Nuclockes are a great way to keep older Pokemon games new and exciting. The ruleset includes, but is not limited to, only catching the first Pokemon in each new area, nicknaming all caught Pokemon, and releasing them or boxing them once they faint.
You can Nuzlocke pretty much any Pokemon game - even rom hacks - but many people like to return to old favourites they remember well and have a new go at them, so this guide will give some much-needed tips for how to beat Pokemon Platinum under the tough Nuzlocke conditions.
Choose Chimchar
A good piece of advice for most Nuzlockes is to pick the Fire-type starter. This is because Fire-types tend to be few and far between in most regions. The only real exception for this is Mudkip in a generation three Nuzlocke. But, for gen four, Chimchar is for sure the way to go. It's a fast mixed attacker and a great Fire/Fighting-type.
It also evolves at level 14 making it dependable very early on. Other Fire-types in gen four take ages to find, so pick this fun little monkey up early to absolutely decimate Gardenia's Grass-type second gym.
Remember the Physical/Special Split
Unlike earlier generations, gen four introduced the Physical/Special move split, a revolutionary and much-needed change that completely upended the games. Instead of moves being Physical or Special based on type, they now have an icon next to them that tells you what they are.
This has made so many Pokemon far more viable, as it gives access to a much larger pool of useful STAB (same type attack bonus) moves.
Plan For Static Encounters
Pokemon Platinum gives you a few free Pokemon, which is very nice of it. Just keep in mind where you're going to get them, as they may make other Pokemon unavailable. For example, you receive an egg on Iron Island. If you hatch this egg on a route, technically you can't catch any other Pokemon on that route, so try and hatch it in a city if you can, or a route that doesn't have any Pokemon you want on it.
Also, make sure you get these static encounters. The list of static encounters you can get in Platinum and their requirements and locations are as follows:
- Starter Pokemon on Route 201, no requirement
- An Eevee from Bebe in Hearthome City, no requirement
- A Porygon in Veilstone City from a man who lives behind the Pokemon Center, no requirement
- A Togepi egg from Cynthia in Eterna City, you have to beat Jupiter in the Galactic building there.
- A Drifloon at the Valley Windworks, you have to beat Mars there and return on a Friday to see the Pokemon.
- Spiritomb can be found on route 209, you need to insert the Odd Keystone into the Hallowed Tower after speaking to people in the Underground 32 times, this can all be the same person.
- Rotom can be found in the Old Chateua in Eterna Forest, the only requirements are you need Cut to get inside and you'll only find it at night. Take Repels to stop other Pokemon spawning and ruining the encounter location.
- You get a Riolu Egg from Riley on Iron Island, you just have to help him make it through and he'll give you the egg, make sure you have room in your party.
Catch A Magikarp
This is probably the most common piece of advice given for any Nuzlocke, and that's for good reason. Magikarp are super common Pokemon that can be found in almost any body of water. As such, you can plan where to encounter one and even catch another if you lose one. Obviously, the splashing fish itself isn't any good, but Gyrados, the Pokemon it evolves into at level 20 is an absolute monster.
It possesses the Intimidate ability which lowers the Attack stat of opposing Pokemon by one stage upon entering battle. The Physical/Special split also really helped this Pokemon out, as it now has access to STAB Physical Water-type moves such as Waterfall. It's also a great pivot for baiting Electric-type attacks before a switch to a Ground-type Pokemon.
Don't Only Use Bidoof For HMs
Most people catch a Bidoof and use it for nothing but HMs. While it is an excellent HM user, it's also a pretty solid Pokemon to add to your team. It evolves into Bibarel at level 15, giving you a fully evolved Pokemon very early on, before Roark potentially.
Bibarel's Water/Normal typing makes it very good offensively, as does its decent 85 base Attack stat. If you already have a Gyrados then there's no need for Bibarel, but it's a great Pokemon to use until you replace it. Just try using it for more than HMs and you'll be pleasantly surprised by how useful it is.
Prepare For Valley Windworks
The fight with Mars at the end of the Valley Windworks is an absolute run-killer, especially if you're playing with hardcore rules that impose level caps on your Pokemon. It's as if Gamefreak decided to just throw a random Whitney at you.
She has a level 15 Zubat with Toxic which can be a real problem, so get rid of it quickly. Her ace is a level 17 Purugly, a large cat that's deceptively fast, so be careful. It outspeeds every Pokemon you can normally acquire up until that point when capped at level 17, so it'll always go first. It has STAB Fake Out coming off an 82 Attack stat, so it's best to bring a Rock-type Pokemon to start the battle off. After that, it only has Scratch and Faint Attack, but both moves will hit you hard. You could stick with a Rock-type to prevent any STAB attacks, or use a Fighting-type to try and beat it quickly.