Your "cowardly additions" are what people use in most runs anyways. Because doing a run in hoenn with stacks of wingulls and tentacools isn't as fun.

Here's another thing about the nuzlocke appeal you experienced but didn't get in to much: the attachment you get to certain pokemon you'd never think about or use otherwise. If you were playing a normal run, you never would have used Gastrodon, but because Issac proved himself so many times during the run, you've learned how awesome the pokemon is, and won't underestimate its potential anymore. Its kind of funny in a morbid way, actually, our first choices of pokemon to use in nuzlockes tend to die tragically, while our second and third choices shock us with how well they carry the run.

I rarely play Pokemon without Nuzlocking now. I'll do a first playthrough on vanilla mode and then it's hard mode all the way. I'm quite tempted to make my first run of Shining Pearl a Nuzlocke, if only because I've Nuzlocked Gen IV so many times.

I have played too many nuzlockes, I am too jaded too feel bad about deaths in my own runs, but this made me feel for his deaths

I'll never forget my first Nuzlocke in LeafGreen. My Blastoise became my only surviving member, and answering the call of duty he managed to run through 5 gyms and all of the elite four almost entirely solo, except for my Jolteon (Jake) for those water types. He was level 81 by the time we won. Schiggs, you will always be a legend in my heart.

"What was I supposed to do about horn drill on my leafeon?" well tbh if it was 1level higher it'd have been immune =p OHKO moves don't work if your pokemon is higher level!

Tyranno's question: Since when does Zubat know Giga Drain?

I like how you mention personal connections with pokemon, how the more you use a pokemon the more attached to it you get. I am VERY much attached to Umbreon, especially its shiny, as its my favorite pokemon and I just love it.

That damned Kadabra Scientist. That thing killed my Geodude and Monferno.

Aww during the throwing games scene you were only gentle on Crystal, I am also very protective of my Explorers of Sky copy

Watching people do Nuzlocke runs for the first time is always a favourite of mine.

One of the primary nuzloke rules is that the nuzloke officially starts after you get pokeballs

I've never done a Nuzlocke because I was that one kid who had a Chao Garden that cried so hard that I released two of my Chaos to grow up and be free that reset to have them back. Needless to say, pixel animals on a screen perishing hurts me in a way that's probably not healthy. lol

Toxi-fusion (poison and confuse) has gotten me through some tough Nuzlocke fights before. Nuzlockes can be fun because of how they make the player adapt to new situations, but the soul-crushing series of deaths that is inevitable ruins the fun in the end.