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A dedicated hardcore Pokemon player has managed to complete what's arguably one of the most difficult Nuzlocke challenges out there after 11,130 attempts, all while wrestling with a run-destroying spreadsheet and a deep desire for a 'perfect run.'
In case you were unfamiliar, Nuzlocke challenges are one of the most popular ways to play through the Pokemon series if you're looking to increase its difficulty level. The rules are simple – generally speaking, players are required to release their Pokemon if they faint in battle, essentially introducing permadeath mechanics, and they're only allowed to catch the first Pokemon they find in each area in order to limit the teams that they can build.
These rules can make any Pokemon game difficult, but there are also Pokemon ROM hacks out there that are way harder in the first place, making using Nuzlocke rules for them incredibly arduous. One of these is Pokemon Run & Bun, which was completed by the most popular Chinese Nuzlocke streamer, Luke4ever. Highlighted in a new video by Pokemon Challenges (pChal), Luke primarily posts content on the video sharing website BiliBili, where he shared Pokemon randomizer content and other challenges before eventually building up to Run & Bun.
Run & Bun is a ROM hack of Pokemon Emerald, which contains a number of huge changes to the third-generation game. These include adding Pokemon introduced in later games like the Nintendo Switch's Sword and Shield, and most importantly, throwing in hundreds of mandatory battles, all of which are so difficult that they need to be carefully approached.
It's so difficult, in fact, that after over 1,000 failed runs – including many that were reset after failing to catch certain Pokemon he wanted for his team – Luke turned to a spreadsheet to try and speed up the process. This spreadsheet basically simulated the game very quickly for Luke to see if the first few areas of the RPG would provide him with the Pokemon he deemed worthy to carry the run, such as Yanmega and Roserade. If he could see that wasn't going to happen, or if the Pokemon he caught didn't have the stats or ability he wanted, he'd move on to the next attempt, run after run. Hence, he ended up racking up thousands of attempts as he aimed for the perfect one, with an unstoppable team.
This, however, began to wear thin. In fact, this unstoppable team never came to be. Luke's winning run, which was his 11,130th attempt, didn't involve any resets, and he'd totally missed out on a number of the Pokemon he previously thought the game wasn't even worth attempting without.
"I lost myself, I mean, for a while," he says before heading into his battles with the final few trainers. "I used this spreadsheet to heavily reset, a lot. Like 4,000 attempts per day, shit like that. But, I found myself back, and I didn't reset for anything for this run. And this run, it is a virtuous run."
Even with a refreshed sense of determination, the struggles as he headed into the Elite 4 and Champion fights were far from over. Luke's immense game knowledge meant he was able to perfectly manipulate the RPG's AI to safely tackle the fights, predicting which moves would be used, and accounting for all of the possible situations that could unfold in front of him. The amount of planning and preparation that went into every move can't be understated – it's incredibly impressive to watch.
Concluding his victory, he admitted that the amount of attempts he'd done with the spreadsheet had failed thanks to various mistakes and bouts of bad luck, but ultimately, using it was just less fun. "If you reset a lot, like, a lot a lot, like me, eventually, it will get really boring," he says. "And you just don't feel good about the run, you don't feel good about the game, [about] everything."
In the end, it's refreshing that Luke was able to overcome the challenge without the spreadsheet, especially given how much it'd bogged him down – it feels like the ending that was always meant to happen. It definitely doesn't seem likely that he'll revert to using spreadsheets again for his future challenges any time soon, either.
Be sure to check out our ranking of the best Pokemon games to find your next adventure.
