Okay, so I’ve been wanting to try a Nuzlocke run in a Pokemon ROM hack for a while now. I’ve done a few standard Nuzlockes in the regular games, but I figured it was time to up the difficulty.
Getting Started
First, I had to pick a ROM hack. I spent a good hour or two just browsing through different forums and websites, looking for something that seemed interesting but not too crazy. I eventually settled on Pokemon [Rom Hack Name, if you want one]. It looked like it had some cool new features and a decent difficulty curve.
Then came the slightly tricky part – actually getting the ROM hack to work. I downloaded the patch file, and then I had to find a clean ROM of the base game (which, you know, is a bit of a gray area, so I won’t go into details there). After that, I used a patching tool (I think it was called Lunar IPS or something) to apply the patch to the clean ROM. It took a couple of tries, but I finally got a working ROM file.
The Nuzlocke Begins!
With the game ready, I fired up my emulator and started my Nuzlocke run. The basic rules I’m following are:
- Any Pokemon that faints is considered “dead” and must be released or permanently boxed.
- I can only catch the first Pokemon I encounter in each new area.
- (Optional, but I’m doing it) I have to nickname every Pokemon I catch.
I have to name my rival, so it’s time to get it!
The beginning was pretty smooth. I picked [Starter Pokemon] as my starter and gave him some silly nickname.
Early Struggles
But, uh, things got rough pretty quickly. I lost my [Second Pokemon Caught] to a critical hit from a random trainer’s [Opponent’s Pokemon]. That one stung a bit, not gonna lie. It made me realize I really needed to be careful and not get too cocky.
A Few Close Calls
There were a couple of times where I almost lost my starter, too. Once, I got poisoned and barely made it back to a Pokemon Center in time. Another time, I ran into a trainer with a type advantage and just barely scraped by. Let me tell you, my heart was pounding during those battles!
Current Status
I finally managed to get my first Gym Badge. The battles took me around 30 mins!
Right now, I’m a few hours in, and I’ve managed to build up a decent team, though I’ve definitely had some losses along the way. It’s been challenging, for sure, but also a lot of fun. It really forces you to think differently about how you play Pokemon, and it makes every battle feel so much more intense.
I’m not sure how far I’ll get in this run, but I’m definitely going to keep playing and see how it goes. Maybe I’ll even manage to beat the whole thing! (Fingers crossed!).
