Yin's Tradelocke Ruleset

Jul 23, 20134 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Jul 23, 2013

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This is a nuzlocke rule system I came up with awhile back, but never bothered to write down. It's basically a variation of the popular dual-locke with more emphasis on collaborative play.

Okay! First step, find a friend who loves Pokemon and nuzlockes as much as you do.

Got one? Good! Moving on~

You and your friend will need:

A Nintendo handheld system

Compatible Pokemon games (e.g. Platinum & SoulSilver, Black 2 & White, etc.)

A method of trading (link cable, IR, wi-fi, etc.)

Standard nuzlocke rules apply:

Catch only the first pokemon on each route, cave, ocean, etc.

If a pokemon faints, it's dead.

As far as additional rules go, it doesn't matter what you use as long as you and your partner use the same ones.

Now, onto the tradelocke rules:

After every 2 badges, the trainers must pick 3 pokemon to battle each other.

Winner gets to pick one of the opponent's 3 pokemon to trade with their own. Yes, you HAVE to trade. It's the whole point of the Tradelocke.

A traded pokemon CANNOT leave your team unless it's traded back or dies.

This is the only way to evolve trade-evolution pokemon (e.g. haunter, onix, etc.)

Optional rules:

Starter pokemon CANNOT be traded.

Battle after every gym instead of after every other gym.

Set a level cap for each battle so one trainer doesn't out-level the other.

Trainers must have one final epic post-E4 battle with all their pokemon.

And that's the gist of it!

TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER

Wanna get more people involved? Here's some additional rulesets for 3+ players.

Note: Keep in mind that the more people you add, the harder it is to manage. Someone could wipe, become too busy, or simply drop out.

Anyway, I'll do my best to make this make sense~

Rotation method:

Player 1 Player 3
vs. vs.
Player 2 Player 4
Player 1 vs. Player 2, Player 3 vs. Player 4
-----
Player 1 vs. Player 3

Player 2 vs. Player 4
Player 1 vs. Player 3, Player 2 vs. Player 4
-----
Player 1 Player 3
vs.
Player 2 Player 4
Player 1 vs. Player 4, Player 2 vs. Player 3

You can choose to swap partners after every 2 gyms or just battle everyone at once. This can work with double-battles too, where the two winning trainers get to trade one pokemon with each of the other two.

If you decide to battle everyone at once, you still have to trade after every battle and use the traded pokemon in the next round. For example, let's say your starting team is Ivysaur, Pidgeotto, and Pikachu. You win the first round and decide to trade your Pidgeotto for your opponent's Fearow. Your round 2 team is now Ivysaur, Fearow, and Pikachu.

Bracket method:

I assume we're all familiar with tournament brackets, so I won't elaborate on it much. But just in case, here's a visual~

Something like this, but probably smaller. Same rules as the rotation method apply, where you must use the same pokemon (+ traded pokemon) for each round.

Anyway, if you have any questions or if something seems unclear, please let me know in the comments~

Happy nuzlocking!

~Yin