The date is February 15, 2020. I had spent the previous day, Valentine's Day, alone yet again, though I've gotten mostly used to it. So I decided to challenge myself and see that, if Valentine's Day couldn't shatter my heart into Stardust, then what could?

And so came along my idea for a Nuzlocke. Now, I've never done a Nuzlocke before in my life, though I was quite knowledgeable in Pokemon, so I was confident I could do it. I decided to do this locke using the most recent Pokemon games, Sword and Shield, or Shield specifically in my case. So I established the basic Nuzlocke rules first-thing.

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-You must catch the first encounter you ever have on a route and only that encounter. (I considered different subareas within the Wild Area as separate routes)

-If your first encounter is a Pokemon you already have fully in your Pokedex, you can get another.

-You must nickname all of your Pokemon to grow a closer bond with them.

And the final, most important Nuzlocke rule

-If a Pokemon is ever to faint, it is thus considered dead and must be permanently decommissioned.

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Let's go! Wait, wrong game. Um... Nuzlocke start!

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So, we begin the game as usual, meeting up with Hop, then going to see Leon, then him giving us our starters. After some thinking about viability in the context of a nuzlocke, I decide to choose Scorbunny, who I promptly nicknamed Hana. This was it! This was the start of my journey with Hana! I already had super high hopes for this Nuzlocke, for better or worse.

It doesn't take us long to beat Hop and encounter Zamazenta in the Slumbering Weald. We head onto Route 1 after we're finally allowed Pokeballs and my first encounter iiiiiisssss... A Skwovet... Okay, not what I was expecting or wanting, but Nuzlockes do have a reputation for letting people grow affections for otherwise hated or overlooked Pokemon, sort of like how bonds grow quickly in a life or death scenario. In fact that was part of my reasoning for doing it, I wanted to see what Pokemon I could walk out of this loving a lot more.

So I nicknamed my Skwovet Alvin and trotted through Wedgehurst to Route 2. While on our way to the professor's house, I came across a wild Chewtle. Perfect luck, water type coverage already! Granted, Drednaw isn't that great and is easily replaceable by the plethora of water types in the region, but it's at least good to have early. Plus, I did beat my original save file of the game with a Drednaw on my team, so maybe history is to repeat itself. I gave the Chewtle the only fitting name I could think of: Spielberg. And with this amazing trio of mons, we of course easily sweep through our second battle with Hop and get endorsed by Leon.

And so, after that, we take our very first steps into the unknown. The vast, varied, and vicious Wild Area awaited my team. Can Hana, Alvin, and Spielberg face these primal threats and gain some new allies, or will they take an early fall to its inhabitants? Find out in chapter 2 of Hylind's Pokemon Shield Nuzlocke!