Insane Difficulty: Pokemon α: A (semi-blind) Pokemon AlphaSapphire Nuzlocke Challenge - Insane Difficulty

I realize I never finished the Pokemon X blind Nuzlocke. I got sidetracked by other games and never got back to it but I will finish it at some point. So for now, let's just enjoy the new one that's coming out. aka: I got caught up by Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies, and Smash 4.

Sorry about that.

So, this is semi-blind, because I played Gen 3 back on the GBA and it was the generation that almost caused me to stop playing Pokemon. Let's see if they improved upon what I personally found to be the worst set of games the franchise has to offer.

Rules: [these may be updated as the challenge progresses depending on new things they've added that could mess with rules]
1.) I must catch the first Pokemon on any route. If it runs away or faints, I don't get another shot. Anything past the first Pokemon cannot be caught.
2.) If a Pokemon faints, it's dead. Normally when they die they get released, but I'm putting them in a graveyard box since even if I fail this I plan on continuing the save file to see the game to completion.
3.) I must name all Pokemon I catch.
4.) If I completely run out of usable Pokemon or become "stuck" in the game due to a lack of a usable HM needed to progress, then I fail the challenge.
5.) I am not allowed to use the Pokemon Day Care for any reason.
6.) If I run into a "One Only" Pokemon or a "Legendary" Pokemon, I WILL be catching them since this is going to become a standard run should I fail, HOWEVER these Pokemon WILL go into the graveyard box so I cannot use them.
7.) If a Shiny shows up, I can catch it. If it's the first thing on the route, I can use it, otherwise it just goes into the graveyard box and is considered "dead on catch."
*8.) DexNav is currently allowed. I'll make a decision about this as I get a feel for it.

Starting off at Littleroot Town, getting out of the back of the moving van and be greeted by the mommy dearest. Upstairs is a Wii U (man, I already miss that Gamecube) and my own room! Complete with clock to set! You know, because... night and day. So after setting the clock, Mom hollers for me to come downstairs to watch Dad on television. Apparently Dad has something to do with Petalburg Gym. Unfortunately, the two of us actually miss his part of the show. Great, Mom. You had one job. Whatever. So Mom says something about one of Dad's friends living in Littleroot. Time to pay a visit to Professor Birch!

...except instead I get to meet my "rival" for this game, a young boy named Brendan, son of Professor Birch. Brendan informs us that I'm the child of the Petalburg Gym Leader. Sweet! Brendan realizes I don't have any Pokemon and offers to help catch one for me (and is surprised that "you're a girl" [yes I picked the girl, what of it?]) and then remembers that he promised his Dad that he'd help with some research. Oh well. I need to visit the Professor anyway.

Walking into the Route just North of Littleroot, Professor Birch is being chased by some sort of crazy Pokemon! It's trying to bite his ankles! He screams help and tells me to snag a Pokeball out of his bag... so thus, the decision is made. Treeko, the Grass-type Pokemon; Torchic, the Fire-type Pokemon; Mudkip, the Water-type Pokemon. Considering I usually pick the Fire-type in a Nuzlocke, I can't help but want to go with my old favorite here and pick Treeko. I know there's an area later with a high chance of a Fire-type Pokemon so I can't help myself. I grab Treeko's ball and toss it out at the Poochyena, and after 3 uses of Pound onto this terrifying little puppy, it faints and leaves our good ol' Professor alone. Professor Birch lets me know that my Dad's name is Norman and encourages me to come back to his lab for further conversation.

As thanks for saving him, Professor Birch gives me the Treeko that I used to help him out with. Rock on! My very first Pokemon! Now to name it... it's actually female? That's a 1/8th chance. How do I wind up with the female starters? Oh well. I'm naming her Treetop. The fact it's a female Treeko kinda screws me on names. Welcome Treetop to the team as my starter!

Professor Birch says to go meet his son out on Route 103, so that's the next destination.

Gonna save it here and pick up later because I need sleep.

Mmm. Delicious.

I, too, picked the girl.

I don't see it being really a challenge because too much luck is required, it defeats the whole point of pokemon and anyway, how are you suppose to never use the healing center if you run out of moves...

The real challenge from pokemon comes from fighting other players or getting far as possible in the post end game challenges.

I just couldn't do a self imposed challenge like that and then start the game over from a failure that's not my own.

godkiller, on 26 November 2014 - 01:27 PM, said:

How does it defeat the whole point of pokemon? The challenge is in working around that RNG to make it work.

godkiller, on 26 November 2014 - 01:27 PM, said:

That's not even that much of a challenge at all.

godkiller, on 26 November 2014 - 01:27 PM, said:

...But it is your own. It's your ability to plan ahead and work around what the game gives you. You know, like playing a roguelike?

I'm not starting over if I fail. In the rules, it says that I'm treating this as a hybrid run where anything that goes against the Nuzlocke rules gets boxed as "dead" so if I fail I can just pull things out of the graveyard and play at my own leasure. And I can use the Pokemon Center anytime I want. I can't use the Day Care. That's completely different! =)

I suspect that one could beat a Nuzlocke with at least 95% of the hands they are doubt, if they played well. Luck can be a contributing factor in failing one of these things, but the better you are, the less luck you need.

Although, of course, this is Pokemon we're talking about, so it can be more reliant on the amount of time that you spend grinding than the strategy IMO (depending on what other rules are added of course), but that's neither here nor there.

So, heading North through Route 101 (without Pokeballs) I hope to not find any Pokemon. Of course, my luck sucks and here I am fighting a Wurmple without anything to catch it with. Thus, my first Pokemon to add to my team is just gonna be knocked out. Great start! Two hits later and I knock it out and gain a level, reaching Level 6. I also bump into a Zigzagoon and knock it out as well, but at this point it doesn't matter since now I can't catch anything from Route 101.

I reach Oldale Town and am immediately met by a guy who is giving me a town tour. How nice of him. He shows me the Pokemon Center and the Poke Mart, which is where he says he works at. After a tour I head North to Route 103 to find Brendan. He challenges me to a battle, seeing as I have one of his Dad's Pokemon ("Treetop" the Treeko).

Brendan sends out Torchic. I send out Treetop, the Treeko. I open up with a Leer to lower Torchic's Defense by one stage and get hit by a Scratch for my efforts, doing little damage. I use Pound this time and am met with another Scratch. Again, I pound and get Scratched for a critical hit. I put Treetop's health back to full with a Potion and again get Scratched. I'm wondering if it has anything else yet for attacks. I Pound it in the face again and am Scratched. Again. Another Pound, this one finally causing the Torchic to faint. This is enough to boost Treetop to Level 7!

After the battle, Brendan is nice enough to heal up our Pokemon and heads back to Birch's laboratory. I follow him back to Littleroot and to Birch's lab and am given the Pokedex. At last! Brendan gives me my first set of Pokeballs. Time to finally catch something!

godkiller, on 26 November 2014 - 01:27 PM, said:

I've done a few nuzlockes, and luck is rarely a factor. I typically tend to favor mons with higher defense. Rogue crits killing someone sucks, but unless you get crit killed multiple times against the elite 4, you can continue.

I did one for White when it came out, I had a potion limit and lost 4 of my team to the final fight in the game to end the story. Including my starter. It really looked like a full party wipe, too, but somehow I managed to survive with 2 left.

Added a temporary Rule 8 until I can decide on what to do about the DexNav. I might use it because it doesn't change the catch rule but it DOES kinda spoil what I might find. Which can still add to strategic diversity. I'll use it for a few routes and determine from there. New post coming soon.

Edit: It has to be something I've previously seen, so using it has the downside of missing out on something that's exclusive to a Route. I think I'll allow it but I'll give it some more thought. Input is welcome.

Time to get started!

Route 101 is where Brendan is. He gives me access to the DexNav and gives an explanation on how to use it, which involves sneaking through the grass with it pulled up. We fight a Poochyena but due to the fact I saw that Wurmple on the Route already, I can't do anything about catching it. Oh well.

However, now we're free! We can head up to Oldale Town and FINALLY catch something! I want to put this DexNav to use for now and see how it works. In Route 103 I am trying to figure out how to use it and just immediately encounter a Zigzagoon [Normal]. Welp, guess I know my first catch! Treetop hits it with Pound and takes it's health down pretty low. It uses Growl. I throw the Pokeball aaaaaaand...... caught! Fuck yes! It's a male Zigzagoon and I have named it Ziggy. Was gonna name him Zigzag but I decided just make it short and sweet. Unfortunately he's level 2 so some level grinding is a bit of a necessity. At least til he gets to 5. The great news is that he has Pickup as an ability. That's be quite useful!

Resting up at the Pokemon Center and saving.

Restarting the game, I decide that now that I have a PokeDex I can go snag the temporary special download that Nintendo's offering. So I get a Beldum. It's an outside caught Pokemon (aka not something I caught in the wild) and thus can't use it, but as I've stated if this fails it'll be a casual playthrough from then on. So... poor Beldum is dead on arrival. I'll go make a Graveyard box now. Saddest thing is that he's shiny, too. Oh well. Rules are rules and can't be helped.

*Special Offer Shiny Beldum (holding Metagrossite) deposited into the Graveyard box.

I'm going to go level my Zigzagoon now. To not risk losing him I'll be switching in Treetop to split the exp until Ziggy's around 4. After the first battle with a Poochyena, Treetop hits level 8 and Ziggy hits level 3! Next fight is a Wingull. Probably won't go into too much detail other than just mentioning when I get levels. Unless something faints, which would make me cry. Anyway, Ziggy knocks it out on his own. Going back to the Center to heal up at this point so I don't risk losing him.

Back in Route 103, I'm starting to understand how the DexNav works. Doesn't look like it's gonna have too much of an effect on catching things so I may just leave it in. It's looking like it has to be something I've already caught in order to even make use of it. Fighting a Zigzagoon with Ziggy. Ziggy hits level 4. Sweet! Taking him back to the Center. Fought a Poochyena and even with splitting the exp it was enough to push Ziggy to level 5. Aww yiss! I can't leave the route just yet, one last battle pops up at me. I think Ziggy can do this solo now. Which is helpful for sure. Back to the Center! Checking up on my two Pokemon, I find Ziggy holding a Full Heal. That will come in handy later I'm sure!

Route 103 is a dead end because of the water, leaving the only option available being to head West through Route 102. As soon as I pop into the area the DexNav starts going off. Okay... so DexNav says it's a Zigzagoon holding a Potion and with the move Charm. I think I'm going to pass on that and just catch something normally in the Route. I swear to FUCK though if it's another Zigzagoon I'll punch a baby. Oh, but our first official Trainer battle is right here, so let's do that first!

You are challenged by Youngster Calvin! He sends out a Zigzagoon, so I'll just send out my own. I start with a Tail Whip while his just Tackles. Ziggy returns with his own Tackle and gets hit with another one in reply. So he hits back again and knocks out this kid's Zigzagoon. Get rekt, kid. Okay yeah I'm not a badass picking on some Youngster's little Zigzagoon. I'll be nice.... maybe.

Just to be safe, since I haven't caught anything on Route 102 I go back to the Pokemon Center again. Right as I get into Route 102 again, the DexNav starts going off. Looks like a Lotad. Alright, let's try to catch it. A Grass/Water type would be nice to have! This Lotad is a male at level 5. I start off with a Tackle and this thing has Teeter Dance!? What the actual fuck! Ziggy ends up confused so I switch out to Treetop. Lotad uses Teeter Dance again. This is gonna be annoying. I switch back to Ziggy, not wanting to deal with this confusion. Except Lotad Teeter Dances again. Wtf. I can do this all day, ya know. I bring Treetop back in and Lotad uses Growl. That's okay, I can live with that. Treetop uses Pound and the Lotad just uses another Teeter Dance. Is this thing only gonna ever use that move? I bring Ziggy in and get another Teeter Dance. For fuck's sake. Switching yet again. It Teeter Dances. I switch again. Can it PLEASE do something else? Nope, it just refuses to do anything else. I just want one more hit on this thing. I switch back out and... yep. I'm just gonna switch again. Lotad, please, stop this shit. And another Teeter Dance. Switching. YES he uses Growl again. Treetop hits with Pound, putting it into the red in health. THROWING THAT POKEBALL FFS. OH MY GOD. CATCH PLEASE. YES. OH GOD IT'S OVER. I have a Lotad! That was INCREDIBLY annoying! Gave him the name Padd. Welcome Padd the Lotad to the team! I'll be honest, I've never caught one of these things before so I'll be figuring out what kind of Pokemon it is in battle through this playthrough.

Although, this does now leave me with seeing how the DexNav is used. I think it'll be an interesting thing to leave in, but again I'll give it some thought and make a decision. It can add strategic diversity but again it could easily cause me to miss on something I might need, too. We'll see.

Back to Route 102. I just checked Padd's moves and um... he doesn't have anything offensive. Just Teeter Dance and Growl. Guess he will just be confusing things as I fight them for now until he gets a new move.

You encounter Bug Catcher Rick! He sends out a Wurmple, level 4. Padd the Lotad comes out and does what he does best; Teeter Dance. Wurmple hits with Tackle. I switch out to Ziggy at this point because hey, Padd can't do damage and that's something you have to do to win! Wurmple hits with Tackle. Ziggy hits with Tackle and so does Wurmple. Ziggy Tackles again and nearly takes out Wurmple, who turns around and uses String Shot, slowing Ziggy by 2 stages. Despite this, he's still faster and hits Wurmple, knocking the little bug out. Padd leveled up to 6 and learned Absorb! Yay, a move! Also, I missed Zigzagoon leveling to 6 somehow but I'm gonna guess that it was after beating Youngster Calvin.

DexNav spotted a Surskit which I simply refused to fight. Surskit is nice but it's typing changes on Evolution. So, no.

You are challenged by Youngster Allen! He sends out a Poochyena, meanwhile I send out Padd. Padd starts off with a Teeter Dance, confusing Poochyena. Poochyena still gets a Tackle through somehow. Padd uses Absorb to regain some of his lost HP. Poochyena gets Tackle through again (I'm having NO luck with Confusion status!) and Padd uses Absorb again. Poochyena's getting mad from the looks of it as he Howls, increasing his Attack stat by one stage. Padd simply Growls back at him, scaring him (and his Attack stat) back down. He just Tackles Padd out of frustration. Padd uses Absorb to get some health back, and eats another Tackle. Padd sucks the life out of Poochyena and knocks it out. Youngster Allen sends out Taillow to try to run the battle around. I send Ziggy out as I don't need Treetop or Padd eating Flying-type moves on a Super-Effective level. Ziggy hits Taillow with a Tackle and takes it below half health. Taillow pecks at Ziggy for minimal damage. One last Tackle knocks the bird out for the victory!

Near the trainer are two berry trees. One holds 2 Pecha berries, the other holds 2 Oran berries. Those go in the bag for later.

You are challenged by Lass Tiana! She sends out a Zigzagoon, who faces against Padd. Zigzagoon is faster and hits with a Tackle, putting Padd to low health. Padd simply Teeter Dances and is immediately withdrawn in exchange for Ziggy. Zigzagoon hits itself in it's confusion (finally!) Ziggy starts Tackling the opposition, which simply hits itself. Quit hittin' yerself, dummy! Ziggy takes it out with one last Tackle to the face. Ziggy levels up to level 7 and learns Sand Attack (oh so useful!) Padd also levels up to 7 but doesn't learn anything new.

As I get toward the end of Route 102, Brendan appears. I really hope he doesn't want a Pokemon battle, I'm kinda low on health and didn't expect him... Fuck. He's asking if I've perfected the use of the DexNav and my sneaking skills. Which I guess I have? He's interrupted by a small flight of Beautifly though and decides to reflect that it makes him feel warm. Okay. I'll just scoot over here now. He runs off after stating that we're near Petalburg City, which is where Norman... er, dad resides as the Gym Leader there. I'm gonna finish exploring this area first. I fight a Zigzagoon with Padd which levels him up to 8. I find a potion laying around. Cool. I decide to just grind out Ziggy to level 8 before heading to Petalburg.

On further thinking I decide to level Treetop to 9. Only to find a fucking Ralts. RALTS. FUCKING. RALTS. FDISOPAJDIFOS. Whatever, too late now. I'm hoping I'll see one later at some point down the road. Uuuuugh. Treetop hits level 9 and learns Quick Attack.

Finally arriving in Petalburg I head for the Pokemon Center and rest up. Norman, er, Dad's around, so I go talk to him and spend some quality time with family! Family time gets interrupted though by some small kid with green hair. Dad seems to know him by name, addressing him as Wally. ((Okay, seriously? Wally is fucking adorable. Just so shy and timid, like I'm gonna eat him or something. I used to find him just annoying but with everything in 3D now and how they have now initially presented things, he just has so much more life and appeal to the character!)) Dad instructs me to go help him catch a Pokemon, lending him a Zigzagoon to help out. Best do as I'm told! Let's help this kid get something special. Wally encounters a Ralts! He sends out the Zigzagoon and uses Tackle, weakening the Ralts which uses Growl. The Zigzagoon uses tackle again and of course Ralts just Growls at it. Wally remembers that he read in a book you are to throw the ball at the Pokemon after it's weakened. You know what? He's right, and that Ralts stays right inside the ball! He seems excited that he caught his very own Pokemon. Time to go back to Dad.

As a display of thanks and gratitude, Wally upgrades my PokeNav Plus to be capable of PlayNav features. Seems like this is the training center thing from Pokemon X. Neat. Wally leaves stating his Mom is waiting for him. Dad tells me that I'll need to be much stronger if we are to battle one day and that I should train and take on the first Gym Leader. Further exploration of Petalburg has me stumble into Wally's house. His parents thank me for helping him out and inform me he's already left and that he had the biggest smile they had seen in a long time. Well, sometimes a good deed goes a long way. Checking Wally's room out, he has a globe with pins in the Kalos and Unova regions. Iiiiiinteresting.

I think that wraps up this part for now. I'll post more next time!

AltimaMantoid, on 08 December 2014 - 05:49 PM, said:

No, it doesn't.

The shadows you see of pokemon on the DexNav itself (like, when not searching for a pokemon) only shows stuff you've seen. You can have DexNav encounters come up that you haven't recorded yet.

That's actually how I got my Ralts.

Advent, on 08 December 2014 - 07:52 PM, said:

You're absolutely right. I was trying to figure it all out and was assuming that as I wrote it and just never fixed it I guess.

Also, what you described is how I caught my Lotad in the previous update post, lol, so yeah you're absolutely right.

Are you still playing this, mantoid?