While Pokemon Ruby has been out for a while, one Japanese fan broadcasted a unique gameplay of the third generation Pokemon game. However, he isn't the one playing the game — his pet fish is the one controlling the player character.
Pokemon Ruby takes fans back to the classic journey through the Hoenn region. After choosing a starter Pokemon from either Mudkip, Torchic, or Treeko, the player can embark on their journey to be the next Pokemon Champion. However, while players can catch many fish-like Pokemon, the player catching them is usually not a fish themself.
On YouTube, Mutekimaru Channel livestreamed a playthrough of the game with a twist. The owner of the channel set up a system that allows their pet fish to embark on its own Pokemon adventure. The beta fish, also known as Maurice, can control the character's movement and actions in the game by swimming around in its tank.
The fish tank is split into sections based on different buttons on a controller, and the fish's owner set up a camera that tracks Maurice's movements. When the fish swims around, the camera sends its movement into a Nintendo GameCube, allowing the fish's random movement to control the game character.
Due to the fish's random swimming patterns, Maurice's Pokemon playthrough is moving a little slower than most, but it's still plugging along. When it came time to pick a starting Pokemon, the fish choose Torchic, the Fire-type starter, even though many fans were hoping that it would choose the Water-type Mudkip.
It took the fish over 370 hours to reach the Gym Leader Roxanne and defeat her to earn the Stone Badge. Maurice was also able to defeat Brawly in Dewford Town, which is even more impressive considering that the fish had to rescue a stolen Wingull before being given access to the island. Maurice has currently accrued over 730 hours of gameplay on its quest to be the first fish to become the Pokemon Champion.
This fish is bringing a unique playthrough to the world through Mutekimaru Channel, and there are other wholesome Pokemon stories currently going around on the internet like the heartwarming story a trainer shared about their Growlithe.
Pokemon Ruby was available for the Game Boy Advance.