Smearglelocke #1: FORGET NUZLOCKE

Entry posted by Obsessionist March 10, 2015

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I'm sure someone's done it before, but I'm ditching my Nuzlocke in favor of a more interesting Smearglelocke of my own design.

Nuzlocke rules, but every time I catch a Pokemon, I must immediately trade it for a level 10 or below Smeargle.

Smeargle only learns Sketch. Once Smeargle uses Sketch to copy a move, he only learns Sketch again every ten levels. So, unless I make it to the move relearner with super low-level 'mons, no one on my team will even know four moves until level 31.

These are randomly bred Smeargles, of course. No hidden ability Moody, just a 50/50 shot at Own Tempo or Technician. Random IVs and natures and all that. And I can only Sketch what I find, no importing a Darkrai to learn Dark Void.

I, for one, am super-hyped to accidentally Sketch nothing but stat-boosting moves.

Log Entry 1:

My Smeargles and I have braved Satalune Forest and the Bug Gym. Being constantly surrounded by needy Smeargles is a feeling perhaps akin to that of the cliche cat lady. My team thus far:

Sasha, Lv. 13, replaced my starter. She served me well but has largely been surpassed by Ketchup as my physical damage-dealer.

>Tackle: Learnt from the first Caterpie I encountered. Learning good moves is hard, going without any moves is harder.

>Endure: Learnt from a Riolu. It turns out that it's actually tough to wait around for a wild Pokemon to use the move you want to Sketch when your only stalling tactic is switching out every turn, hopefully this move will alleviate that.

Rafael, Lv. 13, from Route 2. A female, inappropriate name notwithstanding. Taught me to be careful when using Sketch.

>Harden. Useful if I want to turn Rafael into a pseudo-stall Pokemon, but boy was Rafael useless until she learned a second move.

>Poison Sting. Yeah... Only made Rafael slightly less useless. She's a trooper, though.

Trevon, Lv. 15, from Santalune Forest. My first Technician Smeargle, and proof that Smeargle can be made into a Special Sweeper, given his speed-boosting nature. It's not Timid, but Sassy is close enough. I knew there were Pikachu with Thunder Shock around and that I could sketch some other offensive coverage eventually. I have big dreams for this guy.

>Thunder Shock

>Ember

Wilhelm, Lv. 12, from Route 3. Oh, Wilhelm. I had such high hopes for you, with your Technician and excellent stats.

>String Shot. Be careful when you use Sketch, kids.

>Sketch. I'm saving this Sketch to get something awesome in the next areas. Wilhelm can be redeemed!

Ketchup, Lv. 15, from Route 22. Ketchup has become everything I wanted Wilhelm to be. You can only make base 20 attacking stats hit so hard, but Ketchup manages to pull his weight. He almost single-handedly defeated the first gym through liberal use of Rollout.

>Tackle. And easy Sketch of a common enough move, but between Technician and STAB it's one of the best moves available in the starting area.

>Rollout. As soon as I encountered a Dunsparse with this, I knew I had to Sketch it. I leveled up Ketchup specifically to learn another copy of Sketch for that purpose. It was a little perilous--I had to kill Dunsparse quickly before his Rollout became too powerful--but it was worth it. Noteably, the first couple turns of Rollout are boosted by Technician.