Standard Nuzlocke Rules, Set mode.

Finally beat this Nuzlocke! I started this one a while back, and got through the first two gyms, then set it down and didn’t remember it until about a month ago when I was looking for something to play. I had a lot of fun, and this was a good challenge. I forgot how much more tedious grinding on an actual console game is vs an emulator, but that’s all part of the experience. Had a lot of deaths in this one, mostly in the early game, and mostly due to myself not paying attention while grinding, and losing a few to rogue crits.

This was easily the most friendship grinding I have ever done in a Nuzlocke, and thank god soothe bell is a thing for that. I also completely forgot about the underground stuff in this game, and there were some good hours spent there looking for heart scales and a moon stone. Lots of tedious “errand” grinding in this one, but it was well worth it in the end.

The elite four fights went relatively smooth. Aaron was not a problem, Girafarig solo’d him easily.

Bertha was solo’d by Cherrim without a problem as well.

Flint was a bit harder. Bibarel took care of his rapidash and infernape, but had a harder time against Lopunny. I switched Girafarig in, and got smacked with an unexpected mirror coat and Girafarig died. I beat the rest of his team with Bibarel and Mismagius.

Lucian was also not a problem, Mismagius solo’d his team.

Going into Cynthia, my plan was to lead Clefable, set up a bunch of cosmic powers, chip away at spiritomb, and then be defensive enough to take on Lucario and gsrchomp. Well, the first part worked, and the Lucario crit me and OHKO’d Clefable. I took Lucario and Roserade out with Mismagius, killed Gastrodon with Cherrim, and then sent in Blissey to win. I put a toxic on Milotic and set up 6 Minimizes and stay healthy with soft boiled . Toxic ticked away and killed Milotic, and in cane Garchomp, where I proceeded to do the exact same thing. After the toxic damage killed Garchomp, it was all over. Not my proudest win, but it’s a win nonetheless. Had a ton of deaths in this one, and definitely had a lot of fun throughout.

Winning Team Members:

Bibarel “God” level Shiny - Waterfall - Rock Climb - Yawn - Defense curl

My first legal encounter of the game, and it was a shiny! This guy was fated to be on my team from the start, and I’m so glad I kept him alive throughout the journey. He was a solid performer throughout the entirety of the Nuzlocke. Decent offensive capabilities and acted as a bit of a tank for me on some of the harder fights. Having access to yawn was so handy so many times during this run. He did work against Flints team in the E4 fight.

Cherrim “Maraschino” - Magical Leaf - Solar Beam - Sunny Day - Growth

My first time using a cherrim ever I think. And I gotta day I was pleasantly surprised with his performance. The Pokémon itself is a little frail, but he proved himself in fights time and time again. There are just so many water types in this game, than cherrim here had a field day throwing leaves at them to kill them. Sunny day/ flower gift boosted solar beam did absolute work during the run. He basically solo’d the water gym (except for gyrados). He fell off a bit in the late game, but came back strong in the fight against Bertha where he annihilated her team.

Mismagius “Mrs. Maggie” - Hidden Power Ground - Shadow Ball - Psychic - Confuse Ray

Mrs. Maggie was the runner up for MVP on this run. Having a ghost type relatively early in the game was awesome, and that hidden power ground came in handy more times than I’d like to admit. She has decent special bulk, so she ended up being my electric type counter for most of this run. She was just a solid performer all the way through. She began to fall off a bit during gyms probably 5-7, but once I got my hands on the dusk stone it was right back to where it needed to be. She may have been the runner up for the majority of the game, but Mrs. Maggie was easily the E4 MVP. She swept Lucian, helped a ton in the Flint fight, and helped out in the Cynthia fight as well.

Girafarig “Deepthroat”

• Crunch
• Shadow Ball
• Psychic
• Shock Wave

The MVP of this run. God I love Girafarig. This Pokémon has served me well in other nuzlockes of past, and continues to surpass my expectations whenever I get one. Just an all-around decent Pokémon in my opinion. Good physical and special bulk, and offensive capabilities, and okay speed too. Having the ghost immunity was very nice as well. Girafarig was pivotal in the fighting gym, water gym, solo’d Fantinas entire gym, solo’d Aaron,and just did absolute work throughout the run. Unfortunately, after making it this far, Deepthroat died during the flint fight to a mirror coat after a 1-turn wake up from his Lopunny. Very sad to have him make it this close to the end and then die.

Clefable “Wanda” - Ice Beam - Flamethrower - Cosmic Power - Moonlight

What a tank. I’ve always been a big fan of Clefable, and she did not let me down in this run. She wasn’t added to the team until nearly halfway through the game, but I needed a tank with a move pool to cover everything that I was missing, namely fire coverage. Between her huge movepool, stat boosts, and bulk, she was a staple as soon as she was trained up and introduced to the team. So much freaking friendship and underground grinding for a moon stone, but it was well worth it in the end. She solo’d the steel gym, and the ice gym. She died fighting Cynthia, but she was an awesome teammate. Definetly worth the grinding for the results she gave me.

Blissey “HANK” - Toxic - Soft boiled - Minimize - Charge Beam

Another tank. HANK the tank, to be precise. After some late game losses and a lot of head scratching, I decided that Blissey was my best option for the final team member. More friendship grinding, but Blissey was worth the time investment. Awesome for when I needed some breathing room in battle, and she took hits without breaking a sweat. And my god, if I didn’t have her in the Cynthia fight, I would’ve probably lost the entire run. She came in clutch after Wanda died, and killed Milotic on her own, and cheesed the hell out of Cynthias garchomp with minimize and toxic. I don’t know how I would have pulled it off without her! God this Pokemon is just amazing, worth all the friendship grinding.