How 1 Gen 3 Pokemon Reshaped Difficulty Discourse in Pokemon Games, Even 24 Years Later

Nuzlocke rewired Pokémon difficulty debates. Born in 2010 when Nick Franco turned a Ruby run into a webcomic (Nuzleaf+Locke), its 'first-catch, permadeath, nicknames' rules spawned Ironmon, Wonderlocke & Soul Link — and made fans crave harder games.