The animation. The mock-up documents. The grizzled soldier voice for the narration. The ‘cover story’ (how does a grown adult agent look like a ten year old boy? I love it.) The lore behind every choice and spheal. I knew from the moment I saw this thumbnail I’d adore this video but I still wasn’t prepared.
The fact that Bertha and Nelson were best friends in the training academy makes it even more heartwarming that she named her first son after him following his passing.
Gosh, there's so much incredible detail in the Spheal profiles. Alpha is the only agent of Spheal Team 6 with a 100% mission success rate, killing 27 enemies across eight missions. He also conducted the most important assassination in the history of the force, killing [*REDACTED*] in a perfectly-executed mission. Anita killed 431 people across 19 missions, most of which it's safe to assume came during the infamous Mt. Pyre Massacre. She enjoys the hunt. She doesn't hesitate. She is the angel of death. Horatio, responsible for "The Brown Summer," was suspended multiple times while at the academy. 8 confirmed kills across two missions. Ran demolition in the Area Zero incident. Some rumors label him as the true killer of Paldea's famed professor. Eliza was the poison master during the Area Zero incident and is likely the only operative who actually knows what happened that day other than her brother. She was an elite athlete with no rival. None could match her blazing speed. Some Paldeans still campaign to this day for a permanent ban on Spheals after what Los Diablos did there. Bertha was feared even by her classmates. She did not complete daily exercises, but no-one dared question her. She completed two tours in the Unovan deserts. She had only one kill in 17 of her missions. Then suddenly, after she was one of only two survivors of the Chansey Siege of '05, her kill count suddenly went up by 82. She has not spoken to anyone about what happened in the siege, and that report is under top security clearance. Her best friend Nelson was the other survivor of the Chansey siege. He has only two kills to his record. He was not liked at the academy initially, but earned respect by sheer tenacity. The only indicator to any other agents of how the siege went was the number of scars on his round body after the mission. It is theorized that Nelson simply stood in the open and drew attacks while Bertha set up to take out their enemies. It truly foreshadowed his tragic end. They all obey without hesitation. They do not ask questions. And according to the reports, their donor parents were all killed before they were born.
This is an absolutely legendary video. I put it on thinking "oh, I'll have it on in the background while I get ready for bed, I'll watch like 5 minutes and then maybe the rest in the morning!" No. I watched it all in one sitting. I was that entranced. This was a genuinely moving story. I thought that the narrative was going to be dropped once Archie had been beaten, the idea changing to "Hey, let's beat the champion for fun!" But instead we got a twist villain Disney could never dream of. The ending of "all power is terrible" got me. RIP Nelson.
The shoal cave scene was the absolute best climax I could have ever imagined for a pokemon story like this one. It's obvious people put a lot of effort into this video, and I hope it grows and ages well in the future!
Where boys cried: AI Professor Sada/Turo going through the time machine Where men cried: Nelson sacrificing himself to save his best friend, who returned the favor years later by naming her child after him Can't wait for the epic sequel, Squishes Strike Back: The Story of the Goomy Team Six, A Pokemon Y Hardcore Nuzlocke, coming to theaters July 2023 /j Seriously, keep up these story based challenges! I absolutely ADORED both this and the Bunny Only Sword Hardcore Nuzlocke :3
There are so many 9/11 References like how 0:02 its a reference to the season and year Osama Bin laden was executed by seal team 6 which this video is basically about seal team 6, and also archie. He Specializes in water which the corpse of Osama was dumped in the ocean. So uhhhhhh yeah
I love when nuzlockers commit to a story like this. It makes any deaths in the run hit that much harder when there's a backstory. Nelson dying after the spheals finally got to just ...be spheals. No joke, I was tearing up.
NOT BERTHA'S CHILD BEING NAMED NELSON 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 god this was such a great story, what a way to turn a challenge run into an insanely compelling narrative with such emotional impact, absolutely amazing job!
I just got teary-eyed about six spheals and their story about saving the world. This was absolutely amazing, please look into doing stuff like this again in the future!
I was more emotionally invested in this story than any Hollywood film from the past two decades. I will never, ever, forget the legacy of the ST6 and the sacrifices they endured
I cried fir real to the death of Nelson, Spheal is my favorite pokémon and him dying like a Champ make me cry... And the newborn Spheal named Nelson at the end brought me a tear of happiness. Very good storytelling ♥️
Just when I think that the quality of your content can’t get better. I’ve been here since 10k and I love that you keep reaching new heights. Congrats on 250k!
I never thought that a story about 6 Spheals would literally make me cry. I’ve done multiple nuzlockes and when a lose a Pokémon it makes me a little sad but I can get over it later. But when Nelson died I had to pause the video cause I couldn’t see it through the tears in my eyes
That was amazing. Turning a Nuzlocke into a movie-like storyline was a genius idea and the execution was superb, from storytelling to the actual gameplay.
I did not expect to cry halfway through the video. But here I am, sobbing. The animation is spectacular. The narration and story makes this run so much more investing and awesome. I always love Flygon videos, but this might be a new favorite.
I am not typically one to comment, but I made it 3 minutes into this and I had to get this off my chest. This is just pure and unadulterated excellence. Thank you for such a top tier gift to the world Mr. FlygonHG.
What wasn't there? Action, emotions, sacrifice, compassion and justice! I absolutely loved every second of your video! I wish you the best and I would feel blessed if I could see another video with a similar narration style!
We've watched so many nuzlockes recently and this was by far the most entertaining one we've ever seen, simply for all the extra effort, layers of storytelling, fun twisting of the narrative and animations. Putting in the extra effort really paid off, this was fantastic!
You know... Your way of storytelling and your portrayal of each Spheal really made me feel invested with this very quickly. Made me really feel bad for your group when the stakes got more and more dangerous. The scene at Shoal Cave was very well done And wirh The fact what the original "Mission" was, the moment you and the Spheal Six get there, the situation is not only more than what was briefed, but there was the fact that the Champion, Steven, the one who's supposed to handle HIS Region if its at risk. And due to that, one of them ended up dying. So even after finishing the mission, you and the remaining Spheals go after Steven and make sure this ends. I did tear up at the end though, hopefully we see a few of members of Spheal Six in the future (as cameos)
This is cinema gold. I kid you not when I say that this is an absolute masterpiece. The way you mix storytelling and gameplay together is absolutly glorious. This really is so good. This made me subscribe. Thank you for this wonderful video from the bottom of my heart.
Wooshway did such a great job helping you breathe so much life into this story! wow wow wow This is easily my favorite video of yours. I like to listen to your runs while doing other things or trying to sleep, but this one had me paying attention hard. Absolutely loved this one and would love to see more in the future whenever possible! Even if it's just a one-off, I have nothing but adoration for this one
Why hasn’t there been a something a video like this the concept alone is just amazing and the way it was pulled off was amazing too all he needs is to do the same thing in a different region and different pokemon
I did this challenge with Vulpix. 4 Kantonian, 2 Alolan. 2 Drought, 1 Snow Warning. And I forced a physical Vulpix in there too. It was a blast. The challenge of the weather constantly changing and worrying about hail chip on 1 of my Vulpix (the other Flash Fire Vulpix had Safety Goggles). I would recommend this to anyone.
How dare you make a silly little video so emotionally investing I can't believe I almost cried at the very end there, what do you mean a baby spheal is gonna make me cry
This is the best Pokemon story I have ever witnessed. I felt all of the emotions. I laughed, I cried and I rejoiced. Pokemon International wishes they could make something so profound.
Something I only realized after several months and several rewatches: What if the Dusknoir using Ice Punch and the Walrein using Blizzard were intentional? What if Phoebe and Glacia were throwing the match because they also independently knew that Steven was corrupt and needed to be dethroned, and you stood the best chance of doing that.
19:57 Here's what you could've done Marill. Just like Jaiden animations. You see, Marill, gives health IVS, so killing roughly ~80 marill, saved Jaiden's.. magnamite? idk, that evolution line is the one line I forget the name of.. using that on the tanky one would've helped her possibly take another hit. There are also some useful moves that could've sufficed, it can learn: Protect from a tm, and substitute. This could save your Pokémon for several turns. Endure, attract, Protect, Substitute. All these moves can stall sharpedo. Crunch? That one move that is the pain in the a**? Just smack the sharpedo. I would personally do that. :D
If you look closely and read the notes for Horatio it says he is “Responsible for “The Brown Summer” That made Headmaster [CLASSIFIED] violently shit his pants during graduation” im not joking
This has made me want to do a full playthrough of OrAs using a randomly generated Pokémon. I generated a random number and got 454, looks like I’ll be completing the game with 6 Toxicroak.
This was so. Freaking. Cute. And the *drama*??? I would love to see another video in this style, it's so different from the rest of the pokemon challenge content out there, I can really feel the passion.
That was incredible! There are many people who can play games, and many people who can tell stories, but it is always amazing to see someone who can take gameplay and turn it into a compelling arc. I hope you keep doing content like this, because it’s always more compelling watching one of these videos when the audience is made to care about the characters involved 🥹
Nuzlockes started as stories. The entire point was to get attached to these characters and detail all their best moments. In the shift to a fast-paced RU-vid algorithm, the stories were often lost. A hardcore nuzlocke of one creator became almost interchangeable with that of another creator because there wasn’t enough time to get attached to the characters. A story needs conflict and stakes. When you treat the world as a real world, the stakes get so much higher. Thank you for breaking the mold and returning nuzlockes to their roots. This new method of storytelling is yet another example of how you shift the paradigm. Can’t wait to see what you do next!
As someone who wants to tell stories via the semi-uncontrolled medium of Nuzlockes, I found it extremely difficult to get enough material to TELL a good story before I got good at Nuzlockes. I can't tell a story if my characters drop like flies because then I'm not attached to them any more than the reader would be, especially if the second or third Gym wipes me (because tbh I'm kind of a scrub despite my game knowledge.) It's only been recently, watching the non-story, non-emotional heavily-mechanics-driven players, that I've started to shape myself into someone who's good enough to keep people alive and tell their stories properly. Most recently, I tried FireRed using only Team Rocket Pokemon (before Flygon posted his, I swear) and was stuck with just a Rattata before Brock. I got myself an Adamant Guts Rattata (seeing as it's my 'starter' I allowed myself this largesse of seeking optimal conditions just like I would any gifted starter) and pre-poisoned him before Brock. I still had to heal a couple times, but my lil guy did it! You can't tell me that an ex-Rocket Rattata, released because the grunt he was issued to decided he was useless, taking down the Rock Gym Leader by himself ISN'T a great story. Tony and I, we're gonna take down Rocket from within, just you wait and see. ...Self-indulgent chatter aside, I very much admire the fact that Flygon shows both the nitty-gritty runs where he's playing a hard game as optimally as he can AND the runs where he's glossed over much of the labor that goes into making a silly team functional in order to tell the story he wanted to tell. They're two sides of the same coin. The stories I can tell won't be as good until I git gud. this has been my TedTalk, thank you and good night
I believe storytelling is making a comeback for RU-vid videos! It is better than fast paced editing lifeless monstrosities anytime! Glad youtubers are making this change!
A detail that probably wasn‘t noticed by many: the balls the Speals are in! The twins are in the same ball, Big Bertha in a heavy ball, team leader Alpha in a premier… Such magnificent attention to detail!
Alpha, the leader: Premier Ball Bertha, the big tank: Heavy Ball (for Pokémon that weigh a lot) Anita: Dive Ball Twins Eliza and Horatio: Repeat Ball Nelson, the one who takes one for the team: Luxury Ball (ball that makes Pokémon grow friendly more quickly)
Now we live in a world where Jaiden Animations is turning into a pokemon streamer and FlygonHG is making super entertaining storytelling with cool drawings
Best. Pokémon. Story. Narrative. Ever. I shed a tear with Nelson's death. It actually was like watching a movie TTwTT 10/10 would recommend and watch again
Please keep in mind this is more of a investigation on the aether foundation type of story as well as protecting the public from ultra beasts kinda story with it being that the crew we originally just supposed to be recon but thngs get out of hand.
Imagine an epilogue: Years had passed. The Retired Champion feels an uncontrollable urge to visit Shoal Cave again. On the way, he notices a rainbow overhead, but overlooks it. Waiting for him at Shoal Cave is a Walrein, wearing a Rocky Helmet.
He looks over confused. Did a trainer lose their pokemon? Only domestic pokemon held battle items. The Walrein waddles over and makes a happy sound and headbutts his side. He breaks. He starts to cry as he hugs the pokemon tightly, sobbing "Nelson-Nelson I'm so sorry" He doesn't break the embrace as a small crowd Spheals encroaches on them. When he looks around he sees a pod of Walreins. Having an eviolite, choice scarf, Zoom Lens, Assault vest, and a scar on one of their eyes. They stare at him with sad smiles. "Guys?" he moans. He looks at his arms. The Walrein is gone. All that's left is it's rocky helmet.
@@chrisstoltz3648 Lots of Pokemon are Mega's we never got. I love Flugon too but I'm not gonna pretend its the only loss. Dragonite and the Johto starters spring to mind.
I was literally so devastated when we lost Nelson, what a good boy who did his best for the team. I really miss Nuzlockes that have fun stories like this, it makes the losses hit so much harder. Great job, man!
Man, the loss of Nelson nearly had me in tears but Bertha's son being named in his honor took me over the edge. Wonderful storytelling, man. I really enjoyed this and ended up attached to these characters in just under 40 minutes, honestly really impressive.
When Nelson died I did my whole gruff war-documentary, "there comes a time in war when men have to die, good men, perhaps the greatest men." Then the epilogue hit and I just melted. I have no idea why.
this went from a cool amusing intro to a stupid challenge run to the best story about murderous spheals ive ever seen. also admittedly the only story about murderous spheals ive ever seen, but y'know, it's still really good.
Oh wow I wasn't expecting to get so attached to these 6 Spheal so quickly that Nelson getting mauled to death by Archie's damn monster of a Sharpedo made me tear up and exclaim "Nelson noooooo!" Truly an absolute masterclass in storytelling.
it's 2am, I've work in three hours. I didn't need to be literally crying over spheals. RIP Nelson. flawless story telling, the animation, each spheal personality, all of it, just 10/10 superb!
I’m actually emotional over Bertha naming her child after Nelson. I subbed because of this. Loved all the thoughtful details. The animations were top notch and brought the story to life as well.
I didn’t expect to be tearing up over Spheals today, but life has a way of surprising you Excellent video, incredible twists, 10/10 you have earned yourself a sub
Damn why did Nelson’s death bring up more emotions than 90% of billion dollar films absolutely spectacular performance by everyone and I hope every Spheal gets the well earned rest in their retirement they deserve
This is already the best nuzlocke yet. Incredible storytelling, awesome characters, a freaking COVER STORY!? If this doesn’t crack 500k views me and my spheals will riot
*sniffles* This was beautiful. Really. I loved these characters. They felt like a real family. It was adorable, and sweet, and sad. I felt really sad when Nelson fell. Thank-you for this, Flygon. This was a good, emotional 40 minutes. May the remaining Spheal Six live on happily.
man. the story beats of this nuzlocke got me a whole lot more emotional than i had expected. the spheals getting to just be spheals for the first time in their lives. nelson sacrificing himself, always so dedicated to the cause even if he was never top of his class. the wall grew quiet and unseen as a wall tends to do. i initially followed this channel for its unique nuzlockes, and this one has become one of my favorites.
I didnt expect a video with this premise to make me so overwhelmingly emotional. The animated segments were amazingly adorable. I love how you were able to bring back the long forgotten nuzlocke tradition of having an emotional attachment for your team. Reminds me of my childhood.
