New Game + 2) Pokémon Violet (2022)

The Challenge: Complete the game as a Nuzlocke challenge using only Fire type Pokémon.

Pokémon games, especially newer ones, are notoriously easy. Since Game Freak seems to have no plans to change that, and since people love playing and replaying these games, fans have come up with a myriad of ways in which to boost the difficulty themselves. The most prolific of these self imposed challenge runs is the Nuzlocke challenge, which itself has such a fascinating history that I plan to cover it in depth in the future. Since its inception, there have been countless variants that add new rules and restrictions, but the very core of the challenge is deceptively simple. There are only three core rules, which are as follows:

1. You can only catch the first Pokémon you encounter in a new route or area

2. You must nickname your Pokémon

3. If a Pokémon faints, it is considered dead and must either be released or placed in a designated death box in the PC, never to be used again.

These rules add new layers to the Pokémon experience, forcing players to use Pokémon they may not use otherwise, making the players feel a deeper bond with their digital monsters, and adding heightened stakes and an actual lose state to the game. Most players who undertake the challenge emerge with tales of painful losses, upsetting fumbles, and finding unexpected champions among what they previously thought of as trash. My very first experience with the challenge had moments of near defeat, shed tears, and led to my undying love and affection for Wigglytuff, the Pokémon that, despite the odds, pulled me through on numerous occasions where it simply had no right to do so.

Having played Violet upon release, and as the game continues the trend of making the games easier, I opted to do a variant Nuzlocke run for this playthrough. In addition to the above rules, I added on the restriction of only using a single type which I had chosen at random. Restricting myself to the Fire type, I altered rule one so that I could only catch the first instance of a Fire type I encountered, and of course restricted myself to only catch one member of a Pokémon's evolutionary line. For added flavor, I decided to name all of my Pokémon after active volcanoes, because I'm a sucker for a naming theme.

Things started simply enough, choosing Fuecoco as my starter and naming him Azu. Going through the lengthy opening section of the game was more than just a bit of a drag, but before long I was out on my adventure proper. I thought to myself that while I wouldn't be able to find a ton of fire types in the first few areas, it wouldn't matter as the first two gyms are Bug and Grass respectively. Snatching up a few early encounters, I went into the first gym with an overinflated sense of confidence, which I genuinely should have known better than to have. In short order, I lost what would be the first of many Pokémon, because even though I've played through every game in the series using various Nuzlocke variants, it's only fitting that the one I decide to share with the world should be one of the most fumbled.

I'll just leave this here, as evidence of my folly.

Despite a number of setbacks, most of which could have absolutely have been avoided, eventually I started to assemble a team that would carry me through to the end. One of my favorite aspects of Scarlet and Violet is that the multiple stories at play give the player a chance to go up against each of the 18 types. While the Fire type is generally pretty strong, being super effective against Bug, Grass, Ice, and Steel, i t has a fair share of fairly common weaknesses. Being weak to Water, Ground, and Rock, as well as struggling against Dragon types, it was clear that the key to completing the challenge would come from diverse move pools and varied secondary typings. What I didn't fully expect was for one of my most important members to actually be extra weak to the types I was already struggling with.

Hekla the Coalossal became my stalwart shield.

Coalossal, a combination Fire and Rock type introduced in generation 8, quickly became one of my most reliable team members. While her typing made her four times weak to Water and Ground, her high defense resistance to seven types made her an important pivot point in battle. I could easily bait the opponent AI into using an attack that she would resist as I sent her in, and then switch to a Pokémon that could handle one of the few moves she would be weak to. In addition, she absolutely dominated most Fire and Flying types on her own. While defense is all well and good, I needed to find a heavy hitter, and preferably one that could help with my team's obvious weaknesses. Luckily, the Teal Mask DLC all but handed me the answer, as I am certainly not above using legendaries in an already difficult challenge run.

Askja the Ogerpon proved to be the answer to most of my problems.

Around the mid-point of the game, I decided to tackle the Teal Mask expansion, the first of two DLCs that added a plethora of old Pokémon while introducing a handful of new ones. The Teal Mask focuses on Ogerpon, a Grass type that had been wrongly vilified by villagers. As we work to aide Ogerpon, clearing its name and returning a set of four masks to it, we eventually find ourselves battling a new friend to see who gets to become Ogrepon's trainer. After wiping the floor with the kid and giving Ogerpon the Hearthflame Mask, she gained the requisite Fire type. I named her Askja and she joined the team, becoming the absolute beast I needed. Some may consider it cheating to use a legendary Pokémon in a Nuzlocke, but as the rules are made up and self imposed, I personally see no problem with it.

I also got very lucky with one of my encounters, allowing me to add Loa the Salazzle to the team.

While doing the Teal Mask DLC, I also got very lucky when I encountered my first Salandit, a Fire and Poison type introduced in generation 7. For those who don't know, Salandit have an 87.5% chance to be male, meaning only 12.5% are female. While this normally wouldn't matter, a Salandit can only evolve if it's female, meaning a male Salandit would have little use on a team outside of its novel typing. In addition to having shockingly good defensive typing, Salazzle's ability, Corrosion, allows it to inflict the Poison status on both Poison and Steel types, which are normally immune. This made her the perfect answer for Steel types, in addition to being a Fairy killing machine. On top of that, she was able to learn Dragon Pulse, making her invaluable against Dragon types.

While the game remained pretty easy, especially once I had assembled my team of fiery misfits, the Nuzlocke rules along with the restriction to fire types added quite a bit of challenge and peril to my run. There were more than a few instances where I felt genuine loss as I either made a mistake or had to make a begrudging sacrifice, and I had to plan for and worry about specific challenges. The dread I felt as I approached the water gym was palpable, as was my trepidation as I approached the Dragon Titan. Through it all, I and my team persevered, conquering all who came before us and braving the dangers of Area Zero in order to reach the true boss that awaited us. The Nuzlocke challenge remains one of my favorite challenges in gaming, and it has once again given me an appreciation for Pokémon I may not have otherwise used.

And, for the first time, I got to use a Volcarona, named Dorobu, seen here enjoying the beach.