Fish takes on Pokémon Ruby with custom YouTube livestream setup

Look out Twitch Plays Pokémon, Fish Plays Pokémon is about to take the spot as the weirdest thing to watch on a livestream.

A Japanese Youtuber has created a new form of entertainment for the wider gaming world in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic by having their pet fish play Pokémon Ruby and you can watch it live now.

Of course, don’t expect to see a mutant fish playing the game on a computer. The Youtuber has instead created a custom engine that looks where the fish is at on the monitor and corresponds where it is at to a certain button press.

It’s a pretty impressive feat, though how far the fish has got in its playthrough is even more impressive. At the time of writing, the fish has been playing for over 750 hours and has somehow managed to acquire two of the game’s badges.

It has also managed to catch a full team of six Pokémon on top of its start and is just making its way to the third gym now. Considering the button presses are effectively random depending on where the fish is swimming in the tank, it remains to be seen where it can go to next.