Gameplay Journal Total Eclipse of the HeartGold Nuzlocke

Total Eclipse of the HeartGold Nuzlocke
Legends come, legends go. Nuzlockes have been failed. Nuzlockes have been ended out of boredom. Out of the corners of time, one game refuses to not be beaten... it's... HeartGold. The Grand Return Begins. New rules. New strats. More experience. More win. More careful.

RULES:
- If a Pokémon faints, it's considered dead and MUST be boxed, never to be used again.
- Can only capture the first Pokémon per area. If I fail to catch it, no Pokémon for me.
- If the first Pokémon I find is a duplicate of one I already have, it won't be counted as my first encounter.
- Each Pokémon must be nicknamed.
- Healing items are allowed.
- If I find a shiny, I can catch it no matter what. Though this never happens.
- Battle Style set to Set.
- EXP Share Off
- If all Pokémon faint, it's game over. If I have backups in the box however, I can put them in my team to use until all backups are gone.

Let's get this show back on the road.

Starter Get!
To start us off, I knew I needed a strong companion. Totodile had failed us in previous attempts, so we needed something new. The great, strong Chikorita!... SIKE! We're using Cyndaquil, and we're naming it Toasty! Toasty will be OUR champion and he will not die. Pinky prom... okay I can't do that but still. We're gonna give this the 'ol college try and bring Toasty to victory. He certainly has a good typing on his hands.

VS Silver
Ah yes, our first rival battle against our beloved redhead, Silver. Why is he called Silver when his hair is clearly red? I don't know. I'll never know. But what I DO know is he's toast! He tried to Leer me to death with his Totodile, but he failed greatly. Well done Silver, your first defeat and my first win.

Route 29
With so many mons out in the wild, who will our VERY first find be? Could it be something magical? It's... Hoothoot! Hey, I'm actually pretty ok with this. Getting any Gen 2 mons is a bit of a bonus for me and it's something I don't use much, so I shall embrace it warmly and let it into my team. I shall name it... Owlet.

Route 46
You know the place, the weird little route that connects bla bla to bla bla town ect ect. Some nice mons here. And I found... Rat. A rat. I'm... grateful? I guess? Okay no I'm not I don't want this. I'm gonna name it Scrung, at the PEAK of my nickname creativity. Welcome aboard, Scrung. You will likely be a sacrifice in dire times.

Route 30
Ah, a new route and a new mon. What shall we find this time, eh? It's Spinarak! Haven't used one of these in ages, so I'm pretty dang excited about it. I dub thee... Pider! Welcome to the team, my little friend. The Belsprouts will suffer under your iron rule.

Already off to an exciting start! Going back to the Pokémon Center, I encountered a Rat I couldn't escape from. It therefore decided to MURDER my Owlet in cold blood, before Owlet could even get started as a mon on my team. :'( Gdi. My luck is always poor, but we will continue onwards and keep strong. Stupid rats won't kill me next time. They will be the ones to die!

Toasty has learnt Ember which will mean burnt rats EVERYWHERE. Pider also learnt Scary Face... but it's sooo cute.

Route 31
It's time for even more wonderful random encounters. This time we're getting ourselves a... I think nothing? It's night time and nothing is spawning here. That's interesting.

...Nvm! A Bellsprout just appeared, so this guy will be a welcome addition to the team. Welcome aboard, Sauce!

Dark Cave
Even more mons you say? Of course! Soon we'll have too many and the grinding will be pure suffering. The mon we find is of course a beautiful Zubat who... of course, we have to name Achrobatic. I can't not. It's pure tradition. Welcome to the team Achrobatic, I'm gonna actually train it this time unlike usual. Just gonna require some extra grinding, my faaaaaavourite...

Violet City
We finally arrive! The big city, the apple of my eye and the place where we TECHNICALLY could use a code to get a gift Slugma... but I won't. It feels a bit cheaty to me so I'll avoid doing it. I've got so many mons to grind anyways that one extra Slugma will just get in the way. We must first go up the Sprout Tower.

Sprout Tower
Our first mon here is a VERY cool Gastly. Since I got Rat earlier, it couldn't spoil my trip here. Gastly will be an extremely welcome addition to my team. Naturally I must name it Spoopt Out.

Sage Chow, huh? What's he chowing on, Sprouts? Gross. These things are like poisonous dude.

Well, Sprout Tower was a breeze. I got plenty of experience and now it's time to take on... the gym. Let's go!

Violet City Gym
After enough grinding, Toasty finally evolves into Quilava! It's good to have an early start and get Toasty to be extra strong just in time for the gym. Let's do this.

C'mon Feather Boy, give me your BEST shot. You can't beat me. After missing my attacks SO many dang times, I finally won. We did it! Managed to get a burn at the last moment and kill his roosting mon which was basically a god send. Go me!

I've also picked up the forced Togepi egg which I shall hatch one day. When? We shall see. First, we have many adventures ahead of us!

Route 32
Onwards we go, fellas! It's time for more HeartGold action. How far will our adventure take us today? I aim to at least get Bugsy done in this journal, so let's aim for that!

I got a Mareep! I'm very pleased about this, I love Mareep. Gonna name it Athena because it is super stronk. No Unown this time, sorry lads. Might catch one another time if I REALLY need it.

God damnit. A RAT killed my Bellsprout. I am so sick of these rats. They must die. ALL OF THEM. There's so much grinding to do before Bugsy, I feel obligated to fight every trainer. How can I not???

Until next entry, folks.

 

Route 32
Back at it and already off to a shoddy start! Poor Spoopt Out was killed by a Nidoran that managed to get lucky against it. To be fair I couldn't have seen that one coming, just some poor luck. I'm just gonna have to be careful and make sure my mons and way higher than anything I'm trying to fight which honestly isn't as easy as it might sound. At least I've still got a pretty solid team to bounce off of though! It's mostly a matter of making sure type matchups are good and that I don't send out some mons into a suicide mission.

I can't tell you guys how happy I am to have Mareep on my team. I LOVE Mareep.

Union Cave
It's time for a NEW area and a NEW mon. This time we'll be getting our claws on... Sandshrew! Nothing too special about this guy but hey, I'll take it. Better than nothing, eh? Gonna name it Resetti, aptly. Wouldn't have minded an Onix or even a Geodude either buuuut I'll accept it. Let's continue onwards with our adventure.

My team is a bit weak to rock types unfortunately, so this cave miiight be a bit tricky. Gonna try to keep out of troubles way.

Azalea Town
Skipped the past route so I can get a mon there later via Headbutt if I want to! For now, time to heal and then take on the Slowpoke Well so we can make some good progress.

Slowpoke Well
Well, it's time for another Pokémon. I can only physically get one mon here, which is... Slowpoke! Gonna name it Tipsy and take down these Team Rocket fools!

Well, that was a blast (get it because Team Rocket is blasting off... haha....) and Mareep actually evolved into Flaaffy! Good job Athena, you're very stronk and I'm proud.

Azalea Town
It's time to fight and KILL Bugsy. He could present quite the challenge if I'm not very careful, but Athena and Toasty should be able to help me through. Here's hoping!

It's kinda hard to fully grind my entire team too, having a full team of 6 isn't easy... but I'm glad to have good mons at the very least.

Okay, time to fight Bugsy. Last time he proved that he couldn't be underestimated, so I've gotta play this very carefully. Even leading with Achrobatic to give it some extra XP was a bit of a mistake... okay this guy keeps getting crit after crit on me. Why god. Okay, I finally managed to kill Scyther, but that dude was realllly annoying and made me waste several potions.

And he's done for! Another win under my belt. Heck ya.

Team:
Toasty (Quilava), Pider (Spinarak), Achrobatic (Zubat), Athena (Flaaffy), Resetti (Sandshrew), Tipsy (Slowpoke)

In box:
Scrung (Ratatta), Egg (Togepi)

Dead:
Owlet (Hoothoot), Sauce (Bellsprout), Spoopt Out (Gastly)

Badges 2/8

 

VS Silver
It's time for another battle against my rival Silver in Azalea City. I'm not too nervous but his Croc could be a problem. Thankfully I do have me an amazing Athena who should be able to take care of him.

Thanks to Athena, the battle was an easy win. I've seriously gotta look after her, she's the MVP of the team for sure. Now time for a bit more grinding!

Ilex Forest
It's time for another new location. Pretty sure I can only get bugs in here, so that is what I shall try to get! Let's see... and yup, it's Paras. Honestly not too happy about this dude but whatever. Gonna name it Much Room and continue on my merry way to Goldenrod!

...or I would have, but I accidentally killed it. Amazing. :')

Route 34
I made it out! Now it's time to catch some new Pokémon and most importantly - do a ton of grinding before I fight Whitney. If I want to have a chance in hell at beating her, I've gotta grind like mad because Toasty cannot survive those Rollouts.

First new mon here is Drowzee! Gonna name it Nozee. Now, it's time for some supreme grinding in and out of Goldenrod. Wish me luck!

Route 35
It's time for a quick new mon, and it's Nidoran female! I'm pretty happy about this. It shall be named Regal and will join our team! Time to move onwards and make some more progress grinding away before Whitney.

National Park
Now I can actually do the Bug Competition in here, so I'm gonna give that a shot instead of doing a completely random encounter. However, rules still apply. Even though better mons appear in the park during the contest, I can only get the first one I see. Let's hope I get lucky and my first is a Scyther or a Pinsir...

First mon is... Beedrill. Okay, I'm actually pleasantly surprised. That's not too awful, all things considered. I'll accept it, it could have been worse. This thing was a nightmare to catch, but I got it. Whew. Welcome, Beedrill! I'm happy about your addition to the team.

Too bad I didn't even place at all in the contest. :\ Wtf game. Gonna name my catch "The Buzz" because why not. Still can't believe I lost tho...

Route 36
One more quuiick capture before we go fight Whitney. This time it's... Growlithe! Okay, now that is pretty dang awesome. If I didn't have a fire type I'd be all over this, so for now it's gonna go in the box as a VERY nice backup. This little guy has been named Doggo and will no doubt be joining us at some point in our adventure!

Goldenrod City
Okay guys after a TON of grinding, it's finally time... time for the dreaded battle. For some people, this is a run killer. For me? Well, we'll see. I don't intend to go down easy though. Let's give her hell!

6 warriors rush into combat.

It's time to do this. Leading off with Athena VS Clefairy. Let's go. Clefairy's Metronome is pretty scary but I think I can handle it, unless she gets very lucky. Thankfully, Clefairy is down. Good, very good. Now... the dreaded Miltank.

My best strat would be to para it right away which will hopefully decrease the amount of Rollouts it can hit on any given mon. She has a Lum Berry, so I've had to do it again. Milk Drink is a worry too but it's those Rollouts that truly scare me. I don't have a ton of Super Potions either so... bit of a worry. She's busting out the Milk Drinks, so I'm gonna use Growl to minimise damage. Never thought Growl could be so good! She is spamming those Milk Drinks like craaazy. Stop please!!!

With extra para hax luck, I almost did it. Unfortunately the CHEATER had an extra Super Potion under he sleeve. She really loves to not die, huh? She keeps getting crazy crits against me too. I didn't want to do this, but he must come out. Toasty is the only one who can finish off Miltank. Go, Toasty! Somehow she KNEW to use Rollout when I sent out Toasty, which is just cheap. Thankfully I have Dig which cancels things out a bit. This chick is the worst, seriously. I despise her strats. PLEASE JUST DIE.

FINALLY I did it. Toasty managed to kill her after the para hax got her. That was a very tough win, probably the toughest match I'll have for a while. Still, no casualties so I can't really complain. That was an awesome match, and I did it. Go me!

Route 37
It is time to progress and get myself another new mon, this time we're bagging ourselves a... Pidgey? Huh. That's an interesting one that I actually didn't expect to see this late on. Well, I'll take it I guess. It shall be named Birb, as the tradition goes!

OKAY THESE CLEFABLES ALMOST KILLED MY PIDER BUT IT SOMEHOW SURVIVED WITH 1HP. WOW. SCARY.

Team:
Toasty (Quilava), Pider (Spinarak), Achrobatic (Zubat), Athena (Flaaffy), Regal (Nidoran F), Tipsy (Slowpoke)

In box:
Scrung (Ratatta), Egg (Togepi), Nozee (Dowzee), Resetti (Sandshrew), The Buzz (Beedrill), Doggo (Growlithe)

Dead:
Owlet (Hoothoot), Sauce (Bellsprout), Spoopt Out (Gastly)

Badges:
3/8

 

Goldenrod City
Time to quickly head on back to get ourselves a WONDERFUL Eevee. I'm gonna put Achrobatic away from the time being and let my new Eevee, Cosmos join me on my adventure.

Also, I love this games Dowsing Machine, it's one of the best in the series if not THE best. The one in Sun & Moon sucked so bad...

Well, I beat a Team Rocket thug and got myself a DANG GOOD Surf HM. This is gonna be a blessing for Tipsy.

Burned Tower
It is time to get myself a new Pokémon! This time we're grabbing ourselves...

Well, disappointment. Whilst fending off wild rats, Regal the Nidoran F was killed. Very sad, another causality for the books. We'll have to go on without her and probably replace her with Pidgey, since the Flying coverage would be pretty good for the Fighting Gym.

The mon I found here was Koffing! It shall be named Hazy. Now, it's time for a battle... VS Silver.

VS Silver
I never remembered just how rude this dude is. He's utterly rude, and I like it. It's nice to have a rival that properly makes you ANNOYED. It makes you wanna beat them all the more and it's just generally good characterisation. Either way, the battle went well and I managed to take him down.

Ecruteak City
Well folks, it's finally time. Time to take on another gym which COULD again spell doom. This leader is no pushover, and he could very easily defeat me with his Gengar. I need Tipsy and his Psychic moves if I want a good chance at winning this!

First things first, Birb evolves! Yaay, go Birb! I'm proud of ya, even though I haven't known you for long I'm sure you'll be a good partner. At the very least you were an unexpected one.

Okay, it's time for M-Morty! We need a mon called Rick. Tipsy will be my hero, I hope. It's time to KILL ALL HIS MONS. END HIS NUZLOCKE.

Then... it happened. Disaster struck. Toasty was struck down by Gengar... :'( What a shame. I honestly didn't see that one coming, but Gengar was just too strong. Can't go keeping those starters, can I? :'( RIP Toasty. You were the best. THE VERY BEST.

And then... it happens again. Gengar's Shadow Ball 1 hit kills Athena. Another beautiful, blessed team member who has helped us through so much killed in an instant by this monster. There's nothing I could have done. No defense. I wasn't faster. It was just a one hit kill. I have only one choice if I want to win. Birb. Birb can take Shadow Ball hits. Birb MUST take them.

...until it happened again. Gengar gets a crit Sucker Punch on Birb. Three down for the count, it isn't looking good for me... Cosmos the Eevee MIGHT be able to survive if I don't attack. I have to PP stall him if I want to win. That's all I can do, pretty much.

The struggle of Gengar kills Eevee, but it was a worthy sacrifice in order to survive. Pider and Tipsy have to survive the Struggles if I want to win. However, I'm not out of the woods. I have to fend off ONE more Haunter. Tipsy is my last line of defense... he's all I've got.

I did it. Somehow, with Tipsy as my last mon at 11 HP I killed his Haunter and won. But at what cost? My entire team was killed. I'm basically back to square one as only Tipsy remains. :'( I have prepared for this moment, however. I have a box full of backups and I will use them to restore my team to glory. We will grind. We will fight ALL the trainers and we will prevail after this disaster.

Back to square one.

Team:
Tipsy (Slowpoke)

In box:
Scrung (Ratatta), Egg (Togepi), Nozee (Dowzee), Resetti (Sandshrew), The Buzz (Beedrill), Doggo (Growlithe), Achrobatic (Zubat), Hazy (Koffing)

Dead:
Owlet (Hoothoot), Sauce (Bellsprout), Spoopt Out (Gastly), Regal (Nidoran F), Toasty (Quilava), Birb (Pidgeotto), Cosmos (Eevee), Pider (Spinarak)

Badges:
4/8

 

Route 38
It's time for a new location and a new mon. This time we're getting... Miltank! Well, alright. I might keep this guy around, purely because it can be a pain in the ASS to kill. Gonna name it Petunia. Petunia sounds like a cow name to me.

I have a lot of grinding ahead of me if I want to win. I've taken out Growlithe, Koffing, Sandshrew, Beedrill and Miltank. Can I win this...?

Olivine City
Using my Good Rod, I can catch myself a new mon. I need something strong, something that can doesn't need TOO much grinding for me to use. I've found... a uh... Corsola. What??? I had no idea you could find this thing. It has a decent level so I might use it but uh... wow. That's a shocker. I shall name it Coral because I am not creative.

Time to head up the Lighthouse. The grinding will be good for my team but.. it is not without risk. Might be dangerous!

Lighthouse is done with, that was a wild ride. Now it's time to head to Cianwood. We have a long journey ahead of us.

Route 40
Time for a new mon! Surprise surprise, it's Tentacool. It shall be joining my team and replacing Koffing for the time being. I shall name it... Blob.

Cianwood City
I have arrived. This area could spell disaster, but I have one weapon... Tipsy. Once more, Tipsy must be the mvp and help us survive the potentially deadly upcoming battle. Tipsy must win it ALL for us.

I've also heard Eusine is quite the run killer so I have no intentions fighting him just yet. Gonna stay wellll clear. Upon further inspection of this gym, I feel like I miiight be too weak. Extra grinding on Tipsy specifically will be required.

Grinding is done. It's finally time. Can we do this? Do we stand a chance???

First mon is down, but Tipsy is in a bad state. I'm gonna have to use Petunia the Miltank as a human shield if I want to get Tipsy back into fighting shape. Sorry...

His Poliwrath is basically designed to be very annoying. Confusion isn't exactly the creme de la creme in battle either... but Yawn is helping me through. After some turmoil, I did it. Only Petunia was lost in the fight, which I'll chalk up to a very nice win all things considered. Chuck could have easily ended my run and killed my whole team, but somehow I prevailed. Thank you Tipsy. Now, time for more grinding so Tipsy isn't the only one pulling the weight on my team!

Team:
Tipsy (Slowpoke), Blob (Tentacool), The Buzz (Beedrill), Doggo (Growlithe), Coral (Corsola)

Dead:
Owlet (Hoothoot), Sauce (Bellsprout), Spoopt Out (Gastly), Regal (Nidoran F), Toasty (Quilava), Birb (Pidgeotto), Cosmos (Eevee), Pider (Spinarak), Petunia (Miltank)

Badges:
5/8