Celever
i am town
Yeah let's do it. This will probably be updated very periodically so if you're interested watch the thread, mainly because Pokémon will die and this game is slow. Beyond that, this will be a somewhat casual nuzlocke by traditional standards because, hey, it's Pokémon Colosseum. This game was not made to be nuzlocked lol. Updates will primarily be based on experiences in battles and team selections -- if you want the plot watch a Let's Play (Chuggaaconry has a great one) -- and this game is commonly considered the hardest to nuzlocke, so it's what we're all here for.
Alternate title: Celever simping over Colosseum for 20-30 forum posts. This game means a lot to me; I was a sickly child and the hospital I frequented had a GameCube, and the best game they had for the GameCube was Colosseum. I replayed it I don't know how many times, and eventually even bought my own memory card that my parents would bring with us on hospital trips. As I was never bedbound, unlike pretty much every other child that would be on the kid's ward, I'd have the GameCube all to myself, so basically I got to skip school to play video games. Not a bad deal, but you can see why this game is close to my heart lol. This is why finally beating this game under Nuzlocke conditions would be pretty awesome for me personally, and publishing the run on here is light peer pressure that means I should actually finish it.
Rules:
Chapter 1
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I'm keeping this a little shorter to get feedback on the style etc.. If you're interested in the playthrough, let me know what you thought of Chapter 1.
Alternate title: Celever simping over Colosseum for 20-30 forum posts. This game means a lot to me; I was a sickly child and the hospital I frequented had a GameCube, and the best game they had for the GameCube was Colosseum. I replayed it I don't know how many times, and eventually even bought my own memory card that my parents would bring with us on hospital trips. As I was never bedbound, unlike pretty much every other child that would be on the kid's ward, I'd have the GameCube all to myself, so basically I got to skip school to play video games. Not a bad deal, but you can see why this game is close to my heart lol. This is why finally beating this game under Nuzlocke conditions would be pretty awesome for me personally, and publishing the run on here is light peer pressure that means I should actually finish it.
Rules:
- You can catch every Pokémon. This is still not all that many, and some of them are the equivalent of useless.
- Time Flutes are permitted, because it's really not a huge advantage and just saves time grinding. You only get 3, and on many Pokémon they're not worth using anyway.
- On that note, Mt. Battle and Colosseums are grinding spots. This means that Pokémon cannot die in these areas. Trust me, I've attempted a Colosseum Nuzlocke before without this rule and it's impossible; there are no Wild Pokémon in this game, so these are the only ways to level up outside of progressing in the main campaign. A crit in Mt. Battle leads to the entire playthrough being spent in Mt. Battle as you have to train up something else fresh.
- Items, outside of Revives, are also permitted. It's double battles, they're way less broken and are also necessary.
- Level caps are in play to the best of their ability. This means that in pre-battle grinding in preparation for a boss fight, you cannot level over the cap for their ace. Evice is considered the boss for Realgam Tower.
- Bulbapedia is banned. I have a comprehensive knowledge of this game, I don't need it. And it's less fun when you can just look everything up lol.
- The nicknaming theme is food, because I'm hungry.
Chapter 1
Something I didn't notice before is that the sack that Rui is kept in is already on the truck and squirming when you first reach Outskirt Stand. The protagonist, Wes, doesn't do anything about it. He's a criminal, what can we expect.
I decided to check out our starters to see what we're working with. I don't know if I'll do this for every Shadow Pokémon we might be able to use, but we're likely to be dependent on these two, particularly Umbreon, for a while.
So we got a fast, offensively-inclined Umbreon, and a slow, defensive Espeon. Great.
VS Rider Willie
I've played Colosseum enough to know that you just mash A and use Confusion and Bite. Espeon OHKOed despite its minimal SpAtk IVs; Umbreon usually 2HKOs its Zigzagoon but it got a crit. Nice stuff.
VS Shady Guy Folly
To be as safe as possible, Turn 1 I used Reflect to minimise damage taken, while Umbreon got its first hit on its marked Whismur. Next turn, Espeon OHKOs the other and Umbreon finishes its own off. This is how a lot of these earlier battles are gonna go.
Anyway, we rescued Rui. I called her Snobi, as I called Wes Celever. Fun fact about my name: since I was a kid, this is the name I have used in video games, as it's just a portmanteau of my two favourite Pokémon when I was like, 4: Celebi and Snover. In games where I played as the female, I instead used Snobi, which is the other way of portmanteauing those Pokémon. Yes, that means my name is said with a soft C. I didn't just add an e to clever; it wasn't until it was pointed out a decade later online that I even saw that connection. I suppose that means I'm not particularly clever.
Speaking of not being particularly clever, I was about 18 when I realised that this is a bathrobe on the mayor's bed:
I always thought it was a moose or bull head. Not sure why, I've never even seen a moosehead in real life. On an old CRT, I think the roses looked like blood to me, and then the ribbons were its tusks or horns.
This is my favourite line in the game. Rui finds out that we were a high-ranking member of Team Snagem who has stolen innumerable Pokémon from their trainers, and the most she has to say is "that's a little shocking!". I've laughed about this line since I first played this game, because it's such an understatement, and her fidelity considering we met her about 10 minutes ago is bizarre.
VS. Team Snagem Wakin
Confusion on Koffing and Bite on Corphish, followed up with Confusion on Corphish. Pretty easy, but Umbreon scored a flinch on Corphish. This thing is getting all kinds of luck, hopefully it keeps up.
Next we head to Outskirt Stand to bust the bank buying PokéBalls. We get 5 PokéBalls for free, buy 10 more, and then spend the rest of our money on Great Balls. We start with Potions, Super Potions, and every status healing item in decent supply, so this is the best use of our money right now.
VS. Miror B.Peon Folly
You know the drill by now. Confusion, Bite, Confusion. Whismur and Lotad down.
VS. Miror B.Peon Trudly
Confusion on Spinarak, Bite on Duskull. Then Makuhita comes out.
Speaking of me being a dumb kid, I always thought that Makuhita's red rings on its cheekbones were its eyes, and its actual eyes were its eyebrows. In my defense, I don't think its eyes looks like eyes either, they're just lines. Eyes are round.
Duskull avoids the OHKO from Bite and uses Leer. This is worst case scenario; Makuhita genuinely hits hard, and is a higher level than us by quite a long way. In retaliation, I opt for Reflect. This isn't XD, so while Makuhita is the catching tutorial, you have to catch it the hard way. Meanwhile, Umbreon finishes off Duskull, and thankfully Makuhita targets Umbreon. It doesn't deal too much damage, so I'm playing it safe and using Return and Bite, hoping for the flinch. This sets Makuhita just below half, but doesn't flinch, and Makuhita uses Cross Chop. Thankfully it was on Espeon, but still dealt around a third of its health under Reflect. Time to Bite again, and on Espeon's move try to catch the guy. We caught it in just a PokéBall, saving our 15 Great Balls for the harder Pokémon later.
Trudly is defeated.
Starter Choice
We heal up, and now comes an important decision. Colosseum has a starter choice between Bayleef, Quilava, and Croconaw. These usually evolve right after you purify them, and you do catch all of them eventually, but very late in the game.
Bayleef is an interesting option. It has good bulk, but its starting moveset is pretty poor. It comes with Razor Leaf which is a spread move, but it's weak. Its attack that only targets one opponent is Body Slam, which is fantastic for its 30% paralysis chance, however. This is really nice for catching Shadow Pokémon, as it deals chip damage and is fairly likely to inflict the best status for catching Shadow Pokémon in this game. Its other move, Sunny Day and Synthesis, are somewhat pointless as healing items aren't banned. It's nice for conserving money, and if it learned Solar Beam earlier it would be amazing, but it doesn't learn it until pretty much the end of the game. It learns Light Screen before the battle against Cipher ADMN Dakim, but the TM for Light Screen is obtained just after Dakim, meaning many other Pokémon can learn it. If I were to choose Bayleef, it would be for Body Slam and its natural bulk, and not much else.
Quilava is an interesting option. Its starting attacks are Flame Wheel and Dig, which aren't great. Furthermore, as a Shadow Pokémon, which it will be for quite a long time, it has pretty poor bulk. It does, however, learn Smokescreen. This is a potentially interesting move for this run as we want to catch as many Shadow Pokémon as possible, and have access to healing items, so there's a chance it could make our life easier. Fire-Type Pokémon are also very rare in this game -- outside of Quilava, our options are Slugma and Entei. Slugma has an extremely high evolution level so it would require a lot of babying, but its defensive capabilities make it an interesting option. Entei is great, but this is a Nuzlocke and it could die. Water- and Grass-Type Pokémon are in much greater abundance, so if we did want a Fire-Type Pokémon, Quilava is a solid choice to ensure access to a capable one.
Croconaw is the best newbie choice for a starter. It comes with Surf, which is the best spread move as it doesn't hit your ally in this gen, and one that not every Water-Type Pokémon has access to in this game. As there are no HMs, a Pokémon has to be given it upon purification, and something like Mantine isn't lucky enough to get that treatment. It also comes with Scary Face, which is a legitimately nice status move as it's a spread move that lowers Speed; I can foresee some nice plays with Colosseum's doubles mechanics, as a Pokémon is sent out immediately after another Pokémon faints, and so a fast Pokémon could KO an opponent and its replacement could be sent into Scary Face, letting us take 2 hits on it. Later on, Feraligatr also learns Screech, which is fantastic in this game -- Gligar is one of my favourite team members solely due to its access to Screech as soon as you get it.
This may come as a surprise, but I ended up opting for Bayleef. I feel like its access to Body Slam is too good to pass up, and though some probable team members like Quagsire also learn it, it's a Nuzlocke and it's always possible that Quagsire could die. If we end up without status, the run becomes so much harder. Also, I'm kind of terrified about Miror B., and Bayleef is the starter with undoubtedly the best matchup against it. Miror B.,'s lowest levelled Ludicolo has Ice Beam, but once we double target and take it out we can switch Bayleef in and spam Sunny Day. I'm pretty sure this tricks the AI into spamming Rain Dance, and if this tactic fails, Bayleef still can tank his Water- and Grass-Type attacks.
Oh, let's IV our Makuhita.
We don't learn Shadow Pokémon's natures until later, but the IV calculator tells us that it's a +SpDef nature, as its stat is too high to just be from IVs. I went ahead and plugged in a random +SpDef nature, and even with that it's 30-31 IVs in SpDef, so this may end up a nice special tank. It's likely that it's +SpDef, -Def, which isn't ideal, but it may also just have no Defensive IVs and be -SpAtk or -Spe, both of which would be A-OK with me. Its high Attack, HP, and SpDef are really nice. I'm not a huge proponent of Makuhita in this game; it's relatively tanky and hits hard, but offers minimal utility outside of that. This makes it seem like it should be a good member of our team for the first stint of the game, however.
Vs. Mystery Troop Verde
He leads with Grimer and his Shadow Bayleef, so we just Confusion the Grimer and use Bite on Bayleef. Hopefully it flinches, but it's nice to gauge whether it would be safe to use Confusion on it afterwards as both are special moves.
Yeah, this is safe to use Confusion on. I doubt even a crit would KO it. Meanwhile Umbreon can use Bite on the Spoink that replaced Grimer. Umbreon scores the flinch on Spoink, meanwhile Espeon's Confusion deals under half of Bayleef's health. I know this, because it used Synthesis and its HP is almost full. It used Synthesis on the first turn too; looks like we might have to spam to PP stall.
Either I missed a crit or the first Confusion was a max roll. During the Synthesis spam, Confusion is barely dealing a quarter of damage, so Confusion and Bite together both do under half its health. This is a great sign if we catch him. Another great sign is that Bayleef dealt just under half of Espeon's HP with Shadow Rush, and now it's in the red after a Confusion, Bite, and recoil (and the damage it already had). Time to throw a PokéBall.
2 shakes.
I just realised Umbreon has Taunt so I've used it; Bayleef isn't out of Synthesis PP yet. We've got it cornered and it just took more recoil. We'll use a Great Ball this time.
Bayleef was caught.
Before we sign off, let's check out our Bayleef.
No wonder Shadow Rush was so strong -- it has to have a +Atk nature, and when I put Adamant in, its IVs are 26-29. Considering we caught the guy for Body Slam, that's pretty perfect. The rest of its IVs are pretty bad though, so that's a bummer.
I decided to check out our starters to see what we're working with. I don't know if I'll do this for every Shadow Pokémon we might be able to use, but we're likely to be dependent on these two, particularly Umbreon, for a while.
VS Rider Willie
I've played Colosseum enough to know that you just mash A and use Confusion and Bite. Espeon OHKOed despite its minimal SpAtk IVs; Umbreon usually 2HKOs its Zigzagoon but it got a crit. Nice stuff.
VS Shady Guy Folly
To be as safe as possible, Turn 1 I used Reflect to minimise damage taken, while Umbreon got its first hit on its marked Whismur. Next turn, Espeon OHKOs the other and Umbreon finishes its own off. This is how a lot of these earlier battles are gonna go.
Anyway, we rescued Rui. I called her Snobi, as I called Wes Celever. Fun fact about my name: since I was a kid, this is the name I have used in video games, as it's just a portmanteau of my two favourite Pokémon when I was like, 4: Celebi and Snover. In games where I played as the female, I instead used Snobi, which is the other way of portmanteauing those Pokémon. Yes, that means my name is said with a soft C. I didn't just add an e to clever; it wasn't until it was pointed out a decade later online that I even saw that connection. I suppose that means I'm not particularly clever.
Speaking of not being particularly clever, I was about 18 when I realised that this is a bathrobe on the mayor's bed:
I always thought it was a moose or bull head. Not sure why, I've never even seen a moosehead in real life. On an old CRT, I think the roses looked like blood to me, and then the ribbons were its tusks or horns.
This is my favourite line in the game. Rui finds out that we were a high-ranking member of Team Snagem who has stolen innumerable Pokémon from their trainers, and the most she has to say is "that's a little shocking!". I've laughed about this line since I first played this game, because it's such an understatement, and her fidelity considering we met her about 10 minutes ago is bizarre.
VS. Team Snagem Wakin
Confusion on Koffing and Bite on Corphish, followed up with Confusion on Corphish. Pretty easy, but Umbreon scored a flinch on Corphish. This thing is getting all kinds of luck, hopefully it keeps up.
Next we head to Outskirt Stand to bust the bank buying PokéBalls. We get 5 PokéBalls for free, buy 10 more, and then spend the rest of our money on Great Balls. We start with Potions, Super Potions, and every status healing item in decent supply, so this is the best use of our money right now.
VS. Miror B.Peon Folly
You know the drill by now. Confusion, Bite, Confusion. Whismur and Lotad down.
VS. Miror B.Peon Trudly
Confusion on Spinarak, Bite on Duskull. Then Makuhita comes out.
Speaking of me being a dumb kid, I always thought that Makuhita's red rings on its cheekbones were its eyes, and its actual eyes were its eyebrows. In my defense, I don't think its eyes looks like eyes either, they're just lines. Eyes are round.
Duskull avoids the OHKO from Bite and uses Leer. This is worst case scenario; Makuhita genuinely hits hard, and is a higher level than us by quite a long way. In retaliation, I opt for Reflect. This isn't XD, so while Makuhita is the catching tutorial, you have to catch it the hard way. Meanwhile, Umbreon finishes off Duskull, and thankfully Makuhita targets Umbreon. It doesn't deal too much damage, so I'm playing it safe and using Return and Bite, hoping for the flinch. This sets Makuhita just below half, but doesn't flinch, and Makuhita uses Cross Chop. Thankfully it was on Espeon, but still dealt around a third of its health under Reflect. Time to Bite again, and on Espeon's move try to catch the guy. We caught it in just a PokéBall, saving our 15 Great Balls for the harder Pokémon later.
Trudly is defeated.
Starter Choice
We heal up, and now comes an important decision. Colosseum has a starter choice between Bayleef, Quilava, and Croconaw. These usually evolve right after you purify them, and you do catch all of them eventually, but very late in the game.
Bayleef is an interesting option. It has good bulk, but its starting moveset is pretty poor. It comes with Razor Leaf which is a spread move, but it's weak. Its attack that only targets one opponent is Body Slam, which is fantastic for its 30% paralysis chance, however. This is really nice for catching Shadow Pokémon, as it deals chip damage and is fairly likely to inflict the best status for catching Shadow Pokémon in this game. Its other move, Sunny Day and Synthesis, are somewhat pointless as healing items aren't banned. It's nice for conserving money, and if it learned Solar Beam earlier it would be amazing, but it doesn't learn it until pretty much the end of the game. It learns Light Screen before the battle against Cipher ADMN Dakim, but the TM for Light Screen is obtained just after Dakim, meaning many other Pokémon can learn it. If I were to choose Bayleef, it would be for Body Slam and its natural bulk, and not much else.
Quilava is an interesting option. Its starting attacks are Flame Wheel and Dig, which aren't great. Furthermore, as a Shadow Pokémon, which it will be for quite a long time, it has pretty poor bulk. It does, however, learn Smokescreen. This is a potentially interesting move for this run as we want to catch as many Shadow Pokémon as possible, and have access to healing items, so there's a chance it could make our life easier. Fire-Type Pokémon are also very rare in this game -- outside of Quilava, our options are Slugma and Entei. Slugma has an extremely high evolution level so it would require a lot of babying, but its defensive capabilities make it an interesting option. Entei is great, but this is a Nuzlocke and it could die. Water- and Grass-Type Pokémon are in much greater abundance, so if we did want a Fire-Type Pokémon, Quilava is a solid choice to ensure access to a capable one.
Croconaw is the best newbie choice for a starter. It comes with Surf, which is the best spread move as it doesn't hit your ally in this gen, and one that not every Water-Type Pokémon has access to in this game. As there are no HMs, a Pokémon has to be given it upon purification, and something like Mantine isn't lucky enough to get that treatment. It also comes with Scary Face, which is a legitimately nice status move as it's a spread move that lowers Speed; I can foresee some nice plays with Colosseum's doubles mechanics, as a Pokémon is sent out immediately after another Pokémon faints, and so a fast Pokémon could KO an opponent and its replacement could be sent into Scary Face, letting us take 2 hits on it. Later on, Feraligatr also learns Screech, which is fantastic in this game -- Gligar is one of my favourite team members solely due to its access to Screech as soon as you get it.
This may come as a surprise, but I ended up opting for Bayleef. I feel like its access to Body Slam is too good to pass up, and though some probable team members like Quagsire also learn it, it's a Nuzlocke and it's always possible that Quagsire could die. If we end up without status, the run becomes so much harder. Also, I'm kind of terrified about Miror B., and Bayleef is the starter with undoubtedly the best matchup against it. Miror B.,'s lowest levelled Ludicolo has Ice Beam, but once we double target and take it out we can switch Bayleef in and spam Sunny Day. I'm pretty sure this tricks the AI into spamming Rain Dance, and if this tactic fails, Bayleef still can tank his Water- and Grass-Type attacks.
Oh, let's IV our Makuhita.
Vs. Mystery Troop Verde
He leads with Grimer and his Shadow Bayleef, so we just Confusion the Grimer and use Bite on Bayleef. Hopefully it flinches, but it's nice to gauge whether it would be safe to use Confusion on it afterwards as both are special moves.
Yeah, this is safe to use Confusion on. I doubt even a crit would KO it. Meanwhile Umbreon can use Bite on the Spoink that replaced Grimer. Umbreon scores the flinch on Spoink, meanwhile Espeon's Confusion deals under half of Bayleef's health. I know this, because it used Synthesis and its HP is almost full. It used Synthesis on the first turn too; looks like we might have to spam to PP stall.
Either I missed a crit or the first Confusion was a max roll. During the Synthesis spam, Confusion is barely dealing a quarter of damage, so Confusion and Bite together both do under half its health. This is a great sign if we catch him. Another great sign is that Bayleef dealt just under half of Espeon's HP with Shadow Rush, and now it's in the red after a Confusion, Bite, and recoil (and the damage it already had). Time to throw a PokéBall.
2 shakes.
I just realised Umbreon has Taunt so I've used it; Bayleef isn't out of Synthesis PP yet. We've got it cornered and it just took more recoil. We'll use a Great Ball this time.
Bayleef was caught.
Before we sign off, let's check out our Bayleef.
I'm keeping this a little shorter to get feedback on the style etc.. If you're interested in the playthrough, let me know what you thought of Chapter 1.