Introduction: Rules, Randomizers, and other notes

Hello! Welcome to my Nuzlocke journal. As it says, this is a run of Pokémon Emerald, but it also has a twist, or rather, lots of twists. A friend introduced me to a ROM randomizer that allows me to do certain things to Pokémon games that I download on my computer, and I can do anything from customizing the starters to randomizing the moves that TMs teach! I have played around with it a bit already - it's fun, challenging (depending on parameters of course), and I'm really excited to try a full run and share it with you all.

For those readers who are new to Nuzlocke, I will explain the rules, and then for all I'll explain what I did to my game with the randomizer.

Nuzlocke Rules:
Rule #1: When entering a new route, cave, or town, I can only catch the first Pokémon I meet, no exceptions, including at the beginning of the game when I don't have pokéballs. If it faints, it runs away, or I run out of pokéballs, there is no second chance.

Rule #2: If one of my Pokémon "faints," it is considered dead and will be forever buried in a box labeled RIP in my PC.  I cannot use a revive or go back to the route it was caught in and catch another.

Sometimes players add their own to make variations of the challenge, but these are the basic rules. I will add some things, though:

Optional Rule #1: My Pokémon cannot use held items, accept for berries. NATURE!!

Optional Rule #2: I will nickname all of my Pokémon, creatively if I can. The Pokémon in a Nuzlocke team are special, coming through the labyrinth of variables and equations to meet you in that special first encounter. The bond I form with them is important!

Randomizer:
This is where it gets fun, hehe :)
RANDOM #1 - My selection of starters will be selected randomly from only Pokémon that evolve twice (All the starters, Pidgey, Abra, Dratini, Lotad, Oddish, etc.).

RANDOM #2 - All evolutions that were once trade-based are now level or item-based. If the Pokémon required an item when it was traded, it will be item based. If not, it will be level based. I do not know what level each Pokémon has to hit because I haven't used it enough... we'll see!

RANDOM #3 - Pokémon I catch may have a random item when they are caught.

RANDOM #4 - Pokémon I encounter in the wild will also be randomized, including all from Bulbasaur to Jirachi this time. Yes, I may have a level 6 Mew in my party and not even be at Petalburg yet, although it's very unlikely.

RANDOM #5 - The trainers I battle will have random Pokémon, not including legendaries. They will also have random names with no regard to gender, like Rich Boy Julia. If I run into funny ones like Breeder Po with six Mime Jr.s, it won't be left out, I promise. xD
The only exception here is my Rival, she will have her starter through the whole game. She may have different Pokémon accompanying the starter, though.

EDITED: RANDOM #6 - TMs and Move Tutors now teach random moves, and the moves can be taught to random Pokémon. For example, TM 17 may contain Wing Attack, and Pokémon like Trapinch can learn it, while Golbat will have to wait until it learns through leveling up.

RANDOM #7 - All Pokémon will have random abilities, including Wonder Guard. It's set so that two Pokémon of the same species will have the same ability, so if I encounter a Zigzagoon with Water Absorb in Route 103. All other Zigzagoons in the game will also have Water Absorb.
EDIT: It appears that, if a Pokémon can have two abilities, they are replaced by random ones and therefore can have two different random abilities in the game.


Other Notes:
For your convenience, whenever I mention a Pokémon, I will add in the Bulbapedia page as a direct link. Just click on the name of the Pokémon and you can see its picture, moves, history, and everything else they keep in that encyclopedia. I know it's hard to remember all of them sometimes, and I'll save you the Google/Bing/Yahoo search. I will do the same for abilities.
Also, to summarize my posts, I will display my statistics at the beginning and end of each journal entry. If you're the type that likes spoilers, just peek at the bottom.

Lastly, I want to thank you in advance for following my little adventure. Nuzlocke challenges have been a hobby of mine for a while now, and I love the reality it adds to the games. This randomizer just makes the challenge even more interesting.  I encourage you all to try it sometime, maybe even blog it, but that's your choice. For now, I'll do my best to make this fun (and successful I hope). To be the best there ever was... LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN!