What makes the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokémon series resonate with fans all around the world? For one thing, it’s incredibly accessible. Younger players who are newer to RPGs will find it a fun romp with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:some of the cutest critters around. Pikachu’s adorable, but wait until you meet its friend𝓰s!

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Meanwhile, Pokémon veterans will probably want to breeze through the story in or𓄧der to get to the meat of the experience: Don’t be in too much of a rush, though, because there are ways to make the main game itself surprisingly tough. If you’ve been thinking about taking on your first Nuzlocke challenge, here are some helpful tips!

Updated January 21st, 2021 by Gene Cole: Pokemon fans are desperate for a new game now that a year has passed since the release of Pokemon Sword & Shield. Many are looking for greater challenges, and for many this includes trying their first Nuzlocke Challenge. Those who are giving their first go at this difficult mode should know a few extra tips before they get started.

15 Choose Y꧅our Starter Carefully🅠

Charmander looking excitedly at its trainer in the Pokemon Anime

Even though starters are supposed to be completely even with each other, most players can tell you one starter is often 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:weaker than the others when it comes to Nuzlocke runs. For Pokemon Red & Blue, this would be Charmander, who’s ൩extremely weak against the first two Gym Leaders and will make you hope for more resistant Pokemon as you enter each new a💯rea.

Nuzlockes are certainly about fun more than anything else, so you should always go with what you know or love most if you don’t want to metagame your run too hard. Nonetheless, you should always make sure you aren’t putti🥂ng yourself in a dire situation from the start.

14 Turn Off Battle💙 Effects

Pokemon Sword & Shield's option screen

This is an incredibly small change, and it might seem pointless to those who enjoy seeing the flavor of each attack, but turning off battle effects in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the options menu of any Pokemon game will make your experience drag on far less. This prevents all the flames, water, and other elements and movement from𝓰 taking up the battle’s time, meaning they can all proceed twice as fast.

This is especially important for grinding, as you’ll often need to fight tons of wild Pokemon to reach a point where you can beat certain Gym Leaders without fainting. With the game moving faster, you’re also less🀅 likely to get bored and give up midway through your challenge.

13 Save Con💟🌳stantly

Dawn and Piplup being startled by Conrad in the Pokemon Anime

The true spirit of the Nuzlocke Challenge is to never return to an old save, but that 𝓀doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother savin🥀g your game frequently. Those who are new to the Challenge certainly should in case they want to try something they misread or weren’t prepared for, but you never know when your cartridge will get knocked loose or your battery will suddenly die.

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It’s extremely easy to lose a Nuzlocke Challenge, but the last thi♉ng youꦅ want is for it to be over from something outside your control. Save anytime you feel safe and comfortable, and make sure you don’t lose your progress when grinding for experience.

12 ꦏ Research Your Opponents 🍃

Red facing down Lt. Surge and his Raichu in the Pokemon Anime

If yo♓u go into a Gym or the Elite 4 without looking up what Pokemon they’ll start off wit🌞h, you’re going to be one of the bravest trainers around. If you don’t want to risk dying right away, however, you might want to make sure to look up each boss fight in advance, since every hit could mean the end of your run.

This goes for everything from Gym Leaders, to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Elite 4, to even the o꧟ccasional battle with a rival or trainer. It can be exhausting looking up every detail and move they might have, but you’ll surely be thankful not to encount🥀er something you weren’t prepared for early on.

11 Make Your Own Rules 🌟 💃

Baby Dawn carrying a Plusle and Minun in the Pokemon Anime

The Nuzlocke Challenge is a great fan-mad⛄e experience for Pokemon players, but it’s important to remember that nobody’s going to enforce these rules on you besides yourself. You can be as harsh as you want, but you can also be lenient if it’s your first time, or if you’re not comfortable with certain parts.

If you don’t like releasing your Pokemon, feel free to put them in boxes so you can transfer them to new games. Feel free to reload save files if you get hit with things 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:you find unfair, like Critical Hits or moves you just forgot about. It’s all about fun, and if your Nuzlocke experience is excꦡlusively causing you stress when you p🌠lay, you should always feel free to lighten the burden.

10 ꦏ Make Sure You’re Familiar With The Original Nuzlocke Rules

Your first step on this potentially super frustrating road is familiarizing yourself with the rules of a Nuzlocke challenge. The name Nuzlocke derives from a webcomic that often features a Nuzleaf that looks like John Locke (of Lost fame), and the basic rules are understood toᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ be twofold.

Firstly, a Pokémon that faints has been ‘killed’ and must be released immediately (or without ever being used again), unless you’d rather make a separate PC box for your noble, fallen warriors. Secondly, the player can only catch 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the first Pokémon they meet on a route (or individual area). If they fail to, they for🍸feit the chance to obtain a Pokémon in that location.

9 Check Out S⛎ome O𒈔ptional Rules

As the Nuzlocke concept caught on, players developed some additional rules to tailor the experience to their own preferences. It’s a very fluid conce♔pt, so you’re free to experiment and impose further restrictions on yourself if you wish to.

Most Nuzlockers, for example, abide by the additional rule that every Pokémon caught must be nicknamed. Mostly so that the player feels closer to them, to heighten that devastating sense of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fire Emblem unit loss whenever a Pokémon is sent to the big PC box🌃 in the ▨sky.

8 Don’t O𒉰verdo The Additional Rules, Though ꦍ

If you’re not familiar with N�🦋�uzlockes, you might be aware of the wild ride you’ve let yourself in for. As a result, it’s best not to add too many restrictions for your first attempt.

RELATED: 10 Things That Make Absolꦇutely No Sense About Pokémon Centers

Those with many Nuzlockes under their belt experiment with various things, such as randomizers (in which every wild encounter and trainer battle could be anything) or healing♌ limitations (each Pokémon Center can only be visited once, perhaps). Once you bring elements like PP conservation into play, you’re really being hard on yourself. Especially if a Mega Rayquaza pops up in the hands of ꦺan early Gym Leader.

7 Know That Some Games Will Be Harder T💃han Others (And Avoid Those The 🌼First Time Around)

Of course, there are now eight generations of Pokémon titles. That’s a lot of potential Nuzlockes to choose from, but it’s best not to just dive into one randomly. The game you choose may have a large impact on how rough 🅠your rid꧟e will be.

The Totem Pokémon in Generation VII may be the bane of your existence, for example, with Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon being especially challenging to Nuzlocke. On the flipside, Pokémon X Y tend to be regarded as more locke-friendlyꦺ, with factors like the Exp. Share helping the player along.

6 𝓰 Be Very Careful With Items

Now, some players ﷽have gotten accustomed to scurrying back and forth from tℱhe Pokémon Center to heal between every battle on harder routes. Depending on the Nuzlocke rules you’re working with, this may not be an option for you here.

As such, there’s one very important thing to bear in mind: never use items willy-nilly. Even a single Potion can be the difference between keeping that key member of your party and losing them. At Poké Marts, you want to be more miserly than Ebeneezer Scrooge himself, ensuring that 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:your Poké Dollars only go on the most important items: lifelines like Potions, status-healing items and enough Poké Balls to nab your next 🌜potential team memberඣs.