Video gaming fan rakes in up to £5k a month giving tips on Pokemon

Liam Edwards, 28, became hooked on the Japanese videogame after first playing it in 1999 and he decided to start his own YouTube channel as a hobby.

His site became so popular with fans his videos were watched more than 2.7 million times by users across the world.

In July 2015 he quit his job as a transport coordinator at a concrete company to work full time on his Pokemon channel, called ‘Ace Trainer Liam’ and can earn up to almost £5,000-a-month.

Liam runs his YouTube channel from his two-bedroom home in Derby which he shares with fiancé Lydia, 23.

He said: “I started after doing a nine-to-five job, working at a concrete company at the time, and found I was coming home from work and I had no hobbies or interests - I wasn’t really doing anything.

“I’d come home, sit in front of the TV and never achieve or do anything with my life.

“I thought I’m just going to be doing the same nine-to-five for the rest of my life.

“Ultimately, I saw a few people making videos online and how passionate they were.

“I thought, ‘maybe I’ll have a go at that and see if it’s something I’m interested in doing.’

“I picked Pokemon because I know it really well, that will prompt me to put more effort into it.

“The channel stayed very stagnant for a good eight months or so before it started to take off.

“I slowly built up an audience of 500 people but didn’t get a lot of views.

“Suddenly in July 2015 a video I uploaded in March 2015 called ‘Top 5 Saddest Pokemon Goodbyes’ suddenly started gaining views.

“I went from 500 to 25,000 subscribers.

“It’s always been a mystery to me.”

Despite coining in cash from advertisements, Liam’s YouTube career started slowly and he made just £300 last January.

He said: “I thought, ‘maybe I’ve made a rash decision, but I’ll have to knuckle down.’

“The month I made £4,700, that was great.

“One month I’ll make two thousand dollars, the next six hundred.

“It depends on my view counts and ad rates.

“It’s possible to live off YouTube but it’s an unpredictable career.”