Xisode 1: gen 6 what what

           So yesterday I received my copy of pokemon x, and what better way to celebrate than to immediately starting a nuzlocke of a gen I know absolutely nothing about, complete with new pokemon, gyms, moves and a new type? My goal is to make it as closely resemble my first run through of blue version as possible. I'm going to minimize online research  and go in as blind as possible. I want when and what my mons evolve into to be a surprise and to be completely blindsided by every first encounter. When I inevitably crash and burn, I'll just continue on without nuzlocke rules knowing I'm a failure. One addendum to the nuzlocke rules: I'm allowed one "re-encounter" at the beginning of a new area if its a pokemon I've previously caught. This is a new version with lots of new dudes to try out, I don't want a team full of ratatas. So, here we go. Joe's Xlocke challange, episode 1.

Our hero's name is Habberdash, known by his friends affectionately as "The General" (thats a thing now, you have 5 other "rivals" and you pick a nickname they give you separate from your actual name). His journey starts off in a pretty standard manner, he's given a pokemon and a pokedex and takes his first steps towards total league domination or horrible tragedy. But who is his starter?
Colby the Chespin, duh. Obviously the best choice. Look at how jazzed he is to start rolling faces! This is only my second time pick the grass type first in any pokemon game.he also knows vine whip at level 5, and learns rollout at 7, and bite at 11. What??
Anyway, standard start, fetch quest, blah blah blah, ok first catch time! whats it going to be? Some new-fangled fairy type? bidoof 2.0? Nope! its a pidgey. Not the most exciting start, but a solid dude nonetheless. Welcome to the team, Magpie.
Magpie and Colby are quickly joined by Cornroll the Bunnelby and Fetch the Fletchling. Fetch is another normal/flying type so she's a little redundant now but I think she evolves into something cool. I'm going to make Fetch happen.


 
So far so good! I mosey up to the first gym, feeling pretty good about my chances. The spider web decor suggests its bug type. I have two flyers, sweet. I sweep through the trainers without any snags, but when I try to leave to heal up before facing the leader I start to grow concerned. I entered the gym by firefighter pole, which is cool and all, but I can't leave that way. My fears are soon confirmed; you CANNOT leave the gym once you enter without first defeating the gym leader. This is a nuzlocke nightmare. I was not prepared for this. I had burned literally all of my money on pokeballs to get that sweet bonus premier ball, but fortunately I'd found a couple potions and I was able to heal up and brute type-advantage my way through the leader, at which point I'm allowed to leave. I'll need to be much more careful in the future. So far so good though! Fun fact, I havent actually met this gen's professor yet. I think he's in the next town. See you next time, on Joe's Xlocke Adventure! *theme music*

Team:4
Badges: 1
Deaths: 0

DRAMA BOMB

Life was going really well for me this week. We were making significant progress getting our own place around here, work was going well, I made some delicious curry, and my pokemon were sweeping through Silph Co. with the lightest effort. Agnes was a Venomoth, Wayne was a Wartortle, Elsie was a Fearow, Buzz was a Nidorino, and Petekachu was, well, a Pikachu.

That's right! After Petekachu took down Lt. Surge's Raichu easily, we got a free Squirtle and had the fortune to catch an Abra with just a Great Ball. Newest arrival Julio was kicking all the butts now as a Kadabra, especially with Team Rocket's preference for Ekans and Zubat and Koffing and other wussy poison-types of the sort. We were just powering through those clowns' junk... until we saw Gary Oak.

Now, I knew what was coming. We were all leveled and healed and everything. What I didn't expect was for his Sandslash to be at level 38 – my pokemon were at a constant 33 or so, and that had been more than enough for all the rocket goons. With his beefy defense and water attacks, Wayne dispatched him with little contest, but it was Oak's new Kadabra that took me by surprise. What I should have done, and eventually did, was sent out my own Kadabra to take his weakened psychic attacks and hit him with his surprisingly useful Seismic Toss, but what I actually did was send out Petekachu, with the intent of outspeeding him and getting through his measly defense with Slam. It was a critical hit with Confusion, and in seconds, Petekachu was no more. :(

My companion, my friend, the little dude who gives this game his namesake, gone with just one mistake.

We pressed on, of course, but everything had changed. Between Buzz, Agnes and Julio, we defeated Giovanni with ease, even with his super overleveled Nidoqueen or whatever. We got a free Lapras, which I didn't care much about – in retrospect, had I remembered that I could get a free Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan in Saffron instead, I would have done so. In preparation for the fighting dojo outside, Stevie the Eevee, recently having become Stevie the Flareon, filled the void in my ranks. Though a few levels behind the party, he proved his worth by dispatching all of the Blackbelts nearly singlehandedly, using only some tactical Sand Attack / Growl / Tail Whip combinations and a Quick Attack finish (something child-Paul would have thought was so stupid when he last played this generation of games).

But the head of the dojo was something else entire. His Hitmonlee thwapped Stevie with a critical Rolling Kick right out of the gate that left him at a desperate 4 hit points. Fearing the low defense values of my appropriately typed Agnes and Julio, I switched to Wayne, hoping his tankiness would carry him through another close scrape. The guy threw down X Attacks as Wayne used Withdraw for his life. Knowing that Stevie had pulled off one Sand Attack on the guy, I waited for him to miss and give Wayne the advantage, but that chance never came. A critical Double Kick took Wayne to 0 health, and it was all over for my coolest bro. Elsie the Fearow swooped in and took out both of the leader's pokemon with some timely Fly attacks, but the victory was bitter. Wayne and Petekachu are gone.   

Damon the Lapras, no longer redundant, has to gain a good 15 levels before he's where Wayne was, but he's filling out the party because I don't have much of a choice. Sabrina's gym is next. I'm confident Julio can take these guys out through his wacky moves (Thunder Wave, Seismic Toss, psychic resistance), but so much has changed that it's hard to be optimistic anymore. Things have changed for this party, and not for the better, although, with time, these kids may yet prove to have what it takes to BE THE BEST.

LIKE NO ONE EVER WAS.

Yellow.

I have come into possession of a worn, neon-green Game Boy Color and a crisp little copy of Pokemon Yellow, the confused step-sibling of those classic first-gen games we know and love. Pokemon Yellow, the game where your choice of starter neither matters nor exists; where the cloying Pikachu-philia makes you at least a little bit uncomfortable every time his (sort of cute? I guess?) chubby little jog starts the opening cutscene, because you know that this game wants you to love the little rat a good deal more than you actually do; the game where everything is familiar, but twisted, just slightly enough make it all seem just the slightest bit wrong.


I have begun a Nuzlocke in Pokemon Yellow, on this battered old green Game Boy. It feels rugged, traditionalist, to have to tilt my dim, non-backlit screen towards the lamplight, to have to keep an eye on the battery light, to have to (get to) power down and blow on the cartridge every time the Nintendo startup screen comes up a little pixelly and glitchy. I'm taking this one seriously. I don't really know this version, and I'm taking no shortcuts. I already missed the free Charmander because I darted for the patch of grass (Pidgey) on Rt. 24 instead of just talking to the damn guy. No shortcuts.


My Pikachu is tough and fast, but I'm afraid for it. It's not becoming a Raichu anytime soon, and it's defense is feeble. My first catch was a plucky little Nidoran (male) named Buzz, who's become the backbone of my little party. Barnaby the Pidgey followed, but was lost to my bout with Gary on Nugget Bridge. I didn't name him Gary. It's a surprise. My third catch was a Spearow (Elsie) on the way up to Mt. Moon. I have a boxed Zubat named Mike, and I just nabbed a Venonat by Bill's house (Agnes). Right. A Venonat. Yellow Version is crazy.

There's really not much to report yet. I survived Brock with a pounding heart and pounds of adrelaline - no losses - due to some conveniently-barely-learned Double Kick on Buzz and some clutch use of Growl all around, but I don't know how long this luck is going to hold out. Even with the type advantage, I just don't have enough faith in my Pikachu's chops to not be afraid. I've lost too many Nuzlockes, suffered too many unexpected upsets, to hope easily. I'm going to give it all, but not with naivete. This Nuzlocke challenge will be born with a grim determination. I've already apologized in advance to my Pokemon. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be pretty. They might not make it past the next gym. But you know what they say, friends:

A heart so true
Our courage will pull us through
You teach me and I'll teach you
PO!
KE!
MONNNNN!

I have no interest in catching them all. I just want to keep them alive. This is the real test, dear friends. Keep your ear to the ground, and stay out of the wild grass.

-Paul

EDIT: I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT MY PIKACHU'S NAME...

is Petekachu.

It ended in a dirty mineshaft

After a brief sojourn into the wilderness to mourn for Hey Man the Dewott, we decided to do what he would've wanted: kill Pokemon until we burned out.

We caught Yo the Petilil and And How the Solosis in preperation to destroy Elesa. Yo died from the first attack that hit it. She didn't have the gumption, man. But And How was brilliant. With Psyshock and a Dark Hidden Power, she had some versatile attacks, and some beefy offensive stats to make those attacks hella formidable. Charm and Light Screen made her a great defensive player for the whole party too. We swept through the preliminary trainers without a problem, but Elesa, she was a problem. And How kept the foes at bay with her Light Screen, but they were hitting her too hard; she was hardly able to get a Psyshock in. Soon the dreaded critical hit happened, and And How was gone. Whoa There the Magnemite tried to swoop in and sonicboom them to death, but its resistance to Electric attacks wasn't enough to keep it in play. Whoa there fell. What's Up the Darumaka became an unlikely hero in this fight, flexing through the zaps and Fire Punching and Rock Tombing through Elesa's Pokemon to win us a bitter, tenuous victory.

We moved on, just What's Up, Aw Geez and me. It was a dismal trek to Driftveil City. Aw Geez and What's Up were more than a match for the resistance we encountered, but their hearts weren't in it. But our spirits were lifted with a new addition to the party in the form of N's Zorua, which was given to us by former team Plasma doods. We were all a little suspicious of it for not being a wild catch - did it even know about the Nuzlocke Challenge? But it was so cute and snuggly that we warmed up to it in a jiff.

We trained and fought Clay the next day. Two of my fighters had evolved and we felt great. Zoroark trampled the warm-up trainers effortlessly, and our fight with clay looked to be the same. His Krokorok had no idea that he was even fighting another Dark-type as Zoroark disembowled it with some highly assertive Snarls. His Sandslash was even easier. But his Excadrill... its resistance to Zoroark's displays of aggression was pretty spooky, so we switched to Aw Geez, but even fully evolved, she couldn't handle more than one Rock Slide. Neither could What's Up. Unable to damage it more than slightly, Zoroark fell last.

The brave fallen:


We will fight again. Mark my words, friends. White 2 hasn't seen the last of me.

hey man

My Dewott died. He was fighting a football player's Timburr. It wake-up slapped him for a critical hit. He was almost at full health. He died immediately. I am going to exile myself into the far reaches of the Pokemon world to mourn him. My three remaining partners will come with me. It's not healthy to be a alone at times like this. Maybe we'll return someday, but don't count on it. We can't think about the future now. Dewott deserves this. Rest in peace, Hey man.

Things got sad :[

It was too good to last, friends.

No! No cause for alarm. The party is still going strong. I have three badges, four pokemon, and plenty of hope for the Elite 4. But now, there have been losses.

Good things happened first, in the form of three new party members. I caught Shut it the Grimer in Castelia city's sewers, and Aw geez the Pidove in a grassy gnoll deep within the city. With the combination of a Scope Lens, the ability Super Luck, and the attack Air Cutter, Aw geez started getting critical hits almost every other attack. Can you believe it? Also, she somehow combined a Modest nature with the trait "somewhat vain." A FLYING PARADOX! Shut it combined some beefy Sludge with the more tactical Minimize and Disable to be a flexible and potent brawler. She was even particularly alert to sounds! The two of them effortlessly trounced Burgh's bug Pokemon, earning us the Insect Badge.

But all was not well. Upon entering the Desert Resort area to pwn some noobs, we caught a serious little Darumaka named What's up, who, with her Hustle ability, boasts the beefiest attack stat on the team. But all was not well. We encountered a Pokemon Ranger with a Darumaka of his own, and he had the edge. Though Aw geez did a beefy number on it, his headbutt took Aw geez's health down below the yellow in one it. Thinking quickly, I switched Aw geez out for my starter, Hey man, but to the same effect! I switched through four pokemon that way, hoping one would be able to man up and take the hit without coming close to death. Then it happened. Shut it the beautiful Grimer took a critical hit to the face and was down. Her tag team partner, Aw geez, wracked with guilt and despair, returned to the fray with a brutal caw and quick attacked the thing to death, barely.

Electro Ball is an attack that does damage in proportion to the attacker's speed difference over the defender. If the defender is paralyzed, their speed goes way down. That's why I should have switched when Come on was paralyzed by gym leader Elena's first lackey trainer's Elekid. But I didn't, and the first pokemon I caught in this run is no more. So long, Come on, the Herdier who loved to fight. We'll miss you. And also Shut it.

We made a tactical retreat from the fourth gym, but mark my words. We will have our vengeance.

Begun, This Nuzlocke Challenge Has, or, How a Dunsparce Nearly Ruined Everything That Was Ever Good and True

It has begun. I traded my party over to my White version and started a Nuzlocke challenge on White 2. I started with a beautiful Oshawott named hey man. He is calm and valiant, and he hates to lose. Good thing he NEVER WILL.

Our first wild encounter was a Patrat. Hey man was so furious that he demolished it and ate it whole before I could reign him in. Okay, time to confess a secret... I could have stopped him. But I didn't.

We caught a Lillipup on the next route. Her name is come on but he could've been called General Chomp-Your-Skull-Off, because she is a hardy little bloodhound who likes to fight more than she likes her own mother.

Our first gym challenge was over in seconds as come on chomped Cheren's puny little normal-types into smithereens. Hey man sat by my side and watched, crossing his stubby little arms with satisfaction. His hands needed not be dirtied.

Route 20 is where it all got real. We were challenged to a battle by a nursery aide with a Dunsparce. A DUNSPARCE. Hey now was at half heath, so I switched him out, not expecting the Dunsparce to use PURSUIT for double damage. I wet my pants as hey man escaped with one hit point to spare, leaving only come on the Lillipup to take down this ridiculous titan. The Dunsparce immediately used rollout, the most fearsome of moves, as anyone who battled Whitney's Miltank in Gold/Silver will attest. Come on bit and bit, and the Dunsparce, unflinching and disgusting, kept rolling beefier. Finally come on chomped it in half, only bearing 5 HP to her name. Come on, hey man and I held each other close last night, more aware of the fleeting, precious nature of life than ever before.

Virbank city was no more difficult. Our wild encounter south of the city was a naughty little Magnemite by the name of whoa there, who is also highly persistent - a fine quality to have in a band of unstoppable champions. Whoa there is so persistent, in fact, that he decimated Roxie's party singlehandedly in a harbinger of things to come. Once more, hey there watched by my side in satisfaction. He is too good for this, you see.

Since then, hey now and come on have evolved into devastating, tyrannical versions of their former selves. Now we're ransacking Castelia City's battle company, a building full of pokemon trainers who wear suits, lose battles, and somehow make a profit???

My Dewott hates to lose. Until now, we have not lost... and nothing will stand in our way.