Pick My Team Run
This one's pretty self explanatory. You have other people pick Pokémon obtainable from the game for you to use in your team and you try to beat the game using the team you're given.
RNG Run
This challenge has the same idea as the pick my team run, but instead of having other people pick your team, you use a random number generator to pick your team.
Solo Run
Try to beat the game using only one Pokémon of your choice! HM slaves are allowed, but may only be used for using HMs outside of battle. In case of double/triple/rotation battles, just spam status moves, useless items, or throw Poké Balls on the turns of your other Pokémon. Note: If the Pokémon of your choice is not fully evolved, you may not evolve it for this challenge, so make sure to pick your Pokémon's final evolution if you want to use its final evolution.
Monotype Run
The goal of this challenge is to beat the game using Pokémon that all share one type.
Unevolved Run
Play through the game and don't evolve your Pokémon. Ever.
Gift Run
You may only use gift Pokémon received from NPCs.
Randomized Run
Also known as a "(Name of game) Randomizer" even though the name probably doesn't grammatically make that much sense. You will use a randomization program for Pokémon games to randomize the Pokémon you encounter. You can also randomize other things such as movesets, abilities, items, and even base stats.
0 Exp Run
A challenge where you play a modified version of the game (through cheat codes, patches or anti-piracy ROMs) that makes it so that your Pokémon don't gain experience after defeating a Pokémon. So you're pretty much stuck with the base level of the Pokémon you catch. Your only method of leveling up is through the limited amount of Rare Candies you can find in the game. Using the Day Care is not allowed.
If you want to do this challenge on Pokémon Crystal, you can find a patch
here!
Bohaku Challenge
This challenge was made by
Zachgoose. You have to play by the following self-imposed rules:
- You must have 6 Pokémon in your party at all times, starting from when you enter the first gym leader’s city. You cannot do any battles or progress in the game without 6 Pokémon in your party, so if you want to use a different Pokémon that you catch you must swap them out at the PC.
- Your highest leveled Pokémon cannot be more than 5 levels ahead of your lowest. If a Pokémon goes above this, you must immediately begin training your lowest leveled Pokémon and cannot continue until it is within 5 levels of your highest.
- Your Pokémon cannot be any higher leveled than the lowest leveled Pokémon of the current gym leader you are going to fight. If a Pokémon does go above this cap, they are considered dead and must be placed in your box (and you have to get a new 6th Pokémon) until you beat the corresponding gym leader. After that, they can be used again until you go above the next gym leader’s lowest leveled Pokémon.
Nuzlocke
A very well known (and overdone) challenge which also involves having the player play by self-imposed rules.
- If a Pokémon faints, it is considered "dead", and can no longer be used in battle. It must either be released or deposited in a box in the PC specifically meant for "dead" Pokémon.
- You may only catch the first Pokémon you encounter per area. The first Pokémon of the area is your only shot at getting more Pokémon, so if you fail to catch it, you don't get a Pokémon for the area. You can have a bunch of optional clauses for this rule if you want to make things a bit easier on yourself.
- Dupes clause - If your first encounter in an area is a Pokémon that you had already caught, then you are free to not count it as your "first encounter" and you may encounter another Pokémon in the area and treat that as your "first encounter". This is to prevent duplicate Pokémon from being in your team, making your team less diverse and more boring.
- Shiny clause - If you encounter a shiny Pokémon, you may capture it, regardless of whether it is your first encounter or not.
- Gift clause - Gift Pokémon don't count as your "first encounter" for the area. They're pretty much free Pokémon you can obtain without using up an area for your next encounter.
- You must nickname all of your Pokémon (well, the ones that you can nickname anyway).
Wedlocke
A variant of the nuzlocke challenge that was made by
Marriland. As for the rules, regular nuzlocke rules apply, although rule number 2 has a few details added. Two additional rules are also added to this challenge. Only the changes and added rules will be listed down.
2. You may not use genderless Pokémon. If your first encounter is a genderless Pokémon, it doesn't count. In addition to this, Gender clause will be applied. For gender clause, if you have an odd number of Pokémon in your party, your next encounter must be a Pokémon of the gender you have less of.
4. Your Pokémon are "partnered" and fight in pairs. Each pair will consist of one male and one female Pokémon. A Pokémon may only switch out to its partner. A Pokémon with no partner is considered a "lone wolf" and cannot switch out during battle. "Lone wolves" must be paired as soon as possible. If there's a compatible Pokémon in the PC, pair it with that. If a Pokémon of a pair dies, its surviving partner must finish the battle on its own or die along with its partner. The surviving Pokémon is considered a "lone wolf" only if it survives the battle. Once you pair two Pokémon, they are paired for good, unless a Pokémon of the pair dies or is willingly released.
5. You cannot deposit your Pokémon to the PC. You can withdraw Pokémon, but you can't deposit. Pokémon sent to the PC after being caught don't count as being "deposited", and they're not paired while in the PC. The only exceptions to this rule are when you are permanently depositing a dead Pokémon into the PC, temporarily depositing a Pokémon because you want to receive an in-game trade or a gift Pokémon and don't have the Pokémon or space in your party required, or if you need an HM slave to progress through the game and no one in your party can learn the required HM move.
You can find more details for this challenge
here.
Egglocke
Another nuzlocke variant. The idea here is to have other people trade you eggs or make egg data for a ROM and send you the file. The rules of this challenge are pretty much the same as a regular nuzlocke, except after you catch a Pokémon, you exchange it for one of the eggs you have received (typically stored in the PC). You can use Rare Candy cheat codes to level up your Pokémon up to the same level as the Pokémon you have caught, or you can just grind the Pokémon and disregard any deaths you may have until the hatched Pokémon is at the same level of the Pokémon you exchanged it with.
Eliminationlocke
Yet another nuzlocke variant! This challenge only applies rules 1 and 3 of the nuzlocke challenge. You are not allowed to catch Pokémon at all. Instead, all of the Pokémon you are going to use for the entire game will be in the PC from the start of the game and they are "eliminated" as they die. You may put Pokémon data into a ROM or prepare traded Pokémon from the start of the game. The Pokémon you will use can be decided by you, other people, or a random number generator. The number of Pokémon you can have at the start is completely up to you (Although it's recommended to have 18 at maximum).
The name also sounds really stupid.
Chain Monolocke
A nuzlocke variant made by
GameboyLuke. It's highly recommended that you randomize wild Pokémon when doing this challenge. For the rules, standard nuzlocke rules apply. However, the Pokémon you're allowed to catch can only be Pokémon of the same type of any of the Pokémon in your party. You're allowed to re-encounter a Pokémon if you don't get an appropriate encounter.
The name looks kind of cheesy.
You can find a link to a video explaining the rules
here.
Chain Play/Hot Potato
While this may not be considered a "challenge" sometimes and can be attempted with pretty much any game and not Pokémon specifically, it's still pretty fun to do since it involves multiple people. Each person participating in this run will play a portion of the game and then send the save file over to the next person. They keep doing this until they beat the game. You aren't usually bound by self-imposed rules or restrictions, unless you're doing a combination of this challenge and some random challenge run.
Taglocke
Pretty much just a chain play and a nuzlocke combined.
Haxlocke
A ridiculously hard nuzlocke variant created by TheHeatedMo. In this challenge, the standard Nuzlocke rules apply, but in addition to losing Pokemon when they faint, you can also lose Pokemon when you are a victim of the RNG. If a Pokémon is inflicted with a Status condition through any means (excluding self-infliction) it is considered dead. If a Pokémon misses a move, is infatuated, confused, or flinches, it is considered dead. If a Pokémon experiences a secondary effect from a Pokémon that directly affects your Pokémon (lowered defense after getting hit by Crunch, getting burned after getting hit by Ember, etc.), it is considered dead. If the opponent lands a critical hit, your Pokémon is considered dead. Berries and other hold items that instantaneously cure these effects are allowed to insure a Pokemon's survival. If a Pokémon is considered "dead" in battle, it must immediately be switched out.
Wonderlocke
A variation on the Nuzlocke challenge with all of the same rules, except instead of using the first Pokemon you catch on every Route, you have to Wonder Trade the Pokemon and use what you are traded back. This, obviously, can only be done with XY and ORAS, since they are currently the only games that have the Wonder Trade feature.