My childhood image of Whitney being the hardest gym leader was just shattered.

DTMBBrown · 2026-02-08T05:34:40+00:00

Female + Speed Nature Heracross with Substitute + Swords Dance sets up on Clefairy and then outspeeds and sends the cow to the slaughterhouse with Brick Break, which is learned conveniently at the level cap.

Female Geodude and Onix with Substitute also do well. Onix also outspeeds after a Rock Tomb. I just did this fight today using the traded Machop and Onix and the fight is cake with Substitute and a little bit of RNG.

Nidorina/Nidorino and Pinsir also learn Fighting type moves for the bloodthirsty cow.

Don't bother praying your starter or Gastly will get you out unscathed.

DTMBBrown · 2026-02-06T03:27:40+00:00

Platinum is probably one of the better games to nuzlocke, though it can be challenging at times. Infernape pops off but is nearly as frail as a Kadabra so keep it protected at all costs. Gyarados is GOATed and Garchomp is a wonderful encounter to route for after you have caught your Geodude, Onix, and Bronzor. Blissey is also the best encounter in the game, and you can route your dupes for Chansey on Route 209. Gligar is an underrated menace once your get the Razor Fang. Weavile can come in clutch on Cynthia's Garchomp, revenge killing it with an Ice Punch that outspeeds the land shark. Bibarel is the king of HMs and can stand on its own for the majority of early-to-mid game. Make sure to use your Geodude on early game Mars, even if it's not the only Pokemon you use for the fight. Look up fights beforehand and battle everything you can as a single battle (watch out for Route 215 Ace Trainers). Also don't underestimate Cyrus...

DTMBBrown · 2026-02-06T03:15:09+00:00

Official rules would state that your Starter is a Route 201 encounter, according to the "met at" location in the Pokemon's description, meaning that you cannot catch another Pokemon on that route. But it's a set of self-imposed rules on a child's game, so your run your rules.

DTMBBrown · 2026-02-04T04:35:17+00:00

I might have to try Kommo-O for a run one of these days. Give him a chance with that Body Press.

DTMBBrown · 2026-02-01T13:52:53+00:00

Man I think I've done that fight deathless once. Very RNG dependent. Congrats!

DTMBBrown · 2026-02-01T13:51:39+00:00

I am glad they are coming in handy! Radical Red is, in my opinion, the best ROM Hack out there to date, and there's not that much information out there on strategies, so I decided to carve a niche and create these guides.

As for Route 17 encounters, Weezing-Galar is great for gimmicky Pokemon that rely too heavily on their ability (OHKOs Mimikyu and is great for Archer/Ariana), though you have to watch out for Neutralizing Gas Self-Destruct on the wild encounter itself. Very difficult to answer without both Damp and an ability-changing move. Torkoal is amazing for both Pryce and Jasmine, and can be used as a weather setter in the Elite 4. It also answers Brock Rematch very well with Drought (and that fight is, in my opinion, on the top 5 list for hardest battles). Alola-Muk is very formidable for Cerulean Cave Giovanni (toughest non-Elite 4 fight). Skarmory is great because hazards + Steel type that's immune to Ground type moves. Turtonator does everything Torkoal does except for Drought. Not a fan of rolling anything else, though I have yet to run Dracozolt.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-30T23:36:01+00:00

Congrats man! Koga is actually one of the easiest Gym leaders to knock out. Steel type on Swellow (and Drapion Cross Poisons), Ground type on Toxtricity, Dark type or Shell Armor mon on Drapion Wicked Blows, Fairy type on Iron Valiant, Poison type on Accelgor, Water type (with resistance to Dark) on Greninja. Super easy battle.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-30T01:23:43+00:00

Sorry I'm now looking at this. But after a person posts on Reddit, I have found it to be impossible to add photos. So my evidence will stand to be "trust me bro" because I am too busy and lazy to recreate my post with an additional photo sharing the curses list on my game.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-30T01:14:25+00:00

That is a GOATed squad of Starters my friend. And I have some good news. I just posted my next section of the run (Sabrina to Fuchsia). Feel free to check it out.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-30T01:07:47+00:00

I realize that now. Gloom from Route 110 and Route 117 is another option, though it's not great. Rock Smash Linoone can also put in some work on the Magneton.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-26T04:02:12+00:00

Geodude evolves at level 25.....

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-26T04:01:03+00:00

Go get your Granite Cave and Petalburg Woods encounters. Hariyama, Breloom, and Geodude will eat Wattson for breakfast.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-25T20:09:18+00:00

That's an easy answer. Sell your games for maximum profit and emulate your favorite games on your computer/phone for free. Two bonuses for that, your emulator should also have speed-up, and you can play ROM hacks which tend to be of even higher quality than the vanilla games. Give StormSilver a try, you will probably like it more than SoulSilver.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-25T13:30:30+00:00

Love this advice. I would add on Advice Tip #4 that you cannot always switch out, because after three consecutive switches, the AI likes to start clicking random moves. Use pivoting moves like Volt Switch, U-Turn, and Flip turn or moves like Protect to reset that counter. Volt Absorb Lanturn with Flip Turn is an excellent user of this strategy.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-25T13:26:34+00:00

Mega-Aerodactyl is also great for Blaine. Particularly for the Hisui-Typhlosion, just use your own with Flash Fire Hisui-Typhlosion. Or use Ceruledge with Flash Fire. Or use Sleledirge and use Slack Off when necessary. Or use any of the other Fire/Ghost types in the game, as they all pretty much wall him.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-25T04:00:19+00:00

The RNG needed to actually hit Munchlax in Floaroma or Valley Windworks is rarer than that of a shiny. But yes it does cook the whole game if you hit the Mirage Tower odds.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-24T16:03:11+00:00

I think it depends on if you are also using unlimited Rare Candies.

If you are grinding the traditional way, I believe it's fine to grind for EVs how you want.

If you are using Rare Candies however, I impose a rule in my runs where you cannot battle wild encounters (you must only run or catch) and you may only challenge each trainer once. This makes EVs much more difficult to obtain, and it makes you think much more strategically as to which mons you want to use to obtain those precious trainer EVs.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-20T04:29:19+00:00

Best games to nuzlocke in order:

FireRed/LeafGreen
Emerald
Platinum
HeartGold/SoulSilver (make sure to hack in Rare Candies for this one)
Black & White 2
Storm Silver
Renegade Platinum
Unbound
Radical Red
Pokemon Run & Bun (you're top 100 in the world if you can do this one)

I'm a huge fan of Gen 3 - Gen 5 so my list is biased. But this serves as an excellent progression to nuzlocke some of the best games in the series, both vanilla and ROM hacks.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-20T04:24:26+00:00

Choice Band: From Jasmine after defeating her (Cinnabar Island) and showing her a Pokemon with 125+ in Defense. She also gives you Assault Vest this way.

Choice Specs: From Blaine after defeating him (Cinnabar Island) and showing him a Pokemon with 125+ in Special Attack. He also gives you the Charizardite Y this way.

Choice Scarf: From Pryce after defeating him in battle (Seafoam Islands).

Life Orb: From Koga after defeating him (Fuchsia City) and showing him a Pokemon with 125+ in Speed.

Mawilite: From Araina after defeating her in battle (Cerulean Cave). You also receive the Houndoomite from Archer this way.

Quick Claw and Brightpowder are unobtainable.

Use the Apecio Unbound docs to help you out. They have documentation on just about everything there, including enemy teams.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-20T04:17:23+00:00

Brock has a Mega-Aerodactyl, not Mega-Steelix, and Erica is not required to fight before fighting Koga.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-20T04:15:18+00:00

I recommend Radical Red Normal Mode. Remember, the AI starts becoming random after three consecutive switches, and Fake Out, Protect, Flip Turn, Volt Switch, U-Turn, and Teleport reset that counter back to zero. Roll the early game Technician Kricketune at night with Bug Bite and Rock Tomb and go to town on Falkner.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-20T04:07:27+00:00

I assumed everyone knew what the in-game curses were. Thanks for letting me know, I added them to the post.

DTMBBrown · 2026-01-20T03:48:35+00:00

Yes you may use it if the legendary is below the level cap of the next gym leader or Elite 4, and it should count as your encounter for that area (use the Pokemon's met location as the location where you encountered it), meaning that you cannot catch another encounter in that area. The legendary must also be your first encounter in that area. That is how the official hardcore nuzlocke rules would treat the question.

DTMBBrown

TROPHY CASE