Pocket Monsters, Dear Readers! - Let's Play Pokémon Platinum

Welcome to Let's Play of Pokémon Platinum! To add some spice to this playthrough, we'll be doing a Nuzlocke Challenge run of the game. You can click that link for more details into it's origins, but it basically boils down to these two rules:

1. Catch the first Pokemon you encounter in each route/cave/whatever and nothing else. If you fail to catch it, too bad, continue onwards.

2. If you Pokemon faints, consider it dead and release it.

This could make it more interesting by forcing us to use pokemon we wouldn't normally use, instead of the same teams of old favorites. But it could also fuck us over and give us a team full of Bidoofs, Zubats and Geodudes. Guess we'll just have to wait and see! However, if you guys don't want me to do this, just say so and we'll play it the old fashioned way.

First, we have to pick whether we're going to be a boy, or a girl:


Lucas and Dawn have both been given a winter makeover, since the weather has gotten a little colder in Platinum. We'll also need a name for our trainer. Whoever we don't choose is Professor Rowan's assistant, and keeps their default name.


And this is our next-door neighbor, and rival, Barry. He's an impatient little shit and has a habit of crashing into things. We'll need a name for him as well.


Last, but not least, are our starting pokemon:

First up is Turtwig, the Grass type starter. It's final form is Torterra, and is a Grass/Ground type.

Second is Chimchar, the Fire type starter. It's final form is Infernape, and is a Fire/Fighting type.

Third is Piplup, the Water type starter. It's final form is Empoleon, and is a Water/Steel type.

We'll need nicknames for them, too. I'll start up on Friday, so you have until then to vote!

Girl named Winter!
Boy named Speedy!
Empoleon named Opus*!

*Or a Torterra named A'Tuin / Infernape named Goku. I'm not picky.

Why does the Rival's new artwork look like he just had an accident in his pants and he's trying to hide it with his man-purse?

Anyhow, it looks like A'Tuin-named Torterras are more common than I thought, so let's go with the alternative "turtle carrying something massive on its back" and name it Cabrakan instead.

Flaming Monkey could be Johnny [Storm].

Mr. Cobblepot wouldn't fit in the allotted space, but Oswald does.

I'm not sure I like the rules of the challenge, though My only interest in Pokemon lies in critter-collecting and critter-naming, not battling, but I'll be following the LP anyway because I want to see what new content Platinum has over D/P.

I got it from YOU

I named mine Genbu. I plan on naming my IV'd one Xuan Wu. Both are also great names for Torterra.

EDIT: As for the challenge, I say let's see how it fares at least as far as up to the first Gym - I'd prefer a standard game as well, but I'm curious how it'd run, even if it's only for a little bit. But after Roark, anything's fair game.

All the poor little dead pokemon! Heartbreaking! But it sounds like an interesting challenge!

Go with the guy and name him Miles because of the cravat like look he's got going on with his scarf.

Go with Piplup because of the winter theme, and name him Nick because he's blue.

Name your idiot friend Richard, because Dick would be too distracting.

You know, I really had no intention at all going into this post that I was going to be making Phoenix Wright references. Oh well!

That's what I called mine! And my Infernape was called Librarian!

Turtle named Gamerarbor
Boy named Francois (beret and ascot)
The rival's got kind of a Tezuka hairstyle going on, so, uh, Tezuka? Tima?

That challenge sounds insane, wasteful, and potentially LP-killing, but interesting to watch. I'm with Pap; test it out at least up to the first gym and see how it fares.

As for names? If the boy gets chosen, Ocelot. If the girl, Dusk (opposite time of day of her anime name). Either way, I don't mind which gender's chosen.

As for the rival, considering he's always crashing into things, name him Jakov after that stupid Gungan analogue Jakovosaur from that Season 3 episode of South Park.

Starter names? If you go Turtwig (which I'd vote for), I'd say Koopa. As for Chimchar or Piplup, I'd just name the flaming monkey Lazlo or use one of those Madagascar penguins' names (Skipper, Private, Kowalski, or Rico) for Piplup.

Yeah, I'm not good with names. =P

Turtwig is, naturally, the only possible choice for a starter.

And if A'tuin is too run-of-the-mill for a turtle with landscaping on its back; I say we go for Luggage.

Keeps the sentient plant thing at least.

Haha, Grass type. Truly the punching bag class of Pokemon, those. Seriously, 5 different types are super effective against them; that's just embarrassing.

I've always been partial to the Fire starter types. And besides, who doesn't love a flaming monkey? I'd name the little burning primate Guybrush, just 'cause.

I named my character in Pearl "Flint" because the beret reminded me of the GI Joe character. It was only several weeks later that I remembered Oh, right, Young Ocelot and was all

I know!

Geonardo. Get it?

Barry is, hands down, my favorite rival in the games.

Also, choose Turtwig and the name Geonardo is awesome++

They also resist three very common attack types (and themselves), so it's not all bad news - not very much can boast being able to shrug off Earthquake, Surf/Waterfall and Thunderbolt naturally. And that's not to say anything about their absolutely awesome movepool, either! Grass types actually have it pretty good nowadays in terms of overall balancing.

Now Poison, on the other hand... that's a type that really could use a power up. It's one of three types that can't be 4x effective against anything, and unlike Normal and Dragon it doesn't have the excuse. It's pretty good defensively though, I'll admit.

Man, you're WAY better at this then I am.

I'm well aware that Grass types are secretly the best type to have around overall. I cannot tell you how many times I was screaming in rage in SoulSilver that every freaking Pokemon sprung on me by trainers seemed to be Electric or Rock type. My would-wipe-up-the-floor-with-em-in-the-original-games Gyarados took a hell of a beating, let me tell you.

This seems like fun! My collection instinct makes me request fainters be stuffed in the box and forgotten rather than released. They might be half-decent breeding fodder if that's an acceptable stretch of the rules or if you end up with too few 'mons to make it.

The best part of this is that I won't be the one suffering the glacially paced battle text/everything.
I hereby donate my secret awesome names, Shuckl♥R for a boy and Tangel♥R for the girl. Barry could also be Leeroy, if you were so inclined.
I vote for a Turtwig named Bonsai, although Geonardo is sounding pretty darn good too. Bonsaitello, Reefael, MichaeLANDelo?
(What's the character limit again?)

They actually sped the game up quite a bit for Platinum, believe it or not! At the very least, a lot of move animations were shortened dramatically and surfing isn't nearly as slow as it used to be, and I think there were a few tweaks to the engine to increase its response time as well. Granted, it's not nearly as fast as Gen III, but hey, at least it's a start.

noooooooooooooooooooooo

Name the dude Gerald and the chick Stacy, because these names sound hilariously outdated. I have no justification other than this.

That sounds like a nice list of improvements, I'm glad they made an effort to address the problem.

You mean yes right? Oh yes

Please do not call the boy version Ocelot if you go with the boy trainer, because I don't want this thread to be a rehash of the Something Awful Platinum LP.

Also, Turtwig is the best starter (in terms of radness, if not power), and his name should be Slamphibian. Because that is the way awesome people (read: me) play.

There's a Something Awful LP that did that? I knew I heard the name used around since the kid wore a beret, but I didn't know it was already commonplace in another LP. Ocelot suggestion revoked, then.

How about Ado, as a Kirby's Dream Land 3 reference? Or Adeline, as a reference to the similar-looking girl in Kirby 64 who gets confused for him due to design similarities?

You see? This is why I like you, Parish.

You have a little thing called 'taste'.

Ye- NO I'm actually pretty ambivalent about names but turtwig is the way to go

Go with Dawn and name her Dusk. I can't believe I never thought of that. Now I want to know dark in Japanese.

Go with Turtwig.

Torterra is the best starter, and the only one I ever use, so I don't want to see it used in this LP. I'd say go with Chimchar, because I never use Fire-types and there are plenty of Water-types to collect for your Surfing Pokemon.

Go with Dawn, name her "PYRA, LORDESS OF ALL HELLFIRE", choose Chimchar for your starter and BURN THE POKEWORLD TO THE GROUND.

Turtwig and don't ever let him evolve.

Please name the rival Klarion after my favorite Witchboy

They tied up his cat?

This is clearly the best comic I have never read ever.

This Nuzlocke Challenge looks like it can only end in tears... Which means that it's perfect for LP!

Have you ever done a "trial run" of the challenge, or are we going to see your tears in real time?

His cat is magical.

It's an interesting comic (and one of the best from the Seven Soldiers stuff than Morrison did) but it's not that good.

- Eddie