So I've tried Nuzlockes in the past and it usually gets to the point where one or two will die, but I get to the level where none of my Pokémon are in danger of dying anymore and I just get bored. Randomizers are on a different level though. I tried one and nearly had a TPK when a random Rayquaza showed up. That unpredictability makes it exciting! I decided to post the rules first as an incentive to actually keep playing and update this. Randomized Nuzlocke rules. All rules take effect after gaining access to pokeballs. All Pokémon must be nicknamed. My starter Pokémon will be the one positioned in the middle. I don't know what it will be yet! I can only catch the first Pokémon in each route/area. No repeats of Pokémon from the same evolutionary lines, even if the Pokémon I've caught before died. Since shinies are so rare, I'll say I'm required to catch shinies (or try to to the best of my ability) and that I'll be required to use them on my team, regardless of what they are. (This overwrites the repeats rule too) This doesn't count for Red Gyarados, which I'm not even sure if it will be a Red Gyarados. Legendaries are allowed since they appear at random. Normally I don't allow gift Pokémon, but since they're usually randomized in these, I'll say they're allowed unless that's proved otherwise. The series finishes when I beat the Elite four. (Depending on how this goes, I might do a part 2 for Kanto, which will end when I beat Red.) A Pokémon dies when it faints and must be released. Just a quick note before starting; I've never played Crystal before, only Gold and HeartGold. There might be some event discrepancies that I'm not prepared for in that case. That just makes this feel all the more exciting! Okay, I can't wait to see who my partner will be, so let's go make some friends, and hopefully not mourn them later!
@Wolf Expert Good luck, Crystal does have several differences, and I think one of them was level changes? I might be wrong though.
Spoiler: Part 1: Sproute Tower's Fortune My name is Spark. I’m a new trainer. Keeping a journal is probably a good idea, so I’m gonna do that. So in usual late fashion, I woke up around 2PM. Yeah, really. Almost immediately I was ambushed by my mom telling me professor Elm wanted to see me. She also gave me my Pokegear, which came back from the repair shop. She asked me if I knew how to use the phone. I said yes, but she went on to explain it anyway. But at last, freedom! Off to Professor Elm’s lab! Or at least I was going to, but then I noticed another lady sitting at the table. She said she was visiting and that her daughter was adamant on becoming Elm’s assistant. I have no idea who she is or who she’s talking about. Onward to Elm’s! For real this time! There was this creepy red headed kid standing outside the lab who punched me! Rude! What’s he doing sneaking around anyway? Well, I headed inside and talked to professor Elm. He’s writing a paper and wants me to train a Pokémon he recently caught to help with his research. I said yes, of course. While we spoke, he got an email from Mr. Pokémon, saying he found something interesting. Elm sort of volunteered me to do that for him too, but I get a Pokémon, so whatever! I walked up to the table and looked at the middle Pokéball, not even paying attention to the two on either side of it. And inside it was….. A Bellsprout. Uh… Okay. Bellsprout, I choose you! Hmm, I think I’ll name him Rustle. I’m sure we’ll be great friends! Elm gave me directions to Mr. Pokémon’s house, past Cherrygrove city, and I went on my way. The nice assistant gave me a potion on the way out! On the way to Cherrygrove, I encountered a Squirtle. REALLY? I don’t have any pokeballs yet! Oh well, it’s good experience for Rustle. Maybe I should train him up a bit before going to Mr. Pokémon, just in case. I trained outside of Cherrygrove for a couple levels. Rustle grew to level 6 after fighting a Seaking and… learned Milk Drink. Okay… Well, Professor Elm is going to be interested to hear about this! Continuing onto Cherrygrove City, I encountered an old man who gave me a tour and a map card for my Pokegear. I stopped by the Pokémon center and headed north towards Mr. Pokémon’s house. I picked up a couple of berries and then suddenly got ambushed by a wild Kingdra! It used poison sting, luckily Rustle is a dual poison type! It also had future sight and bone rush. Wow that was sketchy! Rustle survived though and grew to level 8! I went back to the Pokémon center. On the way to Mr Pokémon’s house, I encountered a Pineco, but nothing else. Mr Pokémon gave me a mystery egg, which was given to him by a daycare couple. At that point, professor Oak rushed over, saying he had wanted to meet me. I think he might be having some issues though. It’s bad enough when he can’t remember his own grandson’s name, but he compliments me on my rare Pokémon? He then asked me to test out his new Pokédex. Cool! Professor Oak left and Mr Pokémon healed Rustle before we headed out. As I stepped outside, Professor Elm called, talking frantically about something terrible that had happened. I guess I should hurry back. On the way back I was ambushed by another Kingdra. I couldn’t run from it, but Rustle’s level 9 now, so that’s cool. On the way out of the Pokémon center, that red headed kid showed up again, saying he had a good Pokémon and challenging me to a battle. What’s with this guy? He sent out Skarmory. Well this should end well. Oh, Vine Whip is super effective? Well, this should end well! Skarmory used Rock Slide twice. After two Vine Whips, it was down! Rustle grew to level 10! That jerk punched me again and ran off. What did he say his name was again? Let’s go with Fade. Because… he’s the opposite of Spark. Get it? Like, shiny and not-shiny? I bet he gets a shiny Pokémon with my luck. I made my way back to the lab. The trip from Cherrygrove was uneventful since I could avoid the grass. I walked inside and… oh hey, a police officer. Wait. Yes, sure enough, that Fade guy stole that awesome Skarmory. I could have had a Skarmory. And it doesn’t matter, because Rustle is THA BEST! It took a while to calm Professor Elm down, but once I did, I showed him the egg. He was pretty surprised by it. Elm is impressed when I tell him Professor Oak gave me a Pokédex, and he suggests I go for the championship. Sounds fun! Let’s do it, Rustle! Oh, I should probably say good-bye to my mom first. I wonder if that weird lady’s still there. On the way out, that nice assistant talked to me again and gave me some pokeballs. Yes! Finally! Thank you, nameless assistant guy! I went to talk to my mom. She gave me an eerie warning about being careful with my Pokémon friends. Okay, thanks mom. On route 29, some “Dude” showed me how to catch a Pokémon, using his Tentacool. Alright, time to catch a Pokémon of my own! And the first Pokémon I encounter is….a Kingler! Wow there are a lot of water type Pokémon around here. Oddly most of them have “King” in their names too. I think I’m interfering in some Atlantian regal feud or something. Well, Rustle is too strong to attack it with its type disadvantage, so Pokéball it is! This isn’t going well… It keeps escaping! Curse these regular pokeballs! Why!? Last one! … I’m out of pokeballs. I used vine whip and… it’s… not a water type? Wait… wait… I guessed the types were random because of the Skarmory, but I forgot to check to make sure. I could have weakened it! Well… Rustle’s level 11 now, and he learned Bone Rush. Live and learn, I guess. So it turns out Rustle is a Grass/Rock type. Cool. I go and buy 16 more pokeballs. I still have 2 more routes in the immediate area I can check! I head to Route 46 and encounter…A Nidoqueen! Seriously? Queens now? I use Vine Whip, and sure enough, it’s not very effective! One more, and it should be low enough to catch. It keeps getting really close, but breaking free at the last second! I get down to 6 pokeballs. I think I should give it up as a lost cause. Well, onto route 30 where I encounter… A Lanturn! Aaaaand, it fainted. Whoops. Well… Guess I’ll battle some trainers and move on? I want another Pokémon! I got challenged by Youngster Joey. He sent out a Cleffa. Cute! Rustle took it down in one hit, and grew to level 12. Immediately after I was challenged by Youngster Mikey who sent out A MEWTWO!? REALLY!? HOW DID A YOUNGSTER ON THE SECOND ROUTE MANAGE TO CATCH A MEWTWO? But it’s only level 2. Bye mutant kitty! He also had a Parasect. After encountering several Pokémon who know conversion, I started to suspect that the attacks have random types too. Huh. Oh as it turns out, I can check. Yeeeeep, Vine Whip is a water type attack, Milk Drink is dark, and Bone Rush is ice. I guess trying to be smart with type advantages isn’t going to be a thing in this game. Goody. I was challenged by Bug Catcher Don, who sent out a Dodrio and Quilava. Continued onto route 31. One more chance. And the first encounter is… ZAPDOS! Okay, my name is Spark. Please let this be a thing that happens! It didn’t. I got it’s health down pretty low, but I ran out of pokeballs again. I Found a miracleberry on the ground. I didn’t even know that was a thing that existed. Heals a Pokémon of all status conditions. Cool. I continued onto Violet city. It’s occurring to me now that if my luck doesn’t change soon, I’ll have to fight the gym with just Rustle. I hope he’s up to it, just in case. But there are still some areas I can check. Dark Cave, The ruins of Alph, and Sprout Tower, which I’m sure Rustle would like to visit. Maybe that’s my lucky place. I need to get more money for pokeballs anyway. I’ll buy what I can and head there next. I only have enough to buy one Pokéball. I don’t want to risk wasting a location if I can’t catch anything. Maybe there are some more trainers around. I fought Bug Catcher wade on route 31, who had an Unown A, Sunflora, Horsea, and Caterpie. I also found a Green Apricorn on the ground. OH HI LUGIA. I was on my way back to Violet city when he suddenly appeared. Well I can’t do anything about this. I headed into the gym just to challenge the trainers. Not the leader yet! The first Birdkeeper used an Abra. Rustle grew to level 15 and learned Comet Punch (Ground Type). The second Birdkeeper used Meowth and Arbok. As I left the gym, I remembered there should be someone in this town who wants to trade. I don’t have another Pokémon to trade for, unless he still wants a Bellsprout (He can’t have my Rustle!) but I may as well check. I track him down. He wants a Delibird in exchange for his Primeape. Sorry, bud. I’ll keep you in mind though, just in case. I have enough for two more pokeballs now. Well, most of the trainers are in Sprout Tower, so I guess I’ll give it a shot. I head to Sprout Tower. Once inside the tower, I’m challenged by Sage Nico, who has a Jigglypuff, an Aipom, and a Cyndaquil. Up on the next floor, I found a pearl on the ground. Yes! I hurried back to the pokemart right away. With the prize money from Nico and the pearl, I’m able to buy four more pokeballs! Back to the tower! On the second floor I’m challenged by Sage Chow, who has a Shuckle, Tangela, and Smeargle. I proceed to the third floor where I find a LEAF STONE! Ooh, look at that Rustle! How lucky for you, to find this in the Sprout Tower! Hopefully the evolutions aren’t randomized too, that would be unfortunate. I’m challenged by Sage Edmond who uses a Wooper, Hitmonchan, and Weepinbel. Look at that, Rustle, a Weepinbel! Maybe this is a good omen! Up on the fourth floor I find a Level Ball. How lucky! That’s one more Pokéball I can use. I haven’t encountered any Pokémon yet though. I thought for sure there would be wild ones here. I battle Sage Jin and his Farfetch’d. Rustle reaches level 17 and learns Flame Wheel, which it learns in place of Bone rush. I battle Sage Neal’s Hitmonlee and Sage Troy sends out an Entei! It put up a fight, but Rustle managed to beat it. After that, it’s Sneasel. It also puts up a bit of a fight. Well Rustle’s moves are almost out of PP, so I head down to go to the Pokémon center and buy more pokeballs. Just as I’m about to go down the last flight of stairs, a Pokémon appears! It’s… a Houndoom! I use my Level Ball aaaaaand I caught it! Look Rustle, we finally made a new friend! What to name her? Freya comes to mind. Sure, let’s go with Freya! She’s a pure rock type and knows Mach Punch (grass) and Beat Up (Ice). She’s only level 3, so the level ball worked well. That or I was really lucky, I’m not entirely sure how it works. But again, she’s only level 3. Guess I’ll be training for a while. I head to the Pokémon center, and then the mart where I buy four more pokeballs. Maybe I should try to catch some more before I start training? Let’s check the dark cave! And the Pokémon in Dark Cave is… Horsea! Since it’s an unevolved Pokémon, it should be easier to catch. But… Freya uses Mach Punch and knocked it out in one hit. Wow. She really, er… packs a punch. I head to Route 36. Let’s try this again. And here I find… A Scyther! Cool! And I catch her! I think I’ll call her Zephyr. She’s a water type, level four, and knows rest (ghost) and acid (fighting). I head to the Ruins of Alph. Here, I find an old sliding puzzle inside of one of the caves. The assistant there invites me to try to figure out how to solve it. In the back of the room, there’s a researcher who shows me some runes that had apparently appeared out of nowhere. It looks like they spell… "escape"? Well, that’s ominous. I went to try out that puzzle. It really wasn’t that hard. I have no idea why the scientists had so much trouble with it. I put the Kabuto’s right eye into place and finished the puzzle. Then, the floor suddenly opened under my feet! I fell into a lower chamber of the ruins, where I felt a strange presence. Uuuh, let’s get out of here. Two steps away from the ladder, a Pokémon ambushes us. It’s a Charizard! And I caught it! I named him Talon. He’s an Ice Type, level 5, and knows the moves Moonlight (water), String Shot (dark), Psych Up (ice), and Crunch (Fire). We make our way out of the ruins safely and head back to the Pokémon center. There aren’t any other places where I can catch Pokémon immediately, so it looks like it’s time to train! After a few hours of training, each of my Pokémon is up to level 15, except for Rustle, who's at level 18. Looks like we might be ready to take on the gym. Spoiler: Current Team Rustle (Grass/Rock) -Lv 18 Moves: Vine Whip (Water) Milk Drink (Dark) Flame Wheel (Poison) Comet Punch (Ground Freya (Rock) -Lv 15 Moves: Mach Punch (Grass) Beat Up (Ice) Acid (Fighting) Water Gun (Poison) Zephyr (Water) -Lv 15 Moves: Rest (Ghost) Acid (Fighting) Sand Attack (Dark) Belly Drum (Bug) Talon (Ice) -Lv 15 Moves: Moonlight (Water) Pain Split (Rock) Fury Cutter (Normal) Crunch (Fire)
Spoiler: Part 2: A Tragic Pokémon Love Story Day two of my journey. My whole team, Rustle, Freya, Zephyr, and Talon, are all up to level 15. I feel ready to challenge the gym, but I’m a little worried. I decide that first I’ll go finish exploring Sprout Tower for good luck. When I get to the top floor, I see that Fade jerk fighting who I assume is the leader of the monks there. The monk tells him off for being too harsh with his Pokémon, but gives him an HM for winning the battle anyway. For some reason, Fade notices me and comes over to complain about weak trainers before leaving with an escape rope. Well, whatever. Time to battle the elder! Sage Li sends out a Hitmontop, a Togetic, and a Teddiursa. Freya manages to defeat them all relatively easily. He gives me the HM for Flash, and I head back out. By the time I’m outside the tower, Freya has grown to level 16. For the gym battle I decide to put Talon in front to give him some experience. I’m worried about using Zephyr since she only has one offensive move, which won’t work if any of the gym leader’s Pokémon end up being a ghost type. Finally I challenge Falkner. He says he’ll teach me the power of flying type Pokémon. Falkner sends out a Clefairy. Talon defeats it with a Crunch and a Fury Cutter. His second Pokémon is a Politoed. Talon defeats it with two more Fury Cutters, not taking any damage throughout the whole battle, growing to level 16 and winning the badge! The Zephyrbadge, specifically. Well, that wasn’t planned. Maybe I should have tried using Zephyr for the battle after all. He also gives me TM 31 containing Absorb. As we leave the gym I get a call from Professor Elm about a discovery. He asks me to meet his assistant at the Pokémon center. I head to the Pokémon center and meet the nice assistant who gave me my first pokeballs. He asks me to look after the egg so it will be in better hatching conditions. How exciting! I guess I’ll just stick around town for a while until it hatches. This might take a while. Finally, after about an hour, sounds are starting to come from the egg! Yes, it’s hatching! What will it be? It’s a… Farfetch’d! And it greets us with a little bow, how cute! Now what to name her? The way she bows and the way her stalk reminds me of a conductor’s baton, not to mention she’s a bird, makes me want to give her a musical name. I know, how about Harmony? She’s a ghost type and knows the move Sludge Bomb, which is a fire type attack. I call professor Elm to tell him the news, but he just blows me off and tells me to call if anything changes with the egg before listening to what I have to say. I guess I’ll just have to show him in person. It’s no big deal, since I’ll need to train up Harmony anyway. I go back home, but even when I speak to him in person though, he doesn’t make any comment on the egg hatching. (I’m guessing the game detects if Togepi is registered in the Pokédex to determine if the egg hatched.) I bring harmony’s level up to 15. She’s learned Egg Bomb (steel) and Aurora Beam (ghost! Yay!). At this point, I guess it’s time to move on and maybe find some new Pokémon friends! On the way to route 32, a man compliments my Pokémon for being so tough and gives me a Miracle Seed. I give it to Freya to hold. Now what will the first Pokémon on this route be? It’s… a Rhydon! I know from route 31 that Rhyhorn is a ghost type, so assuming it’s the same for Rhydon, I’ll just avoid Aurora Beam to weaken it. It uses Future Sight. This makes me a little too nervous, so instead I just finish it off. Better to be safe and not lose a Pokémon than to take risks trying to get another at this point. When I battle a second Rhydon, I can confirm it’s not a ghost type, meaning a Pokémon’s type might change when it evolves. I wonder what Rustle will become. I find a bitter berry and something called a “normal box” on the ground. Wait, is this just a box? What’s it doing here? Well, we may as well open it and see what’s inside. Oh! A trophy! Why was this here? That’s so strange. Well, finders keepers. I send the trophy back home to display in my bedroom. Near the entrance to the cave, I’m stopped by a guy offering me a Slowpoke tail for ONE MILLION DOLLA. I spent all my money on pokeballs. He shoos me away. Nearby, I find a Thunderstone on the ground. Yay! By the time I get to the Pokémon center, all of my Pokémon are level 18 except for Talon and Zephyr. I heal up my Pokémon and a fisherman nearby gives me an old rod. The possibilities this has created! I walk into the cave and immediately find a Hoothoot! Let’s see if I can catch it without making it faint. And that’s a no. Zephyr knocks it out with a critical hit. Oh well… I find a Heavy Ball nearby. That should be useful! Zephyr levels up battling a hiker and learns Psychic. Finally, another attack! But this one’s a fighting type too, so that doesn’t help me! I find a Spell Tag on the ground though. Harmony already was the one Pokémon I had with STAB, and now this? Awesome! I find a Protein further in, near the exit. By the time I leave the cave, it’s night outside and all of my Pokémon are up to level 18. Now that we’re on route 33, it’s time to look for a new Pokémon. It’s Espeon! And yes, I manage to catch her! It’s strange that I find one just as it turns night. Let’s call her Dusk. She’s an electric type and knows Lovely Kiss and Vice Grip, which are both flying type moves. Lovely Kiss will be useful for when I try to catch more Pokémon. I enter Azalea town and find a guy by the well outside. He says people might fall down by accident so he’s there to guard it. How nice! I walk around town for a while and head to the Pokémon center. It seems the Slowpoke have all vanished. I head to Kurt’s house to get a Pokéball made, but he starts talking about how Team Rocket stole the Slowpoke and is cutting off their tails at the well. He runs off before I can say anything else. I guess I should go after him. When I get there, the guy who was guarding it was gone, and Kurt was laying injured at the bottom. Looks like he took a fall chasing after the guy. Oh, maybe there are some wild Pokémon here I can catch. I go to buy more pokeballs (again) and train up Dusk a little because I have priorities. She learns Wing Attack (rock) and I get her to level 14 pretty quickly, stopping only when she runs out of damage dealing moves. That should be fine for now. I head back to the well and decide to try out my new fishing rod. Right away I fish up a Swinub! It turns out to be pretty dangerous with Extremespeed. It nearly knocks out Dusk! I switch out at the last second to Rustle, and I manage to catch it! I’m going to call her Spring since I caught her in the water and they sniff out hotsprings. It’s not a reference to the season, but amusing anyway. Suddenly my naming has become very ironic. She’s a dual Steel/Ghost type and knows Lick (poison) and Extremespeed (ground). Unfortunately Zephyr still only knows fighting type moves, which doesn’t do anything on all of the random ghost type’s I’ve been finding. I decide it’s for the best if, for now, I leave Zephyr in the box and take along Spring. I train Spring and Dusk up to level 15 and head back down into the well. Past Kurt I find the nice guy who was keeping people from falling in the well. Yeah, predictably he’s a member of Team Rocket and attacks me. He uses an Onyx and an Abra, which Dusk defeats easily. The next one used Sandslash and Kakuna. Right next to her I found a blue apricorn. The next grunt uses Croconaw, Hoppip, and Nidorino. Nidorino manages to get off a couple of Mega Kicks, taking Springs health down pretty low. I switch to Harmony and finish it off with Aurora beam. For the final Grunt I switch back to Dusk. He sends out a level 14 Chansey! This could be tough. I use Lovely Kiss to put it to sleep and knock it out with one Vice Grip. That was… anticlimactic. Kurt catches up, checks on the Slowpoke, and we head back to his house. Finally, I can get some pokeballs made! He gives me a Lure ball to start off and I give him the green apricorn. I want to explore the forest before I take on the gym, so I get Spring and Dusk up to level 18 and head for the forest entrance. Suddenly, Fade shows up and asks about Team Rocket. He doesn’t believe me when I tell him I beat them, so he challenges me to a battle to see if I’m tough enough to have done it. Ohhh boy, here we go. The fist Pokémon he sends out is Lanturn. Rustle and Lanturn go back and forth with Comet Punch and Sludge for a while until Rustle gets poisoned. I switch out to Spring, who instantly gets poisoned in spite of being part Steel type. I guess as long as Sludge can hit, it’s possible. Spring isn’t looking too good after a Solar Beam and just as I get Lanturn’s health down to a sliver, Fade withdraws it and sends out a Lapras, which is unaffected by Extremespeed! Since Lapras seems to be a flying type, I switch out to Dusk. Lapras uses Attract on Dusk and Dusk uses Lovely Kiss… Uh… Ooookay. Lapras wakes up and somehow they both keep going back and fourth without ever hitting each other. Come on, Dusk! Please! This has been going on for about five minutes now and the only attack that lands is Lovely Kiss. Even when I use Wing Attack and Dusk goes through with the attack, it’s like she misses on purpose. Dusk at full health, I don’t want to switch out. Finally, Dusk attacks Lapras three times in a row while it’s asleep, knocking it out. Wow, Dusk. I’m… kind of shocked. Fade sends out an Octillery. Huh, his Skarmory’s gone. Did I…? Oh no. Dusk, what did we just do?! Octillery confuses Dusk, so I switch to Harmony. Harmony also gets confused, but not before exchanging a few blows. I switch out to Talon. Talon weathers the blows well and after a chain for four Fury Cutters, Octillery is down. Fade switches back to Lanturn and with one last Fury cutter, the battle is over. In typical Fade fashion, he complains about weaklings, calls me a weakling after I won the battle, and runs off. I also run off, to the Pokémon center. A lot of my Pokémon were badly hurt in that fight. I head back to the forest to see if I can catch one last Pokémon for the day. I find a kid in the forest who lost his boss’s Farfetch’d. Well, my Harmony would never run off on me, but sure I may as well help him. I find the Farfetch’d and chase it around for a while, stopped only by a Pokémon that suddenly jumps out at me! It’s a Psyduck! It’s surprisingly hard to catch, even when Dusk puts it to sleep. I try a Wing Attack, but Dusk knocks it out. Back to Farfetch’d herding! I chase it all through the forest and eventually manage to bring it back to the entrance where the kid’s boss is waiting there with him. He thanks me with the HM for cut. I should probably use this. Harmony still only has three moves and it seems to be in the spirit of things to teach it to her. It’s a psychic type attack. With no Pokémon left to catch and the next gym to look forward to, I head back to the Pokémon center for the night. Spoiler: Current Team Rustle (Grass/Rock) -Lv 18 Moves: Vine Whip (Water) Milk Drink (Dark) Flame Wheel (Poison) Comet Punch (Ground Freya (Rock) -Lv 18 Holding: Miracle Seed Moves: Mach Punch (Grass) Beat Up (Ice) Acid (Fighting) Water Gun (Poison) Talon (Ice) -Lv 18 Moves: Moonlight (Water) Pain Split (Rock) Fury Cutter (Normal) Crunch (Fire) Harmony (Ghost) -Lv 18 Holding: Spell Tag Moves: Sludge Bomb (Fire) Egg Bomb (Steel) Aurora Beam (Ghost) Cut (Psychic) Dusk (Electric) -Lv 19 Moves: Lovely Kiss (Flying) Vice Grip (Flying) Wing Attack (Rock) Rest (Ghost) Spring (Ghost/Steel) -Lv 18 Moves: Lick (Poison) Extremespeed (Ground) Boxed:
Spoiler: Part 3: Evolution and Tragedy First thing in the morning, I head back to Kurt. He gives me the friend ball he made, and I give him a white apricorn. I think I should probably get my team up to an even level 20 before I take on the gym, so I go to do some training for a while. Rustle grows to level 19 and learns Body Slam (electric) in place of Flame Wheel. Spring grows to level 19 and learns Psybeam (normal). Once all of my Pokémon are up to level 20, I heal up at the Pokémon center and finally head to the gym. Let’s do this! I’m challenged by the twins, Amy and May first. They use a Hitmonlee, which burns Rustle with Flame Punch! I switch to Frey when they send out Electabuzz. I’m challenged by Bug Catcher Al next, who uses an Omastar and Bayleef. Next is Bug Catcher Benny who uses an Arbok, Weedle, and Venomoth. Freya grows to level 21 at the end of the battle and I switch to Talon. Next I’m challenged by Bug Catcher Josh who sends out a Cubone. With all of the trainers defeated, I move onto the gym leader, Bugsy. He says that he’s an authority on bug Pokémon and that he never loses when it comes to them. Honestly, I’ll be surprised if he even has any bug Pokémon, but at least he’ll have an excuse for losing. He starts by sending out Ampharos. Talon defeats it with a series of Fury Cutters, though takes a bit of damage from a couple of super-effective Hyper Fangs. He sends out Fearow next, which uses Extremespeed, but misses! Talon takes it down with another Fury Cutter and grows to level 21. I switch to Harmony as Bugsy sends out Seadra. Harmony takes out Seadra with Aurora Beam and wins the battle! Bugsy awards me the Hivebadge and give me TM 49, Confusion. Well, time to move on! I heal up my Pokémon at the Pokémon center and head back to the forest. With the Hivebadge, Harmony is able to get through the tree that had been blocking the path. I stop at the shrine of the forest guardian for a moment before moving on. I find an Ether and a nugget on the ground. Rustle grows to level 21 as we battle our way through the forest and—what!? Rustle is evolving! Rustle evolves into a… a… Rustle evolves into a Hoppip. Well... Uh… he’s still my Rustle! I come across a guy Headbutting trees and he offers to teach my Pokémon Headbutt. He must have hurt his head though, because he gives me TM 02, which teaches Destiny Bond. Yeah, that’s never getting used. I find a mystic water on the ground. I see someone else who appears to be headbutting trees. I scare away the Pokémon he was battling and he challenges me. He uses a Raichu, which Harmony defeats and grows to level 21. I send out Spring as he sends out Totodile. We continue on our way after the battle and make it to the forest’s exit. The lady at the sentry station gives me TM 12, Rain Dance. A new route means a new Pokémon! Let’s see what we find! It’s a Hitmonlee! And Spring knocks it out… I really need False Swipe… We’re challenged by Youngster Samuel who sends out a Drowzee, an Octillery, who brings Spring’s health down to 7 HP! Spring finishes off the Octillery and I switch to Dusk as he sends out Quagsire, and finally Eevee. We’re challenged by Pokefan Brandon, who uses a Heracross. The Pokémon in this area really hurt! Next is Youngster Ian who uses a Gligar, which Dusk defeats and grows to level 21. He sends out an Arcanine next. Next is Picknicker Gina who uses a Bulbasaur, Weedle, and Beedrill. At the end of the route, we’re challenged by Camper Todd who uses a Sunkern. Dusk defeats it and grows to level 22. We finally make it to Goldenrod City and head to the Pokémon center. I wonder if I can buy great balls yet? So next is the department store, where I sell the Morph Mail and the Nugget that I found in the forest. And yes, sure enough, I can buy great balls now! I buy 20 for good measure. One of the department store clerks compliments how close my Pokémon are with me and gives me TM 27. Thief. What is she implying? I go up onto the roof and try a prize grab machine. It doesn’t work though… I try the binoculars and see if I can find my house. I see a couple of trainers battling on the road. I go check out the basement, but the workers down there get mad at me, so I leave. I wander through the city for a while and find Bill’s house. His little sister gives me his phone number. I go visit the radio tower where I’m given a radio card for my pokegear. I’m also given a card for the password show, where I can get some pretty good prizes. I try out the Lucky Number Show, but no luck. Where to next? I hear about a bike shop and go looking for it. It seems like people are having trouble finding it, so the owner gives me a bike in return for advertising for him. There’s the name rater, but aside from that, there doesn’t seem to be much else. How about we explore the underground? I battle my way through the trainers, check out the shops, and find a coin case on the ground. Nigh falls. We head up to route 35. A trainer’s Raticate nearly knocks out Spring, but I switch to Talon just in time. Spring grows to level 22. Hey, let’s try fishing! This time I’ll do the smart thing and switch to Dusk first. And out of the water comes… A Hoothoot! Dusk puts it to sleep and I try the lure ball Kurt gave me. Close, but no good. After a couple of regular pokeballs though, she stays in! I name her Annie as a bad pun on analogue clocks. She’s a dual bug/poison type and knows Leech Life (normal), Vine Whip (rock), and Disable (fighting). We head back to route 35. While battling the trainers there, Rustle reaches level 22, and once again, Rustle is evolving! What will he become this time? A Sneasel! And he’s now a normal/bug type. I head into the park. A lady gives me a quick claw. Let’s see what kind of Pokémon we can find here. A Doduo! There sure have been a lot of birds lately. Dusk puts her to sleep and after a few attempts I manage to catch her with a Pokéball. Let’s go with Gemini. As we walk around the park, Dusk grows to level 23 and learns Petal Dance (fighting) in place of Rest. We continue to wander around and on route 36 I find an employee of the flower shop. She says she’ll tell her sister to give me a squirtbottle so I can try it on the tree. We keep battling trainers for a while. Spring has yet another close call when an enemy Gastly uses Perish Song. I find TM 26 Leech Life on the ground outside of the park. I decide to stop by the daycare where Harmony’s egg came from. What a surprise, the Daycare man gives me another egg! I wonder what this one will hatch into. While wandering around trying to hatch the egg, one of the guys at the sentry stations asks me to deliver a Pokémon to a friend of his. … Suuure I will. What is it? It’s name is Kenya and it’s… A Hoppip. Well, I technically can’t keep it since… yeah. Hmm, I’m starting to realize that my rule for using Pokémon in the same evolutionary line is a little problematic now. Well, good news is, I’m not stealing some dude’s Pokémon and his friend will get the letter attached to it. … Can I read the letter? “Dark Cave leads to another road. -Randy” Yeah, I figured that. But not very interesting. Oh well, I’ll box Kenya for now and focus on hatching this egg! Oh… I can’t without removing the mail first. Well… I guess I’ll take the long way around to deliver the letter since that tree’s still in the way. We enter the forest and a Pikachu appears. It uses Sonicboom and… Rustle… NOOOOOO! Sonicboom takes Rustle down in one hit! From full health! Freya avenges him, but… Suddenly the forest seems filled with Pikachu. I can’t believe it. My buddy, my first ever partner, is gone… I keep going, back towards route 31. The bike shop guy calls and tells me I can keep the bike. A guy on the way to Violet city gives me a TM 05 for Fire Blast. I finally make it back to Route 31 and hand off Kenya. He gives me a TM 50, which teaches Smog, as thanks. Nothing left to do but make my way back to Goldenrod and hatch this egg. And the funeral… I find a Star Piece and a Fast Ball on the ground on the way back. By the time I get back to Goldenrod, the egg still isn’t anywhere close to hatching. After a while of waiting, the egg finally starts to hatch! What’s inside? It’s… a Drowzee! Aww, isn’t it cute how she flutters her eyes? Let’s call her Yume. She’s a Steel type and knows Pound (ghost), Lick (poison), and Dizzy Punch (rock). I’ve suddenly realized that Talon is my only male Pokémon now that Rustle is gone. Now the question is, who will replace Rustle? Naturally, it should be Yume, the Pokémon who just hatched. I go to train Yume. Just as I get her up to level 13, a Hitmonlee hits her with Fire Punch, landing a critical hit, and killing her… Two in one day, and Yume wasn’t even a day old… Her big sister Harmony takes revenge on the Hitmonlee. Annie, you’re up. I train Annie up to level 20 and… What? Annie’s evolving! She evolves into Dunsparce, and is now a flying type! I finish levelling all of my Pokémon up to level 25. First thing tomorrow is the gym. Spoiler: Current Team Freya (Rock) -Lv 25 Holding: Miracle Seed Moves: Mach Punch (Grass) Beat Up (Ice) Acid (Fighting) Water Gun (Poison) Talon (Ice) -Lv 25 Moves: Moonlight (Water) Pain Split (Rock) Fury Cutter (Normal) Crunch (Fire) Harmony (Ghost) -Lv 25 Holding: Spell Tag Moves: Body Slam (Electric) Egg Bomb (Steel) Aurora Beam (Ghost) Cut (Psychic) Dusk (Electric) -Lv 25 Moves: Lovely Kiss (Flying) Vice Grip (Flying) Wing Attack (Rock) Petal Dance (Fighting) Spring (Ghost/Steel) -Lv 25 Moves: Lick (Poison) Extremespeed (Ground) Psybeam (Normal) Annie (Flying) -Lv 25 Leech Life (Normal) Vine Whip (Water) Rolling Kick (Dark) Smog (Ground) Boxed: Deceased: Rustle Yume