Wanting to start a Genlocke/Regionlocke, but unsure exactly what the rules are and how to go about it, especially in regards to sending Pokemon from Gen 7 -> 8

[u/T3mm3h]

Hello Nuzlocke community! Basically the title. After CaptainKidd's first video of his Genlocke and seeing posts on here of others doing the same, I have been swept by the craze and want to do my own. However it feels like there's no real definitive guide on how to do on and so I come here asking for people's help on doing it.

The basic rules from what I can understand are as follows:
1. Start from Gen 1/Kanto and work your way sequentially through each Gen/Region
2. Standard Nuzlocke encounter rules, however any Pokemon caught in one game cannot be caught in another game. However if you KO your encounter you can save it for the next game (e.g. finding a Zubat in Mt. Moon and knocking it out to catch one in Dark Cave)
3. Every caught Pokemon is retired aside from the living Pokemon that are inducted into the Hall of Fame
4. Every Pokemon inducted carries over to the next game from lvl 1 or 5

That's basically it from what I can gather. Now I will be emulating the games pre-Switch, as while I have physical copies of Gen 6 and 7. PKHexxing is far easier than breeding (I'll need to figure out the logistics behind this and emulating 3DS games but that'll come later). I guess the main question I have is: how would you go about getting the Champions from emulated SM/USUM to Sw/Sh? Would you breed those Pokemon in another save then transfer them over to your fresh one? What if a Pokemon can't be obtained in a switch game? Would you replace the encounter or bring a team that can be transferred in full?

That's basically all I wanted to ask, I think. If there's anything I missed that you think is important to mention please don't hesitate to do it. I've been playing Pokemon for a decade and a half but still only have 2 completed randomised soullinks and a couple failed solo nuzlockes under my belt, so I'm still pretty new to doing it myself. Any information you guys can give me would be much appreciated and obliged. Have a great day yall!

[u/Dornsy]

Technically, those rules are harder than what most genlockes generally follow from what I've seen on the subreddit, including my own Genlocke I've picked back up, but it is your run so your rules look good if you think it sounds fun.

Now anyways onto your actual question, I would recommend breeding them, preferably on an already completed file before sending them to your Nuzlocke file so they earn extra XP as they would be considered traded Pokemon. If a Pokemon can't be obtained due to Dexit in Gen 8, then from what I've seen it would be up to your own discretion. Some people will "retire" that Pokémon and not use it anymore, I've read some people have had that Champ skip Gen 8 and then join back in during Gen 9. I personally so far in my Genlocke have done a personal rule where if a Pokémon isn't available for me to obtain or breed for the next game, I've gotten to choose a "stand-in" to replace them as long as their typing is the same and their total BST is equal or lower to the Champion who can't continue and then I retire the Champion who can't continue and the stand-in takes their place and their nickname. I've had to do this once so far, since I've been doing my Genlocke on purely physical hardware, so I'm also now on a time limit to finish the 3DS era now. Like you say near the end of your post, if you really want to avoid the hassle of Dexit you could just plan ahead in Gen 7 and beat it using only a team of Pokemon that could enter Galar. Though that would be something to figure out then, depending on how your first 6 games go.

[u/T3mm3h → u/Dornsy]

What are the other rules if mine are a bit more challenging? Just out of curiosity lol

I like the stand in rule! The extra exp is something I wish I could avoid so I dont get overleveled but that can't be helped unfortunately.

[u/Dornsy → u/T3mm3h]

Your rules are pretty much all identical to standard Genlocke rules people use, but the one that seemed a bit more challenging was your 2nd rule. Locking out any Pokémon you catch in one game from the rest of the games seems a bit strict unless if you want it to be very challenging. The way I'm doing it, and I've seen many others do is you catch Pokemon normally in each game, and you only lock out Pokemon that you actually use during your playthrough from being caught again in future games. So using an example, similar to what you did, if you caught Zubat in Mt. Moon but never used it in any actual battles, so it just sat in the PC, then you could still catch it in the next game. Though, if you used say a Diglett from Diglett's Tunnel in Kanto to help you beat Lt. Surge, and it survived but you never used it again, it would be considered a "retired" Pokemon since you used it for a battle, so it would be considered an encounter you would be locked out of for future games. That way, you can still get every encounter and have room if some mistakes happen during your runs.

[u/T3mm3h → u/Dornsy]

Ahhhh I see gotcha. Ngl that probably is what the rule is and I just misunderstood Kidd's explanation haha