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So to add an extra layer of randomization to my randomization, I'm not just going to pick nicknames from Fantasynamegenerators.com. I'm going to pick my nicknames from a random random generator from Fantasynamegenerators.com!
There is a road sign specifically stating that Mr. Pokemon's house is straight ahead. Wow, this guy must be a big deal to have his own road sign. Or maybe he made that sign himself because he thinks he's a big deal. Maybe he's the one who named himself Mr. Pokemon to stroke his ego.
Well, I can't exactly catch this one because I do not have a steed for Sentret, and I cannot box it if I catch it because I would have to box Gror if I caught it and I can't use it without a steed, thus softlocking the game as I would have no Pokemon that I could use. Ah well. It was only level two anyway. Sentret dies, and I lose my encounter for Route 29. (If Chikorita had won the starter poll, things would have been different...)
Youngster Joey then gives me quite the scare when his aforementioned 'top percentage Rattata' gets a crit Quick Attack and lowers Vharde all the way to a single point of HP.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love Wooper. But given that I already have a Totodile (who will be usable once Mareep hatches), there's no reason to hinder my team with this little lady, so she goes down. Not without putting up a fight, but she still goes down.
Wait, really? :x World of Warcraft be hating dubbers (and people who want to talk about the game out loud :P).
Azjiz after clowning on Falkner:
The good thing about Chosen of the Lati is that the HGSS Togepi always hatches with a psychic type move already: Extrasensory. (Which has some synergy with Serene Grace with its flinch chance. It's no Air Slash, but what is? :P)
You know this ruleset is wild when you catch an Unown. If only it were an Unown of a vowel...
Lore rule:
Sazae-Oni
If you caught this pokemon in the water - Choose all pokemon in
your party that are from the opposite gender to Slowpoke/
Slowbro/Slowking and are not oblivious. For each of them either
sacrifice items worth 10,000 pokeyen / 1/6 of your money (the
higher of the options), or that pokemon is paralyzed and has to be
put into the box until you win the next two gym battles.
If you caught this pokemon on land - Randomize one pokemon
among the lowest levelled in your party and the pokemon in your
party that are afflicted by status condition - 50% that this pokemon dies.
Data rule:
Easy Target (Slowpoke only). If another Pokemon’s data rule would affect another party member, 50% chance that it affects Slowpoke instead (regardless of whether or not it would affect Slowpoke normally). This rule loses its effects when Slowpoke evolves (but all lasting effects from the data rules of other Pokemon remain).
Ooh, that's a fascinating combo: threatening to fight, but under threat on your team for... *looks up Slowbro's evolution level/earliest time to get a King's Rock for Slowking* a long time.
...and then I remember that Gror is in the party and cancels the effects of lore rules of Water-type Pokemon as I catch them, meaning that Vharde is alive!
A new day dawns, and Shaya goes to sleep in the PC box while we grind the egg in hopes of hatching it. Surprisingly, it hatches immediately afterwards, giving us a bouncing baby boy! Togepi's name generator is for reptile names, which has three options: turtle names, scorpion names, and other names (yes, the generator acknowledges that scorpions are not actually reptiles). I randomly select 'other names' and... one of them is Zapdos. Why Zapdos?
The final member of the team will be Lucky (Togepi) in hopes of friendship grinding and eventually evolving into Togetic, upon which he'll be able to resist Bug-type moves because fairies don't exist this generation (and yes, I know saying that will kill a Fairy-type, but sadly that doesn't mean it's not true).
And SoulSilver gets the increased chance for Blue and Green Shards instead? But the only thing good on those tables are Lum Berries... Both Leppa and Sitrus Berries are on the HeartGold side. :c jokes on you tho we get delibird
So now it's finally time for Bugsy. I decide that my strategy will be to lead with Stalky N (Geodude), switch into Lucky (Togetic) or Azjiz (Flaaffy) if necessary as my first wedlocke partner, and if one or both of them dies, then, and only then, will I resort to An'zeh (Pidgeotto) and Vharde (Fearow), because Azjiz depends on An'zeh and/or Vharde being alive to be able to be in my party, and if they both die, I not only lose that wedlocke pair but I also lose Lucky and Azjiz, and that's no fun. Vanlamir (Butterfree) will be my sixth slot party members, but he's only around so Stalky N can be.
So here's basically how it went. Scyther kept trollking Stalky N by using U-turn to get out of range of that devastating 4x Rock Throw. The first two attacks did sizable damage, but Stalky N was in range to survive a third U-turn, so I decided to keep him in.
And on the way out, Wade gives us a call to say that he's found berries to share with us. Um, not the time, dude. We're in mourning. And it doesn't help that it's entirely possible that if we'd just equipped those berries we got from the shard trading guy onto our Pokemon before going into a gym battle, Stalky N might have still been alive...
So since my mode of operations for this nuzlocke has been to crowdsource my decision-making process when I can't figure something out, here's a question for y'all: since I still have my Ruins of Alph outdoors encounter, should I allow myself to catch another Geodude from the Ruins of Alph, or should dupes clause count for dead Pokemon as well?
I was always under the impression that the Dupes Clause was a voluntary thing anyway. That is, if you catch a Rattata in Rt 1, and the first encounter of Rt 2 is another Rattata, you can choose to skip it to try for a Pidgey. Then, if you do indeed catch a Pidgey in Rt 2, and the Rt 3 first encounter is another Pidgey, you can still elect to try for the Pidgey if you so desire.
Anyway, assuming it's not elective, the Dupes Clause tends to have three different ways of being phrased: Skip an encounter of Pokemon you already _____.
have
caught
registered
These have different contexts depending on which you go with.
1 implies you have it in stock, meaning that if you had not lost Geodude and evolved it into Graveler, you would have to catch a Geodude if it is your first encounter of an area.
2 implies that once you have caught a Geodude, you skip all Geodude encounters from then on. However, even if your Geodude evolves to Graveler, you must still take a Graveler encounter.
3 implies that no matter how it is in your Dex, it is now skipped as per the Dupes Clause. So, once you capture Geodude and then evolve it into Graveler, you must now skip any encounters involving either.
It all depends on which interpretation you go with. Personally, I go with it being optional (up to third encounter) and registered.
Oh no I am sorry about your Geodude!! Ripppp Stalky N you will be missed kjjsdhfkds
In terms of Dupes Clause, I personally/usually use Dupes Clause a little differently. I have 3 tries to catch a non-dupes 'mon but if a non-dupes 'mon does not show itself by Try #3 then I have to catch the duplicated 'mon in front of me (so I am not entirely safe from having my PC filled with multiple common Normal type rodents kksjdhfskd). But I usually force myself to skip a duplicated 'mon if it shows up on Try #1 or #2 and a mon of that species has already died (though not its evolutions).
But for you, you already have to deal with so many harsh rules and you have Whitney up ahead of you, so I feel like this run's rules are difficult enough. For this reason I am voting that you can catch the Geodude in the Ruins of Alph and that Dupes Clause does not apply if the 'mon is dead. But that's just my view and it depends on what everyone else says/what you want to do.
So I recently asked y'all to tell me if you think I should get another Geodude from the Ruins of Alph to replace Stalky N. With one vote in favor, three votes against, and another vote telling me to choose for myself, the final decision is that dupes clause counts even if the Pokemon is dead, so we will not be picking up another Geodude. Alas, alack.
As I continue my grind, Dai Maddy learns Spore over Leech Life (because Leech Life is useless pre-Alola) and I decide on a battle strategy to face August. Since August has a Gastly, I will lead with Gror (Croconaw), hopefully take out his first two mons with him, and then switch into the An'zeh (Pidgeotto)/Vharde (Fearow) power couple so I have something strong against Sage the Bayleef.
And now it's time. Bela encounters August yet again, where he expresses scorn at the idea that she could have taken down Team Rocket.
Gastly vs. Gror (Croconaw)
Gr Bite OHKO!
Sage (August's Bayleef) vs. An'zeh (our Pidgeotto)
A Gust
S Reflect
A Gust
S Razor Leaf
A Gust KO!
Zubat vs. An'zeh
A Gust
Z Supersonic
A hit self
Z Bite
August's Reflect wears off
A snap out, Gust
Z Bite
A Gust KO!
The fight pretty much goes without incident. Certainly August sent out his Bayleef earlier than I expected (although it made perfect sense to), meaning I had to switch into An'zeh sooner than anticipated, but aside from August's Zubat annoyingly hitting a Supersonic, the battle was uneventful -- I didn't even have to switch into Vharde. But, then, better a boring fight than an unqualified disaster.
And speaking of unqualified disasters, it's finally time to address the Donphan in the room: Whitney's Miltank. My current 'core four' of two Wedlockes consists of not one, nor two, but three Flying types. Not what I want on my team against a Rollout user. So it's time to reassess my team and grind some boxed mons up!
Lucky (Togetic) and Azjiz (Flaaffy) are the first to be boxed, meaning that I must pull out Shaj Jeve (Slowpoke) to replace Azjiz as the necessary counterpart to Gror (Croconaw). I also add Patient (Rattata) to the team, and for now Vharde (Fearow) and An'zeh (Pidgeotto) will stay on the team because the other two Pokemon in my box (Vanlamir the Butterfree and Shaya the Zubat) are also Flying types and because Shaya can't even be used in daylight. So it's time to grind some more! (I also swap Patient's Old Amber with a Helix Fossil because I have multiples of both and I figure a fossilized Omanyte shell is harder than a chunk of amber. Praise Helix.)
During the grinding, Patient learns Bite over Tackle, meaning that she now has her mandatory data rule move that she must open every battle with. (On that note, we must not lead with her when hunting encounters, as she will almost certainly kill them.) Shaj Jeve learns Water Gun over Growl for coverage, and then she wants to learn Confusion. While I think that against Whitney's Miltank, her Yawn/Curse/physical attack combo would likely be clutch (yes I know that Miltank has the Lum Berry, I'm planning around that), I do have to take into account that her only physical attack is Tackle, which isn't all that great. So ultimately I overwrite Tackle with Confusion and hope that at some point I can get some good physical moves on Shaj. Also, Confusion has a chance to burn the Lum Berry on Miltank, so there's that. Patient then learns Hyper Fang over Tail Whip, giving her two options for biting moves as per her data rule.
Wade calls us yet again to tell us he's found berries, so we head over. This time around it's a Chesto Berry, which isn't bad even if we already have an even dozen of those things. And then as we're heading back to Azalea Town, Wade calls us again to say he's got even more berries to share. Um, dude? Where are you growing all these things?
Along the way back, Shaj Jeve decides she wants to learn Disable. Now, while this could be excellent indeed against Miltank's Rollout, I don't want to change any of Shaj's moves -- she has Water Gun and Confusion for STAB, and Yawn and Curse for setup/utility. So I choose not to teach her Disable; it's a bit too niche to be worth sacrificing a move slot for. Then Wade gives us an Aspear Berry and I'm like, "Dude, I appreciate the thought, but I have like thirty of these things because there's been a gold rush in Yellow Shards in the Ruins of Alph."
Finally, Patient evolves into Raticate, With that task done, we head into Ilex Forest to do the mandatory Farfetch'd quest so we can progress with the game. We catch Far and Fetch'd (and I thought Bela's naming process was weird), get the HM Cut, and then learn that the only party members we currently have that can use Cut are Dai Maddy (Paras), Gror (Croconaw), and Patient (Raticate). Dai Maddy is the weakest of the group, and at this point Cut is actually an improvement over his sole attacking move Scratch, so guess what, mushroom boi? You're gonna be cutting down trees.
After stopping to collect Charcoal from the Farfetch'd guy, Bela heads deeper into Ilex Forest, where she finds a man shaking trees using Headbutt. Now, Headbutt is a good move to have to get encounters from areas that normally wouldn't have encounters, but the question is who should learn the move. Shaj Jeve has a good Attack stat plus Curse boosts, but I like her Water Gun/Confusion/Curse/Yawn moveset already, so I'm not gonna overwrite her moves. Gror's moveset is Water Gun/Rage/Leer/Bite, so I decide to replace Leer with Headbutt so I can set out to catch 'em all.
Incidentally, Dai Maddy proves his worth against the forest he once called home by guiding a Kimono Girl out of the woods. (He happened to be the one in front, and it just worked so well character-wise to have him be the one to do it.)
On Route 34, our first non-dupes encounter is a male Drowzee.
Lore rule:
Baku
This pokemon feeds on dreams and protects its owner from evil spirits. Must
know the moves Hypnosis and Dream Eater if possible. As long as Drowzee/
Hypno is in your party Pokemon with negative lore rules can ignore their effect
while they are asleep or their opponent is asleep. While this pokemon is in your
party you may ignore the effect of lore rules of Ghost type pokemon as you
catch them.
Data rule:
Bewitcher.
When you catch this Pokemon, randomize one Pokemon that you used in battle against it (or one Pokemon in your party if you caught it without battling it). That Pokemon has become bewitched and must be boxed until you complete your next major boss battle (gym leader, totem, kahuna, noble Pokemon, or reach the Elite Four/endgame boss).
Thanks to Vharde's data rule, I can determine the effects of this data rule before catching it... except that I won't be able to just yet, because I won't know who I used in battle to catch it until I actually catch it. I can however determine whether or not Shaj Jeve will have to be boxed, and I determine that, yes, Shaj Jeve's Easy Target data rule WOULD come into play here. Since Shaj Jeve's Curse+Yawn combo is actually what I'm relying on in hopes of defeating the Almighty Hellcow, I decide not to capture Drowzee... and realize that I should have planned ahead and put Shaya (Zubat) on the team here, since it is after all night and I could've negated Drowzee's data rule with him. (In fairness, Hypno is probably the Pokemon I hate most in the entire roster, or at least sharing the top five with the Forces of Nature.)
With that as a lesson to me, I head back to Azalea Town, heal my Pokemon, and go to grab Shaya back onto my team, replacing Patient because her lore rules and data rules don't really affect Pokemon catching. This will also give me an opportunity to train Shaya, since I haven't really used him for a while because of his lore rule affecting when and where I can do so.
So now it's time to Headbutt some trees in Azalea Town and hope to get something good. Our first non-dupes encounter is a male Aipom, which I'm excited about because Aipom is one of my favorite Gen 2 mons. So let's see what rules he has...
Lore rule
Disciple of the Monkey King.
This pokemon is eager to go on a quest in order to spread
enlightenment. Must know a Fighting type move if possible.
Can’t know two moves of the same type. Must stay in
battle for at least two turns before it can be switched out.
Considered a Royal. Every time you reach a new route
(including towns, caves, etc) add a quest token to Aipom/
Ambipom. When it has at least 20 tokens (or if you have
reached the E4) and is fully evolved you may remove all the
quest tokens from it, cancel the negative effects of this lore
rule, and cancel a lore rule of a pokemon of your choice who
has been with Aipom/Ambipom on the team for a least two
gym battles.
Data rule
Voracious Herbivore.
When you catch this Pokemon, each Grass-type Pokemon you own (including those not in your party) has a 20% chance to die. Cannot switch out against Grass-type Pokemon. Cannot be on the same team as a Grass-type Pokemon (or it will eat it). Must know Bug Bite or Leech Life if possible.
So this guy is a risk for Dai Maddy, but thankfully Vharde is here to let us know if Paras lives or dies, and the answer is... Dai Maddy will survive if we catch this monke! So let's go for it!
In the process of trying to catch Aipon, Shaya somehow winds up down to 4 HP when I'm not paying attention to the screen, and I switch into Gror in hopes of somehow whittling it down safely. A single Rage manages to get it into the red, and I start chucking Poke Balls. After several failures, I switch into Shaj Jeve to Yawn it, and that nets us the capture we need!
Aipom gets a Xhosa name generator (Xhosa being a language spoken in South Africa), and I name him Onke Gaika. (The similarity to Monke is coincidental.) For the purpose of grinding, he's going to replace Dai Maddy on the team (since the two clearly cannot co-exist with Onke having cream of mushroom soup), and we learn that Onke has a Sassy nature and often dozes off. His ability is Run Away, which is disappointing because I was hoping for Pickup, but he's still an adorable if troublesome monke, so we'll grind him up for now.
On that note, Onke is not supposed to have two moves of the same type, but his current moveset is Scratch/Tail Whip/Sand-Attack, which means I need to find him some TMs to overwrite one of his two Normal moves. Of the TMs I currently have, Aipom can learn Taunt, U-turn, and Rock Smash, and since his lorerule requires that he knows a Fighting-type move, he learns Rock Smash. While Onke cannot switch out of battle until he has spent at least two turns in battle, and he can't switch out against Grass-types at all, I still choose to teach him U-turn over Tail Whip because it seems more useful than Taunt. That being said, while my usual mode of operations in Pokemon games is to organize my party from weakest to strongest, Onke is not going to lead the party until we get all the way back to the early routes and I can grind him safely.
In Violet City, we get another Headbutt encounter, this one a female Hoothoot.
Lore rule:
Living Cuckoo Clock
You are not allowed to open a trainer battle using Hoothoot/
Noctowl. If on the sixth turn of battle with a trainer
Hoothoot/Noctowl is in your party and is not in battle, you
must switch it into the battle immediately if possible. Cancel
this lorelocke rule if it was caught with a time ball.
Data rule:
Chosen of Uxie.
While this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the data rules of Psychic type Pokemon in your party, and of Psychic-type Pokemon you catch. If a Pokemon’s data rule would affect any of your Pokemon, you may roll to learn the results of the data rule before you try to catch the Pokemon. If you have any Pokemon with Chosen of Azelf or Chosen of Mesprit, they must be in the same party as this Pokemon. This Pokemon cannot learn Amnesia. This Pokemon must know Future Sight or Miracle Eye if possible.
This one's data rule is pretty much redundant given that we already have Vharde and Shaya, and the lore rule is obnoxious because it requires me to keep track of every single turn in every single battle, so I decide to kill it and move on.
We have another Headbutt encounter in Cherrygrove City, which is another Hoothoot, this one a male. Since there isn't exactly a good way for me to ask my readers if I should count this as my encounter or not, I decide to count it anyway, and roll up its rules.
Lore rule:
Living Cuckoo Clock
You are not allowed to open a trainer battle using Hoothoot/
Noctowl. If on the sixth turn of battle with a trainer
Hoothoot/Noctowl is in your party and is not in battle, you
must switch it into the battle immediately if possible. Cancel
this lorelocke rule if it was caught with a time ball.
Data rule:
Silent Hunter.
Cannot be affected by data rules that would harm it. Cannot be the lead Pokemon in your party. When you catch this Pokemon, randomize one Pokemon in your party, and 50% chance that it dies, regardless of the effects of any data rules that would protect it.
Welp, this is a must-miss. Not only is it another obnoxious Living Cuckoo Clock, but it has a potential unavoidable death sentence to one of my Pokemon if I do catch it. Just for fun, I decide to use Vharde's data rule to determine who this murderbirb would go after and if he'd succeed. The answer is 1. Onke would be the target, and 2. he would totally die. Uh-uh. Nope. Not gonna sacrifice the Onke King for yet another Normal/Flying birb. In fact, Onke is actually the Pokemon that takes this Hoothoot out, from the sheer spite of it (and also because we're finally in territory where Onke can gain experience without extreme risk of death).
Our final Headbutt location is New Bark Town, where we get a male Hoothoot because the trees are just full of Hoothoot this late at night. Let's see if this one isn't terrible.
Lore rule:
Tatarimokke (Living Soul)
Only comes in effect when you have your first dead pokemon. Randomize a
pokemon you had who died. This pokemon is the reincarnation of its soul
and it gains its lore rule (choose only a pokemon with a rule that can make
sense mechanically for Hoothoot/Noctowl). In addition to that, it must
have at least two Psychic/Ghost type moves if possible.
Data rule:
Silent Hunter.
Cannot be affected by data rules that would harm it. Cannot be the lead Pokemon in your party. When you catch this Pokemon, randomize one Pokemon in your party, and 50% chance that it dies, regardless of the effects of any data rules that would protect it.
Well, this could be interesting. What if it kills one of my Pokemon only to gain its data rule? I use Vharde's data rule to determine that its target is... Vharde, and that it would not succeed in killing Vharde. Now, I currently have only two dead Pokemon (and hopefully will not lose any more Pokemon in capturing this owl), so Hoothoot would gain Stalky N's lore rule, thus linking it to Vanlamir via the connection they shared. This would be... interesting, and I probably do need more catches just in case Hellcow wrecks me, so I capture the third Hoothoot.
This guy gets a board game name generator, which is... interesting to say the least. Since he's a bodyguard, I name him Knock Off. That's not at all intimidating. Stalky N has returned from beyond the grave, and while he won't be defeating Whitney's Miltank anytime soon, he's still a round boi. He has a Quiet nature, is mischievous, and has the ability Keen Eye. Unfortunately he's level 2 and can't be the first Pokemon in the party, so I likely won't actually use him until I get the Exp. Share and can safely grind him without risk of dying to a switch-in.
Onke learns Astonish over Sand-Attack, but eventually I have to switch him for Dai Maddy to use Cut to head up to Goldenrod (I am not going to even TRY to teach Onke Cut, as that would prevent him from learning Double Hit to evolve). I also add Patient back to the team in place of Shaya, as by this point it's daylight again. After an unskippable cutscene at the day care (during which Ethan's grandmother thinks that Ethan and Bela are a couple and my acearo self feels slightly uncomfortable), we make it to Goldenrod, giving Onke his first Quest Token.
Which leads us to our next problem. Goldenrod City has four potential gift/static encounters: Abra, Ekans, Dratini, and Bill's gift Eevee. Due to nuzlocke rules, I can only get one of these encounters, and if I choose Eevee, I'll have to wait until after reaching Ecruteak before I can get it. So, as with my previous choice encounters, I'm going to roll up everymon's rules and then put it to a vote. I will say that I am not going to use Abra due to its lore rule (both the thematic implications and the actual mechanics of the rule), so any votes for Abra will not be counted. I'm simply revealing what I rolled for it to explain why I'm not using it. The votes are for Ekans, Dratini, and Eevee.
Abra:
Lore rule
Satanic Rituals
When you catch this pokemon in order to keep it you must - Sacrifice a
pokemon you own, throw away 6 pokeballs of any kind, throw away 6
items, and throw away 6 berries/status healing items (can do that within
the first hour).
Data rule
Future Sight.
While this Pokemon is in your party, when you encounter a Pokemon whose data rule would affect your Pokemon in any way, you may roll to see how it would affect your Pokemon before choosing whether to catch it or not. Must know Future Sight or Miracle Eye if possible.
Ekans:
Lore rule
Glare of the Basilisk
Must learn Glare as soon as possible and can’t unlearn it. As long as this pokemon has the move Glare it must use it whenever an unparalyzed pokemon that can be paralyzed is sent against it in a trainers battle (either in the beginning of the battle or when switched in). Considered Royal.
Data rule
Venomous.
When you capture this Pokemon, each Pokemon that was damaged by it in battle/the Pokemon at the front of your party in Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee/Safari Zone (except Pokemon that cannot be damaged by poison under normal circumstances due to typing, held item, or ability) has a 30% chance to die. If they are weak to the Poison type, they have an additional 20% chance to die (this effect is doubled if they are double weak to the Poison type), and if they were poisoned by this Pokemon, they have an additional 20% chance to die. Must know a move that can poison the target.
Dratini:
Lore rule
Master of the Water Element
Must know Surf if possible. Can’t use any Fire type moves.
In games with held items it can only be used if it is holding a
Water Stone or Mystic Water
Data rule
Reclusive.
If you use this Pokemon in a trainer battle in open air (i.e. areas that are not caves/buildings/forests), 25% chance that it is spotted and flees your party. If this occurs, you must release it.
Eevee:
Lore rule
Manifest Destiny
This pokemon already has a its fate decided for it and it must pursue its goal.
Randomize one of the possible Eeveelutions this game provides - Eevee can only
evolve into that one.
Randomized Eeveelution: Espeon
Data rule
Chosen of Arceus.
Must hold a Plate if possible; if it cannot hold a Plate, choose a plate type for it to ‘hold.’ While this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the data rules of any Pokemon you own that are the same type of this Pokemon or are of the same type as the plate it holds. You may change the type of plate this Pokemon holds at any time. When this Pokemon changes type or loses the plate it holds, the affected types change to reflect it.
There's also a few new encounters we can get before facing Whitney, but this chapter is long enough as it is, so we'll get to that later!
Gror, male Croconaw
Rash, highly persistent
Torrent
Lore rule:
The Tanninim of Tiamat (Chosen of Tiamat)
While this pokemon is in your party you may cancel the lore rule of every other Water pokemon in your party and the effect of lore rules of Water type pokemon as you catch them. Must know a Poison or Dragon type move if possible. Its main type is considered Dragon, and secondary types are Poison and Water for the purpose of lore rules. When Totodile/Croconaw/Feraliagtor dies, choose a Water type pokemon and a Flying type pokemon you have, or had and died due to a lore rule. You may revive each of these pokemon and reroll its lore rule, or just reroll its lore rule if it is alive. If the new lore rule is activated upon catching, it is then activated again.
Data rule:
Descendant of the Drake Fossil.
You must have an Electric or Water type Pokemon in your party to use this Pokemon (unless it is the only Pokemon you own). While this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the data rules of Dragon-type Pokemon in your party and of Dragon-type Pokemon that you catch, as well as the data rules of any fossil Pokemon in your party or that you catch (including Genesect).
---
An'zeh, male Pidgeotto
Hasty, sturdy body
Tangled Feet
Wedlocked to Vharde
Lore rule:
Peacekeeping Dove
This pokemon can’t have more than 2 damage dealing
moves. You are not allowed to open a trainer battle
using this pokemon.
Lore rule negated by Vharde's lorerule
Data rule:
Descendant of Archeops.
This Pokemon is considered Flying/Rock type for the purpose of data rules. Must know at least one Rock, Ground, or Steel type move if possible. While this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the data rules of Rock-type Pokemon in your party, and of Rock-type Pokemon you catch.. You may ignore the data rules of any fossil Pokemon in your party (including Genesect).
Necessary move: Sand Attack
---
Vharde, female Fearow
Modest, mischievous
Keen Eye
Wedlocked to An'zeh
Lore rule:
Griffin Ancestry
When you catch this pokemon Wedlocke it with
another pokemon of your choice (both pokemon
must stay at your party at the same time, and if one
of the pokemon dies the Wedlocke ends at the end
of battle). It mates for life, and can’t be Wedlocked
ever again. Whenever this pokemon evolves you
must throw away items worth 10,000 pokeyen or a
Nugget - if you can’t pay, box it immediately and its
Wedlocked partner until you choose to pay. As a
Fearow, you may also cancel the negative effects
of the lore rule of the pokemon that is Wedlocked
to Fearow.
Data rule:
Sound the Alarm (High Alert).
If this Pokemon is in your party and a Pokemon’s data rule endangers any of your Pokemon, you may roll to see which Pokemon it would target before deciding whether to capture it or not (rather than before capturing it). Must know a sound-based move if possible and, if it is at the front of the party, open every trainer battle with it.
Necessary move: Growl
---
Vanlamir, male Butterfree
Quirky, somewhat vain
Compound Eyes
Lore rule:
A Living Soul
Only comes into effect as a Butterfree and when you have
your first dead pokemon. Randomize a pokemon you had
who died. This pokemon is the reincarnation of its soul and
it gains its lore rule (choose only a pokemon with a rule that
can make sense mechanically for this Butterfree). In addition
to that, it must have at least two Psychic/Ghost type moves
if possible
Necessary moves: Confusion
Inherited Lurog's lore rule:
Warding Glyph
As long as Unown is in your party, ignore the effect of lore rules of pokemon, whose lore rule name includes the Unown letter (J), as you
catch them.
Data rule:
Vulnerable Shell
If this Pokemon is hit with a critical or super-effective hit, it dies. Loses effect when it evolves into Butterfree.
---
Shaya, male Zubat
Naive, alert to sounds
Inner Focus
Lore rule:
Burned by the Light
In a game with day/night cycle - Can only be used out#doors in the night.
In a game without day/night cycle - When used outdoors
it can only be used for 3 consecutive turns, then if not
switched out it is considered dead in the end of combat.
Data rule:
Chosen of Lunala.
When this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the effects of data rules of Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokemon in your party and of Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokemon as you catch them. If a Pokemon in your party can only be used at night, its data rule is negated when it is in the same party as this Pokemon. If a data rule would have you sacrifice a Moon Stone, you do not need to sacrifice it. Must know a Psychic move if possible. Must know a Ghost move if possible. Must hold a Moon Stone if possible.
Ghost move: Astonish
---
Azjiz, female Flaaffy
Calm, quick to flee
Static
Wedlocked to Lucky
Lore rule
The Golden Fleece of Khrysomallos
When you catch this pokemon choose a male and a female non-starter
pokemon you own. Mareep/Flaaffy can only be in your party if at least one of these pokemon is in it as well, and loses this effect when it evolves into Ampharos. When Mareep/Flaaffy dies or evolves into Ampharos (whatever happens first) you gain an item called “The Golden Fleece”. You can give this item to one of your other pokemon and it doesn’t take the held item slot, it can’t be moved to another pokemon or taken away even if that pokemon dies, and the pokemon holding it is considered Royal, is immune to the effects of negative lore rules related to money and items, and can sacrifice the Golden Fleece to prevent its death from a lorerule.
Male Pokemon: An'zeh
Female Pokemon: Vharde
Original data rule overwritten
Beacon of Hope.
Must know at least one Electric-type or Fire-type move, or a move associated with light -- Signal Beam, Dazzling Gleam, etc. Cannot be in the same party as a Pokemon whose data rule only allows it to be used at night.
Replaced data rule
Chosen of the Lati.
While this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the effects of data rules for Psychic and Dragon Pokemon in your party, and of Psychic and Dragon Pokemon that you catch. Must know a Psychic move if possible. When this Pokemon first enters your party (or when it evolves into Togetic if you obtain it as Togepi), choose a Pokemon of the opposite gender in your party that does not already have a Chosen of/Vessel of data rule. That Pokemon is now wedlocked to Togetic/Togekiss, and its data rule is replaced with Chosen of the Lati. If one Pokemon in the wedlocke pair dies but the other survives, the survivor chooses a new Pokemon of the opposite gender to be wedlocked to and to become a Chosen of the Lati.
---
Lurog, Unown J
Lonely, loves to eat
Levitate
Died by lore rule
Lore rule:
Warding Glyph
As long as Unown is in your party, ignore the effect of lore rules of pokemon, whose lore rule name includes the Unown letter, as you
catch them.
Data rule:
Telepathy. This Pokemon is immune to the negative effects of data rules from all Pokemon except Dark-type Pokemon. When this Pokemon is in the front of your party, all of your Pokemon are immune.
---
Stalky N, male Geodude
Impish, often dozes off
Rock Head
Died in battle (Bugsy's Scyther)
Lore rule:
The Golem of Prague
This pokemon is a magical guardian golem. Choose a pokemon in your party. Geodude/Graveler/Golem is assigned as the guardian of this pokemon meaning: you can only use Geodude/Graveler/Golem as long as the guarded pokemon is in the same party as it is. Whenever a lore rule affects the guarded pokemon negatively you may redirect it to the guardian, and if that pokemon is wounded you must use healing items to heal it to full health while the guardian is out before the guardian can use any moves or items on itself. If the guarded pokemon dies, the guardian loses control. If there is a Psychic pokemon on your team it can deac#tivate the guardian, if not it first attacks each of your pokemon in your party and 20% kills them, and then becomes deactivated (and can’t be used). You can reactivate it by throwing away 3 non-bought revives or light clay and choose a new pokemon to be guarded.
Guarded Pokemon: Vanlamir the Butterfree
Data rule:
Rolling Stone (Bouncing Ball).
Every time this Pokemon uses a move in a trainer battle, 50% chance that it uses the same move on the next turn. If so, you are unable to use items or switch it out on that turn. Must know Rollout or Bounce if possible.
Negated by An'zeh's data rule
---
Patient, female Raticate
Quirky, strongly defiant
Run Away
Lore rule:
Servant of the Pied Piper
When you catch this pokemon you must either
sacrifice items worth 2000 pokeyen / 1/4 of your
pokeyen (the higher of the options, or the one you
can afford in case you can’t afford one of them), or
lose your lowest levelled pokemon (from your box
or party) – it is considered lost/dead and can't be
used anymore
Data rule:
Constant Gnawer (Toothy). Must know at least one biting move if possible and open every battle with it. In games with held items, must hold a hard item such as a Hard Stone or a Nugget.
Held item: Helix Fossil
Mandatory move: Bite
---
Dai Maddy, male Paras
Brave, somewhat of a clown
Effect Spore
Lore rule:
Spore Cloud Protection
Every pokemon used to catch this pokemon 50% enters a deep slumber/is paralyzed and can’t be used until you defeat the next gym leader (or enter Victory Road). Must know a move with the word “Spore” in it if possible and it’s the only move it can use if it’s health is in the red.
Target: Vanlamir (does not sleep)
Necessary move: Stun Spore/Spore
Data rule:
Tochukaso Medicine. At any point after this Pokemon evolves into Parasect (or when you catch it as a Parasect), you may sacrifice it to revive one Pokemon that died from a data rule. Must know a powder move if possible.
Necessary move: Stun Spore/Spore
---
Shaj Jeve, female Slowpoke
Calm, somewhat vain
Own Tempo
Lore rule:
Sazae-Oni
If you caught this pokemon in the water - Choose all pokemon in
your party that are from the opposite gender to Slowpoke/
Slowbro/Slowking and are not oblivious. For each of them either
sacrifice items worth 10,000 pokeyen / 1/6 of your money (the
higher of the options), or that pokemon is paralyzed and has to be
put into the box until you win the next two gym battles.
If you caught this pokemon on land - Randomize one pokemon
among the lowest levelled in your party and the pokemon in your
party that are afflicted by status condition - 50% that this pokemon dies.
Negated by Gror, saving Vharde's life
Data rule:
Easy Target (Slowpoke only). If another Pokemon’s data rule would affect another party member, 50% chance that it affects Slowpoke instead (regardless of whether or not it would affect Slowpoke normally). This rule loses its effects when Slowpoke evolves (but all lasting effects from the data rules of other Pokemon remain).
Data rule affected by Shaya's and Lucky's data rules
---
Lucky, male Togetic
Lonely, good endurance
Serene Grace
Wedlocked to Azjiz
Lore rule:
Peacekeeping Dove
This pokemon can’t have more than 2 damage dealing moves.
You are not allowed to open a trainer battle using this pokemon.
Data rule:
Chosen of the Lati.
While this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the effects of data rules for Psychic and Dragon Pokemon in your party, and of Psychic and Dragon Pokemon that you catch. Must know a Psychic move if possible. When this Pokemon first enters your party (or when it evolves into Togetic if you obtain it as Togepi), choose a Pokemon of the opposite gender in your party that does not already have a Chosen of/Vessel of data rule. That Pokemon is now wedlocked to Togetic/Togekiss, and its data rule is replaced with Chosen of the Lati. If one Pokemon in the wedlocke pair dies but the other survives, the survivor chooses a new Pokemon of the opposite gender to be wedlocked to and to become a Chosen of the Lati.
Chosen wedlocke partner: Azjiz
---
Onke Gaika, male Aipom
Sassy, often dozes off
Run Away
Lore rule
Disciple of the Monkey King.
This pokemon is eager to go on a quest in order to spread
enlightenment. Must know a Fighting type move if possible.
Can’t know two moves of the same type. Must stay in
battle for at least two turns before it can be switched out.
Considered a Royal. Every time you reach a new route
(including towns, caves, etc) add a quest token to Aipom/
Ambipom. When it has at least 20 tokens (or if you have
reached the E4) and is fully evolved you may remove all the
quest tokens from it, cancel the negative effects of this lore
rule, and cancel a lore rule of a pokemon of your choice who
has been with Aipom/Ambipom on the team for a least two
gym battles.
Quest tokens: 1
Data rule
Voracious Herbivore.
When you catch this Pokemon, each Grass-type Pokemon you own (including those not in your party) has a 20% chance to die. Cannot switch out against Grass-type Pokemon. Cannot be on the same team as a Grass-type Pokemon (or it will eat it). Must know Bug Bite or Leech Life if possible.
---
Knock Off, male Hoothoot
Quiet, mischievous
Keen Eye
Lore rule:
Tatarimokke (Living Soul)
Only comes in effect when you have your first dead pokemon. Randomize a pokemon you had who died. This pokemon is the reincarnation of its soul and it gains its lore rule (choose only a pokemon with a rule that can make sense mechanically for Hoothoot/Noctowl). In addition to that, it must have at least two Psychic/Ghost type moves if possible.
Dead Pokemon: Stalky N
Stalky N's lore rule:
The Golem of Prague
This pokemon is a magical guardian golem. Choose a pokemon in your party. Geodude/Graveler/Golem is assigned as the guardian of this pokemon meaning: you can only use Geodude/Graveler/Golem as long as the guarded pokemon is in the same party as it is. Whenever a lore rule affects the guarded pokemon negatively you may redirect it to the guardian, and if that pokemon is wounded you must use healing items to heal it to full health while the guardian is out before the guardian can use any moves or items on itself. If the guarded pokemon dies, the guardian loses control. If there is a Psychic pokemon on your team it can deac#tivate the guardian, if not it first attacks each of your pokemon in your party and 20% kills them, and then becomes deactivated (and can’t be used). You can reactivate it by throwing away 3 non-bought revives or light clay and choose a new pokemon to be guarded.
Guarded Pokemon: Vanlamir the Butterfree
Data rule:
Silent Hunter. Cannot be affected by data rules that would harm it. Cannot be the lead Pokemon in your party. When you catch this Pokemon, randomize one Pokemon in your party, and 50% chance that it dies, regardless of the effects of any data rules that would protect it.
I was playing ahead in HeartGold to pick up a few encounters while I waited for the votes to come in on which Goldenrod gift Pokemon to get, and, well...
Something happened.
It wasn't good.
While waiting for the votes to come in on my Goldenrod City encounter, I realized it was Tuesday, which meant the Bug-Catching Contest was on. Since I've got a few more encounters left before the Whitney grind (and one of them is in the National Park), I might as well go for it! I'll explore Goldenrod City later -- for now, let's pop Onke (Aipom) in front and hope to get something good. There's also the mail quest with Keyna the Spearow, but since I already have Fearow, dupes clause denies that quest.
Our first stop is Route 35, which has a few trainers to take on before we can actually get to the tall grass. A trainer's Vulpix shows no respect for the rules, Roaring out Onke on the first turn, and in hindsight I probably should've switched back into him in regards to the rules, I couldn't legally do that because Vharde (Fearow) was dragged out and she can only switch with An'zeh (Pidgeotto). So I defeated Vulpix with Vharde and we decided to put that little incident behind us. We then fight a Juggler with a bunch of underleveled Voltorb, none of which explode (thankfully), but my current team is super duper weak to electricity and I'm not thrilled about SonicBoom.
So our Route 35 encounter is another male Drowzee, possibly the same one from the last chapter who's been stalking me this entire time because Drowzee are horrible. But, then, we'll let the RNG decide. There's one good thing about Drowzee, and it's that it can be traded for a Machop in Goldenrod City, so it might be worth capturing... if it doesn't murder anymon.
Lore rule:
Chimera
This pokemon is a combination of a few animals. Randomly select 2 of
the following rules for it to see which parts of it are chimeric. A) Back
Limbs - Must have at least two non-damaging moves if possible. B) Front
Limbs - Can’t have two moves of the same type. C) Tail - Must have a move
that can inflict a status condition and open every trainer battle with it if
possible. D) Skin—Randomize a type. If it is hit by a move of this type it can’t
be used in battle and dies. E) Head - Must stay in trainer battles for at least 2
consecutive turns
Randomized traits: Tail (Must have a move that can inflict a status condition and open every trainer battle with it if possible), Head (Must stay in trainer battles for at least 2 consecutive turns)
Data rule:
Chosen of Cresselia. Must know at least one Psychic or Fairy move if possible. When this Pokemon is in your party, you may ignore the data rules of any Psychic-type Pokemon in your party and any Psychic-type Pokemon you catch. Cannot know any Dark-type moves or be in the same party as a Dark-type Pokemon or a Pokemon that knows a Dark-type move. Cannot be in the same party as a Darkrai or a Chosen of Darkrai.
Okay, this is slightly complicated because several of my Pokemon know Dark-type moves. Lucky and Azjiz can negate this data rule if they're in the party with Drowzee, so it's not absolutely terrible, meaning I might as well go for it. I doubt I'll use him against Whitney, but it'll still be nice to have another option in the box. Drowzee is assigned a list of Firbolg names, those apparently being a thing in Dungeons and Dragons that don't typically HAVE names, but will take on Elven names when dealing with beings that do use names. The shortest name on the list is Umedan Laltho, which I enter as Umedan because that's what fits on the naming screen.
Now that that's taken care of, I heal up Onke and give him a Sitrus Berry to hold, and we go to enter the Bug-Catching Contest. Our first encounter is a female Weedle,
Lore rule:
Producer of the Nectar of the Gods
Only comes in effect when it is a Beedrill. After every 2 gym
battles you win using Beedrill in battle for at least three turns,
you get Nectar. This Nectar can be sacrificed to prevent the
death of a pokemon by a lore rule. If you sacrifice two Nectars
you can permanently cancel the lore rule of a pokemon.
Data rule:
Odor Sleuth (Weedle only). This Pokemon can easily sniff out the types of food it likes and doesn’t like. If you encounter a Grass-type Pokemon while this Pokemon is in your party, you may reroll its data rule once.
I like this combination, and start chucking balls at full health (you're more likely to win at the Bug-Catching Contest the healthier your bug is). While I do this, I remember something rather unfortunate: I forgot that I couldn't add Onke to the party while Dai Maddy was in the party, or Dai Maddy would be eaten. That means that I just accidentally mixed two incompatible species and my Paras is no more.
But hey, on the bright side, I caught myself a Weedle! She doesn't even place in the contest, but she's still a new encounter, and we need all the encounters we can get with these carnivorous monkes around. Weedle gets a Sky City name generator, and I name her Zephys because it seems so poetic.
Alas... RIP Dai Maddy, lv. 5-21. I am so, so sorry. This one was entirely my fault for not paying attention. I was so looking forward to evolving you and getting the chance of that mushroom... which, to be fair, would've killed you anyway, so, uh, sorry about that as well. I probably shouldn't have Paras.
While I'm depositing Dai Maddy, I check out the stats of my newest two catches. Umedan the Drowzee is Bashful with good endurance and Forewarn, while Zephys is Docile, strong willed, and has Shield Dust. I add Zephys to the team to grind her, and then decide I should probably put my DS down before anything worse happens.
...and then, as if things weren't bad enough, I remember that Shaj Jeve has the data rule Easy Target... and thus a 50% chance of sacrificing herself for Dai Maddy.
Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no. Shaj's Yawn+Curse combo is my Miltank answer; I don't want her to throw herself away for a Paras, no matter how cute it is. Sure, Dai Maddy has the capacity to return the favor after evolving into Parasect, but STILL...
I go to Random.org and roll the dice. 1 out of 2 chance. 1, Shaj lives. 2, she dies by data rule.
The roll is made.
2.
What the freaking ever-loving HECCCCCCCCCCCCC.
Well, Dai Maddy, it seems you lived for now -- but only because of a very special Slowpoke that gave up her life for you. Now Onke is eating SlowpokeTail instead of cream of mushroom soup, and I on the other hand am eating Murkrow.
I have no words.
Welp, time for me to roll up those rules for that Machop I can trade Umedan for, because it looks like I'll be needing her after all.
Lore rule:
Hero’s Quest
When you get this pokemon randomize a gym leader or a pre-E4 non#roaming Legendary pokemon which you have not fought yet. Until you
have defeated this gym leader / legendary pokemon Machop/Machoke/
Machamp must stay in your party or you’ll have to release it. This lore rule
ends once this pokemon participates in the battle against the gym leader/
legendary pokemon for at least 3 turns, and if you fight in this battle and fail to do that,
you must release it.
Data rule:
Martial Artist. Must know at least two physical moves, and at least one of these moves must be Fighting-type. Can know a maximum of one special move and one status move.
This isn't actually all that bad, although I won't be able to determine what this hero's quest will be until after the trade... and being required to keep her in the party until she fulfills her destiny... the point is, she's a Machop, she's going to be a Machoke, and without my poor Slowpoke, I need all the help I can get.
Stupid.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID.
I mean, I WROTE these rules... you'd think I'd have the good sense to pay attention to them.
Also Onke has two more Quest Tokens, but this whole mess is his fault for being hungry, so who cares.
Poor, poor, Shaj Jeve. I don't blame you for getting confused, the rules are crazy enough, and you're doing well to stay on top of them as much as you are doing. Dai Maddy can still be sacrificed on evolution to resurrect Shaj Jeve, though, so, maybe there's a sort of synergy there?
Machop's a good, strong, option, though. Taking out the demon cow is the traditional job for a Goldenrod machop, but they come in hand against Jasmine and Pryce, and you could do with the variety. The rules are pretty kind, too, so I can see this machop serving you well.
My vote is also for the eevee. It's the kindest set of rules and, also, the must useful option of the bunch. I would normally push anyone to take the dratini at this stage and try to evolve it into a dragonite before you finish Johto, but the date rule is just horrible. All that time and effort, for it to to have a 1 in 4 chance of disappearing... yes, you could just not use it in those battles, but it seems awfully cruel. Go with eevee. When has cuteness ever let anyone down?
My condolences for Shaj... She was a cute slowpoke, yet too young to die...
Nevertheless Machop is a really solid mon, so I hope that she gets to fill in the gaps of the team.
And as regards your Goldenrod encounter, I choose you, Eevee! Espeon, although frail, has enourmous power, and is cute. Besides, Arbok isn't really useful, and not knowing for sure if your lil dragon will leave you after battle is rather heartbreaking (and frustrating).
(Looking at these names, I think I'm going to need to try this naming scheme for a run!)
