Gameplay Journal Ultra Moon Ultra Nuzlocke

Because making myself suffer is fun.

Spoiler: Nuzlocke Rules

- Only one Pokémon can be caught per area (the only exception being if I come across a shiny)
- If the first Pokémon I come across in a new area is one I've already caught, it doesn't count as my first encounter
- Pokémon given to me by NPCs are allowed, as are any Pokémon that the game forces me to catch
- If a Pokémon faints, it's considered 'dead' and must be permanently deposited into the PC
- If my entire party faints, it's Game Over
- Battle Style is to be changed to 'Set'

Let's go!

After being blessed by the sight of three adorable little starters saving me from a angry rat, I could finally choose my starter. Since I love them all, I made my decision come down to chance. I rolled a dice, with numbers 1-2 being rowlet, 3-4 being litten and 5-6 being popplio.

Aaaaand... (drumroll, please) I've rolled a number 2! Looks like I'm choosing rowlet!

I'm calling her Pikelet!

Pokémon: Rowlet
NAME: Pikelet
LEVEL: 5


I trained her up a little on the nearby wild Pokémon before battling Hau. Since she's a strong little thing, she had no problems fighting his popplio.

We then headed past Iki Town to save Nebby. Pikelet's grown to level 8 already. I'm so proud of her.

I was finally allowed to catch my first team member after all of that. So, here she is:

Pokémon: Grubbin
NAME: Nichola
LEVEL: 2


She's a wonderful buggy girl. Pikelet and Nichola make a great team.

We returned to Iki Town to fight Hau once more. Nichola was able to defeat his Pichu after getting paralyzed and losing half her HP, so I switched her out for Pikelet to fight his popplio. And, as I expected, she beat it with zero effort. What a good girl.

That should do it for now. I'm on the route near Kukui's house, so I'll be catching my third party member soon. Pikelet and Nichola have been levelled up high enough that I'm confident they won't be killed by other trainers' Pokémon for the time being.

Until next time!

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Rowlet

Nichola - Grubbin

 

Alright, here's my new team member!

Pokémon: Wingull
NAME: Chips
LEVEL: 7


Now I'm craving chips...

Anyway, here's the Pokémon I caught once I got to the Trainers' School! They kept breaking out of the Poke Balls I threw at them, but after enough tries, they stayed in the ball.

Pokémon: Magnemite
NAME: Sazed
LEVEL: 7


I'm disappointed that their ability is Magnet Pull rather than the much more useful Sturdy, but I'm in no position to be picky.

The trainers in the school didn't cause too much trouble, save some kid's Alolan Grimer doing more damage than I would have liked against Nichola with a combination of Poison Gas and Pound. But they all survived long enough for me to challenge the teacher.

Since I'd chosen rowlet, she used a litten. Chips used Water Gun, taking a little less than half of the litten's health. The litten's Scratch took a but of Chips's health, but not enough for me to feel too concerned. Then the litten's next attack was a Critical Hit...

Poor Chips...

All my Pokémon are weak against fire attacks, but I sent out Nichola since she needs the EXP the most. She managed to survive an Ember and beat the litten with a Vice Grip.

So, I graduated school. But at what cost?

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet

Nichola

Sazed

Spoiler: Dead

Chips - Wingull

 

This is the entry where I catch a whole lot of Pokémon...

Here's the little buddy I picked up in Hau'oli City:

Pokémon: Meowth
NAME: Felix
LEVEL: 8


And speaking of picking things up, his ability is Pickup! Yeeeeeeeah!!! So far, he's given me more Repels than I know what to do with.

Sazed fought Team Skull, beating them with zero effort. That little magnemite is turning into a real powerhouse. Though, it took ages for them to defeat Ilima's yungoos with him having a Full Heal and Potion and all. I sent out Pikelet to fight his smeargle and it took FOREVER thanks to the smeargle's Ember burning her and cutting her attack in half. I almost ran out of Potions, but I finally beat him.

On route two, I found my next team member:

Pokémon: Makuhita
NAME: Arnold
LEVEL: 7


Sometimes, I really like giving tough or badass Pokémon dorky-sounding names. Don't ask why.

Then down on the beach, in Sandy Cave, I found the best Pokémon in the entire game!

Pokémon: Zubat
NAME: Sandra
LEVEL: 7


I'm going to take such good care of her.

And finally, at Hau'oli Cemetery...

Pokémon: Murkrow
NAME: Crowena
LEVEL: 7


Heheh... Get it? It's like Rowena... But she's a crow... ... Sorry...

I've been training the team so they'll be ready for the Trial. I mean, I only really plan on using Arnold, but still. I don't want anyone to be underlevelled.

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Rowlet

Nichola - Grubbin

Sazed - Magnemite

Felix - Meowth

Arnold - Makuhita

Sandra - Zubat

Spoiler: Boxed and Dead

BOXED -
Crowena - Murkrow

DEAD -
Chips - Wingull

 

Quick update:

The trial went fantastically. Arnold KOed the Totem Raticate with one Brick Break. I've been training my team on the Pokémon in Verdant Cavern since.

ALSO!

Pokémon: Noibat
NAME: Ray
LEVEL: 9


Also, Pikelet evolved! Yaaaaay!

 

Thanks! I've had some good luck so far with my encounters, now I just need to make sure I don't lose them...

 

Alright, quite a bit happened since whenever I last posted. Allow me to recount my tale of woe...

My team and I marched onto the next route with high confidence. The first Pokémon we encountered was a cute cutiefly, who Sazed accidentally killed. But from a crazy stroke of luck, the first Pokémon we found in that flower place was another, stronger cutiefly.

Pokémon: Cutiefly
NAME: Polly Pollen
LEVEL: 12


And then in Seaward Cave, I found this...

Pokémon: Smoochum
NAME: Lassie
LEVEL: 13


This might sound kind of weird, but I have a soft spot for the Jynx line ever since I used one when I played through Gold. Still, there are plenty of other Pokémon I'd rather train, so it was off to the PC for little Lassie.

Anyway, with that, I headed back to Iki Town to challenge Hala. Finally, I could leave Tutorial Island and venture into the real world!

I sent out Sandra, who defeated his machop and makuhita with little trouble. She was able to damage his crabrawler a decent amount, but I grew concerned about her safety when it started to spam Leer. When I switched her out for Arnold, she took a lot of damage from a Pursuit, but she was somehow able to survive.

What I didn't expect was for its All-Out Pummelling Z-Move attack alone to knock him out.

*Incomprehensible gibberish* What? I honestly have no idea how this happened. Arnold out-levelled him by like, 3 levels or something? Am I being punished for my hubris? Does Hala just want to see me suffer? Whyyyyyyy???

Anyway, I sent Sandra back out and she managed to take away what little HP it had left. I found out afterwards that the reason why her attacks aren't as strong as I expected is because her ability is Timid. Ew. Or, maybe zubats are just weaker than I remember them being. This doesn't mean I don't love and appreciate her, though.

I got Tauros registered on my Ride Pager, though my feelings of victory were somewhat dampened by the fact that this gift was being given to me by Arnold's murderer. I took my frustration out on the various breakable boulders across the island, adding some TMs and the Flyinium Z to my collection. I also stopped by Ten Carat Hill to catch another Pokémon:

Pokémon: Mawile
NAME: Dent
LEVEL: 13


*Stupid giggling* Because... He has two faces... Heheheh....

I was really excited about this catch. In my first playthrough of Ultra Moon, I had one on my team and by the end of the game, she was my strongest Pokémon with a great moveset and a Mega Stone to boost her stats. Unfortunately, it also took most of the game to get her to that state as mawiles don't learn any good STAB moves (specifically, Play Rough and Iron Head) until their mid to late level 40s, or through the Move Reminder, which is at the top of Mount Lanakila. So... Looks like I won't bother using Dent for a long time.

Ah, well. I withdrew Lassie and surfed to the next island with one less chubby boxer on my team.

I didn't think Arnold's death would hit me so hard, but darn... I really liked that makuhita... He had so much potential, that little guy. I still can't believe he went down so easily. I never thought I'd want a hariyama so bad.

Actually... I just checked its stats on Bulbapedia. Holy cow, they're abysmal. Yeah no, good thing he died before I grew too attached to him. Sheesh...

Anyway, a new island, a new adventure! Until next time!

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Dartrix

Nichola - Grubbin

Felix - Meowth

Sazed - Magnemite

Sandra - Zubat

Lassie - Smoochum

Spoiler: Boxed and Dead

BOXED -
Crowena - Murkrow
Ray - Noibat
Polly Pollen - Cutiefly
Dent - Mawile

DEAD -
Chips - Wingull
Arnold - Makuhita

 

We've found ourselves on Akala Island! Home of... I lost my train of thought there... Oh look! A puppy!

Pokémon: Lillipup
NAME: Lilly
LEVEL: 11


Soon afterwards, Nichola evolved. Yaaaay! Now her electric-type moves will get a well-needed boost. I had pretty high spirits after defeating Hau and at the ranch place, my first encounter was a tauros. Things were going fine until it killed Sandra while I was trying to capture it.

Nooo! Not Sandra!

I eventually caught the darn thing and named him after the god of death. Serves him right for killing my favourite Pokémon. And she was so close to evolving, too...

Pokémon: Tauros
NAME: Thanatos
LEVEL: 14


Sigh...

Anyway, I received an egg which hatched into an Eevee I named Morph. And Felix evolved. So, things are looking up a little. I'm not sure what I want to do with Morph for now, so I deposited him into the PC in exchange for Ray, my replacement bat.

I was a little worried about battling Gladion, but Sazed was able to beat his Pokémon without much trouble. I was just glad I didn't lose anyone again so soon after Sandra. RIP you flappy bat.

Anyway, this was my first encounter in that area:

Pokémon: Pikipek
NAME: Stan
LEVEL: 14


After enough level grinding, it was Trial Time! Since Sazed is still a while away from evolving, I decided to use him against the wishiwashis and dewpiders before using Pikelet to battle the Totem. I didn't expect it to know Aurora Beam, but we beat it with a little help from an X Special Defence and plenty of Plucks. Pikelet was amazing. I'm so proud of her.

I returned to Brooklet Hill to catch a Pokémon. I named him Sporelull the morelull.

Pokémon: Moreull
NAME: Sporelull
LEVEL: 16


I'm getting ready for Kiawe's trial. I don't have a Pokémon that's strong against fire types, but I swapped Morph out for Ray since his dragon typing will resist fire attacks. We're currently training at the base of the volcano. I'm trying to get Lassie strong enough for her to evolve, but at the rate we're going, I don't think I have the patience.

Anyway, to recap: friends have evolved, friends have been gained, and a friend has been killed. Life goes on. We carry on.

Until next time!

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Dartrix

Felix - Persian

Sazed - Magnemite

Nichola - Charjabug

Ray - Noibat

Lassie - Smoochum

Spoiler: Boxed and Dead

BOXED -
Crowena - Murkrow
Polly Pollen - Cutiefly
Dent - Mawile
Lilly - Lillipup
Tauros - Thanatos
Morph - Eevee
Stan - Pikipek
Sporelull - Morelull

DEAD -
Chips - Wingull
Arnold - Makuhita
Sandra - Zubat

 

Alright... So... Kiawe's trial...

But before I tell you about that, here are the two Pokémon I caught on route 7 and in Wela Volcano Park:

Pokémon: Wishiwashi
NAME: Splooshy
LEVEL: 16


Pokémon: Fletchling
NAME: Wingman
LEVEL: 19


I finally put my fishing rod to good use and also caught myself a fire-type that would no doubt come in handy during the grass trial. So, a good haul all in all

Since I couldn't be bothered to train up Splooshy, I left her in the PC for the trial.

I had Lassie at the front of my party to battle the Totem Pokémon and I swapped her out for Felix to battle the Pokémon leading up to the Totem. As said Totem was a salazzle in Sun/Moon, I forgot that it had been changed to a marowak in this game.

I tested my luck and went in for a Confusion. It did next to no damage and Lassie was almost killed in retaliation, so I switched her out for Ray as the marowak called for help, summoning a salazzle. The salazzle's Venoshock was a critical hit, knocking him out. That's two bats killed in two days.

Most of my Pokémon having a weakness against fire-types, I sent out Felix, hoping his Fur Coat ability would be able to protect him from the marowak's physical attacks. He was able to land a faint attack before the two ganged up on him and killed him.

*Screams into a pillow*

The only Pokémon I had who could deal any significant damage was Pikelet. She was around level 28 or so, so I figured she should be able to take a few hits. I sent her out and she took some damage from the salazzle's Flame Wheel before landing an Ominous Wind on the Totem Pokémon, taking out what little HP it had left. FINALLY.

The marowak's Cursed Body ability disabled her Ominous Wind, but her Pluck attack was able to OHKO the salazzle.

*Deep sigh*

At least I can access PokePelago, now?

I dropped Ray and Felix off into the box where they shall rest forever and always. In turn, I withdrew Splooshy and Wingman, my newest team members. I then travelled to route 8 and found this guy:

Pokémon: Stufful
NAME: Soft Boi
LEVEL: 19


I then realised that I had enough Totem Stickers to get myself a raticate and araquanid. So I did just that.

Pokémon: Raticate
NAME: Chubbs McGee
LEVEL: 20


Pokémon: Araquanid
NAME: Bubbles
LEVEL: 25


I swapped Splooshy out for Bubbles immediately. Sorry, Splooshy. Big spider is much stronger.

Not much else has happened since then. I mean, Wingman and Lassie evolved evolved. And then Sazed got killed by a preschooler's kangaskhan. Just one level away from evolving. It seems like everybody's dying today.

I withdrew Soft Boi in his place. I don't have much use for him at the moment, but a fighting-type will come in handy against Olivia.

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Dartrix

Nichola - Charjabug

Lassie - Jynx

Wingman - Fletchinder

Soft Boi - Stufful

Bubbles - Araquanid

Spoiler: Boxed and Dead

BOXED -
Crowena - Murkrow
Polly Pollen - Cutiefly
Dent - Mawile
Lilly - Lillipup
Tauros - Thanatos
Stan - Pikipek
Sporelull - Morelull
Morph - Eevee
Splooshy - Wishiwashi
Chubbs McGee - Raticate

DEAD -
Chips - Wingull
Arnold - Makuhita
Sandra - Zubat
Ray - Noibat
Felix - Persian
Sazed - Magnemite

 

Using my Firium Z to toast my enemies! Wahahaha!!!

Okay, I think it's time to take on the next Trail!

*Cackling* The Lurantis's first attack triggered Wingman's Flame Body ability! I used Flame Charge, cutting down a good chunk of its HP. At the end of the turn, it summoned a Comfey. Wingman then used Inferno Overdrive and knocked the Totem Pokémon out.

Huh. That... Was anticlimactic. I half expected somebody to die in this battle, but no.

A few more Flame Charges defeated the Comfey and I got my Z Crystal. Once I was allowed to, I also caught myself a bounce thing:

Pokémon: Steenee
NAME: Neenaa
LEVEL: 19


I then dropped by the Dimensional Research Lab and once I got to Diglett Tunnel, I found... A zubat. And then another zubat. And then a diglett.

Pokémon: Diglett
NAME: Doug
LEVEL: 22


After I got through the tunnel, I had to stop and do the Ditto sidequest. I just couldn't say no to that sweet, sweet EXP points and extra cash. Also, Soft Boi evolved! Yaaaaay!

I also grabbed myself a Plume Fossil. Can't be bothered to revive it at the moment. I don't have a need for an archen at the moment, either. Now that I've realised that its ability is Defeatist, I'm starting to regret choosing it in the first place...

Anyway, I headed over to Memorial Hill to battle Olivia. Here's my first encounter:

Pokémon: Gastly
NAME: Flitter
LEVEL: 21


Okay, I'll update soon-ish after the battle. Until next time!

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Dartrix

Nichola - Charjabug

Soft Boi - Bewear

Lassie - Jynx

Bubbles - araquanid

Wingman - Fletchinder

Spoiler: Boxed and Dead

BOXED -
Crowena - Murkrow
Polly Pollen - Cutiefly
Dent - Mawile
Lilly - Lillipup
Tauros - Thanatos
Stan - Pikipek
Sporelull - Morelull
Morph - Eevee
Splooshy - Wishiwashi
Chubbs McGee - Raticate
Neenaa - Steenee
Doug - Diglett
Flitter - Gastly

DEAD -
Chips - Wingull
Arnold - Makuhita
Sandra - Zubat
Ray - Noibat
Felix - Persian
Sazed - Magnemite

 

Thanks! I'm taking good care to keep Nichola alive before we reach Blush Mountain. I've never used a Vikavolt before, so I'm super excited!

 

Alrighty, it's time I posted again!

So, I battled Plumeria. Nothing much happened, Lassie was able to beat both her Pokémon without too much trouble.

I swapped Lassie out for Soft Boi to battle Olivia. His Brick Break was able to take most of its HP, but Olivia used a Super Potion to heal it. A few more Brick Breaks beat it, though. Olivia then sent out a lileep, who Soft Boi beat with two more Brick Breaks. Then Olivia sent out her Lycanroc and Soft Boi killed it with another two Brick Breaks. And levelled up. And then we won!

Since Pikelet was pretty close to evolving, I trained her a little by battling some nearby wild Pokémon until she finally did. Yaaaay!

Pokémon: Sandygast
NAME: Mandy
LEVEL: 25


Mandriel catches Mandy the sandy sandygast... Heheh...

I then headed over to the Aether Paradise. Bubbles beat the Nihilego with two Bubblebeams. I got the TM for Psychic afterwards, which I promptly taught to Lassie.

Once I reached the next Island, Hau challenged me to a battle. After Bubbles landed a few Leech Lifes on his Brionne, he swapped it out for his Noibat. I couldn't be bothered to withdraw Bubbles, but she was able to beat it just fine with a few Bites without getting herself killed, so it's all good.

What's not all good was Hau then sent out his Raichu. That thing can do some damage, for sure. So I sent out Nichola. The Raichu's Psychic took out more than half of her HP, so I had to swap her for Pikelet. One Spirit Shackle was enough to KO it.

Then Hau sent out Flareon, I sent out Bubbles. Bubblebeam. KO. Tauros. Soft Boi. Horn Attack. Brick Break. Horn Attack. Brick Break. Brionne comes back. Pikelet. Razor Leaf. We wiiiiiiiiiin!

We're heading over to Malie Garden soon to train and progress the story. I need sleep now.

Until next time!

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Decidueye

Nichola - Charjabug

Lassie - Jynx

Soft Boi - Bewear

Lassie - Jynx

Wingman - Fletchinder

Spoiler: Boxed and Dead

BOXED -
Crowena - Murkrow
Polly Pollen - Cutiefly
Dent - Mawile
Lilly - Lillipup
Tauros - Thanatos
Stan - Pikipek
Sporelull - Morelull
Morph - Eevee
Splooshy - Wishiwashi
Chubbs McGee - Raticate
Neenaa - Steenee
Doug - Diglett
Flitter - Gastly
Mandy - Sandygast

DEAD -
Chips - Wingull
Arnold - Makuhita
Sandra - Zubat
Ray - Noibat
Felix - Persian
Sazed - Magnemite

 

Heh, yeah, this is one challenging game. It's also pretty fun; you should try challenging it sometime! Critical Hits are always a massive pain, especially when you're counting on your Pokémon being able to take the next hit in order to win and there's no way to predict if your opponent is going to land a crit.

Thanks for the good luck! I'm going to need it against Ultra Necrozma...

 

Ooh, curse those OHKO moves! They always seem to land effectively when your opponent uses them, but never when you try and use them against your enemies...

Heheh... I'm dreading it...

 

Ah, thanks! I'm going to need all the encouragement I can get real soon ^^''

 

It's been a while since I last played. Life got in the way of this journal, but now I'm back!

We made our first catch in Malie Garden:

Pokémon: Poliwhirl
NAME: Uzumaki
LEVEL: 26


I've been reading a lot of Junji Ito, okay?

It never hurts to have another water-type in the box. Though the only time I've ever used a poliwrath, it was the worst party member I had...

Anyway, after doing whatever I had to do in the library, I challenged the only gym in the entire region and headed south for some training. Wingman is pretty close to evolving, and I want him to catch up with the rest of the team before we challenge the next trial. I don't think I'm going to use him against the Totem, but having another fully evolved Pokémon on my team is never a bad idea.

I got myself this dude:

Pokémon: Elekid
NAME: Shocky
LEVEL: 28


... And then directly afterwards, I found a beldum... Darn it...

Also, after some grinding, Wingman evolved! Yeeeeah!

Now that everyone's level 35 except Soft Boi (who's 36), I headed over to challenge the next Trial.

Soft Boi knocked out the elekid without any trouble. He was slower than the electabuzz, and was paralyzed by a Thunder Wave. He was able to use Brick Break, though, knocking it out, too. I used Pokémon Refresh to heal his paralysis.

Now, we fight the Totem...

Togedemaru's Spiky Shield protected it and hurt Soft Boi. It also summoned a Skarmory... So, we're not off to a good start.

The Togedemaru used bounce and the Skarmory used Tailwind. Soft Boi's Brick Break missed the Togedemaru. Soft Boi avoided Bounce and the Skarmory used Torment.

The Totem used Spiky Shield again, and the skarmory used Stealth Rock. Soft Boi used Brutal Swing. Togedemaru used Bounce again... This might take a while...

It just... Keeps bouncing...

Thank goodness the skarmory's only damaging attack is Steel Wing...

The skarmory eventually fainted after enough Brutal Swings. With its Bounce and Spiky Shield moves, the Totem is near impossible to hit. I got it down to red HP, but it healed itself with a Sitrus Berry.

And then it summoned a Dedenne.

Togedemaru's Spiky Shield failed, and the Dedenne's Discharge was absorbed the the Totem's Lightning Rod and paralysed Soft Boi, taking him to yellow HP. His Brick Break hit the togedemaru... And left it with red HP.

I used my only Full Restore. Soft Boi needed it.

Togedemaru used Spiky Shield. Again. And Soft Boi got hurt. Again. Then the Dedenne used Super Fang. Ugggghh......

I lost track of how many Hyper Potions I've been forced to use for this battle. Here goes another one...

More Spiky Shields. When will it end?

The togedemaru used Zing Zap. Soft Boi's at red health again. The Dedenne used Super Fang, Soft Boi used Brick Break and than darn Totem is finally down! At last!

I swapped Soft Boi out for Lassie, who killed the Dedenne with two Psychics.

This is good. This is very good. My feelings of victory were dampened by the fact that I was immediately dragged to the Battle Agency, which I've never used.

Anyway, I'm off to Blush Mountain to evolve Nichola! See you later, when I have a strong electric bug in my arsenal!

... Which I would be saying if I didn't have to battle Guzma before I'm allowed to move onwards...

Until next time!

Spoiler: Team

Pikelet - Decidueye

Nichola - Charjabug

Lassie - Jynx

Wingman - Talonflame

Soft Boi - Bewear

Bubbles - Araquanid

Spoiler: Boxed and Dead

BOXED -
Crowena - Murkrow
Polly Pollen - Cutiefly
Dent - Mawile
Lilly - Lillipup
Tauros - Thanatos
Stan - Pikipek
Sporelull - Morelull
Morph - Eevee
Splooshy - Wishiwashi
Chubbs McGee - Raticate
Neenaa - Steenee
Doug - Diglett
Flitter - Gastly
Mandy - Sandygast
Uzumaki - Poliwhirl
Shocky - Elekid

DEAD -
Chips - Wingull
Arnold - Makuhita
Sandra - Zubat
Ray - Noibat
Felix - Persian
Sazed - Magnemite