Screenshot Sinnoh Teen Commentary Imperial Ambition-A Pokemon Platinum Hardcore Attacklocke

[MortificationPersonified]

Hello, internet people! ‘sweats nervously’ I’m MortificationPersonified, and this is my Pokémon Platinum Hardcore Attacklocke, Imperial Ambition. I’ve done plenty of nuzlockes in the past, but this is the first time I’m immortalising one on the internet. Anyway, if you’ve heard of an Attacklocke, then you’re outed as a time traveller, because this is something I just came up with. The idea of this locke is that I will only be allowed to use attacking moves that use the Pokémon’s weaker attacking stat. For instance, if I have a Garchomp, that Garchomp can only use attacking moves categorised as special i.e special attacks, like Flamethrower or Dragon Pulse. This will be determined using base stats-even if I pump Garchomp with so many Spatk EVs that it actually has higher Spatk, it will still only be allowed to use special attacking moves because the species has a higher base attack. For each new encounter, I’ll indicate at the start whether it can use physical or special moves so this doesn’t get too confusing. This will also be a hardcore nuzlocke, with level caps and such, because I’m a masochist. See below for full rules.

Spoiler: Full Rules

Full Rules

Basic Nuzlocke Rules

• If a Pokémon faints, it is considered dead and cannot be used in battle.
• If I whiteout, I lose the run.
• I can only catch the first Pokémon I encounter in each route or area.
• Dupes Clause-Pokémon in an evolutionary line already caught do not count as my first encounter.
• Shiny Clause-You know what this is.
• Gift Clause-Gift Pokémon may be used and do not count as an encounter for the area where they are gifted.
• Every Pokémon must be nicknamed.
• No legendaries.

Hardcore Nuzlocke Rules

• Set mode must be used.
• No items may be used in battle except Pokeballs and held items.
• I am level-capped at the level of the next gym leader’s ace.
• For Roark, the level-cap will be 15 rather than 14. This will be explained in the part where I take him on. No longer applicable! See part 2 for details.

Attacklocke Rules

• Only attacking moves that use the Pokémon’s weaker base attacking stat may be used.
• All Pokémon may use status moves.
• Pokémon with equal base attacking stats are void-they cannot be used and do not count as eligible encounters unless they evolve into a Pokémon with non-equal attacking stats.

I think that covers everything. I’m using a naming theme of Roman emperors. This is probably the hardest nuzlocke I’ve ever attempted, so I’m really excited to get started. I don’t know if anyone will read this, but if you do, thank you, and I hope you enjoy. Updates will be at least once a week, maybe more often for the first few.

Spoiler: Table of Contents

Part 1-A New Empire-->see below!
Part 2-A Growing Empire
Part 3-An Empire of Stone
Part 4-An Evolving Empire
Part 5-An Empire of Leaves

Into Part 1!

Spoiler: Part 1-A New Empire

Part 1

Honestly, Platinum is probably peak Pokémon. I started with Gen 5, and B&W will probably always be my favourite games, but Platinum just says Pokémon like nothing else, imho.

And now the interrogation. I’m male, so I’ll go with the male protag. (I wonder when they’ll add non-binary?)

I was planning to go with Mortified, but Platinum only gives you 7 spaces. Mort will have to do.

Honestly it feels wrong to me to call this guy anything other than Barry.

Damn it’s weird being called Mort. I usually use my real name, but can’t have you tricksy internet people working out who I am.

Text speed, fast, battle style set.

Ahh, Twinleaf Town. I’m getting that bouncy excited feeling I always get when starting a new run.

Obligatory joke about the THUD! text.

What exactly is the point of this scene? He runs inside, then goes straight back out again??

Our rival is a dumb-dumb and doesn’t know how tall grass works. I’m just watching with amusement over here.

He’s stupid? Or is this philosophy? What is the meaning of grass? Or me? Why do I exist? Why does existence exist?

Selflessness is such a rare personality trait these days. You’re a good role model Barry. Except for the running around and screaming about 10 million dollars.

And now we get to pick our starter! Let’s GO!

Okay, so this is where we start to see the limitations of the Attacklocke. Turtwig has higher base attack than special attack, so our starting move Tackle is unusable. Therefore I obviously cannot pick Turtwig.

The Chimchar line all have equal base attack and special attack, so are not eligible under my ruleset. Therefore I obviously cannot pick Chimchar.

You all know who that leaves. Yes, Piplup has higher base special attack than physical attack, so we are allowed to use Pound. Therefore I have to pick Piplup. Given our adorable little penguin here is the Sinnoh starter I’ve used least, I don’t mind that. Welcome to the team, Piplup!

NEW ENCOUNTER: PIPLUP

BASE ATTACK: 51

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 61

CAN ONLY USE PHYSICAL MOVES

I’m not in your way? This dialogue makes no sense.

Here we go, first rival battle!

…I’m so excited for this run.

You’ve all seen this before-typical first rival fight. I spam Pound and hope.

Nice job, little guy! Piplup to Lv. 6!

And that’s Barry defeated.

Yay, running shoes! Giving you these from the start was a series quality of life improvement in the later gens.

Let’s check out Piplup… Bold nature (+Def, -Atk) would normally be good, but since he has to be physical it’s pretty bad. Never mind.

And here are his stats. Remember, even if attack were to go higher than special attack, he’d still only be allowed to use physical moves.

Barry now gets it into his head that we can catch a legendary with two low-level starters and no Pokeballs. He is not smart. Still, at least this means we get to meet Cyrus. After the strangely-dressed blue-haired man leaves, Barry realises that two children cannot wrestle an ancient lake deity with psychic powers into submission, even with the help of a penguin and a turtle, so he goes off to get Pokeballs.

I take the time to get Piplup another level on the way to Sandgem Town, since I think we’ll need it soon.

Now we can get Pokeballs and get this locke going.

But first, time for Piplup’s baptism. The naming theme is Roman Emperors, and since he’s our first mon, I name him Augustus, after the first Roman Emperor. Caesar wasn’t technically an emperor, and since I’m sad I care more about historical accuracy than the inherent coolness of the name Caesar. Augustus it is!

The professor babbles some stuff about a Pokedex or whatever, then gives us the TM for Return. This will be useful later. I then heal up and buy 10 Pokeballs. Catching time!

Time for our Route 201 encounter and it’s Bidoof. Insert joke about Bidoof being a legendary. Seriously, though, this beaver will be pretty important.

Bidoof is caught without difficulty.

NEW ENCOUNTER: BIDOOF

BASE ATTACK: 45

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 35

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

Tiberius was the second Roman emperor, so since she’s female, Bidoof will be Tiberia.

Timid (+Spd, -Atk) is quite good since she’s going to be a special attacker.

Unaware might be handy. She’s only got Tackle at the moment, so Tiberia can’t actually battle on her own. We’ll get her a special move eventually.

Our Lake Verity encounter is a Starly, which Augustus immediately crits. Thankfully it doesn’t K.O.

Starly is caught, but honestly he’ll be pretty useless in this run.

NEW ENCOUNTER: STARLY

BASE ATTACK: 55

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 30

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

After Gaius Caligula.

Caligula has a naïve nature (+Spd, -Spdef), but it doesn’t really matter. The Starly line learns no special moves by level up, and only Hidden Power and Hyper Beam by TM. Staraptor is really good in normal nuzlockes, but this guy is essentially unusable. Sorry, Caligula.

Um, I’ve already caught two? I don’t need you to show me. They should really let you skip this tutorial if you’ve already caught a Pokémon.

After the tutorial, dupes clause nets me a Shinx on Route 202. And she has Intimidate! Always useful.

This one takes a few more Pokeballs, but she’s caught.

NEW ENCOUNTER: SHINX

BASE ATTACK: 65

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 40

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

Claudia instead of Claudius since she’s female. Bold nature (+Def, -Atk), same as Augustus, although it’s actually good this time. The Shinx line only get Discharge by level up for special moves, and that’s really late. Still, if Claudia sticks around long enough I might give her Shock Wave or Charge Beam by TM.

She has Intimidate, as you saw. Such a good ability.

I think that’s where I’ll leave this first part. I’ve got started and got a few encounters, and I’m pumped for this run. The next part will probably be up in a few days time. Thank you for reading!

 

[MortificationPersonified]

Update time! Also a quick clarification-if you look at the full rules for the run, you’ll see I originally said I would be using a level cap of 15 rather than 14 for Roark. This is because at the time I thought the run would be impossible using a cap of 14. However, I’m pleased to report that I’ve found a way to beat Roark (at least theoretically) using a cap of 14. Therefore, that exception will no longer apply. I will be using a level cap of 14 for Roark.

Thank you to everyone who read part 1! Onto Part 2!

Spoiler: Current Team

Current Team

Augustus-Lv.7
Pound
Growl

Tiberia-Lv.3
Tackle

Caligula-Lv.3
Tackle
Growl

Claudia-Lv.3
Tackle

Spoiler: Part 2-A Growing Empire

Part 2

Welcome back! Last time I got my first three encounters, and I’m now ready to move up Route 202.

The first few trainers are fairly trivial. Augustus takes them out easily.

He also gets to Lv. 8…

…where he learns Bubble. This move is unusable since Augustus can only use physical moves according to Attacklocke rules. No bubbles for you, my little penguin.

Augustus gets to Lv.9 against the last trainer in the area.

So our little band of emperors and empresses arrives at Jublife City. There’s a few useful items we can get here.

But first, a useless one in the Vs. Recorder which we obtain after listening to strange man’s delusions about how he’s a member of the International Police. I then go into the Trainer’s School and get the Town Map, but I decide to save the trainers there for later.

No-one wants to see me chasing the clowns around, so let’s skip to getting the Poketch, which is always kinda cool.

I also stock up on Pokeballs and Potions. I can’t use the Potions in battle as per the rules but they’ll save time when I’m too lazy to go back and heal.

Next I can grab the Old Rod from this fisherman. There’s an encounter on the route west of here, but I decide to leave it for now. I can only get Magikarp with the Old Rod and I don’t want to waste time training it up. Special Gyarados would be bad anyway.

Ok, on to Route 204. I can get a couple of encounters here and there’s a few trainers to fight. With the second rival fight coming up east of Jublife, it makes sense to be as prepared as possible.

Our Route 204 encounter is a Budew. Not bad, the only other thing I could get here was Wurmple, which would be nearly useless. At least this cute little grass type will get Stun Spore at Lv.10.

Budew is fairly easy to catch despite it having SE absorb against Augustus.

NEW ENCOUNTER: BUDEW

BASE ATTACK: 30

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 50

CAN ONLY USE PHYSICAL MOVES

So, chronologically speaking, Budew here should be named after Nero, since I’ve been naming them after the Roman emperors in order of reign. However, I can’t figure out a way to make Nero work as a female name, so Galba it is.

Bashful is a neutral nature-perfectly fine.

Poison Point would have been better, but Natural Cure is still a great ability. Unfortunately Galba here doesn’t get many physical attacks, but she’ll be useful for spreading paralysis with Stun Spore.

Augustus with Pound is still my only usable attacking move at this stage. There’s a couple of other Pokémon we can get that should have usable moves soon, but Augustus is still managing fine against these trainers.

Ravaged Path! We can get either Zubat or Psyduck here. I’m hoping for Psyduck, since it will have usable Scratch straight away.

Of course I get Zubat.

At least she’s easy to catch, though she won’t get a usable attacking move till Lv.25.

NEW ENCOUNTER: ZUBAT

BASE ATTACK: 45

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 30

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

Gentle (+SpDef,-Def) doesn’t really matter. She’s female, so we’ve skipped Nero and Otho to call her Vitella, after, Vitellius. I hope you’re learning something new about Roman emperors from this run, ‘cause I certainly am.

I decide to go back and start switch training Tiberia against the Tranier’s School trainers. She won’t get a usable attacking move for a while, but she can still use status moves like Growl to help support Augustus.

The second trainer actually proves problematic since she uses a Potion. Look at Augustus’s HP! That doesn’t bode well.

Okay, some serious training before the rival fight. I grind Augustus up to Lv.12 on trainers and wild Pokémon on Route 204, switch training Tiberia and Claudia up to Lv.7 and 5 respectively. Since Augustus is going to have to Pound through two Pokémon all on his own, I figure he needs to be a bit overleveled. During the grind, Tiberia learns Growl and Claudia learns Leer. Augustus also learns Water Sport, but that doesn’t matter.

And I grab the Quick Claw for Jublife City and give it to Augustus before the battle. Might help.

Here we go then. Rival time!

I send out Claudia first against Barry’s Starly for the Intimidate drop.

I then switch to Tiberia on a Growl.

Tiberia and Starly then exchange a few Growls, with Tiberia taking one Quick Attack in the process. Good job, girls. Now it’s time for Augustus to come in and do some attacking.

He switches in on a Growl, which is annoying.

But he still does decent damage. Starly fires back with a Quick Attack that does precisely 1 damage after the attack drops. You’ve got this Augustus.

Starly only lands one more Quick Attack before falling to Augustus’s might.

And Claudia gets a level from it.

Barry brings in Turtwig, and I then decide to switch to remove Augustus’s attack drop. Claudia comes in on a Withdraw since I’m playing on Set battle style.

What follows is a long, boring, mess. Claudia keeps using Leer to try and lower Turtwig’s defense, but Turtwig won’t stop using withdraw. I won’t recap it all blow-by-blow, but eventually Turtwig goes for Tackle a couple of times and Claudia manages to get its defense down. That was awful.

Finish him, Augustus!

Well, we don’t do a lot of damage, but nor does Turtwig. Then he starts going for Withdraw again. ARGH!

But none of it matters, because Augustus CRITS, bypassing his defense boosts. You brilliant little penguin! Turtwig soon goes down.

And Claudia gets a level from it.

And we beat Barry. In hindsight, maybe I was a little too cautious, but I really didn’t want to lose to the second rival fight. That would have been super embarrassing.

I move on up through Route 203, skipping as many trainers as I can. With Augustus at Lv. 12, I need to be careful otherwise he’ll go past Lv. 14 and be unusable in the gym. I really need another Pokémon with a usable attacking move. My Route 203 encounter is an Abra, which of course teleports. Oh well.

In Oreburgh Gate, this man gives us the first part of the secret to this run: Rock Smash. Augustus can’t learn it, but someone else will be able to. Now for my encounter. Zubat is a dupe, but there’s a small chance to get Geodude rather than Psyduck here. If I do, then it’s game over. I NEED Psyduck.

‘phew’

Okay, so this thing was by far the most difficult thing to catch so far. After flinging 10 Pokeballs at it at full health and failing, I eventually decide to risk a Pound with Augustus. Thankfully it doesn’t crit and Psyduck survives. I finally catch the damn thing in three more Heal Balls. I had to bring Claudia out near the end since the Psyduck lowered Augustus’s defense so much with Tail Whip. This duck is trying to give me a heart attack.

NEW ENCOUNTER: PSYDUCK

BASE ATTACK: 52

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 65

CAN ONLY USE PHYSICAL MOVES

Say hello to Nero, the saviour of this locke. Hopefully he doesn’t fiddle while the run burns.

Hardy is another neutral nature, so no problems here.

Those stats don’t look too bad for Lv.5, and he has Scratch, which he can actually use. Augustus isn’t our only attacker now!

I immediately teach Nero Rock Smash. Our first bit of type coverage, it’ll be SE against Roark’s rock-types and has a good chance for a defense drop. This is the only move we can obtain before Roark that Rock doesn’t resist, so only Nero can lead us to victory. At the start of this run, I didn’t realize Psyduck could learn Rock Smash, which is what makes this run possible with a level cap of 14.

And we arrive in Oreburgh City. I’ll stop here for this update. Thank you for reading! In the next part, our growing empire will take on Roark!

 

[MortificationPersonified]

Ok, I’m done with Part 3! Hope you enjoy!

Spoiler: Current Team

Current Team

Augustus-Lv.12
Pound
Growl
Bubble
Water Sport

Nero-Lv.5
Rock Smash
Scratch
Tail Whip
Water Sport

Tiberia-Lv.7
Tackle
Growl

Galba-Lv.5
Absorb
Growth

Claudia-Lv.7
Tackle
Leer

Caligula-Lv.4
Tackle
Growl

Spoiler: Part 3-An Empire of Stone

Part 3
Last time we left off in Oreburgh City, but I decided to backtrack for some grinding before doing anything more in the city.

Galba gets two levels and Nero gets three. Both these two are going to be important for Roark, so I want to start training them early. Galba of course has to be switch trained since she lacks a usable attacking move, although she does learn Water Sport.

Once Nero reaches Lv.8, I take on some of the trainers I skipped before for extra EXP. This will also get us the money we need to buy more Pokeballs after I used half of them on Nero in Part 2.

On our way back to Oreburgh City, Galba and Claudia both reach Lv.8.

Nero also reaches Lv.9 and tries to learn Water Gun, but since he can’t use it I don’t bother letting him learn it.

Well, we get back to Oreburgh and find Barry in front of the Gym. Barry, why are you here? He implies he’s already beaten Roark, so why is he just standing in front of the gym? Did Roark tell him to direct potential challengers to the mines? Is Barry getting paid for this?

Putting aside my in-depth analysis of this children’s video game, I find a few useful items in the mine entrance, including a Heart Scale and a Pearl. I sell the latter in order to buy another 10 Pokeballs. Now it’s time for some encounters.

I get our Oreburgh Mine encounter first, and it’s Geodude. Geodude itself is useless as it learns no special moves, but there wasn’t really anything better we could get here.

I name her Vespasia, and she has a Calm nature (+SpDef, -Atk), but her main role in this locke will be to block off Geodude as an encounter anywhere
else using Dupes clause.

NEW ENCOUNTER: GEODUDE
BASE ATTACK: 80
BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 30
CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

Now, on the route north of Oreburgh, the two most likely encounters are Machop or Ponyta, since Vespasia blocks off Geodude. I’m really hoping for Ponyta, since it gets usable Ember, which would be really helpful for Gardenia.

Uhh… Honestly, I never considered I might get anything other than Machop or Ponyta.

Well, I catch Kricketot. This is an interesting situation, since Kricketot has equal attack and special attack, and is therefore unusable, but Kricketune has higher attack so is usable. Since it can evolve into a usable Pokémon, Kricketot counts as a viable encounter.

NEW ENCOUNTER: KRICKETOT
BASE ATTACK: 25
BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 25
CANNOT BE USED UNTIL EVOLUTION

I name her Nerva, and she has a neutral Docile nature. Kricketune does get Sing and a few usable special moves, but not until after Lv.14, so she stays in the box for now.

I do a bit more levelling in Oreburgh Mine. After I clear out the Trainers and tell the Brock wannabe to go do his job, Augustus gets to Lv. 13, Nero gets Lv.11, and most importantly Galba hits Lv.10 and learns Stun Spore, a very useful move.

Time for the gym trainers.

The first one goes down easily to Nero’s Rock Smash.

Same goes for the second one, who kindly gives Claudia Lv.9 and Nero Lv.12.
…
Well, that was the last of the trainers we can fight, so time for us to grind for Roark. I’m thinking I’ll train up Nero and Augustus, along with Galba, and maybe Claudia too.

I do most of my grinding in Oreburgh Mine. The Pokémon here will give us defense and speed evs. Defense will let us take more hits, giving Nero more chances to fish for drops with Rock Smash, and speed will help us outspeed Cranidos and Onix. It takes a while, but Galba hits Lv.14.

Nero does so shortly after, also learning Disable. It doesn’t have great accuracy in this gen, but it’s still a useful move that I plan to employ against Roark.

Augustus also hits Lv.14, although I train him on the route north of town instead since he can’t take out Geodudes with Pound.

I decide to edge Nero, getting him close to Lv.15 so he’ll level up after he takes down Roark’s first Pokémon, which is typically allowed in hardcore nuzlockes. I don’t know how much this will help, but since our only way to do decent damage to Roark’s team is a Psyduck using a non-STAB physical attack with 40 base power, I figure we need every advantage we can get. During this process, Claudia hits Lv.13.

So, I’m about to go in. You can see the team I’m bringing in the bottom screen. Nero will be our main damage dealer with Rock Smash, and also has Disable for utility. Augustus is our only other mon with a usable attacking move, so he’s back-up. Galba has Stun Spore to make sure Nero outspeeds Cranidos so he doesn’t get flinched by Headbutt. Claudia has Intimidate and Leer support, and finally, Vespasia the Geodude and Caligula the Starly are here as death fodder. I know, I know, but this battle is going to be really tough, so sacrifices will have to be made.

Here are the stats of the main four, all Lv.14 except Claudia, who’s Lv.13. I gave the Quick Claw to Nero since it’s our only held item and he might get some use out of it. I wish I had berries, that would make this so much easier.

First Gym. I could honestly lose the entire locke here.

Roark leads Geodude, and I lead Nero. I’m anticipating Roark will set up Stealth Rock first, which would give up two free hits.

Geodude does indeed set up Stealth Rock, which will be inconvenient, as Nero hits Rock Smash. He does about what I was expecting, but no defense drop. That’s not good.

Nero hits a second Rock Smash, but still no drop. Geodude then fires back with Rock Throw for big damage, since it has surprisingly high attack.

On the next turn, I go for Disable, stopping Geodude’s Rock Throw. Since Geodude only knows Stealth Rock and Rock Throw, he’ll be helpless.

Roark goes for a Potion here, and Nero hits another Rock Smash, bringing Geodude back down to less than half, and finally getting a defense drop.

Geodude goes down after two more hits after failing a Stealth Rock. 1/3 down! Way to go, Nero!

And thanks to the edging, Nero levels up. Damn, look at that stat gain. Pretty good.

Roark now brings out Onix, which has higher defense than Geodude, but less attack.

Nero outspeeds, which I wasn’t sure if he would, but no defense drop. Onix then goes for Screech, which I don’t like.

A Rock Throw from Onix would do a lot here after the Screech, so I decide to switch to Claudia for Intimidate. She takes a bit of damage from Stealth Rocks and then Onix hits another Screech.

So I swap back to Nero. I don’t like the Stealth Rock damage, but at least Onix has lowered attack now.

Onix hits a Rock Throw on the switch which brings Nero down to almost half after Stealth Rock. This is looking dicey.

We exchange hits, and Nero still doesn’t get a defense drop. My luck with these drops!

I decide to go for a Disable now, which I should probably have done last turn. Onix will still be able to use Screech, but he won't actually be able to do damage.

Nero hits another Rock Smash to bring Onix low, but still no defense drop. Onix then hits Screech. I’m anticipating Roark will heal now, so I go for another Rock Smash. If he doesn’t heal, we’ll be in trouble, since Cranidos knows Pursuit and Nero is at half defense.

Roark does heal, thankfully. That also means no Potions for Cranidos.

It takes another Rock Smash to get Onix low again, but Rock Throw is still disabled so he uses Screech. Perfect.

I now switch in Augustus as Disable ends. With Onix low, Augustus should be able to finish him. This way, I don’t have to switch Nero out on Cranidos and risk losing him to Pursuit.

Onix hits a Rock Throw on the switch, but Augustus has plenty of health.

Augustus is slower than Onix, and takes another Rock Throw, but he crits with Pound, putting Onix in the red. Augustus is two for two for crits in major fights now.

Unfortunately Onix has such monstrous defense that it tanks another Pound on 1 HP.

Onix goes down, but Augustus is lower than I thought he’d be. I really hope he can survive a Pursuit…

Here’s the big scary pachycephalosaur boi.

I switch to Caligula, and thankfully, thankfully, Cranidos doesn’t go for Pursuit. He goes for Headbutt though…

And that’s our first death. I’m sorry, Caligula. I really needed a safe switch to Claudia, because I need that Leer and Intimidate.

Ok, Claudia. Do your thing.

Cranidos hits Headbutt, which does huge damage even at -1. Claudia doesn’t flinch, though, and gets off a Leer. Now all we need to do is paralyze it…
And I need a safe switch to Galba to do that.

So, sorry Vespasia, but…

We need another sacrifice.

Galba’s role is really important. This thing needs to be paralyzed, otherwise it can flinch Nero with Headbutt and murder our entire team. Come on, Galba.
Oh, well that helps.

YES! No miss! And Cranidos even gets fully paralyzed!

And now we’re in the worst position. Nero only has 19 health, and it will take at least two Rock Smashes to beat Cranidos. I can’t let him take a hit on the switch. That means I need another sack. With both my expendable mons (Sorry Caligula and Vespasia) gone, it has to be either Galba or Claudia. Claudia is by far the better mon long term, since she’s an electric type and gets more usable moves. But I also have to think about this battle. If I sack Claudia, that means I get another Intimidate on Cranidos. Claudia is the safer play when it comes to beating Roark. So…

I’m so sorry Claudia!

…Cranidos gets fully paralyzed. Damn.

I can’t back out now, though, so Claudia gets off a final Leer, and then…

She goes down.

I didn’t really care about Caligula or Vespasia (Sorry) but this one hurt a bit. Goodbye, Claudia.

Alright, Nero. Let’s do this.

Over half! Cranidos hits Headbutt, come on, Nero, tank it!

Whew. I’m glad that didn’t crit.

Time to die, Cranidos!

And we beat the first gym, using only moves coming off our Pokémon’s weaker attacking stat.

One down, seven to go.

We also get the TM for Stealth Rock. Not that useful in the short term.

y’know, playing the older gens really makes me realize how spoilt we are now, with infinite TMs and Move Relearners in every PokeCenter.

Part 3’s going to end here. It was really close, and we lost three mons, but we beat the first gym. That could have gone a lot worse. As always, thank you for reading!

 

[MortificationPersonified]

Next part is ready!

Spoiler: Current Team

Current Team

Augustus-Lv.14

Pound

Growl

Bubble

Water Sport

Nero-Lv.15

Rock Smash

Scratch

Tail Whip

Water Sport

Galba-Lv.14

Stun Spore

Water Sport

Growth

Mega Drain

Tiberia-Lv.7

Tackle

Growl

Vitella-Lv.4

Leech Life

Spoiler: Part 4-An Evolving Empire

Part 4

So last time we had a narrow victory over Roark, and our first three deaths, and it's time to pay respects to our fallen emperors and empresses by building statues to commemorate them.

Caligula, you were never going to amount to much, since you couldn't learn any special moves, but I'm sorry I had to use you as death fodder. In a different challenge a Staraptor would have been amazing. Rest well.

Same goes for you, Vespasia. I can't say I love the Geodude line, but we couldn't have beaten Roark without you.

Claudia, you're the only one of the three I put any time into training, and so you're the one it hurts to lose. You could actually have been useful, so I'm sorry you had to go down. Intimidate definitely saved Nero's life, and I'm sad we won't have it going forwards. You did great, Claudia. Goodbye.

I move Tiberia and Vitella onto the team for now. I don't think Nerva the Kricketot is going to be useful, but Tiberia will learn usable Water Gun at Lv.15, so she might be worth training up.

Thud 2: The THUDqel.

There's a joke here about how time is technically a form of counting, but I can't work out what it is.

I pick up the TM for Flash from the basement of Oreburgh Gate on the way back to Jublife. Probably won't be useful, but you never know.

Once we arrive, the strange man tells us about another useless item I'm never going to use.

I forgot about this battle, actually. I also forgot how Rowan casually insults the grunts' entire reason for existence.

Twice.

The battle doesn't prove too troublesome, although Augustus does get poisoned at one point. Regardless, Tiberia gets to Lv.8.

Augustus also hits Lv.15 and learns Peck, replacing unusable Bubble, which is weaker than Pound, but adds to our very limited type coverage. At least we finally have a move that hits Ghost-types.

Yay, another useless item!

Now this certainly isn't useless. Augustus can learn it, but I hold off for now. I'm always stingy with the TMs in Gen 4 and below since they're only one time use.

The trainers before Floaroma don't prove too difficult-most of them still don't have much coverage, and the grass-types are manageable since Augustus now has Peck. Tiberia gets to Lv.9…

And Augustus also gets to Lv.16! You know what that means!

Exciting things are going to happen!

Our first evolution!

And Augustus is now a Prinplup! The stat increase is definitely going to help with some of the upcoming fights. Unlike some people, I've never really had a problem with Prinplup's design. He looks fine.

NEW EVOLUTION: PRINPLUP

BASE ATTACK: 66

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 81

CAN ONLY USE PHYSICAL MOVES
(I'll be doing this with evolutions too since sometimes the moves they can use changes)

And Augustus also learns another usable move, Metal Claw! It won't get STAB for a while, and Steel isn't a great offensive type, but hey, it's the strongest move we've got at this point. Water Sport is the move deleted.

I also find the TM for Bullet Seed. I suppose Galba might be able to learn it, but since I don't plan on keeping her long-term I don't bother.

Unfortunately we can't get a Mew and a Jirachi here like in BDSP, but Floaroma is still a pretty unique town.

And we finally get berries! These are going to be so helpful!

And the TM for Pluck as well. Again, Augustus can learn this, but I hold off for now. With Gardenia coming up I might need it for a mon that isn't weak to Grass.

More berries!

Is this girl related to Rowan?

Time for our Valley Windworks encounter. Pachirisu is unusable since it has equal attacking stats, which leaves Buizel and Shellos. Shellos doesn't get a usable attacking move until Body Slam at Lv.29, so Buizel is better, at least in the short-term.

Nice! Buizel will have usable Water Gun straight away, so this is even more type coverage.

Galba's Stun Spore proves useful for catching Buizel.

NEW ENCOUNTER: BUIZEL

BASE ATTACK: 65

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 60

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

Otho is one of the emperors we skipped because I couldn't make his name work for a female mon.

Lax (+Def, -SpDef) isn't too bad a nature.

He's too high a level to have Sonic Boom, which is classified as a special move, but he's the first of our water-types to actually have a water move. Our first STAB move. I'm a little worried this is turning into a water-monolocke, though.

While I'm here I take out the grunt guarding the door, who proceeds to disrespect his own Glameow. Kind of unnecessary, dude.

This unlocks Floaroma Meadow, where we can get a honey tree encounter. First, though, we have to take out the grunts who are trying to steal this man's honey. Remind me why they're trying to steal honey, of all things?

Nero gets to Lv.16 battling the grunts, and Otho proves useful in his first proper battle. Finally having a STAB move feels nice.

I now get the Works Key and Honey from the man, opening up both the Valley Windworks and our Floaroma Meadow encounter.

Combee isn't actually a viable encounter, since it and Vespiquen both have balanced attacking stats, so we'll probably get a few of those before getting a viable encounter.

I did the last few battles in the morning, so our encounter is ready when I open up the game in the evening.

Well, not a Combee. Wurmple here is a really interesting encounter. Wurmple itself has higher attack than special attack, as do both Silcoon and Cascoon. However, Beautifly has higher special attack, while Dustox has equal offensive stats. Wurmple is therefore viable, but can't evolve into Dustox, only into Cascoon, but it can evolve into Beautifly if we get Silcoon.

Wurmple is fairly easy to catch, as you'd expect.

NEW ENCOUNTER: WURMPLE

BASE ATTACK: 45

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 20

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

He will be named after Titus. Hardy is a neutral nature, so fine. Now, another special thing about Titus is that if I keep him as a Wurmple, he'll learn Bug Bite at Lv.15. If he then evolves into Beautifly, this will give him a strong, usable STAB move. Titus will end up being either a useless Cascoon or our new MVP, especially with Gardenia coming up.

I quickly top off Otho's level to 12 against a few wild Pokémon.

I next take on the grunts in the Windworks for extra EXP.

Even though Otho is underleveled, he does a good job against the grunts.

Ok, time to grind for Mars. I switch train Titus using Otho so that they can both level, which is necessary, although very slow.

Eventually, eventually (god this grind was awful), Titus reaches Lv.15 and learns Bug Bite, so I can let him evolve.

Please be Silcoon, please be Silcoon, please be Silcoon…

YES! Talk about a coin flip! Honestly I was sure I'd just get Cascoon, but this is incredible. Titus is going to be amazing into Gardenia with SE STAB Bug Bite. He will need one more level to evolve into a Beautifly and be able to use physical moves though.

NEW EVOLUTION: SILCOON

BASE ATTACK: 35

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 25

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

Grinding continues. Otho hits Lv.15, where he learns usable Swift. Normal isn't the best type coverage, but it's better than nothing, and Swift is a decently powerful move with perfect accuracy.

And Titus reaches Lv.16, so he can evolve again. It's taken a long time to grind him up, but he's going to start repaying that investment now.

Here we go!

He's glorious! Dustox is usually considered the better mon for nuzlockes, so I'm looking forward to giving Beatifly a chance to shine.

NEW EVOLUTION: BEAUTIFLY

BASE ATTACK: 70

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 90

CAN ONLY USE PHYSICAL MOVES

Damn, those stats are good. He'll drop off eventually, but for now Titus is probably the strongest member of the team. Along with STAB Bug Bite, he's also got usable Tackle and Poison Sting, although I doubt they'll get much use.

I grind everyone with a usable move up to Lv.17 in preparation for Mars. (Titus as well, I just forgot to take a screenshot) Titus also learns Stun Spore, which replaces String Shot. That probably marks the end of Galba's usefulness.

Here's the team for Mars! With so many power upgrades, I don't think she'll be an issue. Titus has an Oran Berry and Augustus has the Quick Claw since he's the slowest member of the team.

Oh yeah, Charon. I always forget he exists.

Let's do this! Mars is usually tough, but I'm feeling confident.

I lead Otho against Mars's Zubat.

Otho hits Water Gun, which does about a third, then Zubat uses Bite, which does significantly less.

Otho's got this, easily.

Especially if he crits. Nice job, Otho, that's Zubat down.

Here's the reason Mars can be scary. Purugly is a strong Pokémon this early.

Fake Out does more to Titus than I expected, but he should survive a crit.

Purugly outspeeds with its crazy base 112 speed and hits Titus low with Scratch, but his Oran Berry gets him back above half.

Bug Bite does solid damage, and also steals and eats Purugly's Oran Berry, allowing Titus to stay in.

Purugly's Scratch hits Titus to half health, and in return Bug Bite puts it in the yellow. I'm not risking my Gardenia win con to a crit, so I have to switch.

I figure Nero might be able to beat it with SE Rock Smash, although he takes a lot on switch in.

Nero was maybe dead to a high roll crit there, but it didn't happen, and he puts Purugly into the red. No defense drop, but that's just Nero being Nero. Time to switch again.

Augustus is pretty bulky and tanks Feint Attack on the switch pretty well.

Purugly somehow survives a Metal Claw, but Augustus is still above half, so he's fine.

And then Purugly crits! That was close! Thankfully Augustus tanks with just 4 HP to finish off the cat with Pound.

Our first victory over the Galactic Commanders, and the first of the two actually difficult ones. After Jupiter in Eterna they kind of fall off.

This girl hasn't seen her father in days and this is what she says on their reunion? Definitely related to Rowan.

I'll leave Part 4 here. Mars is down, and we've got a couple of new team members and evolutions. Honestly, the Mars fight was a bit harder than I expected, but we pulled through fine. Thank you for reading!

 

[RubyClaw]

First of all, great run! Really challenging rules playing a challenging game, should be fun! *reads up to current point - well, fun for us readers at least! Sorry for your poor dead mons, but very well played. Sacrifices are sometimes unavoidable, and I doubt you could have made it without them.

Also, I'm always on the lookout for cool new rules, and the Attacklocke is just brilliant! Super Kudos. Might try one myself as part of my Hall of Fame project or just for fun.

 

[MortificationPersonified]

Here's Part 5, it's a bit of a longer one! Sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy!

Spoiler: Reply

First of all, great run! Really challenging rules playing a challenging game, should be fun! *reads up to current point - well, fun for us readers at least! Sorry for your poor dead mons, but very well played. Sacrifices are sometimes unavoidable, and I doubt you could have made it without them.

Thank you! Platinum is a tough game, but I'm hoping I can manage. Roark was hopefully the biggest early hurdle, so I don't think I'll have to make any more deliberate sacks. There's bound to be more deaths, though.

Also, I'm always on the lookout for cool new rules, and the Attacklocke is just brilliant! Super Kudos. Might try one myself as part of my Hall of Fame project or just for fun.

... Wow, thanks. Coming from the creator of the Lorelocke that means a lot. I'd love to hear about it if you do end up attempting an Attacklocke of your own. It might be.. interesting before the physical/special split.

Spoiler: Current Team

Current Team

Augustus-Lv.17

Metal Claw

Pound

Peck

Growl

Titus-Lv.17

Bug Bite

Tackle

Poison Sting

Stun Spore

Otho-Lv.17

Water Gun

Swift

Water Sport

Pursuit

Nero-Lv.17

Rock Smash

Scratch

Disable

Tail Whip

Galba-Lv.14

Stun Spore

Water Sport

Growth

Mega Drain

Tiberia-Lv.9

Tackle

Growl

Defense Curl

Spoiler: Part 5-An Empire of Leaves

Part 5

So after clearing out Valley Windworks, the strange man turns up and babbles some stuff about Team Galactic in Eterna City. At least he doesn't force feed me a useless item this time.

Route 205 actually has two encounter tables for north and south. In the south, we can only get Shellos, which, as I mentioned in Part 4, isn't a great encounter, so I repel through the grass so that my first encounter will be in the north.

There are plenty of trainers in this area, and by this point in the game they've got more team diversity. Fortunately, Titus can take on the grass types that our water types are weak to, although we'll still be in trouble if we bump into any electric types.

Otho, Nero, and Augustus all get a level against the trainers, and Nero tried to learn Confusion, which is unfortunately unusable. Getting more mons with strong usable moves is still top priority.

That's the last trainer on this route. Onto Eterna Forest!

This was always a neat part of the Sinnoh games, giving us plenty of double battles. Since they're a bit more risky than single battles, though, I tend to avoid them in nuzlockes. I'll also be repelling through Eterna Forest so I don't risk Cheryl killing my encounter.

Unfortunately the first double battle is mandatory.

So remember what I was saying about electric types? One of these trainers has a Pachirisu with Spark that's actually kinda scary. I'm able to switch in Galba to para it with Stun Spore and let Chansey whittle it down with Egg Bombs, so it ends up being fine. Augustus has to come back in, but he's bulky enough to take a Spark and finish Pachirisu. Titus and Galba also get a level from it.

I'm able to take on the rest of the trainers in single battles, and there are no more demon Pachirisus.

Augustus gets to Lv.19 against the trainers in the forest.

I rush through the forest a bit so that I get rid of Cheryl and get my encounter. Sorry Cheryl, I actually really like your character design, it's pretty cute.

Thanks for the Soothe Bell, this will be helpful.

Okay, time for the encounter! There's not actually anything that good we can get here, since they got rid of Murkrow and Misdreavus in Platinum, the only bad change they made from Diamond and Pearl.

Yeah, a Buneary, that's what I was expecting.

It's easy enough to catch.

NEW ENCOUNTER: BUNEARY

BASE ATTACK: 66

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 44

CAN ONLY USE SPECIAL MOVES

Domitian here can actually learn a wide variety of special moves, but only by TM. I probably won't use him.

Titus also gets to Lv.19 against a trainer I skipped in the forest.

Ok, north Route 205. Dupes clause actually blocks off everything except Hoothoot here, which is only found at night. It's morning right now.

After several hours IRL for me, or a brief scroll down for you, it's night and I can get my Hoothoot.

Here she is.

She's actually a little difficult to catch, but no major problems.

NEW ENCOUNTER: HOOTHOOT

BASE ATTACK: 30

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 36

CAN ONLY USE PHYSICAL MOVES

Traja, after the Emperor Trajan.

From here, it's only a short walk to Eterna City, the location of the next gym, the Togepi egg, and a woman with a scary fat skunk.

I first go to the PC to check Domitian and Traja's stats. Calm (+SpDef, -Atk) is actually quite good for a special attacker, and Domitian has Run Away not Klutz, so I suppose he could be useful if I invest a few TMs into him.

Traja has Insomnia, the more useful of Hoothoot's two abilities, but Timid (+Spd, -Atk) isn't great on a physical attacker. Still, she has usable Peck, she'll evolve early and she'll get some nice utility moves as well.

I add her to the team over Tiberia. Traja will be good for the upcoming gym as a back up to Titus, and we don't really need another water type in Bibarel.

I go back out to Route 205 to train up Traja on some of the fisherman here.

She gets a level against the 6 Magikarp Trainer, who, as usual, takes ages to defeat. I then head back into Eterna City.

THUD the Third

Me and Barry run into Cyrus inspecting the statue of Dialga and Palkia's ugly love child. He's not impressed and leaves soon after we show up.

Oh well, at least we can get our Route 211 encounter now. There are a couple of possibilities here, like Chingling and Bronzor. Just a quick note about Meditite-both it and Medicham have equal base attacking stats, so are classified as unusable. Now, since they're guaranteed to have Pure Power, you could argue that they have higher attack and so should be allowed as special attackers, but I said in the rules I'd be sticking to base stats, so Meditite and Medicham are unviable encounters.

A Chingling, one of the more forgettable Pokémon.

Okay, this guy was actually really scary to catch, since he locked Titus in with Wrap and did surprising damage with Confusion. One more turn and I would have killed it with Bug Bite to be safe. Still, caught.

NEW ENCOUNTER: CHINGLING

BASE ATTACK: 30

BASE SPECIAL ATTACK: 65

CAN ONLY USE PHYSICAL MOVES

On the way back to the PC to look at Chingling, Cynthia appears and hands over the HM for Cut. I appreciate being given stuff I need to advance, but I don't appreciate being forced to teach my mons useless moves. Is there anyone who genuinely liked HMs?

I name Chingling Hadrian. I've actually walked along Hadrian's Wall IRL, fun fact. Anyway, he's got a Jolly (+Spd, -SpAtk), good for a physical attacker. He's got usable Astonish and Wrap as well.

I unironically add Hadrian to the team-he'll actually learn Double Edge once he evolves. He needs friendship to do that though, so I give him the Soothe Bell. This officially marks the first point in the locke that all six of my team members know a usable attacking move!

We can also get the friendship Poketch app in the Center, which is helpful for checking Hadrian's friendship.

I also pick up the Draco Plate from behind the ugly love child statue.

I then move on to tackling a few trainers on Route 211. I can get a Mt. Coronet encounter, but if I wait till night, there's a chance I can get Clefairy, which would be great in this challenge since it learns plenty of physical moves, so I wait.

Otho gets to Lv.19 against the trainers. The level cap for Gardenia is 22, so I'm sensing some grinding will be needed soon.

This Starly also scares the crap out of me by using Double Team, dodging Augustus's Pound, then bringing him to 1 health with Endeavor. It's got Quick Attack as well. Devil bird.

Fortunately it doesn't go for Endeavor when I switch to Otho, so he's able to take it out with Swift that never misses without being at risk to a Quick Attack.

I also find the TM for Taunt here, there's a small chance this will be good down the line.

After a lot of consideration, I decide to teach Traja Pluck. Peck is too weak to be that useful, and she won't learn another physical flying attack by level up. Augustus can learn Aerial Ace by TM and Drill Peck by level up, so I don't really need it for him.

I then start grinding Traja up in preparation for Gardenia, and at Lv.17 she picks up Reflect, a handy support move.

…………NO! I need to explain what happened here. Levelling on Route 211, I had Traja set up Reflect for safety while Machop used Leer. Then it crit her with Karate Chop… and killed her. From full health. I'm sorry Traja, I really thought you'd be ok. Deaths from grinding are the absolute worst, and in a locke this hard, I can't afford to make any more mistakes like this. If I didn't have Titus, Gardenia would now be impossible.

Damn, I'm sorry Traja. You'd only just joined the team, but you had such great potential, and you didn't deserve a death like that. That one was on me. You would have evolved in 3 levels, too. I won't let another mon die from training like you did.

After that really unfortunate loss, it's time to take on the gym trainers for a few levels. I can't see Titus having any problems here.

Titus reaches Lv.20 against the gym trainers and learns Morning Sun. Recovery is always great in hardcore nuzlockes, so this is a nice upgrade over Poison Sting.

A long grinding session brings everyone to Lv.22, except Hadrian who I won't be levelling until he's ready to evolve. Nero tries to learn Water Pulse and Otho Aqua Jet during grinding, but both of these moves are unusable. Nero in particular seems to be falling behind, his moves are weaker than the rest of the team and he doesn't have great stats. I also edge Titus so he'll level up against Gardenia-this really isn't necessary, but after losing Traja I want to play it safe.

Here's the team for the gym, although honestly I don't think I'll need anyone except Titus, who's holding a Cheri Berry in case Roserade tries to paralyze him. Augustus still has the Quick Claw and Galba is back on the team in case I need to paralyze anything.

Here's Titus's stats quickly since I'm anticipating he'll just sweep.

Bring it on!

Gardenia leads Turtwig and I obviously lead Titus. Strange that they gave a gym leader a starter.

Bug Bite does massive damage, but Turtwig sets up a Reflect, which will be irritating.

I decide to use Stun Spore just to wait out Reflect as Gardenia heals Turtwig.

Even with Reflect, Bug Bite still does a solid chunk, and Turtwig does absolutely pitiful damage with Razor Leaf.

Titus is obviously far superior to this chubby turtle and brings it back to the red with Bug Bite.

Gardenia doesn't heal again so Turtwig goes down right as Reflect wears off. Perfect!

Titus gets the level up, but given he quad resists all of Gardenia's attacks except Roserade's Poison Sting, I don't think this matters.

Cherrim is next up against Titus.

This thing could be irritating with Leech Seed, but it opts to hit a 4x resisted Magical Leaf instead after Titus brings it low.

And Cherrim goes down to another Bug Bite. My strategy of Titus spamming Bug Bite seems to be working so far.

Honestly, I think it is. Roserade isn't weak to Bug Bite like the others, but I doubt it can do much to Titus.

Roserade outspeeds and hits Grass Knot, but Titus eats it Sitrus Berry with Bug Bite and ends up on higher health than he started with. Annoyingly Roserade takes less than half damage, though.

I have Titus use Tackle instead so that Gardenia won't heal as Roserade hits another weak grass move.

Err… so I misclick, and Titus uses Tackle again, so Roserade survives and Gardenia heals. As she heals, I have Titus use Morning Sun to get back to full. Guess we're back where we started.

After exchanging attacks for a couple of turns, Roserade is down to the yellow again. It's doing slightly more damage with its attacks than the other two, but Titus still 4x resists.

Thanks for carrying us through that gym, Titus. You're the best Beautifly I could have asked for.

Even in an Attacklocke, Gardenia isn't that hard. That went far better than Roark.

2 down, 6 to go.

Grass Knot might be good coverage for one of our special attackers at some point.

This part's already pretty long, so I'll leave it there. Updates are getting slower, as you may have noticed, I've just got more stuff going on IRL atm. I'll be keeping to my once a week at worst schedule. Thank you for reading!

 

[RubyClaw]

I always look for rules that limit your team and gameplay in ways that still allow you to enjoy the variety this game offers, but with new considerations, and this rulsets those that well.

Damn, poor Traja... Well I doubt she would have stayed long term on your team with her nature and moveset, still she'll be missed.

Congratulations on defeating Gardenia deathless, Titus did an amazing job! (Hardly my favorite Emperor though :P). Good luck moving forward!