Gaming Journals – Hobbits Of Hyrule

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Jul 11, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

Part 11 – Opal

Lockie didn’t even have a chance to heal her Pokémon before being dragged into a commotion! The obnoxious Bede seems to be up to no good, and Lockie could do nothing but watch as Stow-On-Side’s famous mural crumbles under the force of Bede’s attacks!

Sonia runs towards the origin of the ruckus.

It isn’t long before Bede is brought to justice and disqualified from the Gym Challenge! Lockie soon moves on to continue with her own Challenge and makes her way towards the Glimwood Tangle.

Deep within this dark thicket, Lockie found no shortage of trainers to battle, and plenty of wild Pokémon too. The first one to jump out at Lockie was a wild Shiinotic – and after a careful battle, it was successfully captured!

Shiinotic uses a variety of status affect moves.

Sheila the Shiinotic joins Lockie’s team.

Lockie eventually reaches the other side of the Glimwood Tangle, and finds herself in the glowing village of Ballonlea. It’s a small place, but quite breathtaking in its own way. Lockie watches in awe as the wild Pokémon wander about the village quite happily, playing with the locals as they pass by. But she soon set her sights on her next destination – the Gym.

Ballonlea is lit by the glow of the giant mushrooms.

Whilst fighting through the forest, two members of the team evolved – Duncan and Stewart.

Jumping straight into the Gym, Lockie is surprised to discover that the mission in this particular Gym is actually an audition, as Opal is looking to retire as Ballonlea’s Gym leader! This must be the first time that Lockie has had to battle whilst answering questions shouted at her from afar.

Lockie is told she will be auditioning for the Gym Leader role,

Lockie and Opal prepare to Dynamax their Pokémon.

Opal proved to be a tough ordeal for Lockie’s team – Duncan the Excadrill managed to sweep the majority of his opponents, but Alcremie almost got the better of him! In fact, it took three different Pokémon to take her down!

Eventually Lockie claimed victory, and without suffering any casualties! Although she earned her next badge, she was informed by Opal that she didn’t have the right stuff for the position. Just as well, seeing as she didn’t actually want the job!

As Lockie prepares to set off for Hammerlocke once more, Opal approaches her and offers her company for the road as she claims to have business there as well. And now Lockie must prepare to make her way to Circhester. The next Gym Leader specialises in ice types, so Lockie will be changing the team up once again.

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Jun 29, 2020Jul 11, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

Part 10 – Allister

It’s the day of Lockie’s next gym challenge. Her opponent today is Allister – a strange boy who specialises in ghost type Pokémon. The challenge in this particular gym is an unusal sort of teacups ride, with a few trainers to battle along the way.

It’s a good opportunity for Lockie to test some of her new friends, so Stewart the Skorupi and Tiffany the Toxtricity joined the party specially for the gym. Stewart struggled to keep up slightly, but Tiffany blasted her opponents away with her electric attacks!

Lockie breezes through the Stow-On-Side gym challenge.

Lockie and Allister face off before battle.

Lockie wipes away Allister’s starting line-up without breaking a sweat, and before long the battlers are already preparing to send out their final Pokémon.

Lockie and Allister prepare to send out their final Pokémon.

The final battle is between Madeleine and Allister’s Gengar.

Madeleine faces off against Allister’s Gengar, and both are quickly dynamaxed, creating a monstrous scene between two enormous brutes.

A mighty battle between Madeleine and the gigantamax Gengar.

Madeleine was able to weather the barrage of attacks from the Gengar, and took him down with her amplified max attacks! And so Lockie won her fourth gym badge, from the eerie youth, Allister.

After the intense battle, Deirdre evolved into a Dusclops! This means Deirdre is now something of a tank in the party – something that will surely come in handy later in the adventure.

Deirdre evolves into a formidable Dusclops.

Lockie will now have to prepare for the next gym, located in Ballonlea, which specialises in fairy type Pokémon. Rowena the Corviknight is put back into the party, as her steel typing will prove to be advantageous, and Duncan the Drilbur is also coming along – once Lockie evolves him into Excadrill, he will gain the steel type as well.

But first, it seems there is some trouble brewing in Stow-On-Side …

PART 11 – OPAL

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Jun 22, 2020Jul 11, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

part 9 – To Stow-on-side

Once our leading lady has finished her business in Hammerlocke, Lockie leaves the city behind her to press on to the next step of the Gym Challenge, Stow-On-Side. It is there that she shall face Allister the ghost type user.

Lockie admires all the sights of Hammerlocke before leaving.

Our hero has barely stepped outside the city bounds before she runs into Team Yell! Unsurprisingly, they start kicking up a fuss at the sight of Lockie, and a battle is soon underway.

Team Yell attempts to stir up trouble again.

With those goons dealt with, Lockie presses on into a brand new route, and she finds herself catching the first Pokémon she encounters, a Duskull. She then named her Deirdre. She should prove to be a valuable addition to the team, being a ghost type, and having excellent defences!

Throughout this route and during training for the gym challenge, there were a couple of evolutions on the team. Lockie truly has a formidable team at this point!

Tiffany and Rowena both evolve to their final forms.

It isn’t long before Lockie arrives at the dusty town of Stow-On-Side, and she has some time to take in the sights before the gym challenge. She takes the time to browse the outdoor markets and poke around the empty alleyways, and then in front of the Gym Stadium she bumps into Hop, and it is there that the two youths battle – no problem at all for Lockie’s team.

PART 10 – ALLISTER

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Jun 8, 2020Jun 15, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

PART 7 – Kabu

The next leg of Lockie’s journey sees her in Motostoke, ready to take on Gym Leader Kabu … well, almost ready! It seems as though Lockie’s team needs more training before taking on this challenge. The loss of three party members is still fresh, and so we will have to put a bit more work into leveling to catch up with the Pokemon around us.

Whilst undergoing training, we had a few evolutions in the team! First was Esther, who has evolved into a rather formidable Meowstic. With particularly high Speed and Special Attack, she just might be our first real sweeper. Next was Cedric who evolved into Drednaw. This gives him the Rock type as well as Water, which means he will be particularly vulnerable to Grass types! The third and final evolution of the training session (and possibly the most exciting) was Madeleine! We now have an almighty Gyarados on our team, and with that Lockie’s team suddenly feels much more viable.

Kabu’s Gym Challenge is an interesting one, as it involves catching/defeating wild Pokemon alongside other challenges to earn points. And as the stadium itself counts as a new area, this means an opportunity to get a new addition to the team, so say hello to Lockie’s new Litwick, Layla!

The rest of the gym challenge was easy enough – defeating the wild fire types before the other contestants was no trouble at all with Lockie’s watery competitors.

Kabu’s gym challenge is a catching contest.

And now onto Kabu himself! He is usually quite a tough one to beat, but with a double act of Madeleine and Cedric, his Fire types really didn’t stand a chance against the watery strength of Lockie’s team! It wasn’t long before this gym was conquered. Even the gigantamax Centiskorch went down in just one hit from Cedric the Drednaw.

The next destination for Lockie will be Hammerlocke, which means traversing a new section of the Wild Area, and new areas for Pokemon to be caught. It’s time to really think about who needs training up for the battles ahead, so some of our old friends will have to come out of the box once again.

Part 8 – en route to hammerlocke

Gaming Journals

Vinland: A Hobbit’s Tour

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

Like so many others, I have been playing an awful lot of Animal Crossing: New Horizons during this strange period. After all, wouldn’t we all like to go outside and see our friends right now? Animal Crossing has been an interesting placeholder for that, especially seeing as my friends can actually come to my island.

And as it is the first Animal Crossing game in the franchise that has allowed you to decorate and terraform your island as you see fit, I have of course been very busy building an island that I would be please to call home.

Now I would like to take you on a little tour of my fair island, so please sit back, relax, and enjoy your virtual trip to Vinland.

Vinland – an island where community and nature come together. Although most of the island has been transformed into a friendly town, there is still much of the island which has been left to nature.

Vinland’s central plaza where locals gather to chat or meet visiting vendors.

Take a walk through the central district to see Vinland’s vibrant flower fields.

We have large fields of blooms which attract all manner of insects, as well as provide a colourful view as you get around the island.

We’re lucky to have a beautiful shopping district.

The shopping district is split on both sides by stunning waterfalls.

Our shopping district is never far away, no matter where you are on the island. You’ll find Nook’s Cranny, Able Sisters, and even some amenities along the streets. A waterfall sits besides both establishments, providing the district with a natural border.

We have beautiful beaches for you to relax on.

Vinland has a number of beaches for you to enjoy, but the most popular is just by the gorgeous tulip field, with a great view of the planes as they come to and from the island.

Take a walk through our shell path to our public park.

The park is a great place to pass the time.

We are proud to boast a spacious park where everyone is welcome to meet up with their friends and unwind on the various toys available. And once you are done there, you can take a short walk through the shell arch pathway straight to the beach.

We have a clifftop nature reserve with some stunning scenery for you to enjoy.

Enjoy the sea view, head down to Redd’s cove, or climb further up.

See Vinland’s water source and how far it stretches across.

We have a number of different natural areas for you to explore. You can take the clifftop pathway by the flowing river and watch the waterfalls on the cliff, head down to Redd’s Cove for a quiet moment of peace, explore the source of the river and hop over the waterfalls, or walk through our wild lily field whilst helping yourself to the native fruits.

Feel like visiting? Come and stay in our campsite, located in our oriental district.

Our oriental district spans the eastern edge of the island, you’ll think you have taken a trip to Asia with out bamboo groves, the blooming azaleas, and the beach-side rock pool. Why not bring a tent to stay the night in our peaceful campsite where you can listen to the sounds of the bamboo and the beach with the scent of the hyacinths in the air.

We have residences set up in our busiest areas.

Vinland residents are often out and about, enjoying their wonderful town.

Our residents live all over the island, but distance is no matter as everyone likes to visit their island neighbours and explore the island.

Coming soon, Vinland’s natural outdoor concert arena.

Vinland’s latest attraction (nearing completion) is our exciting outdoor concert arena! Just head down the steps from our clifftop walk to find yourself in this tiny valley, and you just might be treated to a concert with the best acoustics you’ve ever heard, and even a sea view while you enjoy the show!

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Dec 22, 2019Jun 15, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

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.

Part 7 – kabu

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Dec 19, 2019Jun 15, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

Part 5 – Milo

So here we are, at the first Gym Battle! Honestly, I’m not even remotely worried about this one. Milo is pretty small time, with only two Pokémon in his party, both of which are pure Grass types.

Rowena led the charge with the Gym Trainers in the mission (which I think is a really funny mission, herding Wooloo!). No problems encountered here as Lockie breezed through, and onto the actual battle itself!

Our safest option here was Oberon, with his Grass/Poison typing, he receives only a quarter of the damage from Grass attacks! And this plan worked perfectly, his health stayed firmly above half! It only took two shots of Max Ooze to send Milo’s Eldegoss packing!

Milo approaches Lockie on the Stadium grounds.

Lockie graciously accepted the Grass Badge from Milo, and started planning the journey ahead. I put Gloria and Rowena in the box for a little rest, and took Lillian as we will need her Grass typing against the Water Gym Leader, Nessa. I also took Madeleine, hopefully she will evolve into Gyarados quite soon!

New areas mean new Pokémon to catch! First I took a quick trip back to the Wild Area to visit South Lake Miloch, as the intense sunshine meant there were some different Pokémon hanging around. I ended up catching a Nincanda, who I named Nancy! Baltoy and Roselia were the other possibilities, but I guess I can find a use for another Bug Pokémon … is Lockie a secret Bug Maniac?

Catching Nincanda is technically like catching two Pokémon.

Now we are back on track and heading to Route 5, where there are quite a few possibilities for our encounter! But the first to show herself was Espurr, who Lockie captured in one throw and named Esther! I’m pretty happy with this, Psychic is one of my favourite types so it’s always good to have another one on board.

Esther seems to like to show off, if this pose is anything to go by.

It wasn’t long before she was showing us what she can do, as she took down an Applin two levels higher than herself with no worries at all! Esther easily took down the rest of the route trainers, including a couple of punks from Team Yell, and then Lockie ran into Hop once more, who of ocurse was waiting for another battle.

Esther was around half health, so I didn’t feel like risking her in this battle – Oberon was the way to go here! That is until Corvisquire came out. After a successful dose of Sleep Powder and then a direct hit from Oberon’s Acid attack, he soon woke up and quickly had Oberon down to very low yellow health … thankfully Gautier is beefy enough to take any amount of pecking, and his new Electric typing takes away the Super Effective status of Flying type moves.

With that victory, it wasn’t long before Lockie found herself in Hulbury, home to the Water Gym. Next time we will be taking on Nessa and hopefully claiming her badge!

part 6 – nessa

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Dec 15, 2019Jun 15, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

Part 4 – The Gym Challenge

Welcome back to Lockie’s Nuzlocke Challenge! Lockie has made it to Motostoke, and I spent a little bit of time polishing her team so that she doesn’t fall behind. During this, Lillian and Gaspar both evolved, and I’m feeling much more confident with the team and ready to press on.

Two evolutions, and a fairly decent party in my opinion!

Lockie and Hop got themselves registered to take part in the Gym Challenge, then went to the Budew Drop Inn to stay the night, in preparation for the opening ceremony which was due to take place the following day. It was in the lobby here that Lockie came across Team Yell for the first time, but they proved to be no threat at all – Beatrice’s Struggle Bug soon dispatched the Dark types that were sent out to oppose us!

After a bit of poking around the city, Lockie found a couple of useful items, Miracle Seed and Silk Scarf. These items boost the power of Grass type moves and Normal type moves, respectively. They will help certain members of the team pack an even bigger punch. Lockie also came across a quiet spot by the river where she could do a bit of fishing! Seemed like the perfect chance to catch a new Pokémon for this area – and the result was a Magikarp! Lockie captured the splashing fish and named her Madeleine. The other options from the fishing spot were Chewtle and Barboach, but ultimately I think Gyarados will be more helpful than the others. Madeleine is going to the box for now, but I’m sure she will come out later.

Useless for now, but perhaps a life saver in the long run?

The next day Lockie headed to the stadium where she took part in the opening ceremony of the Gym Challenge, which means that we are finally on the road to the first Gym leader, Milo!

The crowds cheer on, which is slightly macabre bearing in mind this is a Nuzlocke.

Before any of that though, as usual Hop wants to test his stuff against Lockie and her team. Thankfully we have Gloria now who can deal with Rookidee, the most worrisome member of his team! It wasn’t long before he conceded defeat and we moved on to Route 3, and our next capture – Rookidee! She was named Rowena, and put into the party in place of Lillian for now.

Beatrice is turning out to be a real asset to the team, which is a nice surprise for me (I hadn’t used the Blipbug evolution line until this point). Her typing means that she has the advantage over a good number of my opponents, and she has excellent defenses, so most attacks are practically bouncing off her!

Galar Mine was easy enough to traverse, I used it as a chance to level up Oberon by taking on the trainers with their Rock type Pokémon. As there are no random encounters in caves anymore, I ran into the first Pokémon I saw spwan, which was Roggenrola! Another easy catch, I soon found myself naming him Roland. I placed him in the box for now, as the first two gyms are Grass and Water … not exactly his strong points. The other Pokémon to find here were Rolycoly, Diglett, Drilbur, Woobat and Timburr, and frankly I’m just happy I didn’t encounter the last two on that list.

Roland is sure to come in handy once the first two Gyms are out of the way.

Lockie encountered Bede at the end of the mine. He didn’t stand a chance against Gautier, and was defeated with ease. Next up is Route 4, final stop before Turffield where we will face our first Gym Leader!

The golden fields of Route 4 were hiding many Pokémon, but Meowth was the one to jump out at Lockie! She was captured with no problem and named Martha. She has been boxed, but may make an appearance later.

Just before we stepped into Turffield, we got a double evolution from one match! Gautier and Oberon, who evolved into Charjabug and Gloom!

And then two battles later, Rowena also evolved into Corvisquire! Lockie’s team is looking much more intimidating with these latest changes, and we’re more than ready to take on Milo!

Bigger and better, and ready to take on Milo!

Next time Lockie will be entering Turffield Gym and hopefully claiming Milo’s Badge! Wish us luck!

Part 5 – Milo

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Dec 12, 2019Jun 15, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

Part 3 – The Wild Area

So, after claiming her letter of endorsement, Lockie set out for Motostoke to start her Gym Challenge in earnest. Before that, she must first pass through the Wild Area, a huge open plain split into many different routes. That means that Lockie has the chance to catch several different Pokémon before progressing any further!

The Pokémon available do change depending on the weather, so there’s always the option to avoid the grass in some of these routes and find a different Pokémon later once that weather has changed.

Being chased down by wild Pokémon adds an extra layer of challenge to the Nuzlocke.

So the first area we come to is Rolling Fields. Lockie wasted no time and jumped straight into the grassy wilds, and her encounter for this route was … Oddish! I am very pleased with this result, as I have a lot of familiarity with this old-timer. Lockie successfully caught the little weed and named him Oberon.

The other options on this route in the current weather (overcast) were Budew, Bunnelby and Metapod. The only one I would have perhaps preferred is Budew, simply because I would choose Roserade over Vileplume/Bellossom.

Next route to venture through was the Dappled Grove, which was suffering from quite the heavy thunderstorm at the time! Fully aware of my crippling weakness to Flying types, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to find a bit of balance with an electric type Pokémon hopefully! The first encounter Lockie came across was another Lotad, so the Duplicate Rule allowed us to shove him aside and look for someone else, at which point we found Grubbin!

Although Grubbin is a Bug type now, he will eventually take on the Electric type, so this is an investment for the future! Another capture in the bag, and Gautier the Grubbin has been added to the party! The other options here were Joltik and Budew … I am kind of disappointed I didn’t find the Joltik as he is super speedy, and I am a sucker for the fast hitters.

I suddenly found myself needing to do some levelling to catch up with the Pokémon around me – I suspect the game expects you to be catching lots of Pokémon and therefore gaining lots of Exp, which of course is not the case here! Gaspar got a nasty shock when a Tympole who was three levels higher than him spewed him with Acid! Our new friend Gautier came to his rescue and promptly wiped out the threat.

In the middle of this little level catch-up session, Beatrice evolved into Dottler! With this she gained the Psychic type, and also learned Confusion, Reflect and Light Screen, so not only does Lockie have slightly better type coverage, but also some good defensive moves!

Beatrice claims the title of First To Evolve!

Another close encounter for Gaspar as a critical hit from a Krabby with his Metal Claw deals serious damage! It was the perfect chance for Oberon to make his debut, and the near-killer Krabby never saw it coming. Oberon’s Absorb sent him packing!

The final area before reaching Motostoke was East Lake Axewell, and the weather here was intense sunshine (despite the fact that it was actually nighttime, so I guess … intense moonshine?). I crossed my fingers as Lockie dived into the grass, and rejoiced as Growlithe was the Pokémon who greeted us! A swift capture, and Lockie finds herself with a faithful pup, Gloria the Growlithe!

Gloria will become a precious member of Lockie’s team!

Mudbray, Minccino, Onix and Stufful were the other potential partners here, but Growlithe is by far the best of the bunch for me, so I am so happy with this result!

Lockie eventually made it to Motostoke, after an eventful journey through the Wild Area. We managed to capture three Pokémon here, and I’m quite happy with all of them! It seems like this is going great so far – there have been a few near misses, so I will have to exercise great caution in future, as I’m usually used to being several levels higher than the Pokémon around me.

Part 4 – The Gym Challenge

Gaming Journals

Pokémon Shield – Nuzlocke Challenge

Posted on Dec 8, 2019Jun 15, 2020 by Hobbit Of Hyrule

Part 2 – Beginnings

And so Lockie sets out on her journey with Gaspar by her side. I predict that there will be plenty of close calls, and maybe even some tragedies, but only time will tell.

It wasn’t long before Lockie found herself in her first random encounter on Route 1, as a Blipbug jumped out at her! Luckily the Pokémon are at a very weak point at this stage, and Lockie was able to catch it straight away with her first throw. She named the female Blipbug, Beatrice.

The other random Pokémon that I could have encountered were Caterpie, Grubbin, Skwovet and Hoothoot. Perhaps I would have preferred these for the sake of familiarity, but using a Pokémon I haven’t had much to do with before should add to the challenge.

Upon reaching Wedgehurst, Lockie was introduced to Sonia, and then directed to Professor Magnolia’s house on Route 2. After healing up, she set off to meet the professor, and soon came to her first random encounter on the route, which was … a Blipbug. Thankfully I chose to use the No Duplicate rule, so this Blipbug was safe from my grasp. The next encounter was … a Lotad! Another easy capture by Lockie, and she soon found herself naming this little lady, Lillian.

The other possibilities would have been Rookidee, Hoothoot and Purrloin. I think Rookidee would have been my first choice here, but regardless, Lillian is a welcome addition to the party!

Lockie very nearly found herself facing her first tragedy, as a simple Level 7 Rookidee faced her down, and Gaspar was too slow to run away… Two pecks later and Gaspar is one hit away from an untimely end! Thankfully Lockie managed to escape on the third turn, and I suddenly realised how vulnerable my current team was to Flying Pokémon.

I decided to let Beatrice test her mettle against her first ever opponent, a Nickit belonging to Youngster Benjamin on Route 2 … and she did it! She managed to take the sly fox down, only losing 6HP in the process! I hoped she would be able to manage it as her Struggle Bug move is super effective, and she showed me that she’s got what it takes! Champion Leon, here we come!

Okay, perhaps I’m getting carried away here …

Once Lockie reached the professor’s house, a brief conversation between Magnolia, Leon and Hop led to Lockie being thrown into another battle with her rival! Not even our archnemesis, Rookidee, could slow Gaspar down! Hop just managed to get us into yellow health, but Gaspar powered through and swept his team of three, and grew to Level 11 in the process.

Hop makes for a good training partner before the threat of the Gym Challenge.

With this victory, Leon saw fit to offer Lockie a letter of endorsement, which will allow her entry to the Gym Challenge. So far, everything seems to be going our way for this Nuzlocke challenge. Next stop for Lockie is of course, the Wild Area. Many different routes await, as well as many strong Pokémon who could prove absolutely fatal to our team.