Fish Becomes Pokemon Champion

A Betta Fish has joined the ranks of 10 year olds of the early 2000s and a thousand screaming voices acting in unison as “Entities that have beaten a Pokemon Game”. Mutekimaru the Betta Fish became the first piscine Pokemon Champion, as was witnessed by its YouTube fans.

Mutekimaru and 3 fellow Betta took turns in a special tank hooked up to a GameCube, with their position in the tanks being relayed as inputs for a Gameboy Advance. As the fish were swapped out every 12 hours, they swam their way to the top of the Pokemon League, defeating Champion Steven.

As Mutekimaru and friends were unable to build this setup alone, they had some help. Their owner was the one who setup the mapping device, and you can see their setup in the introductory video in the series.

The Pokemon journey took 3 months, being livestreamed 24/7 via their YouTube channel. While that may sound like a long time in human hours, it’s one of the fastest completion times for a fish playing Pokemon.

Previously, another fish took to Twitch to stream its playthrough of Pokemon Red. This playthrough lasted over 100 hours, and you can see how Mutekimaru’s owner has improved on the setup design.

For one, Mutekimaru’s tank has multiple regions for the fish, so the it’s still possible for the fish to consistently hit A even if its swimming around the tank. There’s also the case of the multiple fish, allowing each one to get some rest since all gamers need to take a break.

Only time can tell what new heights fish gaming will swim to. Maybe Mutekimaru could make it into Pokemon Masters next?

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