Pokémon Company does not hate Nuzlocke runs claim insiders-Michael Beckwith-Entertainment – Metro

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – a Nuzlocke run requires no hacking, just a copy of the game and the will to let your favourites go (pic: The Pokémon Company)

The Pokémon community is abuzz with conflicting statements regarding the legitimacy of self-imposed Nuzlocke runs.

Nintendo is well known for being so protective of its properties that it will strike down non-profit fan games without a second thought.

The Pokémon Company is, unsurprisingly, equally as intolerant of fan hacks of its Pokémon games. However, it’s recently been claimed that it also has a strong aversion for Nuzlocke runs.

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, a Nuzlocke run is a self-imposed challenge popular amongst the Pokémon community. While the rules can differ from player to player, the one constant is that if a pokémon faints, it’s considered dead and can no longer be used.

This isn’t something that requires you to hack your game or anything; anyone can attempt a Nuzlocke run with any Pokémon game.

Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, who used to host the Nintendo Minute show on Nitnendo’s YouTube channel, were asked during their own Kit & Krysta podcast if they had ever attempted a Nuzlocke themselves.

The two proceeded to recount the time they pitched the idea of doing one for Nintendo Minute and, apparently, The Pokémon Company was vehemently against it, to the point where Ellis and Yang felt they nearly got in trouble for it.

Ellis explains, ‘They said ‘we consider this to be on the same level as using… ROM hacks.’ I was like, excuse me? This is just a style of playing a game that everybody can buy, there’s no hacking.’

Yang went on to say that members of the company’s creator programme were erased from it purely because they had played Nuzlocke runs.

These allegations quickly took off and became loud enough for others to approach The Pokémon Company for a formal statement on the matter.

While it hasn’t issued one at the time of writing, Joe Merrick of Pokémon fan site Serebii says he was told by the company that it has zero issues with people playing Nuzlocke runs.

More: Gaming

Pokémon content creator PKMNcast corroborated this, saying ‘Have worked directly with both Nintendo and [The Pokémon Company International], can confirm this. They have told me the same exact thing.’

We can only speculate given the ‘he said, she said’ nature of the situation, but either the company’s stance has changed since Ellis and Yang’s departure, or the company simply doesn’t like the idea of promoting an unofficial method of playing the game.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.

MORE : Pokémon Scarlet & Violet trailer reveals auto battles and limited edition Nintendo Switch

MORE : Pokémon World Championships 2022 report: trading and battling at ExCel London

MORE : Woman fills home office with £4,000 worth of Pokémon plushie toys

Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

Entertainment – MetroRead More