Hi everyone, I am going to start my first nuzlocke on HG since it is the Pokemon game I love the most. I was wondering if you have any tips on nuzlocke in general or more specifically to this game, especially on the starter to pick. I have completed the game with Totodile and Cyndaquil so I was curious to play the game with Chickorita. However the first two gyms don't make the game easy (and even in the third there is Miltank with rollout which still is super effective).

Concerning the rules, I don't want to make to have strict rules as this will be my first run and I have to learn some basic strategies. So I went with:

1) Only the first encounter in each area can be caught (if killed it is lost)

2) Every Pokemon must be nicknamed

3) If a pokemon is killed it must be released

4) The starter can be chosen freely

5) Gifted pokemon can be used and are treated as additional encounters

6) Shiny clause: if a shiny is encountered, it can be caught and used

7) Level cap: In gym battles Pokemon in the team can't have a level higher then the highest level pokemon of gym leader and can't have a level higher then the highest level pokemon of the champion when entering the Pokemon league

With these rules there are two questions, how should I treat the red gyrados? If I catch a Magikarp, then go to lake rage, catch a Pokemon there and then catch the red Gyrados, can I substitute the previously catched Magikarp and also keep the pokemon encountered at lake rage?
Then, Jasmine has a level 35 Steelix, but Pryce has a level 34 Piloswine, how should I behave in this situation? Should I prepare a different team just for Pryce which does not exceed level 34 while my main team has levels higher than 35?
Lastly, do you have some special rules for grinding? If a pokemon dies replacing it means going through some tedious grinding especially if the pokemon I want to substitute it with was encountered more or less at the beginning of the game. I was thinking of allowing myself to cheat and double the experience gained only when grinding.

Thankyou all in advance for any suggestion