Google's Gemini AI Is now a Pokémon Master
Team Rocket didn't stand a chance

- Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro has officially completed Pokémon Blue
- The game ran as a livestream experiment by an independent engineer
- Gemini played the game with some light developer intervention, but mostly on its own
Google's Gemini AI may not have passed the Turing test yet, but it would be very popular in the schoolyard three decades ago after winning a game of Pokémon Blue. The Gemini 2.5 Pro is now both Google's most advanced AI model and a Pokémon Master, as demonstrated in a Twitch livestream called “Gemini Plays Pokémon” run by an engineer unaffiliated with Google named Joel Z. Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai joined the celebration, sharing a clip of the victory on X.
What a finish! Gemini 2.5 Pro just completed Pokémon Blue!  Special thanks to @TheCodeOfJoel for creating and running the livestream, and to everyone who cheered Gem on along the way. pic.twitter.com/E2pn3tpfEbMay 3, 2025
You might wonder why an AI model beating a thirty-year-old game drew so much attention. It's partly because of the spectacle, but also because of AI model rivalry. Back in February, Anthropic showcased the progress its Claude model was making in beating Pokémon Red. They used the game to show off Claude’s “extended thinking and agent training” and launched a “Claude Plays Pokémon” Twitch stream, inspiring Joel Z.
Before crowning Gemini as the one true AI Ash Ketchum, it’s worth noting a few caveats. For one, Claude hasn’t technically beaten Pokémon Red yet, but that doesn’t automatically make Gemini better, as they employed different tools, known as “agent harnesses.” The models don’t play the game directly like a human with a controller would. Instead, they’re fed screenshots of the game environment along with overlays of key information, then asked to generate the next best action. That decision is then translated into an actual button press in the game.
And Gemini hasn’t been going it entirely alone. Joel admitted he occasionally stepped in to make improvements, though he has made a point of doing so only to improve some of Gemini's reasoning. He also plans to continue working on the Gemini Plays Pokémon project to make further improvements.
Pokémon AI
What makes this more than a quirky internet stunt is what it implies about where AI is headed. Playing a game like Pokémon Blue isn’t about fast reflexes or memorizing controller inputs. It’s about long-term strategy, adapting to surprises, and navigating ambiguous challenges. These are all areas where AI usually needs improvement. That Gemini could not only hold its own but finish the game (with minimal nudging) suggests that models like it are getting better at extended strategy.
It's also the kind of milestone the average person can understand. You can intuitively understand what the AI is doing when bumbling through Lavender Town or misreading a battle tactic, and compare it to the choices you'd make in that context. Of course, you shouldn't overstate what this means. AI can now finish a game you probably beat in middle school, but it also highlights how much human effort still goes into making AI seem autonomous.
Whether or not Claude or Gemini become true Pokémasters doesn't matter so much as what they're playing means for AI's development. Showing that AI won't just crunch numbers or generate spam emails could change how people think of what AI can do, even with help. And if this is how AI models start learning how to operate in unpredictable, open-ended environments, well, beating Mewtwo might just be a stepping stone to something a lot more profound. Or at least, a bit more productive.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
You might also like

Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.