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
