Pokemon Gold Nuzlocke: Introduction

Happy Birthday Pokemon!


20 years. 20 years of Pokemon.

When it comes to stories video game franchises, Pokemon is a franchise that I feel like most gamers can say is a great franchise. Each entry sells millions upon millions, kids from all across the world play Pokemon, adults have grown up playing Pokemon, and it is literally impossible for a person to ignore Pokemon. Hell, whenever I play on a handheld console around my parents, they say that I'm playing Pokeman (yes, they call it Pokeman).

I've been playing Pokemon ever since I was a kid, with Pokemon Red being my first game on the original Gameboy. From there, I've played through Gold, Sapphire, Pearl, White, Y, and in the near future, either Sun or Moon. I've covered Pokemon on this site many, many times. I've listed my favorite and least favorite Pokemon back in March of 2014. I've even reviewed every main series game from March of 2015 onward. The one thing that I've never tackled though on this site was the eponymous fan challenge known as a Nuzlocke.

A Nuzlocke is a very interesting challenge. The original idea behind it back in 2010 was to make a hard mode of Pokemon Emerald. In it, a player has to follow three basic rules; 1) If a Pokemon faints, it's considered dead and needs to be released. 2) You can only capture the first Pokemon you see on a route. If it faints, you cannot capture any Pokemon on the route. 3) You must nickname all of your Pokemon. Since its creation, the internet has fully embrace Nuzlockes and stream playthroughs, make comics about them, or make mods of main series games to make Nuzlocke modes a thing. And now, it's my turn to enter the Nuzlocke fray.

I've played several Nuzlockes before, but I've had mixed results with them. My first Nuzlocke, a run of Sapphire ended on Victory Road with quick destruction. My Nuzlocke of White ended at the Elite Four before I could even beat Grimsley. However, I was able to beat an Omega Ruby Nuzlocke, which included post game content. It's be hectic, but I always enjoy playing through Nuzlockes just for the fun of it. Now, I want to try and make a live, up to date dramatization of my Nuzlocke journey though my favorite gen: Gen II.

So all of the basic Nuzlocke rules are in effect, but I'm going to add a few modifiers to the challenge to make it more challenging and with little wiggle room for me. First off, the game will be changed to "Set" so that I can't swap out Pokemon until after a new Pokemon is thrown out by a trainer. I'm also not going to allow illegal stat boosts like Proteins, Rare Candy's, of HP UPs. Items like that just allow me to try and balance Pokemon in my favor and takes to the fun out of actually training a Pokemon if I can just boost it with steroids for lack of a better word. The Day Care center is alright though. Finally, if I encounter a shiny Pokemon, then I am allowed to catch it because of its rarity. I don't know how likely that will be, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

So, when can you see updates of the Nuzlocke? Well, I'm currently well underway right now and trucking along, so you should so relatively frequent posts. At a minimum, you'll see probably a post a week, with each update becoming more frequent to more free time I have. By mid March, I should be doing two posts a week since I'll have WAY more free time then.

Until then, I hope you all get ready for the Nuzlocke and tune in for my own masochistic run of death and tears!