Pokémon Rivals

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Pokémon Rivals
Pokémon-rivals-logo.png
Franchise Pokémon
Played by
Featuring
Original run April 16, 2012 –
present
No. of parts 8
No. of games 13
No. of episodes 1399
Episode length 2–276 minutes
Playlist shelf link

Pokémon Rivals is a series of LPs created by The D-Pad in 2012, focusing on the Pokémon franchise. It takes the form of a series of competitive Nuzlocke challenges fought between two members of the channel, using a modified ruleset referred to as "Padlocke". The majority of Padlockes have featured Rick and John as the two players. A subseries entitled Pokémon Rivals: Sibling Rivaly instead featured Geoff and Dave. Rick and John's series of Padlockes was initially planned to cover every pair of main series games in the franchise. The format stopped being applied to new non-remake releases from Pokémon Sword and Shield onward, due to the mechanics of the modern games being less suited to Nuzlocke rules. Padlockes for the remaining earlier games that have not yet been played are still planned. The series debuted on April 16, 2012.

The schedule for Rick and John's Pokémon Rivals consists of uploads every weekday, generally between 15 and 20 minutes in length. Each pair of games is played in alternating segments. If multiple Rivals projects are active at the same time, one episode of each of them is released per day. Sibling Rivalry is instead streamed live twice a week on the dpadfm Twitch account and uploaded to YouTube later. As of September 13, 2023, 13 games (12 official Pokémon games and one fan game) have been played as part of the project across eight Padlockes, and a total of 1399 episodes have been released.

Rules

Pokémon Rivals uses a slightly modified version of the basic Nuzlocke rules.

  • A player may only catch the first Pokémon they encounter in each area. In games where Pokémon are visible in the overworld, they are allowed to choose which one to fight first. If the first encounter is knocked out, they are not allowed to catch any other Pokémon on that route. An exception to this rule is made for Pikachu vs. Eevee, where additional Pokémon can be caught, but cannot be used in battle and must be sent to Professor Oak immediately.
    • No duplicates are allowed. If a player encounters a Pokémon in the same evolutionary line as one they already own, it is not considered an eligible catch and they are allowed to catch the next Pokémon they encounter in the area.
    • Pokémon gifted by NPCs, event Pokémon, or unique Pokémon that are "on the map" are allowed to be caught and used in addition to the eligible catch for that area.
    • Breeding is not allowed under any circumstances, except for the winner to obtain an Egg to send to the next Padlocke.
    • Trading with other players is not allowed under any circumstances, except for when it is necessary to evolve a Pokémon, in which case it must be traded back to its original player immediately afterward. Whether in-game trades are allowed or not allowed has been an inconsistently applied rule across the series.
    • Mystery Gifts and in-game features such as Pokémon-Amie and Pokémon Refresh may not be used.
    • Any shiny Pokémon can be caught, but must be boxed permanently if they are not an eligible catch.
  • If a Pokémon faints, it is considered to be dead and must be released or stored in a Box permanently.
  • Every Pokémon obtained must be nicknamed at the earliest possible opportunity.

The competitive side of the series makes use of a unique ruleset called "Padlocke". The Padlocke rules are as follows.

  • The first player will begin by playing until the first major battle of their chosen game. In most games "major battles" are determined to be Gym Leaders and the Elite Four, but in Sun vs. Moon, Trials and Grand Trials are used instead.
  • After completing the battle, they will immediately stop. The other player will begin their own game, and continue until they have reached the same point as the first player.
  • Immediately following this, the two players will have a competitive battle using the exact teams they had upon beating the Gym/Trial. Altering teams in any way is not allowed. The battle is an exhibition match, so Nuzlocke rules do not apply, and any Pokémon that faint in the battle are not considered to have died.
  • The winner of the exhibition match will move forward , becoming the first to play the next segment of their game, until the next major battle.
  • The loser of the exhibition match will play the next segment afterwards, giving them a slight advantage for the next match, as they can plan their strategy around the team their opponent finished their segment with.
  • This process continues until both players have completed their games. The player who wins the most exhibition matches is crowned the overall winner of the Padlocke. In the event of both players having an equal number of wins, a tiebreaker match is held to determine the overall winner.
  • The winner of the Padlocke continues their Nuzlocke into the postgame, while the loser does not. Initially, the winner may bring an single Egg from one of their dead Pokémon into the next Padlocke.

Some of these rules did not initially exist, and were added over time as the series progressed. They are current as of Pikachu vs. Eevee.

Contents

# Title Games Gen Platform Year Player Score Start date End date Eps Length Invid. link Comb. link
0 FireRed vs. LeafGreen Pokémon FireRed Version III GBA 2004 Rick N/A April 16, 2012 April 16, 2022 106 32:32:45 playlist playlist
Pokémon LeafGreen Version John N/A December 2, 2014 May 22, 2015 95 26:06:22 playlist
1 X vs. Y Pokémon X VI 3DS 2013 Rick 2 May 12, 2014 November 26, 2015 80 30:53:37 playlist playlist
Pokémon Y John 7 May 19, 2014 November 26, 2015 96 36:18:32 playlist
Pokémon Z C/J 0 November 5, 2014 1 00:58:08 video
2 Omega Ruby vs. Alpha Sapphire Pokémon Omega Ruby VI 3DS 2014 John 5 November 24, 2014 August 15, 2015 97 37:27:57 playlist playlist
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Rick 4 December 2, 2014 June 19, 2015 76 28:04:42 playlist
3 Insurgence Pokémon Insurgence VI PC 2017 John 0 June 23, 2015 July 9, 2015 14 03:47:48 playlist playlist
Rick 0 July 14, 2015 January 20, 2016 138 45:53:22 playlist
4 Sun vs. Moon Pokémon Sun VII 3DS 2016 John 8 November 21, 2016 December 25, 2021 159 51:38:22 playlist playlist
Pokémon Moon Rick 4 December 19, 2016 November 17, 2017 138 43:33:26 playlist
5 Pikachu vs. Eevee Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! VII NS 2018 John 5 November 19, 2018 July 9, 2021 135 45:31:12 playlist playlist
Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! Rick 4 November 28, 2018 May 11, 2021 123 38:23:23 playlist
6 Brilliant Diamond vs. Shining Pearl Pokémon Brilliant Diamond VIII NS 2021 Rick 5 December 14, 2021 ongoing 114 36:43:18 playlist playlist
Pokémon Shining Pearl John 2 November 23, 2021 ongoing 76 23:48:45 playlist

Sibling Rivalry

# Title Games Gen Platform Year Player Score Start date End date Eps Length Invid. link Comb. link
1 X vs. Y Pokémon X VI 3DS 2013 Geoff 0 August 30, 2023 ongoing 1 03:28:01 playlist playlist
Pokémon Y Dave 0 August 31, 2023 ongoing 1 02:34:05 playlist

Episodes

For a list of all videos uploaded as part of Pokémon Rivals, see List of Pokémon Rivals episodes.