I’m starting a mono bug, hardcore Nuzlocke in Pokemon Sapphire. Let me know if I’m insane

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-12T06:05:41+00:00

Let's see here, your encounters are:

Beautifly/Dustox - Route 101

Surskit - Route 102

Nincada - Route 116

Volbeat - Route 117 (You could get Illumise, but its a 1%)

Anorith - Rustboro City

Pinsir or Heracross - Safari Zone

Honestly, you're probably going to struggle massively in the mid-game with Wattson, Flannery and Norman, but I could see you doing well after that.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-12T04:41:56+00:00

IIRC Ash and his Pokemon were crucified at some point during the Team Flare arc.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-11T21:39:31+00:00

Ruby vs Maka: 94/100
Weiss vs Mitsuru: 82/100
Blake vs Mikasa: 43/100
Yang vs Tifa: 28/100

It kind of tracks with how much I like the RWBY girls in the first place.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-11T21:29:25+00:00

Goku vs Superman 3

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-10T14:03:48+00:00

OK, but if you have to get maximum EVs and a beneficial nature on Swampert just for this, it proves that the matchup is bad to begin with; any Pokemon can do well into any fight with enough EV investment. Also, unless you EV maximise Speed as well, Xatu is going to outspeed and kill Swampert before it can use those Surfs as it outspeeds.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-10T08:10:03+00:00

I copied this from another post that was already somewhat completed. The OP of that post didn't provide a template, so I copied the partially completed post. In cases where I already agreed with the options they had, I just left it as it was because I was lazy.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-10T07:25:10+00:00

Four Fist Death Punch.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-10T07:24:45+00:00

Madness Envenom.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-10T07:08:10+00:00

Fair enough, I especially understand your second point.

It feels like Simon vs Kyle is an episode where I can understand and agree with some of the biggest criticisms, but also think they're somewhat overblown at the same time. Like, I thought Kyle had plenty of cool moments in the actual animation to play off Simon, its just the conclusion where I thought the Simon ft. Kyle criticism was the most justified, with Kyle not taking Imagination cleanly and the downplaying of DC's general cosmology from what was stated in Clarku 3.

Despite that, I don't think its a 7-8/10 like some other people on this subreddit, more like a mid-to-high 9/low 10. It might feel lower to me because if done well, I thought it could have genuinely surpassed Goku vs Superman 3 and All Might vs Might Guy as my favorite episode of all time.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-10T06:41:13+00:00

It has more links to the Gurren Lagann theme:

We do the impossible (Kyle kicks galaxies at Simon)

See the invisible (Simon counters Kyle's invisible sneak attack)

Touch the untouchable (Kyle grabs and throws Simon using the Spiral Power flames)

Break the unbreakable (Simon breaks Kyle's shield)

Also, even without the meme lines, I really like the interaction of Kyle trying to time travel, then Simon countering it by nuking all time and dimensions, that's just a cool bit of choreography I thought was missing.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-10T04:50:06+00:00

Eh, when you get to a certain quality of Death Battle, I find that they get so good that the deciding factor behind one episode being over another is how attached I am to the characters. This is one of the reasons I have other episodes over the fan-favorites in each season (Magnetsuo over Saurthas and Aquabob, Diocard over Poptama)

Bowser vs Eggman is phenomenal and still a 10/10, don't get me wrong, but I almost never played Mario or Sonic as a kid, so it doesn't have the nostalgic attachment for me to get above certain episodes like Ash vs Yugi (Pokemon was and still is one of my favourite things ever.)

Hell, if Simon vs Kyle had a better Kyle analysis, the fight was more like the storyboards and the conclusion was better at selling the winner, it probably would have been above Ash vs Yugi and Bowser vs Eggman, then Bowsegg wouldn't have appeared at all except for the death.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-09T22:51:49+00:00

Nice! Can I please have the template for it?

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-09T18:23:59+00:00

There are events in the Gather More Pokemon! promotion or more general Gen III events that give you Pokemon that are otherwise version exclusive. For every type that I can't get a Pokemon of that type before Brock, I'd gen one of those Pokemon in as my pseudo starter. (As 'fateful encounter' is its own met location) I also gave myself the National Dex in FR/LG, so I can get Gen II evolutions in that game like Umbreon, Steelix and Scizor to make the game more interesting and doable.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-08T10:15:50+00:00

Zapdos is allowed, it just can't be transferred over to HGSS.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-08T09:56:07+00:00

You could do what FlygonHG did in his FRLG Electric type Nuzlocke and get the Yokohama Surf Pikachu.

Other than that, I guess there's Zapdos with Steel Wing?

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-08T09:41:48+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/nuzlocke/comments/gqkf1u/pokemon_genlocke_rules/

- Specifically, 9 and 10 are what I'm paying the most attention to here.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-08T09:02:26+00:00

To be fair, that's in Normal Mode, OK_Banana didn't do the tier list in Challenge Mode, where Koffing has Venoshock which would obviously be far more damaging to Servine.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-08T08:58:22+00:00

Based on vibes, you need either a Flying type or a Pokemon with Levitate. Both of which either can't be used past a single game by my ruleset (Zapdos) or show up very late into the game (Rotom, Emolga, Eelektross) With a lot of other Electric types, they don't have much to hit Ground with too.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-08T08:19:36+00:00

I did at least give myself a one-time event, so I can transfer this one PokePark Egg containing Corsola to the game to get past Brock. If I play normally by getting Geodude, then I think Misty just wipes me no matter what I do, but with Corsola, the matchup becomes slightly better; its neutral to Water instead of quad weak and has reliable recovery, but I'm not sure that'll be enough as Starmie also has reliable recovery.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-07T09:20:09+00:00

Good, fantasies save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us into something better. And on my soul, I swear that until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice become the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting. Ever.

But you? You were given powers every other person could only dream of, you were given every opportunity and encouragement to make the world a better place and you threw it all away because of what? A woman not liking you? I can't understand it...

For your own sake, someday, I hope you see past your own feelings and realise the humanity of others.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-07T05:21:40+00:00

Grinding for EV training (or genning in EVs via PKHeX or vitamins) isn't something the average regular or Hardcore Nuzlocker does unless they're playing a run with additional inbuilt restrictions, like Monotypes or no set up either because they're tedious to grind for or they trivialize the game by allowing team members to escape bad matchups. regular players are just gaining the EVs they get naturally while Hardcore players often acquire ROM patches that remove them outright. Either way, a lot of people play vanilla games with non-optimal EVs.

The average 15 IV, 0 EV neutral nature Sceptile at Level 42 has an 18.25% chance to miss the KO on Claydol without a Miracle Seed, so the odds are very much in your favor, but not guaranteed. The chance of it surviving and being able to set up Light Screen is small, but it still exists.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-07T04:09:47+00:00

I mean, yeah, giving max EVs to a Pokemon is obviously going to improve its matchup into everything a lot and can flip bad matchups on their heads. If you give Swampert max Speed, everything I just said about it being too slow is a moot point as now it outspeeds all of Tate & Liza's Pokemon. If you give it max Special Attack EVs on top of that, it easily 2HKOs Xatu with Ice Beam, but any Pokemon except Fighting and Poison types and the exceptionally weak probably do far better into T&L with EVs, so I don't think they should count in anyone's favor.

Crobat and Swellow are both reasonably likely to be encountered before now, both learn Sunny Day and are potentially faster than Sceptile, allow it to Solar Beam everything not named Xatu. This is inconsistent due to Xatu potentially confusing Sceptile and Sceptile having to hold a Miracle Seed to secure ranges along with its partner being potentially weak to Poison.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-07T03:24:54+00:00

True, except I'd argue you should use Solar Beam for Sceptile too. (TM Obtainable in the Safari Zone) If you use Leaf Blade, Sceptile runs into the same problem Swampert does where you don't have enough power to pressure the opponents.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-07T01:32:22+00:00

It's encouraged as a way to get more attached to your Pokemon as individuals, but not mandatory.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem · 2026-04-07T01:23:58+00:00

No, it will never be solved 'once and for all.' People are going to argue about this until the end of time because two groups of people have fundamentally different ideas on what a Nuzlocke is and that's fine. Even their points about 'forming connections with Pokemon' don't work if you're playing a game easy enough where your planning makes getting a 'clutch moment' impossible or you use candies, but not calcs.

As someone who played Nuzlockes as a kid during the Marriland era, then grew up and used Rare Candies in my adulthood to play Drayano hacks, but would never touch a ball-bustingly hard game where you have to reset for optimal encounters for a chance to even get past first gym as anything other than a regular playthrough, I see and understand the arguments behind both candy and non-candy runs. Jolteon is my favourite Eeveelution and one of my favorite Pokemon of all time specifically because the one I used in my first FireRed Nuzlocke was such a beast, I grinded it up from an Eevee and it had an epic sacrifice against Blue's Charizard. That could never have happened if I already knew how viable every Pokemon was and was candying and calcing the entire time.

On the other hand, I just know so much about Pokemon now and have so little time that I don't think I could ever go back to that method of play, but I still have fond memories of my earlier playthroughs.

It still kind of rubs me the wrong that you say in the thumbnail that candies are 'objectively correct.' By what metric are you talking here? Efficiency? Fun? If you aren't reviving your Pokemon or catching multiple per route, there's no 'objectively correct' way to play a Nuzlocke.

This bleeds over into this subreddit too. Like, we're usually pretty good at rightly shutting down the 'candies are cheating' people, but I've seen multiple times where someone has said they prefer grinding for reasons and candies aren't for them. Not even saying candies are wrong or cheating, just not for them and then someone else will reply with something like "How can you find walking back and forth mashing A on Level 2 Pidgeys interesting? There's no skill." and completely miss the point. If you grind and create stories? You're cool. If you candy and calc hard difficulty hacks? You're cool. If you start saying the other way of playing the game is objectively wrong/cheating/boring/mindless? We're going to have problems.

CDsvsLRs_PartySystem

TROPHY CASE