A Pokémon Challenge is an excellent way to spice up a game that has largely kept to the same format over the past 25 years. These challenges take the concept of "being the very best" to the next level, imposing a certain set of strict rules and restrictions on Trainers.
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The most popular fan-made challenge is the Nuzlocke Pokémon challenge. In a Nuzlocke run, the Trainer can only ever catch the first Pokémon they find in an area. Once it faints, it is considered dead and cannot be used again. This run is great at evoking those childhood emotional connections that came with playing the Pokemon games for the first time. However, it’s been done. Here are some Pokémon challenges that deserve a chance to shine.
5 Monocolor
This is a unique Pokémon challenge that only allows the players to pick Pokémon of a certain color. For example, if the Trainer picks Blue, their team in Generation 3 could be Mudkip, Surskit, Minun, Gyarados, Armaldo, and Shiny Shuppet. Yes, shiny Pokémon are allowed.
The ‘official’ rules state that players can use a prevolution of a Pokémon even if it does not match the color criteria, as long as they evolve it to match the correct color as soon as possible. However, some trainers take this one step further and say that only Pokémon that exactly fit the color criteria can be used. This adds an extra layer of strategy and skill to the challenge, as players must determine whether or not a Pokemon can evolve.
4 Single Pokémon Runs
Every trainer has their favorite Pokémon. It could be their first-ever starter Pokémon, or just one they feel is criminally underrated. No matter what, there’s a place for every Pokémon in this challenge mode.
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The tricky part of this mode comes from the fact that trainers cannot use another Pokémon, ever. A lot of players, such as YouTuber and streamer Mah-Dry-Bread, stipulate that other Pokémon can be used for HMs outside of battle, but cannot be used in battle. If this was not the case, generations 1-6 could not be completed. This is a great run that often shines a light on Pokémon players might never have considered using before.
3 Monotype
An evolution of the Single-Pokémon runs, a Monotype challenge is a playthrough that puts players in the shoes of their favorite gym leader. In a Monotype challenge, trainers must restrict their party of six to a single type. This adds an extra layer of difficulty when a Fire-type Monotype challenger is faced with a Water gym, or when a Bug-type Monotype team faces down against Flying-type Pokémon. However, it does introduce some creativity with TMs and stats that most trainers don’t get to work with otherwise.
Some might be thinking they can circumvent the rules by adding dual-types to their teams. However, a common add-on to the rules dictates that only monotype Pokémon can be used. This proves incredibly difficult in earlier games, such as Pokémon Red and Blue, where there are only three Dragon-type Pokémon.
2 No New Moves
This challenge is a brutal one. A No New Moves challenge run typically does not put restrictions on the number of Pokémon a Trainer can catch, but it is exactly what it sounds like. Players can only use the moves that Pokémon comes with. This is especially brutal in the early game. In early routes, most Pokémon only know Normal-type Physical moves such as Scratch and/or Tackle.
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A lot of challengers also stipulate that TMs and, in generations prior to Generation 7, HMs are not allowed. This leads to creative workarounds such as out-of-bounds glitches and exploits. It also leads to an immense amount of strategy and planning prior to starting the challenge. Trainers will have to work out what level to catch wild Pokémon at to obtain the correct moves and which route is best to find these Pokémon. That's not even mentioning breeding Pokémon for specific egg moves, which adds a whole new layer of difficulty to this run.
1 No Damage
Popularised by streamer and YouTuber SmallAnt, the ‘No Damage’ Pokémon challenge is only for those who are willing to sink in hours and hours of brutal gameplay.
This legendary feat from SmallAnt was painstaking to watch, and surely even more so to play. The rules were that he could only save after defeating a gym. If he took damage at any point, he would have to reset to this save point. By the end of the run, he had reset 69 times in total.
Let's put this ridiculously tough Pokémon challenge into perspective. With Piplup, SmallAnt had a 0.004% chance of beating their first rival battle. He needed his enemy to withdraw six times in a row, as well as miss their attack twice. This would require silly amounts of luck, so he decided to reset and choose Turtwig as his starter. This meant that his rival would choose the Fire-type Chimchar. His rival would then need to use Leer four times in a row, which has a 6.25% chance of occurring. This introductory fight took nearly an hour, but the run was only getting started. The next fight, a level 5 Starly with Quick Attack, took nine hours of grinding to win.
If players want to replicate this impressive challenge, they will need to research the best priority moves for their Pokémon, as well as relying on EV/IV training defence stats against Metapods in the early game. This type of challenge definitely isn’t for the faint of heart!
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