Nuzlocke Unpopular Nuzlocke opinions

[Trollkitten]

I got around the problem by just setting my nuzlockes in a PMD-like universe where all the Pokemon talk (well, except obviously the nonverbal ones) and the only humans around have been, as is grand old PMD tradition, transformed into Pokemon themselves.

And then there's A Trace of Magic: Seeing Red, in which most of the humans can't understand Pokemon and the Pokemon themselves speak with drastically different grammar that is quite honestly a pain to write and is probably part of why I haven't written them talking to each other very often. (In all honesty, I'm suffering some serious writer's block with that story because I feel like I've put more focus on the human characters than the Pokemon and since it's a duotriolocke, I have three whole Pokemon teams to characterize, which is every bit as hard as it sounds. Why did I think this was a good idea again?)

 

[kou]

I think I actually prefer talking Pokemon, when it is Pokemon. Like written stories where the Pokemon are just animals that "chirp" and rub against their trainer's hands when they're upset often don't have a lot of personality or individuality. And it's more wholesome, less "jaded"-feeling, if that makes sense: every if they can die, it's still "a boy and his dog," kid on a journey with his pals, and we're already suspending our disbelief anyway as Nuzlocke fans, right?

Finally, morally, I'd much rather a Pokemon say they want to fight, even if the stakes aren't that high/they're randomly risking their life for some human/they're intelligent enough to get a job or something, than just be like be some kid's poor pet dog that's just thrown into a pit fight with zero idea what's happening...

 

[Skarmizard]

I don't get why people release their dead 'mons-I always permabox mine for documentation purposes/as a memorial.

And I prefer talking 'mons over non-talking 'mons to give them more character, although as long as they have at least some personality I don't mind too much.

One thing I've never been a fan of: Pokémon "speaking" by repeating their names nonstop. It's literally never made sense to me-I never liked it in the anime and I don't like it in Nuzlockes. I would much rather someone just have the 'mons make regular animal noises if they don't want them to speak.

I haven't read a storylocke in a while, but I always liked them more when the protag and their 'mons could speak to each other, whether there was a reason or not.

...actually, that brings up something: I miss when storylockes were Pokémon stories (where even if the Pokémon didn't talk, they were still significant characters) instead of basically human soap opera dramas with a garnish of Pokémon. I haven't read one in quite a while because they seemed to trend that way in the past few years, and I've never been a fan of that. Lowkey kinda tempted to take another crack at one, but I wouldn't consider myself a "skilled" writer...

 

[Rubombee]

i think siggi may have been referring to the trope where the protagonist is one of the only ones who can understand pokémon because they're special, not talking pokémon in general. there are lots of ways to have the pokémon talk without that first bit

 

[Champ Siggi]

Yes, that is exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[A-K-TheLittleFairy]

Also I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but whenever I see a Nuzlocke that releases pokemon when they faint that just hurts my soul so much, I feel like a death box is how it should always be.

I just can't release fainted 'mons in Nuzlocke either... I create "PokéHeaven" boxes instead on Pokémon Home and Pokémon Bank instead where all my fallen Team Members are together forever from my "cemetery" boxes in each respective games!

 

[EmotionalStomach]

I didn't know that releasing pokemon was my unpopular opinion! I don't think I'd release a shiny, but I've never caught one in a Nuzlocke so it's never come up.

The joy is in using the Pokemon and getting to know them. If they're banned from play it's better to let them move on so that I can move on, just like in real life. The tempation to pull a fainted mon out of a death box is overwhelming. Releasing them instead is cathartic, like spending hours on a drawing, and then setting it on fire - the joy was in the act of drawing, not the result.

The only other option is transferring them to Home. Anything else is just prolonging the inevitable. But, I emulate most runs. Take DGA for example, my randomised Pokemon can't exist outside of their unique ROM. What's better between releasing a fainted Pokemon straight away, with dignity and gravity, or letting it rot in a box until you lose/forget/wipe the save file?

 

[Champ Siggi]

The tempation to pull a fainted mon out of a death box is overwhelming.

Just... Don't cheat. This is a self imposed challenge, you cheating is of your own free will. But I just bond with these tiny bits of code in my save file and can't bear to completely remove them. Also I've only ever emulated one Nuzlocke and I haven't even finished it yet but I haven't had a single death yet so I could always move my fainted pokemon to Pokemon Home.

 

[EmotionalStomach]

Just... Don't cheat.

I bond with them too, that's why this is easier said than done. Sure, a bullshit clause here or there is nobody else's business, but then it feels hollow if you win. So why not remove the option entirely?

It's not so much about the temptation to cheat. It's more like my Pokemon are my sand mandalas. I acknowledge the impermanence of both the code that makes them, and my attachment to them, and so the time spent with them is more valuable to me as a result. All things end.

This is one of the many reasons I like Emerald Rogue. When they faint they're removed from your party - Gone forever unless you find them again in an event.

 

[Trollkitten]

The one and only time when I released a fainted Pokemon in a nuzlocke was when I had a shiny [REDACTED] in a Sword surpriselocke and I worried that it might be hacked and if I kept it then I could lose internet privileges for that game. Otherwise, I like being able to look at my collection of dead mons for whatever reason.

 

[Champ Siggi]

The one and only time when I released a fainted Pokemon in a nuzlocke was when I had a shiny [REDACTED] in a Sword surpriselocke and I worried that it might be hacked and if I kept it then I could lose internet privileges for that game. Otherwise, I like being able to look at my collection of dead mons for whatever reason.

Was it's name a website name? Because if so, yeah, it was hacked.

 

[Trollkitten]

Its name was not a website name, so it wasn't obvious whether or not it was hacked; however, I'm fairly certain that people don't randomly trade non-hacked shinies on surprise trade, and I wasn't sure if the Game Freak ninjas would interpret it as a hacked mon or not.

 

[Champ Siggi]

Its name was not a website name, so it wasn't obvious whether or not it was hacked; however, I'm fairly certain that people don't randomly trade non-hacked shinies on surprise trade, and I wasn't sure if the Game Freak ninjas would interpret it as a hacked mon or not.

Well, it might be some random YouTuber, otherwise it's one of those weird people who shiny hunt pokemon just to surprise trade them for no reason, or it's hacked like you said.

 

[Arawanhe]

I enjoy keeping those who have fallen in a special box, simply to look back on them and remember them. Sort of like a virtual gravestone. But I really understand how having an "Absolute Crap" clause could cause temptation to revive one.

I myself typically have a single Mulligan unwritten into the rules, that can be used for any ONE thing, be it a crap deal with encounters or the absolute horse snottery of NPC's landing a OHKO

 

[Leon Yorunaki]

Its name was not a website name, so it wasn't obvious whether or not it was hacked; however, I'm fairly certain that people don't randomly trade non-hacked shinies on surprise trade, and I wasn't sure if the Game Freak ninjas would interpret it as a hacked mon or not.

As someone who hacked pokemon in since 5th gen for the sake of competitive, don't worry about that. Either the pokemon is made within the game boundaries (and thus, the worst they'll do is delete the pokemon itself when things are blatant like those website-named shinies - and that's only at Home!), or if something is off, the game just won't allow it to go online so it'll never get to your hands.

tl;dr: benefit of the doubt, they'll never take action on your save because of hacked mons

 

[Trollkitten]

I myself typically have a single Mulligan unwritten into the rules, that can be used for any ONE thing, be it a crap deal with encounters or the absolute horse snottery of NPC's landing a OHKO

I might add that to a future nuzlocke ruleset. I still have a few 'lockes that I need to get back to, one of which is the postgame for Moon that I keep waffling on whether or not I'm actually going to nuzlocke; I mentioned in another thread that postgames are my bane in nuzlockes, but I really like Alola's postgame content and I really wanna play through this one because I'm just in love with the characters and story I'm working out. The thing is, my Alola duolocke has kind of morphed into the literal biggest thing I've ever written in my life (don't ask, it's spoiler territory and it's also kind of hard to explain out of context), and I'm honestly not sure whether it's better to just end the locke at the League or to go whole ham on the postgame and potentially set things up for future runs afterward in the process.

 

[Waweezer]

I don't think nuzlocke comics should take themselves too seriously.

from what I've seen it doesn't work out much most of the time. I think its because of one main factor; the second you realize this is basically a pokemon fanfiction, it sorta falls apart; not to mention how most nuzlocke comics usually being someone's first webcomic. I'm not saying nuzlocke should give up all seriousness and go back to their ruby hard mode origins, but comics like "in black and white" show that trying to make it too serious usually doesn't end up well

 

[Trollkitten]

Why comics specifically? Because I've read some really good serious storylockes (Dee's The Dark We Carry definitely comes to mind), so why wouldn't the same thing work with a nuzcomic? Aside from the whole thing of comics taking a significantly longer time to make than written works and having multiple factors come into play that storylockes simply don't have, like layout and artstyle.

 

[Champ Siggi]

Why comics specifically? Because I've read some really good serious storylockes (Dee's The Dark We Carry definitely comes to mind), so why wouldn't the same thing work with a nuzcomic? Aside from the whole thing of comics taking a significantly longer time to make than written works and having multiple factors come into play that storylockes simply don't have, like layout and artstyle.

I think because comics were never invented to be serious.

 

[Trollkitten]

I think because comics were never invented to be serious.

Comics are a medium, not a genre. Regardless of their origins, they can cover as wide a range of topics and maturity levels as any other medium. So I fail to see the logic behind trapping them behind a certain set of 'rules' that don't apply to other mediums.