I am a terrible game 1 player, I lose a lot of them. If there were second and third chances to everything in the world, life might be not far from awesome. But the reality is... oh well, subject change! The title is in fact a reference to what was supposed to be my blind White 2 Nuzlocke Challenge: Game Over at Cheren – Work Up Lillipup was too much for my poor party not getting STAB on fuckin' Tackle. Now Pokémon X and Y have arrived two weeks ago, and not surprisingly, I totally want to get my revenge. Spoiler alert says that I've survived the first gym this time, so hopefully this won't be as pointless. In fact, I promise you it won't.
Well, basic things first. I have a feeling everyone knows by now what a Nuzlocke Challenge even is, but if not, just have a quick read on this. The rules I am using shall be as follows:
- Basic Rule 1: Only the first Pokémon encountered in each area may be caught.
- Basic Rule 2: Every Pokémon must be nicknamed.
- Basic Rule 3: If a Pokémon faints, it dies. It must be released at the next chance (or alternatively, put into a graveyard box never to be deposited from).
- Kalos Bonus Rule: This generation's brand-new Pokémon may be caught and used without restrictions, no resetting or mass-hoarding stuff though!
The last rule is to make sure that I definitely get to use some new Pokémon, because playing that new game with all old Pokémon would be obviously disappointing, but very well possible with only 69 (seriously, Game Freak?) new ones among a regional Pokédex of 450... The nickname theme shall be German names, sounds fair enough to compensate for the fact that I actually won't be playing the game in German for now. However, most of the nicknames will sound ridiculous even to my fellow Germans – well, no surprise after real German names for new-born have become rarer and rarer in recent decades, and some of those were the names of great kings... if we treat historical euphemism as fact, at least, huh.
All right, so much for the introductory part, time for my personal account of this game. As an eternal slow player, I'm obviously inspecting pretty much everything, so there might (or better, will) be some interesting things mentioned beyond how the plain and bare Nuzlocke goes.
Vaniville Town
Man, Fletchling. I didn't like it when it was first introduced, but now I want one. Oh yes, I really am this stupid, that a stupid intro like that can change my mind... just adorable! This is clearly one of the best moments the game has to offer, period. Come at me, Yveltal! Other than that, not much happening here. I noticed a Pikachu 3DS in her hands after falling out of her bed, but after changing it was lost, never to be seen again as we speak.
Route 1
Professor didn't save me, so Rattata killed me and stole my precious cookies. This place is the battlefield of the century, gives a good impression of what Napoléon felt like when marching against Russia.
Aquacorde Town
Water-heart town, is that what it means? Does a good job of foreshadowing what the whole region will be like, I guess... It's that generic dead second town as we know it (but it's a nice one at that, really), but hey, we get: starters! Now what I would be picking was pretty much clear from the very beginning.
It would be definitely not Fennekin. Don't mean to hate on it too much, but really, this one's so overrated that... insert random idiom here, you get the point. People were celebrating as if a bloody fire fox were something new when it totally isn't. Vulpix, Ninetales, man! Vulpix is much cuter too, and Ninetales is both timelessly beautiful and one of the most awesome Pokémon designs ever; no way that new pet is gonna win! Even knowing that it basically turns into a switch doesn't make me like it too much – I'm kinda known for actually liking witches, haha, but those have human heads rather fox heads and they also don't have their earwax sticking out as if it were some sort of fashion, so no sorry.
Next one up is Froakie, seemed to be the second most popular among fans. I'm somewhat torn about it. We already have a lot of frogs, most of which already are adorable too, and this one, well, it does look like a baby Thundurus, in a way... and Thundurus I don't like at all, for various reasons. Maybe those who designed it are other people than those who designed Thundurus, so it might be a coincidence, I don't know. I also don't like this particular shade of blue (see also: Oshawott), so being afraid of ugly evolutions, I basically decided against Froakie.
Chespin, Team Chespin it will be for me. This one's based on chestnut conkers – brings back memories from childhood, when I collected them for a bit. Also, I like its face and overall appearance the most too, so it's all perfect and decided. (But also noteworthy, as that rather „strategic“ player I always liked to pick Grass starters a lot anyway. Torterra is the only one I found disappointing even in-game, and that with its awesome looks...) Matching with the theme, I'm naming my new friend Alberich and off we go! Also, generic first trainer battle, and that poor Froakie is crit to death (remember, it's Nuzlocke, so they die, haha) right away. One minute of silence for it and all that will follow to perish in the war against the tyranny of I.
As a bonus, here's Chespin's Pokédex entry: Such a think shell of wood covers its head and back that even a direct hit from a truck wouldn't faze it. Who needs Mega Evolution with powerful starters like that anyway??
Route 2
The first mon's Pidgey, and it attacks me before I even get to see the tutorial as luck-infested as usual. Naming it Berta, but I'm already sure I won't be using it ever, except possibly for Fly. I want that Mega Pidgeot that really speeds through everything at Mach 2, then we're talking!
Other Pokémons I've caught here are, according to the rules, only new ones: a Scatterbug named Caspar, Dietrich the Fletchling and Emma the Bunnelby. Caspar will also be boxing material, Emma will at least get to do some Picking Up for me, and Dietrich I might be using till the bitter end!
Santalune Forest
Welcome to Counterfeit Viridian Forest! At least they changed the music to something not annoying, haha. I get only one Pokémon from here: Franz the Panpour, definitely no Kaiser though. With Play Nice, it has the first new move in the game, which is... a Fairy type Growl with less PP, maybe even single-target on top of that? I hope there is some kind of combo with it, otherwise it's just lame.
The only thing about this place that isn't too boring for this write-up is Counterfeit Youngster Joey who addresses my stylish player character with eloquent words like: “Come on Scatterbug, let's powder this punk!” And to powder that punk, my top-percentile Fletchling effortlessly did... As Dietrich levels up over the course of the easy early game, I actually get my hopes up of him maybe becoming something like Staraptor's moral successor, since, as cute as it is, it really isn't weak in attacking so far. The Pokédex is interesting here as well: Despite the beauty of its lilting voice, it's merciless to intruders that enter its territory.
Santalune City
This city doesn't look like a city... but Pokémon. This place is mostly weird for now, I don't know. There is advertise for cliché French drinks all over the place but where do I actually get them? And this is actually, spoiler alert, unique to the game so far, haha. Ok, then I went to the Boutique only to learn that they take a fortune off me for new clothes. As completionist as I am in games, I'd probably want to simply buy all for the sake of owning (and mostly never using) it, lol, but looks like that will be no option before beating the Elite Four. There is also something weird about the Roselia fountain, but I didn't make notes of what exactly and now I can't Fly back there yet in my game to check what it was, failure. Finally, found my first hidden item in some bush of roses, no visual cue as usual. I kinda still don't understand what the Shauna scene in the forest was good for, it was a weird camera angle.
Route 22
Hm, was it 22 or 23, what lay west of Viridian City and contained mostly Nidorans and Gary you-know-the-word Oak... whatever, I don't care. With that grisly White 2 death under my belt, I am too much a wuss to enter the Gym yet, so some more training it is. Apparently someone smuggled a Holo Caster into my bag, whatever that thing is good for.
I almost lose my precious Fletchling thanks to a Litleo's Ember crit + burn in a trainer battle; game's starting really nice it seems. A Litleo named Gertraud I also later get, and man, that cry, it is... weird again. I thought they were making kinda good cries with revamping the very old ones, but this one sounds almost equally artificial, huh. My first encounter, however was a Farfetch'd. Almost doubly justified me rejecting the trade in the city (because I deemed Pick Up more valuable than a third Normal/Flying bird), but alas, now my own mon crit it away before I could catch it. But remembering that Farfetch'd always was somewhat a pain to catch in older games, might as well get back to the trade eventually.
Other things worth mentioning: Bite's animation looks like bear-traps; seems like Game Freak does enjoy what those PETA clowns do for Pokémon in some way, haha. Last thing is that show-offy Lass Elsa after defeat: “Isn't Flabébé just the cutest thing ever?” If there were bear-traps for wording, her soul would be horribly chopped. (And mine as well, yeah.) Obvious dead end with the League entrance then.
Back to Santalune City
Hey, I get the Roller Skates! They are awesome, the good old Bike can go die in a fire, as inanimate as it actually already is. Though, I'm relieved that I didn't type “best item ever” in my notes yet – because it will get even better! Anyway, time for the Gym, a puntastic Gym... “What's the hustle, little Crustle?” Well, the hustle is, I'm somehow too dumb to leave the Gym, so I basically have to battle the Leader without healing. Yeah, could just use Potions because PP don't really matter at that early stage anyway, but meh. Maybe I did actually do that, my notes just don't mention it then.
Before challenging her, I randomly discover Pokémon-Amie and Super Training by pressing the shoulder buttons for some reason. Now that's a big change! I'm used to things like that being introduced in lengthy talks, but no, apparently Game Freak has reworked that and did so without even telling me. Well, I do play around a bit on Amie, but nothing noteworthy. I shall end this part with my lineup right before the first big battle in the game. Take care!
Party
- Dietrich (Fletchling Lv. 13): Tackle, Growl, Quick Attack, Peck
- Alberich (Chespin Lv. 14): Tackle, Bite, Vine Whip, Rollout
- Gertraud (Litleo Lv. 5): Tackle, Leer, Ember
- Franz (Panpour Lv. 4): Scratch, Play Nice, Leer
- Emma (Bunnelby Lv. 3): Tackle, Agility
Boxed
Berta (Pidgey), Caspar (Scatterbug)
Graveyard
None
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