Pokémon speedrunner horrifies viewers with superhuman multitasking, playing two games with one controller in each hand, using foot and voice controls all while responding to chat 

RTA in Japan Summer 2024, one of Japan’s biggest speedrun events, recently saw the birth of a new legend, or perhaps, beast would be more accurate a description. On August 13, a Pokémon Green challenger called Zunou took to registering 150 Pokémon in his Pokédex. But there’s a catch – the challenge involved him playing both Pokémon Red and Green at the same time, one controller in each hand. And if that’s not enough multitasking, the player also performed other tasks simultaneously using a foot pedal and voice controls, to the astonishment of spectators.

Zunou competed in the “Catch ‘em all Gen 1 Glitchless” category which consists of, as the name suggests, catching all Pokémon without exploiting glitches in under 6 hours. In Pokémon Red and Green, there is a total of 150 different Pokémon that you can register in your Pokédex, excluding Mew who currently cannot be obtained through official means. The goal of Zunou’s challenge was to fill out Pokémon Green’s Pokédex and receive a certificate in the shortest time possible. 

However, it’s not possible to complete your Pokédex by only playing Pokémon Green – certain Pokémon must be caught in Pokémon Red and transferred, and there are also Pokémon that can only evolve after being traded. Thus, Zunou arrived at the ambitious idea of playing both games at the same time. 

He played in front of two separate screens displaying Pokémon Red and Green respectively, while holding in each hand SNES controllers modified for one-hand use. Viewers compared him to Metagross, the Pokémon with four brains, and the player himself likened his playstyle to Machamp. 

However, that’s not all – Zunou’s set up also included a tool for keeping track of RNG in both games, which he operated using a foot pedal. In addition, he had a spreadsheet-based tool to keep track of the Pokémon he already caught. He updated the list by voice command – by uttering “Register (name of Pokémon),” the new Pokémon would be added to the list. Needless to say, while doing all this, Zunou also kept track of the overflowing comment section, giving witty responses and offering commentary as he played. 

Zunou saw Pokémon Green’s end credits at the 4 hour, 29 minute and 30 second mark, but kept playing as he still had to catch Mewtwo, who can only be caught after the end roll. He also had to do several runs of Pokémon Red as there are points in the game where you can only receive one out of three possible Pokémon per run. 

Then, at 5 hours, 6 minutes, and 33 seconds, Zunou registered the last of the 150 Pokémon in the Pokémon Green Pokédex, and officially completed the challenge after receiving his certificate at 5 hours, 30 minutes, and 14 seconds. Shockingly, this is not Zunou’s best time, as his record on Speedrun.com is 5 hours, 22 minutes, and 32 seconds. Nevertheless, he cleared the challenge in one go. In the last bit of the run, he no longer needed to play Pokémon Red and could finally be seen holding a single controller with both hands, which at that point looked oddly out of place.