Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Part 6 – Nessa

It’s a new day in Lockie’s Nuzlocke journey, and today she is in Hulbury, home of the Water Gym Leader, Nessa.

Lockie and Nessa meet for the first time on the streets of Hulbury.

Before Lockie begins her challenge, we took some time to explore Hulbury and find some useful items, such as the TM for Electroweb, and a Magnet, both of which will help Gautier the Charjabug against the watery foes we will face.

And while Lockie was wandering down the streets, she came across a good spot to fish! So we tried our luck for our next new team member, and the result was Chester the Chinchou!

Other options were Arrokuda, Chewtle, Basculin and Wishiwashi. Chinchou absolutely would be my first choice out of these options, so that was a stroke of luck. With his Electric typing, that means we have another advantage against Nessa’s gym! I have chosen to swap Madeleine the Magikarp out for the time being, she can rejoin after we have claimed Nessa’s badge.

Lockie steps into the Hulbury Gym Mission.

So into the gym we go, and the Gym Mission that awaits us is a fairly standard puzzle-solving maze, where water blocks Lockie’s path, and she must press different buttons to open different paths. Of course there are a number of trainers to defeat along the way, but they will be excellent practice for Chester!

Lockie is more than ready to face the trainers in Hulbury Gym.

Lockie completing the Gym Mission, approaching the stadium, and facing off against Nessa.

After making it through the Gym Mission, and reaching the stadium field to face-off against Nessa, Lockie managed to secure an easy win! Lillian was the star of the show, with her Mega Drain and Shell Bell meaning that Nessa could barely leave a scratch!

Lockie ready to Dynamax, celebrating her victory with Lillian, and accepting the Gym Badge from Nessa.

So now it is time to think ahead to the next challenge, and this is where the difficulty starts to pick up! Kabu, the next Gym Leader, uses Fire type Pokemon, so Gaspar, Oberon and Gautier are going to take a break, while Gloria (Growlithe), Roland (Roggenrola) and Madeleine (Magikarp) come back for some training.

A brief meeting with Sonia and Chairman Rose before heading back to Motostoke.

Our next stop is Galar Mine No. 2! As this is another case of no random encounters, I simply ran into the first Pokemon which spawned … a Wimpod. Not exactly a thrilling choice. While Golisopod is a good contender for the challenge, Wimpod is not especially useful himself. His stats are not good, and his ability means that if I take him below half health, he will run away! This Wimpod broke out of 10+ Pokeballs (all I had), my only 3 Great Balls, my 3 Nest Balls, and 3 Heal Balls … FINALLY, he was captured! Lockie named this pain in the .. *ahem*, Wilbur.

The other inhabitants of this cave are Shellos, Binacle, Croagunk, Shuckle, Chewtle and Noibat – I really wish I had found Croagunk or Noibat, but there we go!

Once again Lockie finds herself being challenged by Bede, the most insufferable character in this generation of Pokemon games. I predict Gloria will have no issue wiping his Psychic team with Bite — until, tragedy strikes!

Our first casualty! Gloria, who I had so much hope for! Taken down in one shot by Bede’s Solosis! If I disliked Bede before, you can be sure that the feeling is ten times stronger now! I was totally shocked, as I was not expecting to take any losses at this early stage. Even Esther had to make a hasty retreat after defeating his Gothorita! Chinchou had to make an early retreat whilst fighting his Ponyta, with both fighters confused and evenly matched, I just had to play it safe. Lillian is now the last Pokemon at a good level with enough health to take on his Hatenna. Thankfully Lillian’s Mega Drain kept her health where it needed to be for her to survive Hatenna’s attacks, as it was quite a hard hitter!

I couldn’t be more pleased to be the one who made Bede pull this face.

Lockie must press on through the cave in order to make it back to Motostoke, but it isn’t long before she runs into Team Yell. They seem to be causing more mischief, and Hop arrives just in time to provide Lockie with some backup for a double battle!

Team Yell are always ready to cause some trouble.

I’ll admit that the Thievul and Linoone looked slightly intimidating, as Lockie didn’t have an obvious counter in her team … But Lillian should be fine right?

The moment Lockie’s precious Lillian was taken from us.

WRONG! Tragedy strikes for a second time in Galar Mine No. 2! Linoone’s powerful Night Slash, followed up by a critical hit from Thievul’s Snarl sent Lillian on a one way trip to the Graveyard box!

This battle was heating up, as Linoone continually slashed away at my party members, forcing me to switch them out as no one could outspeed him! Finally Linoone was down, replaced with a Pancham … a Pancham who then one-shotted Roland!

Roland struck down before he could prove his worth.

Lockie is in serious trouble now, with 2 Pokemon sent to the Graveyard, and very few remaining choices left. With some luck, Esther was able to carry us through the rest of the battle with no more casualties. We must keep going though, and now that we have two gaps on the party, Gaspar and Rowena are joining us once more.

One last stop before the end of this episode, the Motostoke Outskirts. I first encounter was a Chewtle. We caught him and named him Cedric, and swapped him into the party, sending Gaspar back to the box. I could have found a Croagunk, Pawniard or Impidimp, but I think at this point I would be happy to take anything.

Cedric, the latest addition to the team.

Finally Locke reaches Motostoke, and it is time for a rest before taking on Kabu’s Gym. And I think after what we have been through here today, we could probably do with a good rest. Let’s take a moment to remember our fallen friends today.