It all started two days ago, on our first full day in Alola. I'm hoping that by committing the events to paper, I might be able to start making sense of what I've got caught up in. My first few days in this new region have been a bit of a whirlwind, to say the least. The Pokémon here are something else - even the perennial Kanto mainstays like Rattata and Meowth aren't quite the way I knew them back home. It's definitely a very different place to the Kanto region, and not just because of the weather. Chapter One - Alola To A New RegionĪlola, Diary! After months of planning, Mom and I have finally moved to the sunny shores of Melemele Island, here in the Alola region. With those basic rules laid down, let's get on with what you've all actually come for, shall we? My latest Pokémon adventure is about to begin. The exception to this is Mystery Gift Pokémon - I won't be using the online-distributed Munchlax for this Nuzlocke. For instance, if I'm gifted a Pokémon by an NPC in one of the game's cities, I'm still permitted to obtain a regular capture for that city as well. Finally, I'll be treating any 'event Pokémon' (that is to say, Pokémon that are gifted to the player by an NPC, such as the starter Pokémon) as viable for the Nuzlocke, without their acquisition impacting on my captures by area.This is known as 'species clause' or 'dupes clause', and a lot of Nuzlockers choose to invoke it to make sure their team stays diverse throughout their playthrough. If my first encounter in any area is a duplicate of a Pokémon I already own (or in the same evolutionary line as one), I'll be allowed to disregard it and look for something else.This way the playthrough is more likely to lend itself to emergent sub-plots, and every victory (and every loss) will matter more. This is to encourage the development of a stronger emotional bond between myself and my Pokémon. I'll be giving every Pokémon I capture a nickname.In addition to these two core tenets, I'll be invoking a couple of extra clauses to keep things interesting. If all the Pokémon in the player's active party faint, the game is over and the Nuzlocke is lost. If any of the player's Pokémon faint, they are considered 'dead' and must either be released or permanently placed in the PC, never to be used again.Failing to do so (making the Pokémon faint, or having it run away, for instance) means the player forefeits their capture for that particular area. The player may only capture the first Pokémon encountered in each new route or area.The simplest, purest version of the Nuzlocke challenge incorporates just two main rules:
In a nutshell, it's a set of game-limiting rules imposed upon a playthrough of a Pokémon game by the player, with the intention of providing a more challenging and emergent experience. If you're not familiar with the concept of the Nuzlocke challenge, then I'll do my best to explain it.
Think of it as being a bit like my old series A Month in Skyrim, combined with my FireRed Nuzlocke Challenge from a couple of years back, and you should have a pretty good idea of what this series is likely to become. On top of playing the game, I'll be writing these weekly updates in the form of diary entries, told from the perspective of my in-game player character. I've never played a blind Nuzlocke before, so this is sure to be a really interesting experience.
This is the first instalment of what will become a weekly serial blog here on Giant Bomb, documenting my efforts to play through the brand new generation of Pokémon, completely blind and with the added restrictions and increased difficulty of the self-imposed 'Nuzlocke' ruleset. Hey folks, and welcome to the first chapter of my Pokémon Sun Nuzlocke Challenge.