“Thanks for picking me up, Professor Oak.” Nuztai says as he sits in the Professor’s clean white sedan.

“Oh, you two know I come to Johto all the time for my radio show!” Laughs the Professor as he politely opens the passenger door for Nuztai’s mother. “Not to mention, it was better than sending Professor Elm…” As Oak sits down and starts to drive away, he elaborates. “It seems Elm has some… conditions… for letting you take on a Nuzlocke challenge here.”

“Oh, is that so?” Laughs Nuztai. “Alola was fun, but not the challenge I expected, so hopefully it’s something good.”

“Well,” begins the Professor, “It seems there’s some trouble with the Pokémon Storage System, or more specifically, with the transfer and trading system. It seems Johto and Kanto are finally getting storage systems to match the rest of the world.”

“Sweet!” exclaims Nuztai, “So how long are the upgrades expected to take?”

“Ah, that depends on Bill.” answers Oak, “It shouldn’t take more than a couple months, but that’s assuming he doesn’t get distracted.”

“Bill, get distracted?” Laughs Nuztai sarcastically, “So we’re talking at least a year.”

“Yes, probably.” responds Oak, “And that will add some challenge to your Nuzlocke. You see, in order to have you work on collecting us a living Pokédex, Elm and I will have to have your Pokéballs specifically crafted to transfer directly to my lab. From there, you can call us if you need to withdraw them from the options on your upgraded Pokédex.”

“Woah, slow down.” interrupts Nuztai. “If my Pokémon are transferring directly to your lab, does that mean I can’t store any Pokémon for myself? And when did you start making Pokéballs?”

“That’s all part of the complication.” explains Oak. “At best, we’ll have storage for about 6 Pokémon for you. Once that fills up, you’ll have to manually send the Pokéballs to me, where I won’t be able to send them back. And I’m not making Pokéballs. Kurt in Azalea Town will be making custom Pokéballs for you that will transfer directly to me.”

“So let me get this straight…” Nuztai shakes his head as he tries to process what this all means. “I am only going to be able to have the six Pokémon on me and six backups. And before I can start catching anything for the Living ‘Dex, I have to get to Azalea Town in South Johto and get Kurt to make me hand-made Pokéballs. Have I got this right?”

“Correct.” Answers Oak, “But, if you find any Legendary Pokémon, you may need something more powerful than Kurt’s Pokéballs, so you can use something else then, and essentially ship the Pokémon to me. The same with Pokémon given to you as gifts. But because these Pokémon will be in Pokéballs that aren’t designed for our temporary transfer system, you’ll not be able to get them back once you ship them to me. So have them bred or evolve them as you need for the living ‘dex before you send them!”

“That’s a joke, right?” scoffs Nuztai. “Johto has legends of Pokémon, but it doesn’t actually HAVE legendary Pokémon. Not any that have ever really been seen. They’re most likely extinct. That’s kind of why I chose to come to Johto next. I wasn’t really a fan of being chased down for capturing supposed ‘deities’.”

“Regardless of how much I may agree with you, Nuztai,” answers Oak. “it is still your job with our Dexlocke challenge to find that out for sure. Check every rumor and legend until you have solid evidence of that hypothesis. Be scientific. I know you’re capable of that.”

“Man, you weren’t kidding.” says Nuztai while staring out the window at the wooded scenery. “Elm really is making this a challenge.”

Professor Oak starts to laugh. “Oh no, Nuztai. That’s just the technical issue we’re having. Elm has his OWN list of additions for your challenge!” Oak pulls the car into a reserved space in front of Professor Elm’s large white laboratory. The three of them step out of the car and follow Professor Oak inside. Nuztai greets and shakes hands with some of the lab assistants as the group makes their way to the back. Once opening the door to Elm’s lab, Elm rushes to the door to Nuztai.

“You had better know that I disapprove of this Nuzlocke thing!” Elm exclaims as he approaches. “But if you MUST register a Nuzlocke challenge in Johto, understand that I am going to have some conditions!”

“Let me cut you off for a second…” interupts Nuztai, “I want to register a Nuzlocke Double League Challenge.” Professors Oak and Elm stare slack-jawed at Nuztai for a moment.

“So…” Elm blurts out, breaking the silence, “after defeating the Johto league, you plan to re-travel Kanto, challenging their gym leaders, who will then be authorized to go all out, and then challenge the Kan-Jho Champion?!”

“That’s right.” Nuztai smirks as he sees the looks of shock on their faces. “The greatest challenge any Pokémon League has to offer is getting Nuzlocked by yours truly.”

After another moment of shocked staring, Elm breaks the silence once again, “So be it. But I still have conditions, or I will not allow your challenge. Condition 1, the new Pokédex device that Oak and I have created will randomly generate a Pokémon that should live in the nearby area that we have shown interest in wanting to see trained. These randomly generated Pokémon will be the only ones you are permitted to find and catch to battle with. You will use this instead of the traditional Nuzlocke ‘First Encounter’ Rule. Understand?”



“Got it.” replies Nuztai. “What else you got?”

“Condition 2, due to technical issues, we will need…”

“Oak went over this with me on the ride here.” interrupts Nuztai. “Move on.”

“I see.” responds Elm as he looks to Oak. “Thank you for saving me the lengthy explanation there, Professor Oak. So, condition 3, involves your failure in Kanto.”

“Sorry, my what-now?” asks Nuztai angrily.

“You’re obvious failure to capture every Pokémon from the Kanto region!” repeats Elm slightly louder, giving Nuztai an angry look. “Of Kanto’s 151 Pokémon, admittedly including the mythical Mew that we can’t quite confirm, you failed to capture a whopping thirty-eight of them! How Professor Oak allowed you to call that a success, I’ll never quite understand.”

“Now Elm,” begins Professor Oak before Nuztai can start yelling. “Nuztai did an exceptional job, capturing legendary Pokémon and even a scientifically created genetic modification of a Pokémon and a computer generated Pokémon. There were also seasonal limitations as well as technical ones, much like we’re having now.”

Professor Elm lets out a sigh. “Yes, I am an expert in Pokémon evolution, after all. So I understand that the four trade evolutions of Kanto will still elude us here. On top of that, I calculate an additional five such trade evolutions will be unobtainable this time. But don’t be fooled by Steelix, Nuztai! I’ve heard rumors that it’s been found in the wild! That said, there will also be six Pokémon that will impossible to find given the time of year, so I will make an exception for them as well. But I’m ADDING the twenty-two Pokémon I think you can now catch that are missing from the Kanto Living ‘Dex!”

“Oh, is that all?” scoffs Nuztai. “A few more Pokémon to catch? I’d be happy to.”

“My final condition is simple.” adds Elm “I chose your starter, and to help ease the strain on the server system, you always keep at least one Pokémon out beside you, out of it’s Pokéball.”



“Done!” smiles Nuztai. This seems like a fun condition. “So who will be my starter?” Professor Elm grabs a Pokéball from a nearby table and hands it to Nuztai, who sends out his new partner, Tyrion the Cyndaquil.

The Official Rules for Nuztai's Soul Silver Dexlocke Challenge: