Josh's Nuzlocke Challenge

Does time actually fly?

Wow, here I am, and I haven’t updated in quite a while. But i’ve got a lot of news and updates, but i’ll try and keep things interesting and to the point.

So where was I? That’s right, Slowpoke Well to help some local town douche bag out who decided to be hero, who ever goes in alone? I ventured down the massive ladder, nearly falling, and wanted to run into something besides a Zubat which just love any caves or dark places. It actually took until after the first trainer battle to run into a Pokemon, and guess what it was, a Slowpoke, in a Slowpoke Well, who would have thought? I did, but I was a bit too over-confident on that, so next time i’ll be neutral. It was an easy catch once I put it to sleep with my Boob-Eyes in the red. I shall call you “HerpDerp”

I went through Team Rocket down there in around 4 minutes, they were too easy, the wild Pokemon around were harder. I got the hell out of the Well and felt it was time for the Gym. I was warned previously by Liam at liamsnuzlockechallenge.tumblr.com that the trainers use grass type Pokemon, therefore my Book-Eyes would just Peck the shit out of them, KO. I went in there knowing I can’t use my water types, or it’s game, set, match. I went with my Ugly-Bat and Boob-Eyes and owned that Gym harder then Adelaide beat West Coast yesterday night. I’ll take that awesome badge off your hands crap Gym Leader. Cheers.

Where now? Ilex Forest the locals have informed me, but all I ever heard was “Skrillex Forest”, I was looking forward to hearing some bass-heavy tunes throughout the forest, but my hopes were shattered as it is just Ilex Forest. Oh well, shit happens, it was nice and calm in here with Pokemon hardly ever taking me on. I had to chase a few Far’fetched for about 5 minutes, that was quite dandy and fun, but why couldn’t the trainer do it? I didn’t know what Pokemon to encounter here in Skrillex Forest, and out comes a bloody Oddish! I was excited, but also disappointed because i’m not a fan of Oddish at all, but it is a Grass type, which I don’t have. I caught the little shit at Level 5, wow, give Oddish a medal for such a high level. I left it in the box, where it deserves of course. I nicknamed this shithole “Greeny”.

I finished at Skrillex Forest and dropped so much bass, that I thought i’d go onto Route 34 to get back into normality. Route 34 is quite nice, there’s heaps of trainers, lots of grass (lol) and even a Pokemon Daycare. The Daycare is a savior for those shitty Pokemon that you don’t want to train the lower levels in. But i’m not going to use it at all, ever! During my time in Route 34, I figured it was time for a wild Pokemon Battle to see what I can get. I went to the top of Route 34 and out came a Rattata! Initially, I wasn’t impressed, but realizing that Rattata evolves into Raticate changed my mind so I went for it anyway, my streak continued, i caught the little runt, which rhymes with what? I nicknamed this one “Rattatard”  -  which is pretty clever for me :) Into the box you go to for later. I’ll think about your role later, son.

I faced a problem, and that was after Route 34, it was time for a new city, and that city was Goldenrod City, I was a small man in a big city. The shopping is nice there, 6 levels of awesome, a radio tower, a bike shop (FUCK YES, FINALLY), and to cap it off, gambling. This is where i’d be spending my time in real life, but Pokemon isn’t real life :(

Seeing as none of my Pokemon have fainted (touch wood, i did), I had to ensure before the new Gym, I would easily defeat it. So for hours, it involved grinding away and going to the wild for countless battles and experience building. So all I can say here, man training is fun and challenging at the same time. The lowest one my Pokemon got was to 9 HP, and that was in the red, I nearly had a heart attack in real life. I’ll never risk training like that again. I got 5 of my Pokemon to Level 21 before taking this Goldenrod (funny penis name) Gym Leader on.

Normal types aye, pretty boring Gym Leader, but also means to get my fighting types on, oh wait, I don’t have one. I’ll have to settle for Doublefist who has Rock Smash which is a fighting move and the normal types won’t even scratch him. Boom, another easy one. I smashed the standard other trainers in the Gym, then went to the leader. Clefairy was a piece of cake, took like 10 HP from me, so i wasn’t worried. Miltank comes in with it’s stupid Rollout and Stomp. Man, things went to the line, I had it in the red, but then SUPER POTION. Ouch, have to start again, so I did the same. In the end, Weakness’ overcame all other factors and that badge was mine.

Let’s call it a day Josh, you’ve smashed a few Gyms, smashed a million trainers and trillions of wild Pokemon. You deserve a beer, damn, I don’t drink beer, Jack Daniels sounds good. I have no idea what i’m facing after Goldenrod so i’m getting a stiffy from the excitement. Weird right?

At the end of the 3rd Gym, this is how things shaped up;

“Krokodil”/Totodile – Level 21

“Doublefist”/Geodude – Level 21

“Boob-eyes”/HootHoot – Level 21

“Ugly-Bat”/Zubat – Level 21

“HerpDerp”/Slowpoke - Level 21

“Sunburned”/Hoppip – Level 6

Track Liam’s progess at liamsnuzlockechallenge.tumblr.com

The Daily Grind

Dominating Violet City like a boss felt good, but I knew this was just the beginning. I didn’t want to get a big head and then be shot down, so I decided to pretend like that win was just luck, instead of skill and power. This enabled me to not get ahead of myself and take things easy with no rushing needed.  I went back out to Route 32 where I failed catching Ekans before I took on the Violet City Gym, this time though, I was allowed all the way through. This opened up a flood of trainers and tall and thick grass, this only means one thing, Pokemon everywhere so I better watch my every step.

Having this approach made things a lot easier for me, I found dropped items on the floor, encounted easy Fishermen (who’s Magikarp actually killed Liam’s Rattata at liamsnuzlockechallenge.tumblr.com) and got through the long Route 32 with no hassles. The thing on my mind though was when I could catch another Pokemon, and then I saw it, my opportunity, Union Cave.  It’s game time.

I entered with my reliable and sturdy DoubleFist, and waited for the first Pokemon to appear, my only wish here was for something I didn’t already have. The screen went black, the music started and a Zubat showed up to take me on. Only thing was, I didn’t want to take it on, I wanted to catch it, I needed this annoying creature that nobody likes for my very minimal team. To be honest, I’ve always felt Zubat to be an annoying Pokemon to battle in the wild, it gives low experience when you defeat it, and ALWAYS uses Supersonic so then your Pokemon starts bashing itself which is always cool in this challenge, not. Back to the battle and this Level 7 Zubat was soon to be mine, Geodude was unharmed throughout the entire encounter and once in the last third of his health, I used a Pokeball and I ended it right there. You’re now mine sucker.

I called this one “Ugly-Bat”, just because it’s actually very ugly, it wouldn’t get much attention from women, and makes the worst Pokemon sound when battling one.  Things got quite hectic at Union Cave, with a few trainers giving me a bit of a challenge, but lucky my teamwork and weakness advantages helped me out. At one point, I wasn’t sure whether I should continue through Union Cave, but then I saw the light, so I sprinted for it, only to run into one more Pokemon, I showed it who’s boss around here.

Seeing the light was so relieving, but then once I exited, the weather decided to ruin that moment by raining heavily. Man, I was not impressed with the Gods at this point, but I saw the positive behind it and that Route 33 was very short. Actually so short it shouldn’t be called Route 33 because it’s a snippet of grass about 6x6 and only decides to rain here, how ridiculous. I was getting drenched and my running shoes were now just pools of water, I needed to face a Pokemon from this Route and move on to somewhere with clearer weather. Sprinting into the grass, a Pokemon found me straight away, I was eager for another addition to my party, I really needed it, anything really, I needed another fix. Hoppip showed it’s face, It was a very long battle due to the fact it only knows Splash and Synthesis and has decent HP. I slowly decreased it’s HP into the red after about 10 tackles and was all ready to throw my Pokeballs, but then saw I only had 2 of them. I was stressing out that I’ve only got two chances at this one, if I fail, it’s over and I’ll never have the chance again. Thankfully, got it in a Hole in one and walked away a happy man. I will name this one “Sunburned” because it’s red. Duh.

Boom, Azalea Town here I come. Coming at you harder than the rain did in Route 33. The town seem to have been taken over by some men in black (get it?), most likely Team Rocket. They were blocking everything except for some dude’s house called Kurt. I entered his house and noticed he wasn’t there. His daughter mentioned he went off to kill some bitches or something along those lines. I exited and noticed the Slowpoke Well was now unmanned and free to explore and look around. Before I went in, I thought it would be safe bet to train all my other Pokemon to somewhat respectable levels as I had no idea what to expect. This is bound to be big, so I got my whip out and started hard training with my oh-so-loved party of Pokemon. How they ended up after Day 2:

“Krokodil”/Totodile – Level 16

“Doublefist”/Geodude – Level 16

“Boob-eyes”/HootHoot – Level 16

“Ugly-Bat”/Zubat – Level 16

“Sunburned”/Hoppip – Level 6

It’s quite obvious I don’t really want Sunburned, I just can’t see myself developing an attachment to it. With Ugly-bat I did though, I found it at Level 7, and now it’s Level 16, it’s still weak as shit though. Tomorrow, it’s Slowpoke Well time and to take on the Gym! Will be a big day.

See Liam’s progress at liamsnuzlockechallenge.tumblr.com

AND WE’RE OFF

The Nuzlocke Challenge has begun, and boy did things start well for me. But I’ll get into the good points later. I entered the Pokemon universe in SoulSilver and set off on my adventure with “Joshua” and was eager to destroy this challenge. Upon setting off from New Bark Town (home town) with my Totodile who I nicknamed “Krokodil”, I then realised that this challenge would be a lot harder than I thought. Going through both Routes 29 and 30 resulted in encountering Pokemon without having any Pokeballs, thus not having a chance to catch them. Leaving me not being able to catch any Pokemon from this area ever throughout the game.

Once I finally completed the necessary objectives, I received the magical POKEBALLS from the hot neighbour. This opened the game up and I realised that I’d only have one shot to catch a Pokemon in each area. I headed out to new areas looking to expand my team. While killing all the level 3 and 4 HootHoots, Rattatas and Zubats, I levelled up Krokodil to level 12. I had to stop levelling or else I wouldn’t be able to catch anything without killing it.

Stepping onto Route 31, I stayed composed and ready to catch my first Pokemon, I was hoping for something that could be a good long-term party member, but I ran into a level 4 HootHoot. The disappointment set in, but realised that it’s now or never. I hit it with a few scratch attacks, got it into the yellow and hoped for the best, and that’s what I got, the best. I caught HootHoot, celebrated and nicknamed it “Boob-Eyes.”

 After finding out from Liam (www.liamsnuzlockechallenge.tumblr.com) that he already caught 3 Pokemon, while I only had 2,  I went to the Dark Cave (which requires Flash so I hoped for the best) and ran into a Pokemon. I once again prayed for a good Pokemon, and this time, my prayers were answered. A Level 4 Geodude appeared, man did I get excited, I battled it so carefully and even put it to sleep with my “Boob-Eyes” to ensure the capture. I threw the Pokeball, it rolled 3 times and shut close. It was mine! I then nicknamed Geodude “Doublefist.”

 I was on a roll, being successful in 2 out of 2 possible Pokemon captures and on my way to taking on the first Gym Leader at Violet City, I was high on life, I felt like this challenge was in my favour and that I had this in the bag. Before taking on the Gym, I decided to explore two more areas to try and expand my party, Route 32 and the Sprout Tower. Route 32 I found an Ekans which would have been ideal for my team dynamic, but somehow, my Pokemon decided it would be a perfect time for a CRITICAL HIT from a tackle. I killed Ekans and my confidence dropped. Rate was now 2 of 3.

Man was I angry, I needed one more Pokemon before taking on next Gym, Sprout Tower it was. It took forever to actually find one, and was expecting a Bellsprout, but actually got a Ghastly. This is a rare find in this challenge, and is a big turning point if caught having a Ghost type Pokemon in your party. For some reason, it decided to be awesome to do ANOTHER CRITICAL HIT. Ultra ANGRINESS then followed.  I reacted how I would react if I received a bullshit foul call in basketball.  Straight after this, my red-haired rival arrived, I called this piece-of-shit bloke “Liam.” I will end him one day.

My head needed to be clear before taking on this Gym, I had 3 Pokemon, instead of the 5 I actually wanted and thought I’d have. Screw this, it’s now or never, Doublefist was the key to the win, rock throw would smash these flying types and they wouldn’t be effective against me. That’s exactly what happened, it went my way the whole time and I ended up with my first badge in no time.  BOOYA.

So the turn of events went my way in the end, winning my first badge and being 2 of 4 (50%) from catchable Pokemon. I wanted to finish on a high, so I did. I felt on top of the world, Doublefist is the core of the team and already developing the Pokemon love relationship that we’ve all experienced.  The rest of my team have ended up as follows after Day 1:

“Krokodil”/Totodile – Level 16

“Doublefist”/Geodude – Level 15

“Boob-eyes”/HootHoot – Level 14

BEFORE WE BEGIN

I will get you up to speed with what this challenge is and everything the public needs to know to keep track.

First, this is called the Nuzlocke Challenge and is a Pokemon game challenge, any of the standard Pokemon games can be played, everything from Red/Blue up to the current Black/White. I for this will be playing SoulSilver which is a Silver re-make.

You simply play the game, but with certain rules to follow and abide to. They are as follows;

• You can only capture the FIRST Pokemon you encounter in an area. E.g. If entering a certain Route you run into a HootHoot, then that is the only Pokemon you are aloud to catch, no matter how much you may hate/dislike it.

• If at any time a Pokemon faints, you are not allowed to revive it, you MUST release it back into the wild. E.g. If HootHoot loses all HP in a battle, you must release it and never be able to use it again.

• Every Pokemon you catch MUST be given a Nickname. E.g. HootHoot would be re-named to “ToohTooh”

They are many other rules when taking on a Nuzlocke Challenge that you might want to follow, but these are the original ones and most followed. These rules increase the game difficuly to HARD rather then PISS EASY.

I will be aiming to play around 30 - 60 minutes a day and updating straight after play with all the news, updates, pictures and stories that come along with this funny and interesting challenge/adventure.

For all old Pokemon fans out there, hopefully this motivates you to bring back old memories and pick up that old Gameboy/Gameboy Colour/Gameboy Advance/Gameboy SP or Gameboy DS and catch them all :)

I look forward to starting this challenge from Saturday the 10th of March 2012, joining me in this challenge is a fellow Pokemon fan, Liam Ramsay. He will be doing the exact same challenge (But on HeartGold version) and posting his own version of events at http://liamsnuzlockechallenge.tumblr.com/

Check his out, and of course mine too :)

Pokemon Master Josh.