Omega Ruby Nuzlocke
Adventure started: 4/8/2022
Entered H.O.F.: 6/28/2022
- Only the first Pokémon encountered on each route may be caught. If the player fails to catch the first Pokémon encountered, they forfeit their encounter for that route.
- Dupes clause: Duplicate Pokémon do not count towards first encounters and the player may keep trying until they encounter something new. Evolutions and pre-evolutions of an already obtained Pokémon count as duplicates.
- Shiny clause: Shiny Pokémon may be caught and used no matter what.
- Pokémon that faint in battle are considered "dead" and must be permanently boxed.
- Battle mode is set to Shift and no restrictions are set on healing items.
- Level cap is set to the next Gym Leader/Elite Four's ace.
- Run ends after the Delta episode is completed.
The nuzlocke technically lasted longer than listed above due to including the Delta Episode in the run, but the game doesn't record which date you finish that so I don't remember anymore. When playing nuzlockes, I tend to imagine personalities for my Pokémon and a loose story to go along with them. For places where it is relevant, I will make note of the personalities and backstories I imagined, as well as their relationships with the other Pokémon in the party.
Looking at the list of Pokémon on here, I'm noticing how many of them have different genders than they did in game. I usually go by in-game genders unless I end up, at one point or another, thinking of the Pokémon as a different gender (usually by misremembering LOL). In this playthrough, I think I just didn't pay attention to the Pokémon's in-game genders at all, so a lot of them ended up not matching.
Hall of Fame:
Surviving team members:
Alkaline lv. 63
nonbinary Swampert (male in-game)
Torrent
Impish nature, somewhat vain
Met at level 5 on Route 101
Alka!! My funny sweetie. Swampert is always extremely good in Hoenn, and Mega Evolution just puts another tool in its belt. I think I saw them as being close to Twigs and Marco? I imagined them as having a bit of an odd and almost off-putting personality, while also being easy-going. A bit of a prankster, but kind at heart!
Marco lv. 65
male Azumarill
Thick Fat
Calm nature, good perseverance
Met at level 13 on Route 117
Because of having Thick Fat instead of Huge Power, Marco functioned mostly as a tank, and he was very good at what he did! He was very reliable and could take hits from almost anything. My Ice Beam user against Drake. I saw him as very mellow and cheerful, a difficult 'mon to shake up.
Fries lv. 61
female Machoke (male in-game)
Guts
Naughty nature, very finicky
Met at level 17 on Route 112
Metronome (held item) + Power-up Punch is a really fun and silly combination. Without being able to evolve, I think I maybe treated her with extra caution, though Machoke itself is pretty strong so I probably didn't need to. I never felt the need to try out any Guts strats, which might've been a waste in retrospect but this was only my second proper Nuzlocke so I was squeamish about potential HP loss. I didn't have her mentally grouped with other teammates (like early catches, water types, late-comers, etc.) which is usually how I determine team friendships, so I imagine she was kind of a loner, though still a valued and appreciated team member! I wonder if maybe she was a bit shy.
Qliphoth lv. 61
male Crobat
Inner Focus
Hasty nature, takes plenty of siestas
Met at level 19 in Meteor Falls
Qliphoth was taken onto the team along with Orville after the disaster that resulted in the back to back loss of Gingersnap and Twigs. Since they joined at the same time and were caught on back to back routes, I imagined the two had known each other for a long time. Orville's death devastated Qliphoth and made him bitter towards the concept of battling as a whole, but agreed to stick around to help train up the young Shuppet who joined the team in his place. Qliphoth grew attached and conceded to staying on the team in order to keep watch over Grandeur's safety.
Grandeur lv. 62
male Banette
Insomnia
Hasty nature, very finicky
Met at level 27 on Route 121
I saw him as sort of being adopted by Qliphoth, as he was very protective of the unevolved new team member that got brought on after Orville's loss. I always envisioned Grandeur as a bit of a show-off, and wow, did he manage to prove it in the last fight of the run. Deoxys OHKO'd Mega Rayquaza in the Delta Episode with Hyper Beam, and I absolutely thought I might be facing down a team wipe against the space alien. Grandeur was still holding a Pixie Plate to boost his Dazzling Gleam for when we caught Rayquaza, so he couldn't even Mega Evolve, but I thought super-effective Ghost STAB might still be our best shot to get some damage in during its recharge turn. I send him out and he OHKO's Deoxys in turn with a single Shadow Claw. (It may have also crit?) Just a crazy way to end the run.
Graveyard:
Flicker lv. 3-16
female Taillow
Guts
Lonely nature, good perseverance
Met on Route 104
My first death of the run, she had just successfully taken out Brawly so I was really sad to see her felled by a random Fighting type. My early catches really did not fair well in this run.
Died to a sailor's Machop that used Focus Energy to get a critical hit on the beach outside of Slateport city.
Coal lv. 3-15
male Poochyena (female in-game)
Run Away
Rash nature, loves to eat
Met on Route 103
I remember thinking of Coal as someone who really wanted to be strong and prove himself. I think it could have been an interesting narrative, but instead it was cut short. There was dialog from Maxie right after his death, about my player character having "fierce determination" in their eyes as they looked at him. I imagined it as burning hatred after their friend was taken from them by his subordinate. I would like to draw it someday, maybe.
Died to a Team Magma grunt's Numel that used Focus Energy to get a critical hit in the Oceanic Museum in Slateport City.
Eren lv. 12-17
nonbinary Kadabra (male in-game)
Synchronize
Bashful nature, loves to eat
Met in Granite Cave
I was excited to get a successful Abra encounter, but honestly they only evolved shortly before they died so I didn't get to use them much, and therefore didn't leave much of an impression. Sorry, Eren. =(
Died from being hit with Pursuit while being switched out from rival's Grovyle.
Maple lv. 5-26
female Nuzleaf
Early Bird
Brave nature, somewhat stubborn
Met on Route 102
She was so cooooool! I kinda forgot about her cause she was such an early death in the run but she was really fun to use. I imagined her with kind of a secretive, stoic personality.
Tried to have her get some experience in by having her fight a gym trainer's Kecleon in the Fire gym, but it had Fire Punch...
Gingersnap lv. 5-31
female Vigoroth
Vital Spirit
Mild nature, strong willed
Met in Petalburg Woods
Gingersnap was a spirited and determined fighter with a kind heart. She was a protector of the team, being able to take out most threats with fast and powerful neutral attacks after her first evolution. It would have been so cool to take her all the way to Slacking, since I'd never used one before. I think I also was considering keeping her as a Vigoroth with Eviolite but unfortunately, I never got the chance.
Thought she was fine to finish off a ranger's Breloom while at low health because she outsped but it had super-effective priority Mach Punch.
Twigs lv. 2-30
nonbinary Linoone (male in-game)
Pickup
Hardy nature, loves to eat
Met on Route 101
I saw Twigs as very close to Gingersnap and Alkaline. A loyal and positive presence who naturally slotted into a "second-in-command" type role. Ultimately sacrificed itself to save its teammates, after losing its best friend. Kind of a tragic figure, in retrospect!
Foolishly tried to continue to route to look for a new catch after losing Gingersnap and knowing I wasn't particularly enthused by any of the options in the box. I didn't find any grass but I did find an aroma lady who was bizarrely overleveled and also revealed my team's terrible weakness to Grass. Heal stalling wouldn't work because it had health stealing moves so I sent out Twigs as a not-sacrifice because Headbutt at least had a chance of flinching it and saving their life. However, flinch didn't trigger and Twigs fell to the monstrous plant, though their death got us out of our heal stall loop and allowed us to claim victory, saving the lives of all of their teammates.
Orville lv. 17-40
male Zangoose
Immunity
Modest nature, loves to eat
Met on Route 114
A very strong 'mon of few words, was extremely close to Qliphoth since they were young. Swords Dance and STAB Normal moves made him a really reliable bet against anything that didn't resist Normal. Kind of a successor to Gingersnap in terms of his role on the team. He also got move coverage moves than her. Sadly, it wasn't enough to save him. RIP all my Normal types.
Got locked in by Mean Look against an ace trainer's Crobat while using Sword's Dance. The attack boost wasn't enough win the damage race against (I believe) STAB no-item Acrobatics. I tried heal-stalling for a miss or a bad AI move but it got a crit and he went down.
Nickel lv. 11-61
female Minun
Minus
Calm nature, very finicky
Met on Route 110
Coolest, most badass "pikaclone" ever. Shortly after catching her, she got trapped into battle against a Ground type (I think a Trapinch?) and I thought she was a goner, especially after getting hit by Sand Tomb, but with copious healing and some careful plays, she managed to make it out alive. After that, she earned my eternal respect and continued to be unstoppable for the rest of the game, even leading the battle against Steven to take out his Skarmory. Losing her was brutal.
Only Rayquaza itself could take her out!! I had her in against it to paralyze it to try to catch it and then tried to use Volt Switch to get some chip damage on my way out to Marco but it used Extreme Speed first and took her out. Due to misunderstanding the in-game description for Focus Band (I thought the "may" in "may survive a hit with one HP" meant to "the Pokémon is permitted to do this" and not "has a chance to do this"), I thought she was safe as she had taken no damage on the previous turn.
Ozone lv. 70-70
genderless Rayquaza
Air Lock
Bold nature, likes to thrash about
Met at Sky Pillar
I thought it was fair to use the Delta episode legendary just for the fight against Deoxys because of the high levels involved but Deoxys had other plans and OHKO'd Ozone with a single Hyper Beam.