Embark on a vibrant and thrilling Pokémon adventure with "Pokémon Emerald," a classic role-playing game that captivated a generation of players. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance, "Pokémon Emerald" hit the shelves in 2004 as the enhanced and expanded version of its predecessors, "Pokémon Ruby" and "Pokémon Sapphire."

Set in the Hoenn region, "Pokémon Emerald" plunges players into the role of a young Pokémon Trainer, tasked with thwarting the nefarious plans of the villainous Team Aqua and Team Magma. Along the way, players encounter a diverse range of Pokémon, explore captivating landscapes, and strive to become the Pokémon League Champion.

What sets "Pokémon Emerald" apart is the introduction of the Battle Frontier, a challenging facility offering various battle challenges to test trainers' skills. The game also features the Battle Tower, where players can engage in intense Pokémon battles against skilled trainers to earn valuable Battle Points.

With its enhanced graphics, an expanded Pokédex, and the inclusion of the iconic Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza, "Pokémon Emerald" remains a beloved instalment in the Pokémon series. Whether you're a seasoned Pokémon Trainer or a newcomer to the world of pocket monsters, get ready to embark on a journey filled with excitement, discovery, and the timeless joy of catching 'em all in "Pokémon Emerald."

@Kythias

The Wheel Has Spoken - Pokemon Emerald Nuzlocke

To work this one in, we've had to think about the best way to avoid ties and a part of that will be having a slightly longer time limit of 10 Hours - and submissions will be due before Monday 4th October. (This is an hour per day with some extra because I likely won't get a chance to do the results over a weekend anyway)

As not everyone may be familiar with Nuzlocke rules, I got @Alondite to help me with the write up here for all the rules relating to the challenge, but if anyone has any questions or edge cases feel free to ask! Core Nuzlocke rules that must be followed:

1. You may only catch the first Pokemon you randomly encounter in each area. Random encounter means grass/cave/surfing/fishing etc. Area is defined as a unique location description in the Pokemon's summary page, and Includes numbered routes, caves, forests etc that have their own unique name. Gifted Pokemon are not usable (such as Castform), any legendary or special Pokemon (special such as Snorlax who appears on the overworld in gen 1/2 for example) are not usable, only random encounters are acceptable. (Obviously doesn't apply before you get the ability to catch Pokemon...)

2. If a Pokemon faints for any reason, including battle, poison, self destruct etc, it is dead, and must not be revived in any way, and must be released at the first practical opportunity, i.e when you reach the next town, or the last town if you're still close.

3. If you lose a battle, i.e all Pokemon faint, you lose and your run is over. You may restart and use any remaining time if you lose a run. You cannot suicide in an attempt to restart, for example if you've lost team members early or have a bad team, you must make every effort to continue with what you have until you lose/run out of time.

4. You may not reload an earlier save in any circumstance, what happens is permanent.

Additional rules, guidelines and misc:

1. Nickname every Pokemon you catch
2. All items are fair game providing they do not violate core rules (revives).
3. You may optionally ignore duplicate Pokemon (ones you currently own) and their evolutionary family, however you must decide at the start of the run and stick with the decision either way. If one of your Pokemon dies and you later encounter another one of the same species, that is your pokemon for that area regardless of your duplicate rule choice as you no longer own one.
4. Battle mode is switch
5. No emulator features at all, including speed up or save states/reloading (save states OK between play sessions)
6. Time played will be gauged on your in game time played clock which is to be shown at the end of your run, so be careful with your time.
7. No glitches, hacks, cheats, game to be played in the intended way in all aspects (excepting Nuzlocke rules).

Challenge progression rules:

Progress is determined by number of gym leaders beaten, or in the fairly unlikely event of reaching them, elite four members beaten, tie-broken by number of Pokemon deaths. Tie-break is also determined by mandatory rival battles beaten, in the event of same number of gym badges. Rival tie-break trumps deaths.
Good luck to all!

1st) ReturnOfOctobot
2nd) Kythias
3rd) Alondite
4th) Deccyf