Pokemon Y Nuzlocke Challenge is a Web Video series
from Polygon with host Griffin McElroy that ran from July to December 2016. The series has Griffin trying to beat Pokémon Y with added rules for a Self-Imposed Challenge.
First, he must follow the following standard Nuzlocke run Nuzlocke rules:
1. He can only catch the first Pokemon he encounters in each area. This counts gift and traded Pokemon. If the Pokemon faints, he doesn’t get a Pokemon for that area. He also uses the duplicate clause, which says that if that first encounter is a Pokemon he’s already caught, the rule doesn’t apply to that encounter and he can try to catch the next new Pokemon he encounters in that same area instead.
2. If a Pokemon faints, he has to deposit it in the PC and release it.
For more of a challenge, Griffin also added several more rules of his own:
3. Healing items (like Potions) can’t be used in battle, though held items (like Berries) and healing moves can.
4. He has to play in Set mode, meaning he doesn’t get the option to switch out his Pokemon after defeating the enemy trainer’s Pokemon for free (he can use a turn to switch them, but this leaves his team open to attack).
5. Each time he defeats a Gym, he has to Wonder Trade a member of his winning team. The duplicate clause also applies here.
It can be watched on the Polygon website as well as on YouTube.
This series provides examples of:
- Ambiguous Ending: The final moment, in which Griffin encounters a Pidgey. Is he flashing back to his first meeting with the fallen Ms. Beakman? Or catching a new Pidgey for a second chance?
- Anticlimax Boss: Invoked by Griffin when he uses the Master Ball on Yveltal, and then copiously lampshaded as Griffin proclaims he is now its daddy.
- Anyone Can Die: Since it’s a Nuzlocke run, all of Griffin’s Pokemon are at risk of being Killed Off for Real if they get even one big nasty hit and faint. Perhaps the biggest victim being badass Ms. Beakman, caught as Griffin’s second Pokemon in episode 1 and dying in episode 17 of the 20-part series.
- Artifact of Death: The Rocky Helmet seems to have turned into this in Episode 6. The two Pokemon who hold it in that episode are Killed Off for Real by some unfortunately strong One Hit Kills, and Griffin voices his worry that it's a Cursed Item. Jean-Ralphio is the next to get it in Episode 7 and survives, breaking the curse.
- Back from the Dead: Averted in that Griffin isn’t allowed to heal fainted Pokemon and has to treat them as Killed Off for Real. However, Sea Breeze manages to come back all on her own! After she faints and is released in episode 4, a new and improved Sea Breeze is traded to a shocked and overjoyed Griffin in episode 7note .
- The Big Guy: Jean-Ralphio and RANDY fill these roles on the team, being the general heavy-hitters.
- Bittersweet Ending: Griffin successfully defeats all Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, the League Champion, and AZ, but loses a good number of beloved Pokemon in the process. It’s really driven home with the ending credits music playing over Phil’s photos recapping Griffin’s adventure and lastly, the clip from the first episode of Griffin meeting Ms. Beakman for the first time.
- Blood Knight: Ms. Beakman and Jean-Ralphio get characterized as this by Griffin.
- Boisterous Bruiser: RANDY gives off this feeling, between having Huge Power as her ability, an all Caps Lock nickname, and being a heavy hitter for the team.
- Breakout Character: Judging by YouTube comments, Ms. Beakman became the most popular member of Griffin’s team (as he lampshades in episode 17), and even he gushes about her.
- Came Back Strong: The first to die, Sea Breeze faints in episode 7 as a level 16 Wingull and reunites with Griffin as a level 30 Pelipper - right around the level the rest of Griffin’s team is at the time.
- Do Not Go Gentle: Filburt gets killed when hit with the strongest version of a move by a Hero Killer, but said killer at least takes damage from his Rocky Helmet.
- Eldritch Abomination: Griffin’s loving descriptions of Ms. Beakman paint her this way, as Pidgeot having 14 wings, a billion talons, 17 eyes all with different laser abilities, seven tails each of which grants you a wish, and two different hair colors.
- Embarrassing Nickname:
- On occasion Griffin will give these to especially bad Pokemon he gets from Wonder Trades. Inverted with RANDY, who started off with an embarrassing name and was given a far less embarrassing nickname by Griffin when he decided to keep her on the team.
- It doesn't take long for Griffin to regret asking his friends to call him "Garbage Boy."
- The Fashionista: Griffin's obsession on hitting up every town to buy their fashions turns the player character Garbage Boy into this.
- Giant Flyer: Ms. Beakman, natch, especially once she evolves to get bigger and look more fierce. Later Hot Topic joins the squad, and both are described by Griffin as basically being god birds.
- Grammar Nazi: The rant-inducing slight that sets Griffin off is a trade Pokemon’s nickname misspelling "buoyant" as "Bouyant".
- The Hero: Yiffin could be considered this, as Griffin's starter he never tries to take off the team.
- Hero Killer:
- Pokefan Family Jan and Erin’s Furfrous, which put the fear of God into Griffin by killing his first Pokemon and nearly killing Hammertime and Ms. Beakman. He remains wary of dog-like Pokemon, and Furfrous in particular, for the rest of the series.
- Tourist Fumiko’s "devil Azumarill" kills Filburt, hits Beyblade and Zapped! hard enough that Griffin has to switch them out to keep them alive, and very nearly kills Ms. Beakman before she can Whirlwind the Azumarill out.
- Heroic BSoD: Griffin audibly slips into these when an especially treasured Pokemon dies, notably in episode 15 with the one-two punch of RANDY and Petunia dying, and Ms. Beakman dying in episode 17.
- Kill the God: Both of Griffin’s god birds are Killed Off for Real.
- Killed Off for Real: Filburt, Zapped!, Hammertime, Muddy Buddy, RANDY, Petunia, Ms. Beakman, 2 Bladez, My Dad, and Hot Topic.
- Known Only by Their Nickname: Everyone on the team, as Griffin makes a point of nicknaming each one to feel closer to them so if they die it’ll pack more of a punch. Pokemon who were received through a trade doubly count, as Griffin can’t rename traded Pokemon in the game but he still insists on nicknaming them for the series.
- One-Hit Kill:
- Poor Filburt - he wasn’t even weak to Rock type moves, but Rollout hit him on its fifth and most powerful turn.
- A Sigilyph one-shots Zapped! with Psybeam. What really rubs salt in the wounds is that this happened in the same episode as Filburt above.
- Muddy Buddy goes out this way to a wild Houndoom, and in his first fight to boot.
- Hammertime didn't have a type weakness to Electric moves, but is too low-level and gets killed this way by Leader Clemont's Heliolisk, also in the same episode as Muddy Buddy.
- Parental Favoritism: Griffin definitely shows preferences for certain Pokemon he catches or receives, which is enforced by his "trade a member of the winning team" off Gym battles rule, forcing him to pick the least useful member of his team to trade off. Keeping in mind this rule, oftentimes he'll take time before a Gym battle to stick a Pokemon on there he doesn't care about, which can bite him in the butt if his team ends up struggling from the deadweight.
- Pun: In episode 18:"This is such a special naming ceremony, I should name it something... sentimental. I'm gonna name this Pokemon after my dad."Names Pokemon "My Dad"Pauses and laughs
- Put on a Bus: The series ends with Burn Notice, SnicThHdghog, Floppy Greg, Launchpad, and Kathy Najimy forgotten in the PC.
- Put Them All Out of My Misery: With both RANDY and Petunia dead in the same episode and Griffin admitting he doesn't know if he can beat the Nuzlocke anymore (since he is nearing the end of the game and running out of reliable Pokemon he can switch onto the team and new Pokemon he can catch), Griffin opts to have Garbage Boy push the button on Team Flare's machine, openly hoping it will cause The End of the World as We Know It.
- Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Petunia and RANDY In-Universe, thanks to fans advising Griffin that their base stats actually means they'll be great once they're leveled and Griffin listening. Sure enough, they turn out to be beasts once they're at a decent level.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Griffin's kneejerk response to the death of a beloved Pokemon is to furiously send another member of the team to kill the Pokemon who killed their friend.
- Ruined FOREVER: Griffin blames Peyton as having done this to the series as well as Griffin’s entire job at Polygon, in a hilarious rant. After Ms. Beakman dies, Griffin has a similar but far less funny reaction, lamenting that no one will watch the series anymore.
- Running Gag: Griffin/Garbage Boy not tipping Phil the Photo Guy.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Sea Breeze is the first on Griffin’s team to faint.
- Sacrificial Lion: Filburt, a starter pokemon, was powerful enough to last as long as Yiffin did, but then Tourist Fumiko intervened.
- Shout-Out: Almost all of the nicknames on Griffin's team are references to a TV show.
- Take That!: After a player named TJ gives Griffin a level 1 Zubat in exchange for Griffin’s level 29 Exeggutor, Griffin seethes over it pretty much all episode and ends by naming a "worthless jellyfish" after TJ. The name of the episode is even "THANKS, TJ".
- Team Dad: Griffin acts this way towards his Pokemon, calling them his precious, precious children and heaping praise on them. He gets easily alarmed whenever they take a significant chunk of damage and usually calls them back to keep them from fainting.
- Tempting Fate:
- In episode 2, Griffin’s first reaction to Flabebe is "I don’t know what you are, but I don’t think I want you." Although he ends up wanting it because it’s got Grass and Fairy moves (which he lacks coverage for), Ms. Beakman seemingly took his initial response as the go-ahead to murder the poor Flabebe.
- In episode 10, he talks about wanting to get Muddy Buddy in a fight "just once" to evolve him and how useful Muddy Buddy will be in the next Gym. Muddy Buddy dies in one hit.(right before the hit) "Don’t die."
- "Who would've guessed that Petunia would become such a vital part of my team?" and "RANDY really becoming an important member of this team!"
- Tomboyish Name: RANDY. Griffin never realizes she’s a girl and continually refers to her as a boy.
- Tonight Somebody Dies: Episode 6, which is ominously titled "Body Count".
- Tranquil Fury: Griffin’s reaction to a certain Wonder Trade. Specifically the trade Pokemon’s name.
- The Unfavorite: Poor Clown Town. She is the result of a Wonder Trade where Griffin is forced to trade away the sorely needed Shelby instead of Sea Breeze due a misunderstanding of restrictions on Pokemon with HM moves, and gets Clown Town, a level 1 Zubat, for the trouble. Griffin is so angry that he tries to get Clown Town murdered on purpose, though luckily he has a change of heart during the battle that would’ve killed her and switches Clown Town out for Ms. Beakman, sparing Clown Town. He still chooses to leave her in a designated "Hell" box in the PC he makes up just for her, for "Pokemon that just wasted my time".
- There's also Kathy Najimy. It doesn't help that she's often the only pokemon available to replace a fallen hero. Every time she's on the team, Griffin tries to get rid of her as fast as possible.
- Unfortunate Names:
- Yiffin. Griffin pretends he named him that because it’s similar to his name and not to know why fans thought it was a weird choice.
- RANDY’s original name was this as Bouyant Butt before Griffin renamed her.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Several Pokemon caught or received from a Wonder Trade are left in the PC. Muddy Buddy stands out, having died early in their second video after getting caught at the end of their first.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Clown Town for Griffin, trying to take a level in badass by leveling up in attempt to impress him. It doesn’t work."He’s like 'Look, Dad! I can-I can fight! I can-I can do it too, see?’"
- Wham Episode: The episodes with significant deaths count as this, perhaps most of all episode 17 with Ms. Beakman’s devastating demise and episode 15 with RANDY’s and Petunia’s deaths.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Griffin has a bad record going up against dog Pokemon and asks at one point why dog Pokemon in the game are so powerful.
- With Friends Like These...: Garbage Boy's friends frequently challenge him to battles in the Nuzlocke run, which makes it Griffin feel less-than-friendly towards them for endangering his Pokemon. By episode 11, Griffin is telling them to go die in a haunted house, and when they kill Ms. Beakman, he never forgives them.
