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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet introduced a plethora of new critters to the franchise, with a grand total of 103 new species of Pokemon in the Paldean Pokedex, with a good chunk of them being never-before-seen designs. Out of these 103 Pokemon, Gen 9 includes a decent number of rather powerful critters, with examples being Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Gholdengo, which is possibly one of the best pocket monsters ever made, or Tinkaton, which has the best typing in the game and an extremely strong signature move. There are also many new type combinations as of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, such as Iron Valiant's Fairy/Fighting or Grafaiai's Normal/Poison, and they too have an impact on which Gen 9 Pokemon are among the very best.
Introducing both a new type combo in the form of Electric and Fighting, as well as two polarizing signature moves, is the Pawmi evolution line. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Pawmi breaks two series-long traditions by being the first so-called "Pikachu clone" to ever evolve, and also by introducing the first-ever revive move in the franchise, which can be used on fainted allied Pokemon to heal them back to 50% of their HP. This move is called Revival Blessing, and it will single-handedly change Nuzlocke runs forever due to the "no revive" rule, but Pawmi's final evolution has yet another ace up its sleeve.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Pawmot Has a Revive Move
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Pokemon Nuzlocke runs comprise a set of self-imposed rules that are aimed at making the game one is playing much more challenging, as every Pokemon that faints is considered "dead," and can no longer be used for that run. Furthermore, players usually can only catch a limited number of Pokemon, such as one per route, and they can't use items during battles to heal their critters, which further increases the level of difficulty of the game.
In the case of Pawmi's final evolution, which is called Pawmot, the whole concept of Nuzlocke runs has to be redefined, as a move that revives fainted allies should theoretically be ok to use. However, this is uncharted territory for the community, and it's likely that either Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Nuzlocke runs will ban Pawmi entirely or at least the use of Revival Blessing, but it will still be worth the discussion. If the general consensus turns out to be in favor of allowing Revival Blessing, however, that alone will drastically change how Nuzlocke runs are played.
Pawmot's Double Shock Could Make it Great in Nuzlocke Runs
Still, there is another reason why Pawmot could change Nuzlocke runs forever, and that's because it can reliably become typeless while also dealing an incredible amount of damage. Typeless Pokemon in Nuzlocke runs can be especially good to have because they have no weaknesses, which makes them less likely to be one-shot by opposing trainers or wild pocket monsters. In the case of Pawmot, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Terastallization can be used to make it pure Electric-type, which boosts its STAB damage with Electric moves even further, from 150% to 200%, and then players can use the Pokemon's other signature move - Double Shock.
Double Shock is a 120 base power Electric-type move that requires players to have Electric as one of their types in order to use it, and the drawback is that the user loses its Electric type after the move goes through. As such, after Pawmot Terastallizes into a pure Electric-type critter, players can use Double Shock to then have a typeless Pokemon, turning what normally is a disadvantage into something that can save a Nuzlocke run. Combined with Revival Blessing, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players will have two major tools to completely reshape the essence of a Nuzlocke run.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.