First American ‘Pokemon GO’ Master Gets Free Trip Around The World To ‘Catch ‘Em All’


The first ever American Pokemon GO master will embark on a journey around the world to capture the rumored region-exclusive Pokémon in order to complete his collection for FREE.

Aplico Head of Platform Nick Johnson declared himself a “Pokemon Master” last week after catching all 142 of the characters in the hit mobile game based on the iconic Nintendo video and card game series.

But his collection has yet to be completed since Pokemon GO currently has a total of 151 pocket monsters available for Poké-trainers to capture.

[Photo by Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images]
According to the Business Insider, some Pokemon characters that are considered “legendary” such as Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres have not been included in the game yet.

The outlet also noted that there seems to be some characters which are exclusive to specific territories, particularly Mr. Mime, who has only been spotted in Western Europe, Tauros in North America, Farfetch’d who appears to be regionally locked in Asia, and Kangaskhan in Australia.

There are also some characters that have yet to be spotted such as Ditto, Mew, and Mewtwo.

So far, the main indicator on whether a Pokemon GO user has captured these adorable characters and achieved the title of being a “Pokemon Master” is the Pokédex. The Pokédex capacity increases in size as a user captures a new Pokémon to add in his collection.

This means that Johnson is still far from completing the entire Pokemon GO collection.

Fortunately, he is getting help from his friends at Marriott Rewards and Expedia who generously offered him a free trip around the world in order to capture the remaining Pokémon characters that are not presently available in the United States.

Business Insider contributor Matt Weinberger says he is friends with Johnson who revealed to him his entire itinerary for his around-the-globe Pokémon hunt.

“I will be scouring Reddit on my flight over and have a battle plan by the time I get there. I will travel across the land, searching far and wide,” Johnson told the Business Insider correspondent, paying tribute to the popular Cartoon Network series with a line from its opening theme song.

On Friday evening, Johnson and his girlfriend, who luckily got hitched in the tour, will fly to Paris, France, where he will embark on a quest to capture the Europe-exclusive Mr. Mime.

On the next day, they will be proceeding to a new location in Hong Kong to search for Farfetched, which will be followed by a trip to Sydney, Australia, to capture Kangaskhan.

Marriott Rewards will be paying for his accommodations in the cities he lands in while Expedia is in charge of their flight expenses.

While it is free, his trip is far from economical, especially since Marriott Rewards booked him into luxurious hotels like the Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbor View, Pier One Sydney Harbor, and the Tokyo Marriott Hotel.

In exchange for the free travel, the Pokémon GO master is expected to write on Expedia’s Viewfinder blog and updating the entire world of his progress by doing interviews with the media in the different countries.

He will also be sharing accounts of his journey over his Snapchat account, nja212, and Twitter where he would also request help from other Pokémon GO users in locating the rare characters he is trying to capture.

His rare achievement in becoming a Pokemon GO master last week made Johnson a sort of an instant celebrity, something that proved to be beneficial for his tech startup company, Aplico, which is now enjoying the limelight as its Head of Platform embarks on a journey to “Catch ‘Em All.”

[Image via Nick Johnson/Twitter]

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