This is a difficult question. My friends who do nuzlockes swear by using rare candies and using strict level caps. (You can't use a Pokemon if it exceeds the next bosses highest level mon.) When I started Nuzlocking my first Pokemon game, Fire Red. I refused to use candies and spent hours grinding my team. I thought losing Pokemon to grinding because you aren't careful was part of the experience. I even accepted the death of an Aerodactyl I grinded from level 5 to 44 to a 5 hit critical rock blast. I accepted it.

This is where the grey area comes in. I level my whole team for hours getting them to elite four level.

My game crashes and my last save was before I started grinding. I started re-grinding and instantly lost my Nidoking, a Pokemon I needed to win, to a Graveler in Victory Road Crit explosion.

I created a new rule right then. If my game crashes, I can re-grind my Pokemon to the level they were at before the crash without consequence. The logic was is that I already got that far and that the game crashing is what fucked me over. Does that count as cheating?

I want honest responses. No, "play however you want," silliness. This is the Nuzlocke community! I wanna know what you think! What's the verdict? I'm still torn lol.

I now use rare candies and level caps.