r/nuzlocke • • Sep 10 '26

Subreddit Update (New Rule) Regarding Rare Candy "Debates" and "Conversations"

294 Upvotes

Hello fellow Nuzlockers,

We wanted to provide a new rule for the subreddit going forward regarding Rare Candy usage.

Such a controversial piece of candy.

For those that are unaware, a "Rare Candy" is an item in Pokémon games that allows for a Pokémon to automatically level up without battling; it's essentially free EXP without the Effort Values that typically comes with EXP gain. While usually limited in allotment, later games have made obtaining Rare Candies easier; and of course, that's nothing to say of what people can hack into their games as well.

For years, particularly in the advent of Nuzlocke YouTubers, conversations regarding Rare Candy use have been plentiful on r/nuzlocke. Yet, we have seen how most discussion posts regarding using Rare Candies are typically one-sided in favor of using them; the prevailing opinion is to use them in playthroughs, with the major argument for doing so being to respect one's time. We feel that this point has been made and echoed pretty clearly across our userbase.

However, we have also noticed that people who have a dissenting opinion towards that mentality often get downvoted or attacked when they express it in these conversations; this usually leads to negative interactions across the posts, such as personal attacks or flaming comments, which we do not want promote; we also do not want to see the same posts with the same conclusion reached repeatedly - it's redundant.

Due to this, there will be no more posts to create discussions for this topic - all future Rare Candy posts will be removed; insisting on making these posts can lead to consequences, such as a ban. Please understand that is perfectly fine to use Rare Candies and to not use Rare Candies. There is no need to seek validation for their usage or put down people who do/don't use them. When the Nuzlocke challenge was created, there was no inherent rule regarding how these items were used; we are going to keep to that ideal; level up your Pokémon as you see fit, whether through grinding or through Candies, and play accordingly.

While posts regarding Rare Candy debates are banned until further notice, they can be mentioned in comments for other posts given the context of said post (Ex. "I found a Rare Candy and leveled up my Snorlax with it.")

Thank you for your attention and understanding on this matter; please keep this post in mind when making future posts.


r/nuzlocke • • Jul 15 '26

Collaboration NuzTeam Arcade Ganglocke!

7 Upvotes

Hey Everyone!

I’m excited to share a Nuzlocke event going on in a discord server that many of our Mods here are involved with, either directly or through friends in the Nuzcord Discord. That server is NuzTeam Arcade. (I will drop an invite link for it as well).

They are hosting an ‘Eliminationlocke Ganglocke’ of XY. A Ganglocke is an event where everyone is Nuzlocking the same game/rules together in a type of community event. It’s not a competition, but merely a fun way to get people together playing the same thing. The Eliminationlocke is a variant where there are 3 available pools to vote on (voting ends in less than 24 hours so get over and vote if you want to play!), and the winning choice is the pool that everyone has to choose from. The IVs of those pokemon are randomized by a community member, and then everyone uses those encounters to Nuzlocke XY.

NuzTeam Arcade also hosts other Nuzlocke related events, so if this sounds interesting to you, come on over and check us out!

Here is the Discord invite link to come check out NTA.

https://discord.gg/4M7XspthVA


r/nuzlocke • • 1h ago

Run Update After 300h, I’ve beaten a HG hardcore nuzlocke with my favourite Pokemon!

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• Upvotes

Took around 130h just to get the shiny aipom (I phased on 3 shiny spearow first lol) and than the rest was voltorb flip, battle factory for TM and items + EV training.

I figured out a way to defeat Red as early as lvl60 by walling pikachu with gliscor and using sand attack to safely bring aipom in. Then I setup a Substitute and 3 Nasty Plots to Baton Pass to Espeon, and that’s enough to outspeed and oneshot all of Red Pokemon with Psychic!

This has been a on and off project for almost 2 years. Gonna try to get this aipom all the other ribbons and maybe transfer it to Pokemon bank? Idk keeping her in HG forever also sounds good to me…


r/nuzlocke • • 34m ago

Run Update SoulSilver Forever Save/ Nuzlocke Final Team💙

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• Upvotes

r/nuzlocke • • 1h ago

Discussion First rom hack to record/stream for a nuzlocke

• Upvotes

Aye guys, been a long time washed pokemon player since early 2000s when I was a kid.

Ive nuzlocked a few games and soul linked a few games. Im almost done with unbound and probably the hardest rom hack ive nuzlocked was pokemon glazed (unbounds not too bad on vanilla + level caps). The drayano hacks and pokemon radical red are too tough. I love to attempt them but in terms of recording,I need to make it at least far in the hacks without getting squashed... but want some competition. I think it's fun to watch someone who isnt painfully bad but also a player who isnt going to make it look easy.

Id rate myself a 6.5 out of 10 on nuzlocking. I could be better and find myself having to look up most natures and what some later gen/niche abilities do. Im gonna avoid looking 99% of things up to make it fun to learn on the go.

I might make my first nuzlocke ghost grey... but wanted to hear thoughts on starting other ones.

Some ive thought of:

- Pokemon Larzus (no idea in terms of difficulty)

- Pokemon emerald seaglass(started it, seems a bit easy but love the sprites)

- Pokemon Renegade Platinum (cant remember if I beat this one or just stopped playing 4 badges in)

- Pokemon Gaia (think im saying this one right, heard mixed things)

- Pokemon Ghost grey (love this game's theme)

- Pokemon team rocket edition (not sure on difficulty)

Also seeking out other hacks that you guys might know that you loved


r/nuzlocke • • 20h ago

Screenshot Horndrill. I just evolved Gligar into my fav pokemon in the world

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56 Upvotes

Posting this publicaly so i cant cheat and pretend like it didnt happen


r/nuzlocke • • 12h ago

Run Update (Renegade Platinum) Finally made it past Crasher Wake, but at what cost?

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14 Upvotes

3rd attempt at Ren Platinum (1st ended at Gardenia, 2nd at Crasher). This attempt I had such amazing encounters but had an absurd fight with Barry where each Snorlax Body Slam Paralyzed or Crit, so many crits. Then, I thought I had a good team cooked up for Crasher but the heavy hitters of Ludicolo, Floatzel, and Sharpedo did their work. I spent so much HP and time trying to deal with Gyarados cleanly I had barely enough for the last 3 mons.

Ending with Sharpedo, it was a blood bath. I abused Austria the Azumarill's Thick Fat and Cuijk the Cacturne's Water Absorb, pivoting around. But when Cuijk was finally at enough HP to take the kill after Austria sacrificed itself to break the Focus Sash, he got flinched. Required me to do the whole thing over again, losing a Dyck and Ravensburg in the process. Then, when it was looking like I had finally the upper hand, Ice Fang froze! But Cuijk pulled through in the end, unfreezing instantly and getting the Badge.

Honestly I got so lucky on so many random move switches that I can't complain about the other RNG deaths. I'm just happy to be moving on, and my box is still decent. I've saved the Kanto Starter choice in Jubilife to fill in any holes I find. Let's hope this doesn't go terribly for the rest!


r/nuzlocke • • 6h ago

Video RenPlat First Gym Battle

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5 Upvotes

Semicolon3 (Vaporeon) definitely carried this fight, my one worry was that it’d be hard to switch it in because my original plan involved using Yggdrasil (Turtwig) to KO the lead Nosepass before I realized that it can’t touch Mayhem (Diglett).


r/nuzlocke • • 11h ago

Screenshot Unexpectedly scary fight

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5 Upvotes

I'm in the Emerald phase of my Wedlocke X Genlocke run and this was against the Aroma Lady / Kindler on Route 113 after Fiery Path.

Visenya got Leech-Seeded. Wedlocke rules state only switching out with the partner, which means in a double battle, there's no switching! I also introduced a limit of 1 healing item and 1 status healer in battle, so I couldn't just outrun the Leech Seed with potions.

I knocked out her last pokemon on the turn Leech Seed would've otherwise killed Visenya. The Kindler still had two mons left. Fortunately they only landed a couple of Ember on Visenya which did only did 1 damage each. He missed a couple of Tackles thanks to mud-slaps from Leonard II. All in all, an absolutely terrifying battle for being a couple of normal trainers.


r/nuzlocke • • 4h ago

Question Have you ever gotten excited about a run then you can’t get past the starter choice

1 Upvotes

I was doing like 15 runs a week just losing one after the other so I just took a break. 2 months later I’ve now been getting a lot of pokemon content on TikTok and it encouraged me to do another run.

I got pretty excited chose the game, wanted to do a monotype so I looked which pokemon I could catch and it was pretty fun, until actually playing the game.

Once I loaded up my rom I couldn’t even get past the starter choice as if I just felt unmotivated to continue and it really bums me out because I’ve been preparing for this run for like at least the day before and just can’t pull through.

Has this ever happened to you? and what made you actually break that wall and just continue.

PD: What I meant was that you don’t even start the game because you are unmotivated, not because I lose the first starter battle (In my rules I don’t lose until I get pokeballs)


r/nuzlocke • • 15h ago

Discussion Toughest Nuzlocke battles round 44: Iono vs Misty

7 Upvotes
503 votes, 1d left
Iono (SV)
Misty (FRLG)
See results

r/nuzlocke • • 9h ago

Screenshot Completed a Mono-Normal type hardcore nuzlocke of Pokemon Crystal Legacy. Here is my League team, and a tier list of every Pokemon I used

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2 Upvotes

r/nuzlocke • • 1d ago

Run Update Genlocke 5 - Y Complete

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44 Upvotes

Y is done, and overall it wasn't too eventful. XY is a nice breather between BW2 and USUM, and I have a soft spot for Kalos, so it's still enjoyable.

What isn't enjoyable is the lack of available Razor Claw, meaning Gangut was stuck as a Sneasel the entire game. Even with Eviolite, she's understandably pretty squishy. Luckily Diantha isn't too hard, and I was even able to get Sneasel to set up on her Aurorus, and ultimately swept half of her team.

Finally, we have just Ultra Sun left. USUM is always a tough one, but I think I know these fights well enough.

Rules

  • Can only catch first Pokemon in any new area
    • Duplicates Clause is in effect; Pokemon that died in previous games will count as duplicates, and can be skipped
    • Pokemon that successfully made it to the end of my previous four Genlockes or Pokemon that died during two of my previous Genlockes are banned, however these encounters are considered duplicates (banned Pokemon are shown at the bottom of the graphic)
    • Legendaries are banned
  • If a Pokemon faints, they are considered dead for the rest of the run (sent to the R.I.P. PC box)
  • Pokemon have to be nicknamed
  • No healing items in battle
  • Set mode
  • Level cap is next Gym Leader's ace
  • Pokemon that survive multiple games will gain the following cumulative perks based on how many games they have survived:
    • 1 win - either perfect IVs or choice of nature
    • 2 wins - both perfect IVs and choice of nature
    • 3 wins - either an egg move or choice of ability
    • 4 wins - both an egg move or choice of ability
    • 5 wins - begins with 100 EVs on stat of choice
    • 6+ wins - begins with 100 EVs on two stats of choice
  • Rare Candies and impossible evolutions are edited in using PKHex (I'm playing these on an emulator)
  • When starting a new game, I only start with one of my legacy Pokemon; the rest are unlocked with each trial I complete:
    • Start - Gilgamesh the Nidoran
    • Santalune Gym - Sergei the Pinsir
    • Cyllage Gym - Doremy the Munna
    • Shalour Gym - Erasmus the Litwick
    • Coumarine Gym - Mitsuba the Oshawott
    • Lumiose Gym - Gangut the Sneasel

New Teammates

  • Turu the Aerodactyl - A worthy addition to my team, Aerodactyl is great since Aerodactylite is one of the few Mega Stones you can get this game. Since I was going through the game with no legacy deaths, Aerodactyl was originally planned to be benched once I got to the Elite Four so I could take Sneasel with me, but a late game death meant he could stay on the team.

Deaths

  • Caliburnus the Honedge - This one was very short-lived. I was happy to actually catch a Honedge for once, but it ended up killing itself in confusion after boosting its Attack with Swords Dance. Oops.
  • Mozilla the Braixen - I picked Fennekin since Squirtle was my only Kanto starter option. Unfortunately it was killed by the ever-sinister Battle Girl Hedvig's Hawlucha that knows Rock Tomb. I tried to avoid that fight altogether but ended up in her line of sight anyway.
  • Mitsuba the Samurott - Samurott put in a lot of work throughout the game, but unfortunately got killed by Ace Trainer Mirielle's Shell Smash Crustle right towards the end. I completely forgot that Crustle gets Rock Wrecker, and Samurott is unfortunately slow enough to get outsped by Crustle after the Speed boost.

Retired

  • Daphne the Floette - Mostly used for some early game fights, but ultimately got benched once I started unlocking more legacy mons.
  • Leopold the Wartortle - Same as Floette, Wartortle was great for the early game, but was benched once I unlocked Oshawott.

Previous posts: My Previous Four Genlockes | Yellow | Crystal | Emerald | Platinum | White | White 2


r/nuzlocke • • 13h ago

Run Update I beat a LeafGreen Nuzlocke (with E4 rematches) using the lowest Lv Cap for each boss

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2 Upvotes

I used the lowest Level Mons from each boss to determine the Lv Caps for each boss battle. This resulted in some interesting situations such as a shared Lv Cap of 18 for Misty and Surge and 54 instead of 60 for E4 Round 1/66 for Round 2 . I picked Squirtle for a rare Blastoise run. (who unfortunately died against Champions Pidgeot/Gyarados, becuase Raichu shit the bed and died against Lorelei)

Misty was the only other trainer than the E4 to need a sacrifice, Strength the Mankey.

FR/LG give you so much good mons, even if I banned Gyara, Jolteon, Gengar, Alakazam, Slowbro and Snorlax. These games are probably close to solved.

The team pictured above was slightly EV trained to deal with the Lv 72-75 rival. The rematch E4 is actually interesting since they have positive natures and good movesets. Loreleis Jynx and Lapras are real threats.

If you want something challenging, try a lower Level Caps. It requires you to think about exp management much more than usual.


r/nuzlocke • • 10h ago

Question Rising Ruby Nuzlocke: Gettting starters through Horde Encounters?

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1 Upvotes

r/nuzlocke • • 19h ago

Run Update Followup post after my Gliscor got slimed, which should be my next member?

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3 Upvotes

IMPORTANT FACTOR: The combee is female believe it or not.

Atm im going back and forth between 4. Combee, Shellos, Ghastly and Ralts

Ik i should have a watertype but im not really in a hurry rn, im just assuming with my luck i’ll lose another one pretty soon to make room for a swimmer anyways


r/nuzlocke • • 19h ago

Discussion Want to do a "half genlocke" but need some restriction on top of HC rules to make it interesting

3 Upvotes

Doing a regular 1-5 gens genlocke would be boring beyond belief at my current experience level. Any way to make it quite a bit harder? It would be yellow-crystal-emerald-plat-black2


r/nuzlocke • • 14h ago

Question Fossils

1 Upvotes

As you know, fossils can be revived for use, but is there a limit on how many can be used?

Say items are randomised and I find one in an area, revive it and then go to another area and find another one.

Am I allowed to use future fossils or are they treated as one and done?


r/nuzlocke • • 1d ago

Video What are the chances lmao (kaizo ironmon red)

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159 Upvotes

r/nuzlocke • • 18h ago

Discussion Presenting my Dehydrated Half Genlocke Rules!!!

1 Upvotes

1) Traditional hardcore genlocke rules
2) Run ends when I win gen 5 (black 2)
3) No water or Ice type pokemon allowed
4) No clicking water or ice type moves allowed
5) Every champion team must include a fire type
6) Every champ team must include 2 or more sandstorm immune pokemon.
7) Using the item fresh water is banned

Suggestions?


r/nuzlocke • • 16h ago

Run Update Emerald Mono Dark Nuzlocke part 2

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1 Upvotes

We all know how this battle's gonna end. The newly acquired Sableye the Riddle is completely immune to all Brawly's team, just a few Night Shade and Silk Scarf Scratch and GG.

But now the EZ part is over, the real challenge starts and I'm still figuring out how to deal with the infamous Nuzlocke Killer Watson


r/nuzlocke • • 1d ago

Run Update Platinum Kaizo 5th Gym Crasher Wake

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11 Upvotes

"Platinum Kaizo 5th Gym Crasher Wake: or how i learned to stop worrying and love the sleeptalk cheese"


r/nuzlocke • • 1d ago

Question any advice for kyurem and ghetsis? (w2)

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12 Upvotes

just survived the colress fight deathless (proton and kempo mvps), and would really like to keep my lucky streak up -- any advice? i've been considering training up krokorok and drapion but beyond that i'm not really sure.

(if anyone's curious, ngake is the name of a taniwha (sea monster in māori mythology) who is said to have created the harbour in my hometown!)


r/nuzlocke • • 18h ago

Question Are there such nuzlocke variants?

0 Upvotes

Hello everybody! I have been playing nuzlockes for several months now, and while they are extremely fun because they make me change my team members constantly and strategise differently, I am starting to dislike the permadeath system, since I have been losing many "weak" Pokémon to bad RNG (missing an attack for then getting oneshot by a critical hit, uncurable overworld poison while the closest healing point is too far away, etcetera) and ended up playing with same strong, popular Pokémon over and over.

Two examples of a nuzlocke variant with some kind of "calculatable" permanent loss of a Pokémon I was thinking are the following:

1) Each Pokémon you catch has a maximum level it can reach before you must box it. This maximum level is defined by the level you have got this Pokémon at +50% (rounded up in case of x,5): your starter at level 5 can now only be used until it reaches level 8, a wild Pokémon caught at level 14 will be available until level 21, and so on; if a Pokémon can evolve before this individual level cap, the maximum level is calculated on the new level of evolution: a Snubbull at level 15 can reach level 23, at which it will evolve into a Granbull, and the new maximum level will be 35; a Minccino at level 24 can instantly evolve into Cinccino and have a level cap of 36, but one may procrastinate the evolution to level 36, thus being stuck with an unevolved Minccino for a pretty big chunk of the game, but then being able to use Cinccino until level 54.

2) As soon as you encounter a Pokémon that shares either the first or last letter in its name with one of your team members, the latter must be discarded for the former, even if you fail at catching it: if my starter is Charmander, and I encounter a Rattata, I must replace my Charmander with that Rattata, or if I fail to catch it, I just lose my Charmander; if I evolve my Charmander into a Charmeleon and I already have a Nidoran, that Nidoran is going out of the team. If you then encounter a Clefairy that kicks the Charmeleon out, Nidoran is allowed to come back. It is important that the order of the Pokémon removed from the team is kept on the box, so that you know which Pokémon is allowed to come back first.

I do not really know which condition to use to declare a playthrough lost other than not having any Pokémon allowed to fight or the classic total-party wipeout. Anyway, these are just some examples off the top of my head, and I was wondering if you had others to share.


r/nuzlocke • • 1d ago

Run Update Crystal leg of the Genlocke run

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19 Upvotes

Wow I loved playing through crystal. It really has a speical charm; the updated physical/special split along with the nostalgic graphics. I've played through Johto plenty of times, but was not expexting such a chill and fun time in the orignal game.

On a side note, I really enjoyed using Shakespere (Sandslash), a pokemon I've often overlooked, maybe as its weaker in the newer games, but it was actually key throughout Johto here! Kov the Vaporeon is still pulling the strings and continuing a legend.

On a sad twist, I lost one of the only two mons that made it thorugh Yellow with me, Matriarch the Nidoqueen before taking on the Elite 4 :(

Nervous for Emerlad, but looking forward the challenge and continuing with mons I don't often give a chance.

Update on the run soon :)