Nuzlocke is a popular format for playing the Pokémon video games. It is essentially a set of rules designed to make the game more challenging such as introducing permadeath (you have to release any Pokémon that faints) and you can only catch the first wild Pokémon you encounter in each area. There’s more to it and you can read about it on Bulbapedia if you really want to. However, the format has been making some headlines lately because ex-Nintendo employees and current YouTube duo Kit & Krysta recently stated that The Pokémon Company (TPC) really does not like this format, putting it on the same level as using a ROM hack (something with questionable legality). This naturally made a lot of the internet furious with the company. The pair thought it might be fun to do a video where they play using Nuzlocke rules and TPC shot that down with the above explanation. This does sound very harsh and confusing.
The Pokemon company thinks Nuzlocke runs are “on the same level as” ROM Hacks according to former Nintendo employees pic.twitter.com/X9x7o0rnE7
— Patterrz (@Patterrz) September 18, 2022
However, Joe Merrick, the webmaster of the extremely popular and useful website Serebii.net was confused for a different reason. He has stated that he’s spoken with TPC and they state that they don’t really care about people doing Nuzlocke games. Steve Sarumi of PKMNcast seconded with Merrick stating that he too had spoken with TPC about Nuzlocke and the company had no problems with it. So, this begs the question, what’s going on with this story?
I’ve actually spoken to TPCi about this.
They confirmed to me that this is incorrect.
They haven’t cut out people for doing Nuzlockes or anything like that. They don’t care as long as you follow the confines of what’s possible in the game. https://t.co/Vb1aV6nrPk
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) September 18, 2022
I can also confirmed when I talked to TPCi; they had no problems with it. Not sure how old their story is?
— Steve Sarumi (@draggingalake) September 18, 2022
I want to be clear that I do not want to dismiss anyone’s story and it’s possible that everyone’s telling the truth. We don’t know when Kit & Krysta wanted to do the segment and so it’s possible the policy has changed. It’s also possible that there was merely a miscommunication with someone. As many have pointed out, many streamers use a ROM hack to do a randomized Nuzlocke challenge and it’s very possible that TPC had conflated the randomized version with a perfectly legitimate set of self-imposed rules. Another possibility is that TPC was just trying to save face when talking to Merrick and Sarumi. Maybe TPC just didn’t want to people to think that they officially endorsed Nuzlocke which might lead to rumors or hopes and dreams that one day it would be an official game mode or something.
I think that there’s enough information missing from the puzzle that we can’t come to a conclusion. It makes the most sense to me that TPC had conflated the legitimate version with the ROM hack, hence their harsh language. I could very well be wrong though. All the same, I think we all need to take a deep breath. If you like to play legitimate Nuzlockes, go for it. It’s not for everyone, and you don’t need TPC’s blessing to play it. Maybe someday I’ll actually give it a go myself.