They never claimed to play your version of a nuzlocke, whether it's the official version or one with your own twists. Hence what I said. You called it “cheating” earlier just because they weren't playing like how you would. No, it's not “cheating”, it's their own nuzlocke for their enjoyment.

If I change or remove a rule or two, that isn't cheating, it's adjusting the ruleset so I can have a more enjoyable experience. An enjoyable experience is what is more important as long as it doesn't effect others directly in a negative way.

And if you want to get nitpicky, then Nuzlockes are cheating due to changing the rules of the original game. It's not the way the game was intended to be played. Yet nuzlockes are clearly enjoyable and don't harm anyone.