Nuzlocke Diary 01

As a casual enjoyed of the Pokemon franchise, I have been playing Pokemon games since I was a kid. Always just for fun, and always in the manner that was intended: catching every unique Pokemon I could find in order to fill our my Pokedex. But, after watching a bunch of different YouTubers play Pokemon in a more challenging and competitive way, I decided to take the plunge and try a Nuzlocke challenge.

For those of you who don’t know what a Pokemon Nuzlocke is, it’s basically playing the game with some added rules to make it a bit more challenging. There are a bunch of different variations, but the main rules are:

1. You can only catch the first Pokemon you encounter on any given route.

2. If your Pokemon faints, it is considered “dead” and cannot be used again.

There are some other rules like having to nickname every Pokemon you catch (to make it more heartbreaking when you lose one), being able to re-roll if your first encounter on a route is a duplicate of a Pokemon you have already caught, and changing the battle style to “Set” so you don’t have the option to easily switch out your Pokemon when your opponent sends in a new ‘mon.

So with all whole bunch of confidence and absolute no preperation, I booted up my copy of Pokemon Diamond and started a fresh save (after moving all of my important Pokemon from my childhood save file to another game for safe keeping, of course). The early game went well. I chose Piplup as my starter and named him Blue. I caught a Bidoof that I named Gumby on route 201 and Starly named borbo on 202. A Shinx named Fang was my route 203 encounter and then I was at Jublilife City and on my way to Oreburg and my first gym. But not before grinding a bit and catching Zubisou the Zubat (Oreburgh Mine) and BRICK. The Geodude (Route 207). Facing Roark was a bit scary as both Fang and borbo were unusable in the gym. Fortunately, Blue was able to carry the team with Bubble, earning me my first badge.

On Route 204 I caught a Budew I named Rose (very original, I know) and defeated Team Galactic leader Mars in Floroma Town. I was feeling pretty good heading in to Eterna Forest, only for me to suffer my first loss as Gumby took back-to-back super effective Hidden Powers from Psychic Elijah and Psychic Lindsey’s Abras. I caught a consolation Buneary (named Bunbun) and made my way to the next city.

By now a few of my Pokemon had evolved, and facing Gardenia was a piece of cake. Second badge in hand, I backtracked a bit to get Bubble the Drifloon at Valley Windowrks, and tried to grab a Burmy from Floaroma Meadow. Unfortunately, Bunbun’s Quick Attack was just a bit more than the wild Burmy could take, so I that encounter was a bust. I was able to catch Belle the Chingling on Route 211, but I have no real use for her, so she was boxed.

With my team of Blue borbo, Fang, Bunbun, Bubble, and BRICK.,I returned to Eterna City to face off against Team Galactic leader Jupiter… and immediately lost Bubble to her Skuntank’s Night Slash. Oops. Losing two Pokemon in such quick succession was hard, especially since I know Drifblim is an extremely useful Pokemon for the endgame. But there was nothing to do but press onward. I traversed Cycling Road and caught a Bronzor on Route 206. I named him Plato… because he’s like a plate. I was actually pretty bummed about getting Bronzor as an encounter here, before I realized it actually was the best possible outcome to ensure I get an amazing pokemon later! See, just north of Route 206 is Wayward Cave, The only place in the game where you can get a Gible (and, eventually, Garchomp). The possible encounters for Wayward Cave in Pokemon Diamond are Zubat, Geodude, Bronzor, and Gible. Catching that Bronzor means that all encounter options besides Gible are duplicate Pokemon and can be re-rolled. I just need to be patient until I can use HM Strength, then that pseudo-legendary is mine.

I headed through Mt. Cornet, catching Ballet the Meditite at Mt. Cornet and a Machop named McPunchy on Route 208. Having BRICK. Meant that I had Pokemon to cover all of my Ground/Rock/Fighting type moves, so sadly, McPunchy didn’t make the cut to join my active team. At Hearthome City, I picked up a mysterious egg from the Traveling Man, and won a Cool contest with borbo. The Hearthome gym isn’t open yet, but I easily beat my rival and began making my way to my next destination: Solaceon Town.

Unfortunately, more tragedy struck. On Route 209, BRICK. Fell to Pokemon Breeder Jennifer’s Budew (Mega Drain). I honeslty always forget that rock is weak to grass because well… have you ever rubbed a leaf against a rock? Let me tell you, it doesn’t usually turn out in the leaf’s favor. But I guess Pokemon goes on Rock-Paper-Scissors logic where paper (a plant product, so kinda like grass?) beats rock. Welp. I guess there’s room in the team for McPunchy after all.

Deciding I needed to level up a few more Pokemon and work to replace the ones I’d lost, I set about grinding. I unfortunately lost my Budew, Rose, to a crit Wing Attack from a wild Staravia. While sad to lose another Pokemon, Rose really didn’t have great moves and I know there are better grass Pokemon I can encounter in the future. Still, it does mean I need to find another Pokemon who I can teach HM Cut. I traversed the Solaceon Ruins and captured a “D” Unown, which I named “DEEZ” of course. My final stop was the Lost Tower. I was really looking forward to adding a good ghost type to my team since the tragic loss of Bubble. My first plan was actually to get Spiritomb, but that requires Nintendo WFC, so it’s impossible without A LOT of extra work. All that to say, I was really hoping for a good ghost encounter. The wild Gastly that appears was alright. Haunter and Gengar are decent pokemon. At least, it would have been alright, had the Gastly not fainted before I could even throw a pokeball. To add insult to injury, before going down, it took out Plato with a Shadow Ball.

Not going to lie, it kinda stung to head into a place hoping to catch a new friend, and instead leaving with one fewer. But, such is the way of the Nuzlocke. With one last encoutner easily availble to me (Of course I can backtrack to pick up some extra Pokemon from earlier routes that I skipped or encountered only dupes), I walked into the grass on Route 209. I used almost all of my available Pokeballs on the Chansey that appreared, and finally, Eggnog joined the party.

(I only just now remembered that the egg givent o me in Hearthome City hatches into a Happiny, so I may retroactively consider the Chansey a duplicate. But for now, I’ll leave it as-is.)

So now, here I rest in Solaceon Town Some friends gained, some lost, and a lot more adventures ahead. Next stop, Veilstone City!

(To be continued…)

• Current Team:
  • Blue (lvl 26 Prinplup)
  • Fang (lvl 26 Luxio)
  • borbo (lvl 26 Staravia)
  • Bunbun (lvl 26 Buneary)
  • McPunchy (lvl 17 Machop)
  • EGG

• Total Pokemon Captured: 19

• Total Pokemon Lost: 5
  • Gumby (lvl 14 Bidoof)
  • BRICK. (lvl 19 Geodude)
  • Rose (lvl 17 Budew)
  • Bubble (lvl 22 Drifloon)
  • Plato (lvl 15 Bronzor)