{"id":20272,"date":"2016-08-10T22:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T22:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=20272"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:55:07","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:55:07","slug":"pokemon-go-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/pokemon-go-master\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pok\u00e9mon Go master"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost one month ago, American Nick Johnson was living in Brooklyn, working in Manhattan, and hanging out with his girlfriend. Boy, has that changed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since then, Nick has spent the past few weeks on a whirlwind, worldwide adventure playing Pok\u00e9mon Go<\/a>. Since being one of the very first people to \u201ccatch \u2018em all\u201d (all 142 Pok\u00e9mon types in America), he\u2019s become an overnight gaming sensation. With the help of Expedia he\u2019s travelled from Brooklyn to Paris, Hong Kong, and Sydney to complete his Pok\u00e9mon collection. His next stop: Tokyo.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our colleagues in the Australia office had a chat to Nick to talk about how he did it, his top Pok\u00e9mon hunting hacks, and what\u2019s next. Here are excerpts from that chat. (Also, be sure to watch the embedded video<\/a>!)<\/em><\/p>\n

How did you manage to catch all 142 American Pok\u00e9mon in just two weeks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I work from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., so I\u2019d get up, catch a few on the way to work, grab dinner with my girlfriend and then we\u2019d head out hunting until around midnight. Toward the end, when I realised I was close to catching all of the U.S. ones, I stayed out until 4 or 5 a.m. for a couple of nights.<\/p>\n

What are your top tips for Pok\u00e9mon Go players? <\/strong><\/p>\n

My number one tip is to keep your head up! I say that to my girlfriend all the time when she\u2019s looking at her phone and walking. Keep your head up and stay aware of your surroundings. There\u2019s a big warning message about that when you open the game, so take it very literally. For safety and for optimum Pok\u00e9mon catching, go to populated areas; the more people who are catching in one spot, the rarer Pok\u00e9mon tend to spawn, I think they\u2019ve built that into the game. And the other bonus is people set up lures there so you don\u2019t even have to spend your money to get things to show up. Finally, always ignore zubats. They\u2019re everywhere, annoying, and they\u2019re not very good.<\/p>\n

Where\u2019s the busiest place you\u2019ve caught a Pok\u00e9mon? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Definitely the Grand Army Plaza in the southeast corner of Central Park. Even Justin Bieber turned up! If it\u2019s good enough for the Biebs, it\u2019s good enough for me!<\/p>\n

Justin Bieber usually attracts the crowds! What did people do when he turned up? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I was about 200 feet away so I didn\u2019t see him, but I talked to people later who did see him, and apparently just one person yelled out to him but people shouted back, \u201cDude, leave him alone, he\u2019s playing Pok\u00e9mon!\u201d I mean, come on, respect the guy, he\u2019s just trying to catch \u2018em all too!<\/p>\n

How many Pok\u00e9mon have you caught in total? <\/strong><\/p>\n

To date [as of August 9], I\u2019m up to 5,202 Pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Eevee. We named our dog after Eevee, three years ago, before the game came out.<\/p>\n

And your favorite evolution of Eevee?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have to prefer the unevolved state because of my dog!<\/p>\n

[viewfinder-image-small-horizontal]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do you think Pok\u00e9mon Go has taken the world by storm?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the idea of Pok\u00e9mon and \u201ccatching \u2018em all\u201d has been with people since childhood, like it is for me, and I think one of the cool things about the game is that it brings people together and creates a community. You have it here in Sydney, and in New York, where there often are hundreds of people gathered in one location.<\/p>\n

What do you think is the best thing about the game? <\/strong><\/p>\n

You get to explore places you\u2019ve never gone before. I\u2019ve been in New York for five or six years and have now been to parts of the city I never have visited before and never would have visited otherwise. I\u2019ve made some friends and met people I never would have had the chance to meet without the game. Also, it\u2019s good exercise; I\u2019ve lost 8-10 pounds in two weeks doing this!<\/p>\n

What did your parents say when you told them they were heading off to catch Pok\u00e9mon around the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n

They loved it! And my girlfriend was excited as well. I\u2019m lucky she likes playing, too.<\/p>\n

Would you say you are addicted to the game? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think so! It\u2019s a fun game to play, but if my girlfriend didn\u2019t play it, I wouldn\u2019t play it that much, and there\u2019d be a bit of frustration there. I have a lot of co-workers that have that issue.<\/p>\n

What will you do when you\u2019ve finally caught \u2018em all? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure yet! Life goals? I want to catch Pok\u00e9mon with the Biebs! Other than that, I\u2019ll probably just enjoy playing the game with my friends. They\u2019re going to release more legendary, rare Pok\u00e9mon, which should be nuts. I bet they\u2019ll need a permit for a public event in New York!<\/p>\n

Have you had any big phone bills?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I set up international data before I left!<\/p>\n

Are people chatting to you on social media asking for tips?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes hundreds of people have reached out to me on Snapchat every day, I use Reddit, Twitter and Facebook, and people are messaging me all the time; that\u2019s how I heard about Kangaskhan hanging around the Opera House this morning. I\u2019ve had received hundreds and hundreds of messages of support from people, it\u2019s been cool, I always try to respond to everyone.<\/p>\n