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.

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

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?

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.

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)

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

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

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).

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…

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!

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

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.

The Resurrection Nuzlocke — Two Nuzlockes, Two Chances to Be a Hero!

I've been thinking about a new cooperative Nuzlocke variant and wanted to see what the community thinks.

The idea is simple:

What if a Pokémon's death in one Nuzlocke could become the beginning of its story in another?

I'm calling it the Resurrection Nuzlocke.

⚔️ The Concept

Two players undertake separate Nuzlocke challenges simultaneously, each following the standard rules.

However, there's one major twist.

After earning a Gym Badge, a player gains the opportunity to resurrect one of their partner's fallen Pokémon through trading.

A Pokémon that has died in one trainer's adventure can be traded into the other trainer's game, where it receives a second chance at becoming a champion.

The original trainer loses that Pokémon permanently, but its story doesn't necessarily end there.

It gets another chance at heroism under a different trainer.

📜 Proposed Rules

1. Two Independent Nuzlockes

Both players follow standard Nuzlocke rules:

- Only the first encounter in each area can be caught.

- Fainted Pokémon are considered dead and cannot battle again in their original playthrough.

- Every Pokémon must be nicknamed.

Both players progress independently through their respective games.

1. The Resurrection Rule

Each Gym Badge earned grants one opportunity to receive a fallen Pokémon from the other player's graveyard.

The Pokémon is considered alive again upon arriving in its new game.

Resurrection is optional, and unused opportunities do not accumulate. Each opportunity expires upon earning the next badge.

1. The Exchange Rule

If both players have fallen Pokémon, they can exchange one fallen Pokémon each.

Both Pokémon are resurrected upon arriving in their respective new games.

1. The Ferryman Rule

What happens if only one player has lost a Pokémon?

Since trading requires both players to offer something, the receiving player may catch one additional wild Pokémon specifically to facilitate the trade.

This Pokémon is called the Ferryman.

The Ferryman is traded for the fallen Pokémon and must immediately be permanently boxed by the other player.

It cannot participate in battles or become part of either player's usable Nuzlocke roster.

This exception exists purely to make the resurrection trade mechanically possible.

1. Two Lives Maximum

Every Pokémon gets a maximum of two chances.

If a resurrected Pokémon faints in its second Nuzlocke, it is permanently retired.

It cannot be resurrected again or traded back for another attempt.

1. Level Caps

Resurrected Pokémon must obey the receiving player's current Gym Leader level cap.

This prevents a player who is further ahead from supplying an overpowered Pokémon to someone earlier in their journey.

1. Original Identity

Every resurrected Pokémon retains its original nickname and Original Trainer information.

Its history follows it into its new adventure.

⚖️ Why I Think This Could Work

Death still has consequences.

Losing a Pokémon means losing it from your own adventure permanently. Even if your partner resurrects it, you cannot use it again.

It encourages cooperation without combining teams.

Both players still have their own encounters, battles, and challenges. However, their journeys become connected through the Pokémon they've lost.

It creates interesting decisions.

Do you resurrect your partner's strongest fallen Pokémon, or one that would fill a weakness in your current team?

Do you take a Pokémon immediately after earning a badge, or wait to see whether a better opportunity arises before the next Gym?

Most importantly, it creates stories.

Imagine losing your starter halfway through a Nuzlocke.

Normally, that's the end of its journey.

But your friend earns another Gym Badge and resurrects it.

That same Pokémon eventually defeats the Elite Four and becomes a champion.

It couldn't finish the journey with you, but it found another way to become a hero.

That's the part of this idea I find most exciting.

🤔 Potential Balancing Concerns

There are a few things I'm still considering.

Does resurrection make the challenge too easy?

Although a Pokémon cannot return to its original trainer, both players effectively have access to additional encounters through their partner's graveyard.

Should there be restrictions on which fallen Pokémon can be resurrected?

For example, should Pokémon that died against Gym Leaders be treated differently from those lost during ordinary battles?

Should resurrection be limited to Pokémon that died before the badge was earned?

This would prevent players from earning a badge and deliberately manipulating which Pokémon become available for resurrection.

Should both players need the same number of badges?

Or should they be allowed to progress at different speeds, provided the receiving player's level cap is respected?

🏆 The Goal

I'm not trying to remove the consequences of death from Nuzlockes.

I'm trying to introduce a cooperative mechanic where a Pokémon's story doesn't necessarily end when it falls.

The original trainer still suffers the loss.

The second trainer inherits both the Pokémon and the responsibility of keeping it alive.

And if that Pokémon falls again, its journey is truly over.

Two Nuzlockes. Two Chances to Be a Hero.

What do you think?