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Pokemon players have come up with some truly weird and wonderful ways of playing the beloved RPG series over the years, from the popular permadeath "nuzlocke" challenges to even more brutal Kaizo Ironmon runs. Now, though, one player has managed to complete one of the most bizarre challenges we've ever seen by playing through the Game Boy Advance classic Pokemon Sapphire 100 times simultaneously.
Rather than running 100 copies of the game in front of them at the same time, YouTuber Rylockes decides to make the challenge even more complex. Instead, they always have two files playing at once, both using the same controller so that making progress in one potentially meant walking into walls in the other. On top of that, every three minutes, these two games were randomly swapped for another of the 98 files. This meant that Rylockes was constantly being thrown between the different saves, and as things progressed, it became harder and harder to discern how much progress had been made in the games they were dropped into.
This wasn't a problem at the very start of the challenge, as Rylockes kept getting given two files that hadn't been started on, allowing them to progress through both smoothly using the exact same inputs. It only took half an hour for this to be thrown into disarray though, as one of the files shuffled back to one that'd already been started on – something that quickly became the norm from then on.
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From that point, Rylockes had to start considering which of the two files in front of them demanded more attention – generally by determining if either of the games were presenting any "irreversible" actions such as selecting a starter Pokemon. Split-second lapses in focus could be catastrophic, with some of the YouTuber's many Mudkips accidentally forgetting their most valuable moves after being overwritten in a frenzied button mash. There was also the constant threat of the games being shuffled in the middle of something important, such as a Pokemon evolution, which meant that they could be later brought back right as the YouTuber pressed the 'B' button for another game, leaving them stuck with a weak starter for longer than they should have been.
As more time passed, Rylockes started to struggle more and more with figuring out where each save file was up to. Being in a city didn't necessarily mean that a gym leader still had to be fought there, for example – the fight might have already been done, but having to check wasted valuable time. Later, the issue of accidentally skipping over crucial steps, such as earning badges, became more of a problem because of this confusion, too.
Against all odds, though, the YouTuber was able to complete all 100 files after 107 hours real-world hours (the actual games had been sped up to make things a little faster). What's really interesting about the end of the challenge, though, is the progress made in an extra, hidden save file, which had been running in the background for the entire run. Somehow, despite this game receiving constant inputs that were meant to control different games, and without the YouTuber looking, Rylockes managed to progress far enough to earn a gym badge and fully evolve a Treecko into Sceptile, which is genuinely mind-blowing.
This is definitely one of the most unique Pokemon challenges out there, and the patience required to see it through is staggering. Rylockes suggests, "I would reconsider."
Be sure to check out our ranking of the best Pokemon games to see which monster-catching adventure we think is the very best.
