Nuzlocke Griseous Gifts! Randomized Platinum Giftlocke

Original thread title:
What game should I play for a Giftlocke? (poll)

Seeing all of the new people coming over from the Nuzlocke forum has made me want to give a Nuzlocke another shot. I haven't had much luck in the past, for reasons varying from swarms of Wynaut killing my team with Shadow Tag/Destiny Bond and random Rayquaza wipes in randomizers, or just bad luck in terms of save corruption and things like that.

I thought I'd try something a little different this time; A Nuzlocke consisting only of Pokémon given as gifts throughout the game. This means that depending on the game, I might only have anywhere between 6-10 Pokémon available to me throughout the entire playthrough. Other than that, all the usual rules will still apply except that I won't be catching any Pokémon. The only exceptions will be if I need to catch Pokémon to use HMs, or shinies, since the odds are so low and I'm so limited on the number of Pokémon I'll be getting.

So which game should I use? Surprise me. Here's a list of all of the games I'll consider, since I'll be using an emulator. I'm skipping gen 3 because there are only 3 gift Pokémon available before the Hall of Fame and two of them are Wynaut and Castform which aren't great. Also I've done a lot of gen 3.

Spoiler: Vote now on your phones!

Pokémon Red or Blue

• 7 Gift Pokémon
  • One starter, Magikarp, Omanyte OR Kabuto, Aerodactyl, Hitmonlee OR Hitmonchan, Eevee, and Lapras
• Pros: possibility of having a full team with one to spare
• Cons: 3 to 5 of them will be water types, Fighting types are kind of terrible in first gen, overall, the unbalance is real. No shinies means no chance to catch extras.

Pokémon Yellow:

• 10 Gift Pokémon
  • Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Magikarp, Omanyte OR Kabuto, Aerodactyl, Hitmonlee OR Hitmonchan, Eevee, Lapras
• Pros and cons: more or less the same as Red and Blue, but with a few more options, with the ability to get 3 starters that are fairly reliable. Pikachu doesn't evolve though
• Misc: I included Red and Blue as a separate option because the addition of the three starters in Yellow might make it seem too easy.

Pokémon Crystal

• 8 Gift Pokémon
  • One starter, Togepi, a random baby Pokémon, Spearow, Eevee, Shuckle, Dratini, Tyrogue
• Pros: A pretty good number of Pokémon, potential of finding shinies for extra Pokémon. Super awesome Dragonite!
• Cons: Togetic is AWFUL. Baby Pokémon may also be difficult to train, but will be reliable later if they survive. Spearow and Shuckle are supposed to be borrowed and stealing is bad
• Misc: There's a chance of getting two Tyrogue if the egg that hatches into a random baby Pokémon hatches into a Tyrogue. In the event that happens, I'll keep both but evolve them into different Pokémon.

Pokémon Platinum

• 6 Gift Pokémon
  • One starter, Togepi, Eevee, Happiny, Porygon, Riolu
• Pros: I'll potentially have a team of three of my favorite Pokémon, the overall type balance of the team is pretty solid, chance to catch shinies. Blissey's Softboiled will be a good fallback if Happiny survives long enough to evolve.
• Cons: Only 6 Pokémon means I'll have just enough for a full team if they all survive.
• Misc: I don't know if I'll be able to evolve Porygon since I'll be using an emulator, but I think I might be able to set trade Pokémon to evolve when reaching a certain level.

Randomized!

• Yep, I'm considering trying this again. This is a bit of a weird option. If there are more votes for the "randomized" option than any other, I'll be randomizing the the option with the second most votes.
• varying number of Gift Pokémon, equal to however many is in the game with the most votes
• Pros: Gift Pokémon will be randomized, so there is a chance for a lot of variety.
• Cons: Gift Pokémon will be randomized, so they might be awful.
• Misc: I'm going to die horribly if you vote for this option.

I had considered adding gen 5 too, but the locations and timing for getting the gift Pokémon is pretty weird and a lot of them come after the Pokémon league. I'm also not sure how stable it'll be on the emulator since I haven't tried it before.

Also if you're curious, here's the full list of rules I'll be playing with:

Spoiler: The terms of my self-inflicted punishment

• No catching Pokémon, except shinies. I can't specifically attempt to hunt for them either, they just have to show up randomly
• If I have an option, such as choosing between starters or choosing what a Pokémon will evolve into, I'll let you guys vote on it!
  • In the event of a randomizer, I'll always pick the first Pokémon in the list offered (or the leftmost one depending on how they're listed)
  • I might sometimes choose on my own if the team needs a Pokémon that can learn a specific HM. So for Gen 1 games, I probably won't evolve Eevee into Vaporeon since there are so many water types already, but in Platinum, I probably will evolve it into Vaporeon if Piplup isn't my starter or Piplup has died by that point.
• All Pokémon will be nicknamed so it feels like my heart is being ripped out when they die. (Doesn't apply to the Pokémon I steal in Crystal since they'll already have names I think)
• I can use any items I find or buy with the exception of any items that would revive a Pokémon.
• A Pokémon that faints is dead and will be added to a graveyard box in the PC

In the event of any ties when voting, I'll be opening it up to a vote on Discord as a tie breaker.

Edit:

Spoiler: Poll results!

 

I was going to let this poll go until Friday, but I'm kind of tempted just to end it now because I really want to play.

This week might be busy with IRL stuff though, so I might try to hold off a while longer.

 

That isn't even one of the options in the poll.

 

I set the poll to end automatically, so I think there's about 5 hours left before the poll ends.

Wow that looks really useful! I think I'll try using that for this run. Thanks!

 

Hopefully, provided I play a game where they're available, I'll get lucky with an extra shiny.

I haven't seen the results of the poll yet either, so I am also curious to see how this turns out!

 

The poll ended yesterday and the results are in!


The results for Platinum and Randomized both got the most votes, with four each, so the game will be a randomized Platinum Giftlocke!

I found out when I was randomizing the rom that there was an option in the randomizer to make HMs fully compatible with all Pokémon, so hopefully that means I won't have to catch any additional Pokémon.

So there is one slight problem with this. Happiny is Diamond/Pearl only, meaning I actually only get 5 gift Pokémon in the entire game. Hopefully I get lucky with a shiny, but if anyone else has an idea of how to fill up my party, I'll welcome suggestions!

But I'll deal with that problem when I come to it. Onto the Nuzlocke!

Entry 1:

I went with my rival (I usually go with Roy, but I called him Gavin this time) to Route 201 to get our starters. As usual with randomizers, I didn't even bother checking what the other options were and just chose the first option. It's a female Swalot, modest nature, I named Inkewll. She started off with the moves Pound, Yawn, Poison Gas, and Sludge. I was pretty happy with this. Swalot is one of those Pokémon I always wanted to try to have on a team but just never got around to it.

I started the battle with Gavin, who had been given a Loudred. Inkwell poisoned it with Poison Gas and then took it down with two Sludges. Loudred used howl on both of its turns, so Inkwell didn't take any damage. Inkwell grew two levels to level 7.

It didn't take long to get Inkwell up to level 10, one of the perks of not raising a large team. I was startled by a sudden Darkrai appearing on route 201, complete with dramatic battle music and everything. Luckily it was only level 2. There were also a few Mew that showed up on route 202.

By the time I reached Jubilife, Inkwell had reached level 15 without taking any damage. I had another battle with Gavin, who had added a Pidgey to his team since our last battle. Inkwell had her first 1HP of damage done to her when fighting a trainer's Gastly on the way to Oreburgh, and then a few more from a Hippopotas that caused a sandstorm.

In Oreburgh I did some exploring on the nearby route and battled some trainers in the mine. She got to level 20 fairly easily. By this time, I had taught her Amnesia in place of Yawn, although I haven't needed it yet.

I went to the gym for the first gym battle. One of the trainers had a Mawile, which slowed me down a bit. Before battling Roark, I taught her Rock Smash in case he had any Steel types that could give me trouble. It ended up not being an issue though. His Pokémon were Shroomish, Grotle, and Finneon. Inkwell took out each of them in one hit and we got the Coal Badge!

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Two in one day! This isn't going to be a typical pace. I actually had the first one mostly done yesterday, but waited until today to upload it because I was struggling to figure out how gifs work.

I think I might have a solution to my missing party member problem. I'm fairly certain that I also randomized the static encounters, such as the Legendary Pokémon. Since I decided to call the series Griseous Gifts, I thought that maybe my sixth party member could be whatever Pokémon appears during the Giratina encounter, which I'll catch with the Master Ball, so it's kind of like a gift. (inB4 I catch a Caterpie with the Master Ball.) I've added a new poll to the top of this thread, so let me know what you guys think!

Entry #2

A lot happened since getting my first gym badge. I headed back to Jubilife where I meet Looker again. He says he's leaving since he hasn't seen any shady individuals around.

I head to the north end of the city where Professor Rowan is being mugged by some shady individuals. Oddly enough, the grunts of Team Galactic are Poets in this randomized version. I would also find out later that their commanders are Scribes. Great, I'm fighting a team of evil writers. I battled them with Lucas, who used a Murkrow this time while he had used a Chimchar during the capture tutorial.

Afterwards I headed towards Floaroma town. It was weird not needing to fight in the double battle outside of the town since I only had Inkwell with me. I picked up some berries and the watering can from the flower shop, then headed to route 205. I met a little girl who asked me to help rescue her father from the evil Poets. I battled the one outside the Windworks, but then he locked himself inside, so I had to go back to Floaroma town to get the key from the Poets in the meadow. By this time, Inkwell was only a few battles away from level 25, so we left a trail of fainted Pachirisu, who somehow got randomized into the area where they usually appear anyway, in our wake.

Inside, I got to their Scribe fairly easily. Commander Mars used to give me trouble in previous playthroughs, but Scribe Marylin is much easier. She uses a Starly and, fittingly, an Azumarill.

I headed north on route 205. Inkwell learned Body Slam in place of Poison Gas while battling our way through some trainers. We stopped briefly at the house outside of Eterna Forest to rest before entering. Inside we meet Cheryl-- I mean, Bug Catcher Noelle, and we decide to go through the forest together. Noelle used a pink Gastrodon during our double battles. Getting through the forest is fairly easy with her healing our Pokémon.

She gives me a Heal Bell at the other end of the forest and we part ways. By the time I get through the rest of Route 205, Inkwell is up to level 30 and no extra level grinding is necessary. (Or so I think.)
I proceed directly to the gym after stopping off at the Pokémon center. The trainers are easy enough to get through. Gardenia's first Pokémon is a Luvdisc, so I'm thinking this isn't going to be much harder than the battle against Roark.

Oh how wrong I was.

Her next Pokémon was a Golem. It tanks Inkwell's first attack pretty easily and then uses Rock Polish, then follows up with a couple of Magnitude 8s. I keep Inkwell alive with a Super potion and hope that she can tank another hit. A Magnitude 10 would have probably killed her. Luckily, its next Magnitude was only a 7, but Inkwell survives on only 9HP. Next she sends out a Rapidash and again I save Inkwell with another Super Potion. Inkwell's health was in the yellow by the end of the battle, but we made it through and got the Forest Badge!

I rush Inkwell to the Pokémon center (we really needed a second party member) and I meet with Gavin outside the Team Galactic building. He shows me this old Pokémon statue. I run into Cynthia soon after, who gives me the HM for Cut. I teach Cut to Inkwell in place of Amnesia and I go to explore the Team Galactic building, where I meet Looker who's in disguise.

Up on the top floor, I meet Scribe Florentino and battle them to get back some stolen Pokémon. The bike shop owner, whose Clefairy had been stolen, thanks me and asks me to come by the shop later. I do, and on the way there, I run into Cynthia again, who gives me a Pokémon egg! I get a bike from the shop owner as a reward and ride around the city for a while before the egg hatches in front of the old Pokémon statue.

It's a Golem! How ironic after one nearly killed Inkwell. Golem is another Pokémon, like Swalot, that I have always wanted to use, but just never got around to it. He's level 1, Impish nature, and knows Tackle, Defense Curl, Mud Sport, and Rock Polish and has the Sturdy ability. The battle mechanics in this randomizer follow rules from gen 6, so Sturdy will be very useful!

I named him Arkose.

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Agreed! That's my favorite thing about Nuzlockes. I ended up really liking Fearow and Tentacruel after using them in Blue Nuzlockes, while I had never liked them much before.

I knew the music was attached to the Pokémon from another randomized run I attempted. I think it's just coded that way because there are a couple of roaming legendaries and it was probably just easier to code them all that way instead of just two. I'm not sure if the music is also attached to the static encounters because I never made it that far in a previous attempt. It would be funny to see a Caterpie appear to Giratina's battle theme though.

You get a glimpse into a lot of weird coding things when doing randomizers. Like in Emerald there's a game breaking bug that causes the game to hardlock if Wally encounters a few specific Pokémon during the catching tutorial. In gen 2, Professor Elm won't be able to tell if the mystery egg hatched if it hatches into anything other than Togepi, so the prompt for it is probably Togepi being registered to the Pokédex, not the egg itself hatching. Luckily hatching Togepi isn't required to progress since otherwise it would probably softlock the game. In gen 4, I skipped this, but when you talk to Professor Rowan in his lab to get the Pokédex, if you have any Pokémon registered to your Pokédex as caught aside from one of the starters, he expresses his surprise that you managed to evolve your starter so soon. Weirdly it doesn't test for how many Pokémon are actually registered as caught, since he said this even when I only had the Swalot he gave me. It doesn't have to be an evolved Pokémon either, I don't think, it's just whenever there's a Pokémon you own that's not a starter.

The only thing randomized is what Pokémon are found where and the types of Pokémon the trainers have (and the trainer classes). Everything else like abilities, movesets, and evolutions are all normal. If I had randomized evolutions, Swalot and Golem still wouldn't evolve since they're already final stage evolutions.

 

Entry #3

Arkose starting off at level 1 meant a lot of dangerous level grinding. I went to level grind on route 211 and the small amount of area I had access to in Mt. Coronet. It was there that I met GOD HIMSELF as Arceus came by regularly to oversee our training. It didn't take very long at all to get Arkose up to level 30, close to Inkwell's level. By the time we finished training, Arkose's moveset was Magnitude, Rock Throw, Rock Polish, and Rock Blast.

I headed down cycling road and on to Hearthome city. I met Bebe, who managed the PC system, and she offered me an Eevee. I accepted but when I looked into the Pokéball... Wait, that's not an Eevee. That's a Murkrow! I guess I must have misheard and the Murkrow's name is actually Eve. I got Eve at level 20. She has a Brave nature and knew Astonish, Pursuit, Haze, and Wing Attack by the time I got her. This game really is turning into a run where I'm using all of the Pokémon I've always wanted to, but never have for whatever reason. In this case, it was just due to lack of availability more than anything else. I haven't decided yet whether I want to wait until level 45 to evolve her so she can learn Sucker Punch, or to do it earlier.

I tried to take my Pokémon for a walk in the park, but apparently none of them are cute enough.

I decided to backtrack and return to Eterna to train Eve and also explore the Old Chateau. I met Gardenia outside, who mentioned stories about ghosts haunting the house, and yet strangely enough when I went in, I didn't see a single one. I did find a weird TV that had something rattling inside of it. It turned out just to be the TV's sound system, since when I hit the TV, a Loudred came out. (Can also confirm now that the battle themes specific to certain Pokémon are tied to the Pokémon itself and not the static encounter.) Well at least now I know the source of the wailing noises that people had been mistaking for ghosts.

Weirdly enough, in this area where Team Galactic set up their building, there were a lot of Deoxys around. I wonder if it's just a coincidense or if they set up in this location specifically for that purpose. There was also a Palkia hiding inside the Old Chateau. Very suspicious.

I had encountered a few other legendary Pokémon while training too, like both Latias and Latios, Manaphy, and Phione.

While training on route 208, I started encountering Wobbuffet with Destiny Bond. No thank you! I've gone through that trauma on a previous randomizer attempt already. I eventually decided to play it safe and finish training my team to level 35 by giving Inkwell a Rare Candy. While training, Arkose learned Earthquake in place of Magnitude and Eve learned Night Shade and Assurance in place of Astonish and Pursuit.

I went to the gym to battle Fantina (and then to the contest hall because she wasn't there, and then back to the gym to battle Fantina.) Inkwell grew to level 36 while progressing through the gym trainers, so I thought I'd give Eve a chance at battling the gym leader. She did great! Fantina's Pokémon were a Bellsprout, a Misdreavus, and a Mr Mime, all of which Eve had the advantage against, managing to take all of them out with one attack each. We got the Relic Badge!

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Don't Jinx it.

I had a double battle with Eve and Arkose where I used earthquake to defeat both of the opponents. Ground and flying/levitating Pokémon make a great combo. I used to do this all the time with my Flygon and Togekiss.

 

Hello, I'm back after a long break from nuzlocking! The previous poll ended between this update and the last one, and here are the results!

Spoiler: 6th Team Member Poll Results

So with a unanimous vote, it looks like I'll be catching the Pokémon that results from the Giratina encounter!


Entry #4

After the battle with Fantina, I quickly stopped by the Pokémon center before heading towards route 209. I met with Gavin at the city gate who challenged me to another battle. His team this time was Magby, Machop, Grovyle, and his starter, Loudred. I battled them with Eve, who grew to level 36, and Arkose.

On route 209, there were a lot of double battles, which Eve and Arkose dominated in with the combination of Eve's flying type and Arkose's Earthquake.

We made it to Solaceon where I picked up the seal case. Considering I most likely won't ever have extra Pokémon to make me deposit any in the PC, I figured I may as well use them. I gave Inkwell a poison bubble seal, Arkose a blue star, and Eve a music note.

I headed to the Solaceon ruins where I picked up a Thunderstone, Water Stone, and Fire Stone that were scattered around the ruins and when I made it to the bottom, found the HM for Defog along with the Mind Plate, an Odd Incense, and a Nugget. Strangely enough, I didn't encounter any wild Pokémon while in the ruins. They could just be very rare, or maybe something unique about the Unown make it so they can't be swapped with anything else, so the ruins are just empty. This would actually make sense, I guess, if it was just coded specifically to cause an Unown encounter instead of having the standard encounter slots that most routes have, although if that were the case I would have expected it to just keep the Unown. Very strange.

I taught Eve Defog in place of Haze and headed towards Lost Tower. On the way up the tower, I ran into Darkrai again. It was a little tougher this time, but still not much of a problem. I'm starting to get the feeling that it's following me for some reason. At the top of the tower, I got the Cleanse Tag and Spell Tag after clearing the fog.

I stuck around Solaceon Town to raise the team to level 40 on Route 210. The Magmortar that appeared there made it go pretty quickly, although their Flame Body did get annoying occasionally. Once the team was up to level 40, I headed as far north as I could, battling all of the trainers on the way, until the path was blocked by some Psyduck. I stopped in the Cabin Cafe for a few more battles and one of the people inside said we'd just have to wait for the Psyduck to move.

I headed east towards Route 215 to head towards Veilstone, again battling all of the trainers on the way. By the time we got to Veilstone, Inkwell and Arkose were up to level 41.

And then the time came to get our new team member! I headed to a house north of the Pokémon center where I met a man who said he found a Pokémon that had run away from Team Galactic. He asked me to take care of it and I agreed.

It's a Vibrava! I named her Rava. She's level 25, a Bashful nature and knows Sonic Boom, Sand Attack, Faint Attack, and Sand Tomb.

By this point I had been playing for several hours, so I decided to take a break for now.