The Pokemon Company said in a statement that it has no problems with Nuzlocke runs. Many of the Pokemon series' followers are seasoned players who have been playing the games since they were young because the franchise has been around for more than 20 years. As a result, some players have raised the game's difficulty to make up for what they feel is the lack of challenge in the more recent Pokemon games. A Nuzlocke run is an illustration of one of these degrees of difficulty.

In a Nuzlocke run, players are given instructions to follow during their entire Pokemon trip. Pokemon Nuzlocke challenges can be built in a variety of ways, but generally speaking, players are only allowed to capture one Pokemon per route or place, and should any Pokemon in their party faint, they must release their companion or store it permanently. The Pokemon Company believes that the Pokemon Nuzlocke challenges are on par with ROM hacks, according to recent claims made by two ex-Nintendo of America employees.