Eddage's Pokémon Crystal Nuzlocke Adventure

[Eddage]

Having completed my LeafGreen Nuzlocke yesterday I decided to go back (or is it forward?) to try a Nuzlocke run of Pokémon Crystal. I've decided to keep a diary and will update after every session.

The first thing I want to say is thank God I am playing this on an emulator with a 'speed up' button because this game is sloooow! As for the rules I'm just doing a very basic Nuzlocke...

• Catch the first Pokémon you find on a route. If the Pokémon is a dupe then you can try again until you find one you haven't caught before.
• If you fail to catch the Pokémon (knock it out or run out of balls) then tough luck, that means you get nothing on that route.
• Nickname all the Pokémon you catch.
• If a Pokémon faints then it is dead, release it (or put it in a 'dead' box in the PC).

Having just played LeafGreen I'm hoping to able to catch as many Gen 2 Pokémon as possible, rather than ending up seeing the same ones you find in Kanto. But we'll see how that pans out... I started by picking the adorable fire mouse Cyndaquil and naming her Jubilee (there is a simple theme to all my names). After the annoying fetch quest at the start of the game it was time to catch my first Pokémon on Route 29. During the fetch quest I had run into a few Hoothoot and Spinarak so I knew those Gen 2 monsters were out there, unfortunately the almighty Arceus was not being kind to me and the first thing I encountered once I could start catching Pokémon was a Rattata, so off to a great start... I named it Rocket but didn't expect it'd stay in my team for long (spoilers)! I thought about catching something on Route 46, but decided to skip it for now.

Next up was Route 30, still on the hunt for something new, but instead I end up with a... Zubat. Again, not the Gen 2'er I wanted but welcome to the team Morbius. I've never really used the Zubat line and now that Crobat has also been added it may stick around for a while. Route 31 was a similar story and another Gen 1'er, this time a Poliwag that I named Triton, Hypnosis at level 7 will come in handy for catching other Pokémon and Poliwag is cute so I won't complain too much. I popped into Dark Cave and picked up a Geodude, that I named Avalanche, as I figured it would come in handy against the first gym. Another Gen 1 but that was all I could get in Dark Cave since I had already caught a Zubat.

I entered Violet City and ran straight through to Route 36 as I was still on the hunt for that Hoothoot, and with a 45% encounter rate at night I was surely going to fin.... nope Bellsprout... *Sigh* another Pokémon I am all to familiar with since I used Victreebel all the way to the end of my LeafGreen run. But, I suppose it is nice to have all three of Fire, Water and Grass so early on. Anyway, Ivy was added to the team and I headed back to Violet City and hit up Bellsprout Tower. Since I had already caught a Rattata I was guaranteed a Gastly and with Gengar being one of my all time favs I was quite happy with this! A simple hypnosis and bubble from Triton and he was mine, welcome Reyes and goodbye Rocket you stupid little rat, enjoy rotting in the box!

With Bellsprout Tower out of the way I ended the first session by wiping out the Gym with Avalanche. His reward? Getting put in the box to make room for the egg the Professor's assistant gives you. I will be back for him but he was the highest levelled Pokémon on my team and I didn't want to box Jubilee (my only Gen 2 mon)! So my team now consists of...

• Triton (Poliwag) / Level 8
• Ivy (Bellsprout) / Level 9
• Reyes (Gastly) / Level 9
• Morbius (Zubat) / Level 11
• Jubilee (Cyndaquil) / Level 12
• Egg...

Whilst I was unhappy with all the Gen 1 Pokémon I was adding to my team at first it actually looks like it may work in my favour if I can find a Spearow on the next few routes. Catching Rattata on the first Route and then Zubat outside meant that Geodude was guaranteed in Dark Cave, and once I have Spearow (don't even need to find a wild one as you get gifted one after Goldenrod City) then that means a guaranteed Phanpy when I go back to Route 46! Good job I ignored it earlier! A guaranteed Gen 2'er that I have never used before will be a welcome addition to the team.  

[Eddage]

A couple sessions later and quite a bit has happened.

After betting the first gym I headed to the second in Azalea Town. Along the way I caught an Ekans on route 32 and a Hoppip on Route 36. Named Sidewinder and Sequoia respectively and they shall both live in the PC never to see the light of day! I'm sad that unlike in Gold and Silver you can't catch a Mareep in Crystal, Ampharos might be my favourite Gen 2 Pokémon.

I popped a repel to get through Union Town as there is a Lapras I can come back to get later. Not sure if I would even use it in my team, but it's a better option than Onix or Sandshrew.

Once I made it into Azalea Town I made my first major error, headed too close to the exit to Ilex forest and triggered a battle with my rival that I wasn't ready for. Unfortunately Triton didn't survive and was taken out by Croconaw. So I lost my water Pokémon maybe I will use that Lapras once I get it later after all!

After a quick deter to kick Team Rocket out of Slowpoke Well and a bit of levelling Jubilee evolved into Quilava and together we destroyed Bugsy's gym and earned the Bug Badge. Whilst levelling for the second gym the egg also hatched into a Togepi (Egghead), another one that won't ever leave the PC!

I ventured into Ilex Forest, caught a Kakuna (Wasp) and once I got the TM for Headbutt I put operation Phanpy into action. I headed back to Azalea and found a Spearow (Hawkeye) by headbutting a tree. With Spearow out of the way I backtracked all the way to Route 46 and after spending some time encountering dupes a Phanpy finally appeared  A few Poke balls later and it was mine, welcome to the team Ganesha!!

On the other side of Ilex Forest I purposefully avoided the grass on Route 34 so I could get another egg from the day-care, I was hoping for a Pichu or Elekid, but just ended up with another Pokémon destined for the PC... Cleffa (Amora). After a bit more levelling and battling in the Goldenrod City underground I took down Whitney with the help of Avalanche and earned my third badge. This marked the end of my adventure with Avalanche as I can't justify having both a Geodude and Phanpy on the same team. That little dude did well taking out two Gyms single handed, but I want to use as many Gen 2 Pokémon as I can!

I ended the session by catching a Psyduck on Route 35 and named him Howard after everyone's favourite duck. So I wasn't without a water Pokémon for long and I've always been a fan of Golduck. At the end of yesterday's session my team consisted of...

• Howard (Psyduck) / Level 14
• Reyes (Gastly) / Level 17
• Jubilee (Quilava) / Level 20
• Ganesha (Phanpy) / Level 20
• Ivy (Bellsprout) / Level 20
• Morbius (Zubat) / Level 21

The only thing that has dampened my spirits a little is how bad the Gen 2 move pools are! Especially when this is added to the fact that the Physical/Special split in the first three Gens is crap and means that certain Pokémon are effectively crippled because their typing doesn't match up to their stats, such as Feraligatr being a Physical focused Water type but all Water moves are Special. I've being to figure out move sets for some of my team but for most can only find 2 (or at most three) moves that I would actually use :/

[Jonnas]

One of these days I should do a Nuzlocke run. They sound like a double hoot.

Good luck with Crystal! Since I know Gen 2 so well, reading your adventures feels very vivid.

[Eddage]

A lot more progress over the last couple of days.

I caught a Hoothoot (Nite Owl) in the National Park and a Stantler (Burdock) on Route 37 then headed to Ecruteak City. Took out the Kimono Sisters and Ivy evolved into Weepinbell, then headed to Burned Tower and beat my Rival, this time I was prepared and Ivy dealt with Croconaw with ease! After a bit of levelling for the Ecruteak Gym Reyes evolved into Haunter and Morbius evolved into Golbat, I also took a detour back to Goldenrod City to pick up an Eevee (Grey) from Bill, that meant the end of Ivy's time on the team.

Morty and Ecruteak Gym was another walkover thanks to Morbius using Bite, Reyes took a few out with Nightshade as well. Now that I had Surf I backtracked all the way to Union Cave and caught the Lapras (Mera), lucky it was Friday! Mera replaced Howard on the team and I decided to call it a day ready to head towards Olivine City.

Picked up again this morning and decided to head East to Route 42 before I went to Olivine City and caught an Aipom (Beppo). This was all part of my plan to get a Heracross and now that is the only Pokémon that I'll find in a rare encounter from headbutting trees. 

On route to Olivine City I missed out an catching a Miltank on Route 38, then caught a Meowth (Hardy) on Route 39. I did a bit of levelling on Route 39 and Morbius evolved into Crobat and Ganesha evolved into Donphan. After visiting the Lighthouse I surfed over to Cianwood City and Morbius made it 2 gyms in a row after clean sweeping all the fighting Pokémon in Cianwood Gym using Wing Attack.

Flew back to Olivine and after even more levelling Jubilee evolved into Typhlosion. Jubilee one shot Jasmine's two Magnemite with Fire Punch and Mera blitzed Steelix with Surf. Decided to call it a day with 6 gyms down and my team consisting of...

• Reyes (Haunter) / Level 35
• Morbius (Crobat) / Level 35
• Mera (Lapras) / Level 35
• Ganesha (Donphan) / Level 35
• Grey (Eevee) / Level 35
• Jubilee (Typhlosion) / Level 36

[Ike]

On 18/08/2022 at 11:00 PM, Eddage said:

I'm sad that unlike in Gold and Silver you can't catch a Mareep in Crystal, Ampharos might be my favourite Gen 2 Pokémon.

Yesss, another member of #TeamMareep!