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So that was my second attempt at a Nuzlocke challenge. I’d love to say I lost because of the rules, but I would be lying. I lost, because I played dumb. I didn’t have the patience to grind, I used fast forward on the emulator too much, and I made stupid mistakes. There was literally no reason to lose any of the Pokémon I lost.

It’s not the end. I’ll definitely do more of these runs eventually. For now, though, all I can say is, If you love Pokémon, you should try it yourself. It really, truly makes the game new for you. You don’t have to focus on getting the best team ever, and you get to enjoy some of the less popular Pokémon. It also makes you play more strategically, since you can’t just sweep through your opponents as usual. Some of those defensive and utility moves actually start making sense then.

In any case, that’s it for now. I dub this Pokémon Emerald Nuzlocke challenge a failure.

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Fallarbor Town was just a temporary stop. I needed to go south, in search of Team Aqua. I’ve caught a Swablu on route 114, which was an excellent catch, since I believe it learns Dragon moves at higher levels. I named her Poof, because I think the name fits the looks.

Team Aqua was at Meteor Falls, fighting with another team, Team Magma, over who gets to take some guy with them. I wasn’t really paying attention since both teams sound dumb as hell, so I can’t tell you who the guy was. I’ve chased them off and caught a crappy Zubat before moving further south to Route 115. I don’t even remember what I named the Zubat at this point.

Route 115 didn’t have any bushes, so I guess I’m going to have to catch a Pokémon there by swimming, if I ever get to that. Since I was at Rustboro, I decided to pay a visit to the president of Devon Company, who gave me an Exp. Share for helping him earlier.

Then I took the cable car to Mt. Chimney, where I had a throw down with one of the Team Magma leaders. He was easy to beat, but it was obvious I was starting to fall behind in level grinding. Chasing away Team Magma opened the way to Lavaridge Town, through Jagged Pass. Sadly, I was an idiot and forgot this was a new area, so I killed what could’ve been the best and only Machop I ever owned.

The Gym was easy, deceptively so. I cleared pretty much every Pokémon with no difficulty, since most of them were fire types. This boost of confidence ruined me. Alice was at half health when the gym leader’s final Pokémon entered the battle. It was a Torkoal, and it took one critical Body Slam for Alice to go away, forever. I got my new badge, and lost my most powerful fighter. It was at this point that I knew it wasn’t going to end well.

Terrible Pokemon Drawings

I might actually be getting worse at drawing.

I started training Smokey, hoping it would soon replace Alice as my top Pokémon. It was looking good. Soon he was able to one-hit-KO most of the Pokémon below his level. I got him to 22 before I got bored, and then I decided to try my luck with my dad’s gym. Before that, I also went to the desert on route 111 and caught another potential asset – a Trapinch I named Chompette.

I should’ve waited. I should have prepared more. I didn’t. The rooms before the final one, I was able to clear, though with difficulty and a couple of close calls. Vigoroth and Spinda fell, but I was hurt badly. Then Linoone entered the battle. Headbutt, and my Jonathan was gone. Another one, and there goes Mr Ploppy (who evolved in the meantime, by the way). I was left with 3 Pokémon at around level 20. Care to guess how that ended?

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My task was not yet over. I had to deliver the parcel to a captain in Steelport. He was found at the local museum, under attack by a bunch of Aqua grunts. I disposed of them and gave the captain his parcel. With this done, it was time to continue on my journey.

Route 110, north of Steelport, was next. I caught an Electrike there – a girl which I named Jude. I was hoping for something rarer, but this will suffice. Jude can learn flash, and I good electric Pokémon is always a welcome addition.

With some training, I managed to evolve my Silcoon, which I called Fluffy, to Beautifly. A bit farther north on the route, I’ve met with May, who challenged me to a duel. It was an extremely difficult fight, with her grass Pokémon having evolved, but I somehow managed to beat her without losses.

I got to Mauville City and found out the gym there was electricity-based. I decided to train for a bit, so I explored the outlying routes to fight trainers. I wasn’t very smart about it. Soon, Fluffy, who I just started to like, was lost to a random trainer. It was a shock, but I had to move on. It was time to give Bob, the Makuhita, his chance to shine.

Horrible Pokemon Drawings

Instead of a bunch of bad drawings, you get one large horrible drawing.

Bob was tough. It was very easy to train him and he was level 18 in no time at all. When he got to 20, I decided to challenge a family of trainers living north of Mauville. The daughter and the mom and dad were beaten with no difficulty. It felt great to have a Pokémon who can dispose of his opponents so easily. It was almost too good to be true. I got confident….

The grandma was much stronger. Bob was hurt from the previous three battles and all it took was one hit. Another friend lost to my stupidity…

With only four Pokémon left, I needed to figure out something, and fast. Luckily, I was yet to find wild Pokémon on any of the outlying routes. Route 117 gave me an Oddish I named Mr Ploppy. A grass type could be a good addition, so I decided to train him for a bit. However, it was too weak to train alone, so I used Jonathan to help him. Pretty soon, Jonathan evolved to a Pelipper, which made him even more awesome.

When Mr Ploppy got to level 18, I decided it was time for Jude to catch up. I haven’t trained her at all since she was caught on route 110. I didn’t train her for long. Again, I got careless, and again, one of my friends paid the price. It wasn’t even a trainer battle that time; just a random fight with a wild Pokémon was enough to rip another friend out of my life. No more! I promise I’ll be careful from now on.

I trained for a while longer until I was completely confident I’ll be able to get to the next town, at the base of Mt. Chimney. I had to traverse to routes to get there, as well as a cave between them. At the first route, I caught a Numel, an excellent fire type. I named him Smokey. In the Fiery Path bellow Mt. Chimney, I caught another fire type, this time a Torkoal which I named Smokey. Once out of the cave, I finally caught a Skarmory on the next route. I named her Lancelot, because it can be a girl’s name, dammit!

Finally, I got to my destination, Fallarbor Town. Wait, Fallarbor Town? I thought Lavaridge was next! It seems I’ve taken a wrong turn, or something. Oh well, I’m here, so it’s time to check the place out.

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I did some research before starting and decided to pick Mudkip as my starter. Apparently, it makes the first several gyms simple to beat and its ground attacks can easily handle the grass Pokémon I might encounter. Since this is Emerald, and usually the main protagonist’s name is picked based on the game on these challenges, I named my trainer Irish.

Bad Drawing of Mudkip

A horrible drawing, I know.

I got through the usual motions and got my Mudkip. She was a girl, so I named her Alice. I soon realised this game makes you miss the first two routes on a Nuzlocke challenge. On the third route, which was route 102, I caught my first new friend – a boy Zigzagoon I named Stardust, due to obvious reasons. I remained on this route for a while, and trained both Stardust and Alice to level 10. Stardust learned the move Headbutt at level 9, which made him absolutely awesome.

Horrible drawing of Zigzagoon

Who’s that Pokemon’s got nothing on me.

The Petalburg Gym was owned by the main character’s dad, so that one was off limits until later in the game. Moving through Petalburg, I got to route 104, where I caught a Wingull, out of all. I was honestly hoping to get this one because I love its evolution and I remembered it as being quite tough in my previous Sapphire/Emerald/Ruby playthroughs.  I named him Jonathan, after one of the books I liked as a kid.

Horrible drawing of Wingull

My future star player!

Route 104 was followed by Petalburg woods, where I encountered several bug Pokémon. The first one I encountered was a Silcoon, so that was the one I caught. This one was such an awesome catch. I actually can’t remember what I named it at this time. Suffice to say, it was not used in battle yet. I do intend to train it to its final form later, though.

Bad drawing of Silcoon

It almost looks like the real thing this time.

Rustboro City housed the first gym I could actually fight in. It was a rock gym, so Alice had no problems soloing it from start to end. This got her to level 16 and made her evolve to her next form, Marshtomp.

Horrible drawing of Marshtomp

If this Marshtomp could talk, it would ask to be euthanized.

After getting the badge, I taught Cut to Stardust and used it to get some items on route 104 and in the forest. I then went north of Rustboro and soon saw the first Team Aqua event, where they steal some stuff from a Devon employee. I chased them to route 116 where I caught a Poochyena. I named her Neera, after a dog I used to own. I then followed the Aqua grunt to Rusturf tunnel and beat it. For some reason, I returned to the tunnel and promptly forgot about my challenge, which means I killed a potential new friend by accident. So long, nameless Whismur…

Bad drawing of Whismur

At least it died before I could fail it.

I returned the goods to Devon Company and was promptly asked to deliver them to Slateport, as well as delivering a letter to a guy named Steven in Dewford Town. May was nearby, so she told me I can get to both those places by hitching a boat ride with a guy living on route 104.

Dewford town had another gym, this one completely dark and filled with fighting Pokémon trainers. I fought through it and managed to easily beat it thanks to Jonathan and his Wing Attack. My new badge allowed me to use the Flash HM, which I didn’t have yet. In town, I was told Steven was at Granite Cave, north of Dewfort. That’s where I got flash, but sadly, none of my Pokémon could learn it.

There was one good thing coming out of visiting the cave, though. I caught a Makuhita! I named him Bob, but decided to still focus on Stardust, Jonathan and Alice for a while. I will soon learn that this was a mistake.

Bad drawing of Makuhita

Makuhita actually has some potential.

After collecting myself, I got to the Pokémon Center and gave him a proper burial. So long, my friend.I got the letter to Steven and moved on to Slateport. The beach was filled with trainers, so I had to go through a couple of battles with Stardust. Then it happened. I got into a team fight with Stardust at half health and Alice as his partner. I foolishly thought they would be able to handle a Wingull and a Tentacool, but the Wingull got a lucky first strike. Stardust was gone.

Pokemon Emerald - Releasing a Pokemon

So long, my friend…

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I was a bit bored, so I decided to try another Nuzlocke challenge. I already did one with Fire Red, but the rules ended up a bit too forgiving, so I didn’t have many issues in beating the game. This time, the rules will be slightly harder, but again, not by much. The game I picked was Emerald, because I needed fresh Pokémon. The rules are the following:

  1. Name your Pokémon for more emotional attachment.
  2. If a Pokémon faints, release it. It’s gone forever.
  3. You are only allowed to catch the first Pokémon in each new area.
  4. No going back this time. Once you leave an area, you cannot catch a Pokémon there under any circumstances.
  5. No fishing, no special Pokémon. You can only catch Pokémon through battles.
  6. All levels of a cave count as one area.

Anyway, those are the rules and Emerald will be the game. On a side note, I also decided to draw every single Pokémon I catch, as well as maybe some other things. I suck at drawing, though, so at best, it will be good for a laugh or two.

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I decided to fail some more with state politics, so I played Croatia again, this time as Petar Krešimir. As usual, I failed big time, mostly because I have no idea how to play the game. It was time to put an end to this.

After some google-fu, I’ve found The Bible of Crusader Kings. A thread on Something Awful described the game basics from the perspective of an Irish duke. I followed the instructions there and, while I didn’t do as well as the author, I managed to unite Ireland, learn how to manage my kingdom and even do some sinister plotting. Eventually, I also conquered most of Wales, took part in a crusade and even started conquering Scotland. Since then, the thread has been archived and moved to the Let’s Play Archive.

Then a duchess in Burgundy somehow got herself a claim on Ulster and while I was struggling to chase her armies out of there, the rest of my kingdom rebelled and eventually caused me to rage quit. Still, for a first proper game, I didn’t do too bad, earning around 17k points.

Regarding the crusade, there was something that sort of made me laugh. There we all are, fighting these huge armies, strategically attacking and retreating at the right moments, with everyone contributing as much as they can, especially Croatia.

Crusader Kings II - Map Screenshot

Behold the might of Croatia!

Anyway, I’ll try some other character soon, or I might even try again with Ireland. The same thread I mentioned above also included a post with a list of a bunch of interesting people to play with, so I might try one of them. I’m not sure how to exactly write about my playthroughs, but I’ll try to figure something out.

Links

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I’ve cleared the rest of the game in one sitting, for the most part. I got to the last boss, but then took a break before grinding for a level in order to beat him more easily. Most of the bosses on the way were quite easy even without grinding, all thanks to gaining a couple of levels before beating the mantis boss.

Ys: Origin, Top of the Tower

The top of the tower offers a nice view.

Hugo also had to deal with a loss, but it wasn’t his brother, as I sort of expected, but Epona. Later on, he I had to fight the axe wielding warrior and found out he’s actually Epona’s brother. I also fought Toal and Zava, but both were beaten on the first attempt. Honestly, most of the bosses after the mantis were very easy, other than the final boss, though he wasn’t much harder. I decided to grind before killing him, but as it turns out, I managed to beat him at level 51 without even using the resurrection item I got. Come to think of it, I didn’t need to use the item with Yunica either.

Anyway, as usual, the younger characters decided to stay on the surface, while the leaders transported to the shrine and then the game ended.

Ending the game unlocked Toal as a playable character as well as Hugo as a character in time attack mode. I decided to try my luck with time attack on easy and managed to beat it with Yunica. Now that this is done, what’s remaining is beating the game with Toal and then I might consider it 100% complete. Technically, that wouldn’t clear all of the achievements, but some of them are just too much of a time sink for comfort. I have other games to play to.

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I’ve cleared the Silent Sands and killed the boss at the end, but not after grinding for about two levels. I decided to do this with all the future bosses. It’s much faster time wise to just grind for a bit first and then kill the boss, than to go fail about two dozen times and then resort to grinding anyway.

Blighted blood was next, and it was sort of tough from the start, meaning I’m probably underleveled, if anything, in spite of the grinding. After some exploring and training, I finally managed to push to the second save point. I got all the items I could and went to the spot where the knights get petrified. Yunica was there, so I had to go get the Black Pearl replica from Hugo’s brother. I got it and brought it to Rado’s Annex, where the goddess fused it with the Dream Idol. I then returned to the knights with Yunica and got the medallion key I needed to get to the next boss. All this took a long time, so I ended my session. I will grind tomorrow.

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Silent Sands seemed a bit on the difficult side, but gaining a few levels fixed that. I got all the items, including the Evil Ring I knew I’m going to need pretty quickly. I’m now also sure that all of those secret areas marked by symbols on the floor or walls are supposed to be accessed by the magical mask you get at the start of the game. Sure, some of them can be reached by jumping, using the wind skill or double jumping, but all of them can more easily be reached via the mask.

Ys: Origin, Rado's Annex

It’s this place again!

I got to Rado’s Annex and fought the demon Zava summoned. I found it slightly harder than with Yunica, but I still managed to beat it on my first try. I got to the door and then returned to charge the Evil Ring. It seems you can’t charge it until you actually get it and talk to the people waiting at the evil door. After that was done, I spoke to the captured goddess, took the key and opened the door to the rest of the Silent Sands. Due to lots of talking, all of this took a bit long, so I ended my session.

On a side note, Hugo is a complete ass. Every time someone tries to be understanding or helpful, he just screams at them. I get that he’s supposed to be a troubled person, but it really gets annoying.

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I’ve moved on through Guilty Fire, learning my fire skill, which I like a lot, and soon reaching the Devil’s Corridor. This time, the puzzle was not as simple as with Yunica, and I have to admit, I’ve used google to get past it. First of all, getting the fruit for the cute creature the name of which I forgot again involved using the mask that shows hidden paths, instead of just using my wind skill to get over the gap. Actually, come to think of it, I might have been able to use the mask with Yunica to, but just never thought of it, since whirlwind was enough. Secondly, I didn’t get the harmonica and the creature didn’t teach me a song. Instead, I got a hammer.

Ys: Origin - Hugo's Sword Scene in Guilty Fire

Yunica is the token valiant heroine, while Huge is the token misunderstood asshole.

After googling, I’ve learned I have to use the hammer on one of the pillars in the previous outside area between two floors. The pillar has a crack on it if you look close enough. Apparently, it’s through the pipes in the pillar that the toxic mist gets to devil’s corridor. Seriously, screw that puzzle. How the hell was I supposed to know that? I mean, I talked to everyone in game and no one even hinted at it to my knowledge.

Anyway, moving on, I’ve dealt with lighting the torches for the construct key and then fought the construct. The fight seemed easy enough, but I kept making silly mistakes, so it took me a few tries. With killing him, I got to the Silent Sands area and ended my session.