I beat Pokemon Ruby. Not much of an accomplishment normally, but I beat it on my custom-made Nightmare Mode. Of the 44 Pokemon I leveled up to bring into battle, only three survived.
Eberron the Altaria scraped through with but a quarter of its health remaining. Khyber the Salamence was paralyzed and nigh dead, but survived. Boudica the Gardevoir was the real hero of the day, beating almost all of Champion Steven's Pokemon singlehandedly at a mere level 54.
Not all is joyous. Along with the 38 Pokemon that were interred in the 'graveyard' computer and the three survivors, three of my best lie vanquished upon the battlefield. Menelaus the Sharkslayer, the brave Machoke that tore Sydney's entire lineup apart before getting decimated by an unexpected Aerial Ace from Sydney's final Pokemon. Asmodeus the Great Wyrm, the Gyarados that saved me from utter defeat in the 8th gym as well as from Phoebe's ghostly hordes, who I found by sheer happenstance in the waters of that same city. Orrdus the Enduring was the Aggron that annihilated Glacia's icy legion before a shattering and sudden defeat due to her Walrein's instant-death-inducing Sheer Cold. Without Orrdus, my Flying/Dragon Salamence and Altaria would have been utterly screwed.
In short, Pokemon is not normally much more than a childish distraction that I use to escape from reality for a bit. This time, it was a really emotional experience. When your Pokemon can't just be brought back from death, you get very much more attached to them. My rules made this game much more mature and challenging, and I've decided that I'm going to do it again, but this time in Pokemon Platinum. Then I'll move on to HeartGold, and then maybe Black or White if I have the money. I'm considering a Let's Play of Platinum, so you folks may see that one. I'll likely replace my starter with some hatched eggs of the three survivors of Pokemon: Bloody Ruby. May as well keep some continuity.