It was a weekend and I was uploading smaller 15-minute videos of my games, but I wasn't able to crack the YouTube algorithm just yet. So I thought, let's try something different this time. After considering my options, I decided to upload a playthrough video of Pokemon Emerald—it was popular back in my original timeline and had built quite a following here too after its release.
I'd already installed an emulator on Mitchell's PC and could stream using that. The emerald ROM was ready to go. The only question was how to approach it. Random uploads weren't cutting it—people have limited attention spans, so maybe I needed to make the thumbnail catchy and the playthrough comedic.
Then there was the starter choice. I'd been watching the anime, and Ash had almost completed Hoenn by now, so this was the perfect game to showcase. Treecko might be good since Ash had it on his team, but I had a different plan. The most optimal and underrated starter was Mudkip, and that's who I decided to choose. It helps clear Roxanne, Watson, Flannery, and after learning Ice Beam, can help with Elite Four Drake. Plus, it's the most underrated starter—people might appreciate the unique choice. Back in my world, Mudkip supremacy hadn't been established yet, although all Hoenn starters were superb.
I asked Haley and Phil for tips to make the videos more attractive. Haley gave decent thumbnail advice, even though she wasn't particularly interested in this stuff. Phil offered some okay suggestions, and Cam chimed in with his usual enthusiasm when I asked.
The playthrough started, and like always, I tried reacting as if it was my first time. Patrick's acting abilities were definitely seeping in for this performance. I chose Mudkip to beat the Poochyena and save Professor Birch, then decided to name him Perry—in honor of you-know-who, despite the show not being on yet.
"Alright everyone, welcome to The Mentalist channel! Today we're starting something completely different—a full Pokemon Emerald playthrough! Meet Perry the Mudkip, our adorable blue companion who's about to take on the entire Hoenn region."
Perry and I went on many adventures. First stop was catching our team members. I found a Zigzagoon early on—a brown and white furry guy who looked like he'd rather be sleeping than battling.
"This little guy needs a name... How about Larry? He looks like a Larry, doesn't he? Don't worry Larry, you're going to be our HM slave—I mean, our utility specialist!"
Larry the Zigzagoon joined the team, along with a Poochyena I caught and named Shadow. The early routes were pretty straightforward, but I made sure to explain type matchups and basic strategy for viewers who might be new to Pokemon.
"Okay everyone, time for our first gym battle! Roxanne uses Rock-types, which means Perry has a huge advantage with his Water moves. This should be pretty straightforward."
The gym trainers were easy enough—Perry's Water Gun made quick work of their Geodudes. But I used Larry as bait sometimes during the trainer battles.
"Come on Larry, show them your... uh... Tackle attack. Its tackle did pitiful damage, luckily mudkip had lowered it to low health."
Larry managed to knock out a Geodude, but barely survived the retaliation.
"Larry's not the strongest member of our team, but he's got heart! And more importantly, he's going to learn Cut later, so we need to keep him alive."
Roxanne herself was a breeze. Perry, now evolved into Marshtomp, swept her team with Mud Shot and Water Gun. The audience seemed to enjoy my commentary about type effectiveness and basic battle strategy.
After leaving Rustboro, we encountered our first double battle with some trainers near the flower shop. This is where things got interesting.
"Alright, double battles! Perry and Shadow, let's show them what teamwork looks like!"
I sent out Marshtomp and Poochyena against two trainers with a Shroomish and a Marill.
"Okay, Perry, use Mud Shot on the Shroomish. Shadow, Bite the Marill. This should be easy—"
Perry hit the Shroomish perfectly, but Shadow's Bite attack missed completely.
"Come on Shadow, it's right there! How do you miss a Marill? It's literally the size of a beach ball!"
The opposing Shroomish used Stun Spore, paralyzing Perry. Then their Marill used Rollout.
"Oh no, not Rollout. This is going to hurt..."
Perry got hit by Rollout while paralyzed and couldn't move. Shadow tried to use Howl to boost his attack, but the Shroomish hit him with Absorb, nearly knocking him out.
"This is not going according to plan. Perry, please don't be paralyzed... please don't be—nope, still paralyzed. Great."
It took four turns and two Oran Berries before Perry finally snapped out of paralysis and finished both opponents with a well-placed Earthquake.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why status conditions are terrifying. Perry was basically a sitting duck for half that battle. Note to self—buy Pecha Berries."
The trek back through Petalburg Woods gave us our next team member—a Shroomish I caught and nicknamed Fungi.
"Fungi the Shroomish joins the team! He's going to learn some great moves later, plus Grass types are always useful for coverage."
But the real entertainment came when a Team Aqua grunt challenged us to battle to get the god Peecko. I decided to give Larry a chance to shine.
"Okay Larry, this is your moment. Show this Aqua grunt what a determined Zigzagoon can do!"
Larry faced off against the grunt's Poochyena. Both Pokemon used Tackle repeatedly, creating the world's most anticlimactic Pokemon battle.
"This is... this is like watching two pillows fight. Come on Larry, do something impressive!"
Larry finally tried to use Sand Attack to lower the opponent's accuracy, but somehow managed to kick sand into his own eyes i.e., he missed the Sand Attack.
"Larry... Larry no. That's not how Sand Attack works. You throw sand at them, not at yourself!"
Blinded by his own attack, Larry stumbled around the battlefield while the enemy Poochyena landed hit after hit.
"This is painful to watch. I'm so sorry everyone. Larry's trying his best, I promise."
I had to switch in Perry to finish the battle
"Don't worry Larry, we'll find your niche eventually. Maybe HM moves are more your speed."
After taking the boat to Dewford, we explored the cave and caught a Zubat I named Radar. The gym was our next major challenge.
"Alright team, Brawly uses Fighting-types. Fighting is weak to Flying and Psychic, but we don't have either of those yet except zubat who hasnt learnt air cutter yet We're going to have to rely on strategy and type resistances."
The gym trainers were tougher than Roxanne's crew. Fighting-types hit hard, and most of our team didn't resist their attacks well.
"This Machop is really doing some damage. Perry, hang in there buddy!"
Perry managed to defeat the gym trainers with Mud Shot and his superior stats, but he was getting worn down.
Before facing Brawly himself, I decided to do some quick training in the cave.
"Training montage time! We need Perry to be a bit stronger before we take on the gym leader."
After gaining a few levels, we faced Brawly. He led with Machop, and I sent out Perry.
"Okay, Fighting vs Water/Ground. No type advantage either way, so this comes down to stats and move power."
Perry's Mud Shot did decent damage, but Machop's Karate Chop was hitting hard too. Then Machop used Focus Energy, increasing his critical hit ratio.
"Oh no, not Focus Energy. Perry, please don't get critted... please..."
The next Karate Chop landed a critical hit, nearly knocking out Perry.
"This is why I have trust issues. Okay, Oran Berry time."
I used an Oran Berry to heal Perry, who then finished off Machop with another Mud Shot.
Brawly's Makuhita came out next—bigger, stronger, and with the Thick Fat ability that reduced Fire and Ice damage.
"Thick Fat won't help against Water moves though. Perry, let's wrap this up!"
But Makuhita surprised us with a Knock off attack. Since it was at full health, Reversal did minimal damage, but it still caught us off guard.
"Wait, does Makuhita normally know Knock off at this level? I don't remember that... Anyway, Perry, Mud Shot!"
Perry's attack brought Makuhita down to low health, making its Reversal much more dangerous for the next turn. But a second Mud Shot finished the job before it could retaliate.
"And that's gym number two in the books! The Knuckle Badge is ours!"
As the episode wrapped up, I reflected on our progress so far.
"So far, Perry has been carrying the team pretty hard. Larry's our comic relief and future HM user, Shadow provides Dark-type coverage when we need it, and Fungi is developing into a solid Grass-type. Radar the Zubat will eventually become a Crobat (I might need to do some trade gimmicks), which should help a lot later on."
I checked our team stats:
Perry the Marshtomp: Level 20, knows Mud Shot, Water Gun, Rock Throw, and TackleLarry the Zigzagoon: Level 12, knows Tackle, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, and Headbutt (still hits himself with Sand Attack sometimes)Shadow the Poochyena: Level 14, knows Bite, Howl, Tackle, and Sand AttackFungi the Shroomish: Level 17, knows Absorb, Tackle, Stun Spore, and Leech SeedRadar the Zubat: Level 11, knows Leech Life, Astonish, Supersonic, and Bite
"Next time, we'll be heading to Slateport City and eventually challenging Wattson's Electric-type gym in Mauville. Perry should have a huge advantage there with his Ground typing, but knowing our luck, something will probably go wrong."
I ended the video with a teaser: "Will Larry ever successfully use Sand Attack on an opponent? Will Shadow stop missing critical attacks? Will Perry continue carrying the entire team? Find out next time on Perry the Mudkip!"
After editing the video—adding some basic transitions, fixing audio levels, and creating a thumbnail with Perry's sprite and some colorful text—I uploaded it with the title "Perry the Mudkip - Episode 1: First Two Gyms + Epic Fails!"
The response was better than my chess videos. Within a few days, I had over 2,000 views and about 150 likes. The comments were mostly positive:
"This kid is actually pretty funny"
"Larry is the worst Pokemon I've ever seen and I love him"
"More Perry please!"
One comment stood out: "Mudkip is definitely underrated. Looking forward to seeing how OP Swampert becomes."
I realized I might be onto something. Gaming content, especially Pokemon, seemed to resonate more with YouTube audiences than chess analysis. The algorithm was starting to notice too—my subscriber count jumped from 50 to almost 200 after just one video.
Kazuma Satou – Intermediate (45 / 10,000) +35
The gaming experience and audience engagement were definitely helping with Kazuma's template development. Plus, I was genuinely having fun with the content creation process. Maybe this YouTube thing had more potential than I'd initially thought.