way to get some fresh into their games.
I do it because I lost my savegame D:


And while the whole thing has a certain loophole (leveling just the starter so that its highly overleveled) its more fun to do with a more spread out team, and the purpose of the whole thing is to make it kind of harder for yourself :>

The stuff also really delivers some Comic Material. I've already seen so much intense stuff happening x.x

Last edited by Fumanshu on Sat Jun 05, 2010 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I just started this a Nuzlocke playthrough in Diamond last night and my first two Pokemon were Bidoof and Kricketune. T_T

I absolutely adored the comic though, hilarious and it was what made me want to try a playthrough like this. Hopefully my try doesn't end like his Emerald one. =P

I better not get attached to a Bidoof... -.-

*Totally starts this up on Emerald or something like that*

<3

I'm already too far in Emerald, but I'll probably try restarting just so I can try this! Or maybe that LeafGreen I never play anymore.
The only I don't understand is how you catch things, but I'm sure I get it for the most part.

It works such as this, whenever you walk onto a new route/cave/any other place that you can run into Pokemon the very first Pokemon that you have a random encounter with is the only Pokemon in that area that you allowed to catch. Ever. If you kill it or you already have a Pokemon of that species, too bad.

[Linkachu]

I don't think I'll ever do this (like Magpie, don't think I could bring myself to release my trained Pokemon), but I adore the comic. Read up to the end of the first arc in the "saga" and damn... What an ending. XD

Heehee, I've been doing a run of this, not too far in but still <3

I started with Chimchar, and was gunning for a Bidoof. Then this whoar of a Starly shows up! D:< I thought I should catch it, so I did. I named it Aya, after a certain set of Japanese games with the character. It shortly died in a battle against another Starly of the same level and gender, which I caught and also named Aya. It later died. D:<

Later, I ran into a Kricketune. IT WOULD NOT. STOP GROWLING. After like 348758937 turns, I caught the darn, thing, and named it Mute. HOW CAN YOU GROWL IF YOU HAVE NO VOCAL CHORDS HO. It's not like I did anything to it or anything <3 Oh, and then Aya died. Again.

And that's a summary of what Tangrow did! I was going to chronicle it and make it into a story, but I thought it would be too much like El's HGSS Journal Playthrough Fic., so I went against it.

I've read all the comics and they are freaking hilarious. I'm gonna go try this on my Pearl Version.

Edit: GODDAMN CRITICAL HITS! I whited out on the first trainer battle and had to restart.

Edit 2: I have had it with these goddamn critical hits in this goddamn Nuzlocke challenge. I started again and the first pokemon I can catch faints... I hate CHs

Last edited by Zeebedee on Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hee, this is so fun! I've been doing this in my Diamond, and didn't release anything until my third gym. Of course, Maylene gunned down my level 35 Turtwig, out of my whole team.  Dx

Uggggg I refuse. I wouldn't be able to deal with releasing my pokeymans. The idea of being restricted to catching the first pokemon you see in an area sounds like fun though, I need to use some new pokemons.

I'm really liking this. Yet to get to Petalburg Woods though, but it really does make you use things you wouldn't normally use.

I mean I have a Marill, I've NEVER used one before o.o'

I don't think I could do this challenge. My strategy in most Pokemon games is that if My best faints, throw in a weaker one so you can use revive. I would smash my head into a wall if I tried this because I only use things like potions If my Pokemon is in the red and even then I won't if I think I can take the enemy out in One more hit. Of course, then I miss and faint, but still. With this I would have to make completely new strategies that differentiate from the the strategies I have for the guys I love to use so much. Plus, What would you do If you were in the Battle Tower and your Pokemon fainted?

If I tried this, like Magpie and Linkachu, I would be crouched in a ball in the cupboard in about three days. Really. I always get attached to party pokemon.

@Kibetou - The challenge goes through till you face the Elite Four/League Champion. If you lose there, you essentially lose the whole challenge. So BF/BT don't really pertain to this.

Anywho~ I'm having fun with this and have only lost four Pokemon thus far. Two Zubats, a Starly and a Geodude who was my best Pokemon when he died... *mourns losses*

I'm constantly level mashing every chance I get so nobody dies easily.

Current Team through three badges: Torterra, Floatzel, Bronzor, Crobat, Haunter, and Bibarel. :3

A big modification that is popular is to not release the pokemon but box it. It requires your honesty to work though, but whats nice with that variation is that you can keep track of your "fallen"pokemon better this way.

But yeah I love the challange and the comics, saw them a while back on /v/. I am going to do this on pokemon emerald on emulator simply because I cant find the cartridge in stores anymore and im using all my cartridges for breeding right now.

I've decided to board along the bandwagon and try this excellent variation, and it's gone as horribly wrong as possible. The enemies like to score critical hits at every oppurtunity, but it's a fun idea. Of course, the only real issue, that has not failed me yet, is that everytime I go into the Petalburg woods, I find something really useless (Or a Shroomish this time around), and then a Slakoth.

The game knows that I'm trying this D:<  Brawly knows too. He's out to get me so much, that I finally got fed up and skipped him.

Makuhita used Bulkup! Used it for 29183492 other turns! You can't do anything to him, even with your highly trained flying type. What's this? Supersonic that hit? Makuhita rejects that reality and substitutes it's own, OHKOING your zubat. Makuhita wiped out your whole team single handledly, Hahaha! You lose.

Is anyone else having this issue?

I have a total fear of Gym Leaders too :'D

So recently, I picked up a loverly doverly Machop, and another lovely Geodude to be my HM Slave~

With Machop's aid, we ate up Roark and carried on <3 After which, Kricketot evolved when we got to Floaraoma <333 I picked up a cutie patootie Shellos outside the Windworks, but when I faced Mars, her Purugly wiped out my poor Chimchar with SCRATCH. And as such, he was hospitalized into the Forgotten PC Box of nothingness.

I recently got me a Budew, which I named NotBuneary! But I want her to evolve at level 16 so it can know Leech Seed so I am running around boosting her happiness little by little :'D

Um um blinky typey thing here.