- Join Date
- Dec 15, 2018
- Posts
- 539
- Location
- The Netherlands
- Gender
- Male
- Time Zone
- GMT+1
Hey guys! After some technical difficulties ended my last challenge prematurely, I have risen from the ashes to start up this new challenge! Due to the quarantaine, I have a lot of free time on my hands and what better way to spend it than to come back to one of my favorite games in the franchise, Pokemon SoulSilver?
For this challenge, I decided to return to the Chesslocke, a Nuzlocke variant based on the classic board game of Chess. It's got a very specialized set of rules which forces players to plan ahead and use much more strategy than one would in a regular Nuzlocke. Before we get into the first update, let's briefly review the rules of the Chesslocke, which we will be using for this challenge:
I had an absolute blast doing this challenge on Pokemon Emerald last year, so I'm very excited to start up this challenge! I hope you'll follow along for the journey!
Now, without further ado, let's get into the first update of this challenge!
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___
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King, Queen, Bishop, Bishop, Knight, Knight, Rook, Rook, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn.
For this challenge, I decided to return to the Chesslocke, a Nuzlocke variant based on the classic board game of Chess. It's got a very specialized set of rules which forces players to plan ahead and use much more strategy than one would in a regular Nuzlocke. Before we get into the first update, let's briefly review the rules of the Chesslocke, which we will be using for this challenge:
Classic Nuzlocke rules
- You can only catch the first Pokemon you encounter per route.
- If a Pokemon faints, it is considered dead.
- You must nickname each Pokemon that is caught.
Additional rules: - Dupes Clause: If my first encounter in an area is a Pokemon I have already caught, that encounter doesn't count. This also applies to Pokemon that belong to an evolutionary family I have already caught. This clause is used to stimulate variety and to make every Pokemon caught unique within the challenge.
- Shiny Clause: If I encounter a shiny Pokemon, I am allowed to catch it. If this occurs, a Pokemon from the PC must be replaced with the shiny pokemon.
- There will be a level limit for this challenge, equal to the highest level on the team of the upcoming Gym Leader or Champion.
- I'll be imposing an item limit of 3 per battle to prevent myself from heal spamming.
- I will be playing with the Battle Style on 'Set'
- The starter I will choose for this challenge will be determined by the last digit of my trainer ID.
Chesslocke Rules
- There is a catch limitation of 15 Pokemon (excluding the starter), giving a total of 16 Pokemon throughout the entire locke.
- Throughout the run you may only have 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Bishop, 2 Knights, 2 Rooks and 8 Pawns. Due to the limited number of Pokemon you are able to catch, you may choose to skip any encounter, but there's no second chance on a route.
- Each Pokemon must be given their role before they can be used in battle.
Roles
King: Your Starter is the King. The King cannot be boxed under any circumstances and must always be on your team. If the King dies, it's game over.
Queen: Only female Pokemon may be the Queen.
Bishop: May only have two damaging moves at any time.
Knight: May not use moves which have a base power greater than 60 (Without calculating STAB).
Rook: May not use moves with secondary effects on the enemy. They can use non damaging moves however (for example, the Rook can use Tackle and Stun Spore, but not Ember because it has the added effect of potentially burning).
Pawn: May not evolve ever. It also cannot be a Pokemon that is already evolved upon capture or has no evolution. If a Pawn manages to win a major battle (Rival, Gym Leader, E4, etc.) by itself then it can become a Knight, Bishop, Rook or a Queen, although the last only applies to female Pawns.
King: Your Starter is the King. The King cannot be boxed under any circumstances and must always be on your team. If the King dies, it's game over.
Queen: Only female Pokemon may be the Queen.
Bishop: May only have two damaging moves at any time.
Knight: May not use moves which have a base power greater than 60 (Without calculating STAB).
Rook: May not use moves with secondary effects on the enemy. They can use non damaging moves however (for example, the Rook can use Tackle and Stun Spore, but not Ember because it has the added effect of potentially burning).
Pawn: May not evolve ever. It also cannot be a Pokemon that is already evolved upon capture or has no evolution. If a Pawn manages to win a major battle (Rival, Gym Leader, E4, etc.) by itself then it can become a Knight, Bishop, Rook or a Queen, although the last only applies to female Pawns.
I had an absolute blast doing this challenge on Pokemon Emerald last year, so I'm very excited to start up this challenge! I hope you'll follow along for the journey!
Now, without further ado, let's get into the first update of this challenge!
___
As I fire up the game, I find myself in the classic upstairs bedroom. I immediately check the PC as I've been conditioned to do, but it doesn't contain a Potion, so I just head downstairs. My mom hands me some stuff, including my Trainer Card, which means we get to see which Pokemon will be accompanying us for the entirety of the journey. Now, Cyndaquil is my all-time favorite starter, so I'm a little biased as to which starter I'd like to get, but Totodile is amazing for playing through the game as well.
I look at my trainer card and the trainer ID ends in...
'...3'
Chikorita. That's uhhh... well, just the way I like it I guess. After all, is it even a challenge if it doesn't make you suffer at least a little bit?
Actually, this may not be the worst thing in the world. Sure, he probably won't be dropping opponents left and right, but at least the Chikorita line is pretty resilient. I decide to make the best of it and name the little guy Mimosa, after a genus of flowers. Mimosas are also a beloved brunch beverage, which I thought was pretty fitting, considering his nature turns out to be Relaxed.
After my new partner and I meet at prof. Elm's lab, the professor gets a call from Mr. Pokemon who claims he has made an amazing discovery and asks prof. Elm to come pick it up. The professor, however, claims to be swamped in his research and asks us to go in his stead. And so, my blooming buddy and I set out for Mr. Pokemon's House, which should be just past Cherrygrove City. Now, this may seem like an easy task, but mind you, we don't have any running shoes yet at this point in the game.
We finally arrive in Cherrygrove City, where a friendly old man puts us out of our misery by giving me a pair of Running Shoes at the end of his tour of the city. Fortunately, this means the second leg of our journey goes much faster and we reach Mr. Pokemon's house in no-time. Here, we pick up the mysterious Egg and we also get the Pokedex from prof. Oak, who happens to be there as well.
As we pass through Cherrygrove City again on the way back to the lab, we encounter a certain redheaded individual, who challenges us to a battle. Hah, rookie mistake. Mimosa
, who is now at level 7, easily beats his level 5 Cyndaquil
with Razor Leaf. We also get a quick glance at his trainer card, which comes in handy when we get back to the lab and it turns out the guy actually stole his Cyndaquil. Whoa shocker. When asked what his name is, I resist the urge to call him Buttface - now, if that doesn't make me an adult, I don't know what does - and just call him Silver instead. The cop sets off on his (spoiler alert: unsuccessful) mission to catch the thieving ten-year-old and we leave as well.
We head back onto Route 29, where I finally get some Poke Balls from my childhood friend Lyra, which means this run has officially begun. I decide there's no reason not to get my first encounter immediately, so I head into the tall grass and find a Hoothoot
, because I'm playing at night so what else would I find. I think about it for a little while because I only get 16 Pokemon throughout this entire run, but then I decide to catch it anyway. After all, since I started with Chikorita, I really need something so Falkner doesn't kick our asses and I've never used a Hoothoot before, so why not use it this time. I name the little guy Aristotle, because Noctowl looks kinda wise, right?
This seems as good a place as any to wrap things up for now. Next time, we'll head towards Violet City to take on the first gymand maybe we'll even get a Pokemon that can actually do some damage idk. See you guys next time!
I look at my trainer card and the trainer ID ends in...
'...3'
Chikorita. That's uhhh... well, just the way I like it I guess. After all, is it even a challenge if it doesn't make you suffer at least a little bit?
Actually, this may not be the worst thing in the world. Sure, he probably won't be dropping opponents left and right, but at least the Chikorita line is pretty resilient. I decide to make the best of it and name the little guy Mimosa, after a genus of flowers. Mimosas are also a beloved brunch beverage, which I thought was pretty fitting, considering his nature turns out to be Relaxed.
After my new partner and I meet at prof. Elm's lab, the professor gets a call from Mr. Pokemon who claims he has made an amazing discovery and asks prof. Elm to come pick it up. The professor, however, claims to be swamped in his research and asks us to go in his stead. And so, my blooming buddy and I set out for Mr. Pokemon's House, which should be just past Cherrygrove City. Now, this may seem like an easy task, but mind you, we don't have any running shoes yet at this point in the game.
We finally arrive in Cherrygrove City, where a friendly old man puts us out of our misery by giving me a pair of Running Shoes at the end of his tour of the city. Fortunately, this means the second leg of our journey goes much faster and we reach Mr. Pokemon's house in no-time. Here, we pick up the mysterious Egg and we also get the Pokedex from prof. Oak, who happens to be there as well.
As we pass through Cherrygrove City again on the way back to the lab, we encounter a certain redheaded individual, who challenges us to a battle. Hah, rookie mistake. Mimosa


We head back onto Route 29, where I finally get some Poke Balls from my childhood friend Lyra, which means this run has officially begun. I decide there's no reason not to get my first encounter immediately, so I head into the tall grass and find a Hoothoot

This seems as good a place as any to wrap things up for now. Next time, we'll head towards Violet City to take on the first gym
___
None yet.
None so far. :)
Route 29 - Hoothoot
(caught as a Pawn)

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