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Pokemon Go

We found out what happens after you catch every Pokémon

Alexandra Mosher
USA TODAY

Nick Johnson is the first person to announce he has collected every Pokémon in the popular mobile game Pokémon Go. That is, all 142 virtual monsters that users have confirmed seeing in the wild of North America.

So now what?

A screenshot of Nick Johnson's Pokedex. Johnson said he finished catching all 142 around 1 a.m. Thursday morning.

Off on an international trip to catch the Pokémon elsewhere in the world — underwritten by an international travel company.

Marriott Rewards has offered to sponsor Johnson to go to Europe, Japan and Australia to catch the regionally based Pokémon and finish his collection, he told USA TODAY Friday. A Marriott spokesman confirmed the trip.

Using GPS and augmented reality, the game developed by Niantic Labs invites players to catch the colorful Pokémon monsters best known from Nintendo games and trading cards of the 1990s. In the game, the monsters appear on real-life sidewalks and park benches when a player has the app open —  a scenario that's encouraged a mass public-walking binge by millions.

"I feel great," Johnson said. "I was getting a lot of rest and exercise and meeting new people. I’m a lot healthier —  I think I lost about 8-10 pounds."

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Launched in early July, the hardcore users are now looking for the rare Pokémon.

Mr. Mime, Farfetch'd and Kangaskhan are reportedly only available in the wild in Europe, Asia and Australiasia, respectively. However, it is rumored these Pokemon can be hatched from rare eggs in North America that users can pick up at PokeStops.

"I’ve talked to dozens and dozens of people who have hatched 100's of eggs and no one can hatch or catch them (in North America) as far as I know," Johnson said.

The Brooklyn-based tech worker announced this week he had nabbed the 142 local monsters on Reddit with a screenshot of his Pokedex, and later confirmed this feat to Business Insider

He owes his new fame to plain old shoe leather.

After getting off at work around 6:00 pm at Applico, a platform innovation company, Johnson would meet up with his girlfriend, have dinner and then together head down to Pokémon hotspots such as Grand Army Plaza in Central Park. Many times they would get to know fellow Pokémon trainers (players) searching in the park and then they would wait for the top or the bottom of the hour when Pokémon tend to spawn.

If she decided to leave before him, he said she would give him her phone to help her collect more monsters and he usually found himself heading home around 12 a.m. or 1 p.m., the normal time he goes to sleep.

Johnson's iPhone Health App stated he has walked an average of 8 miles per day since the game was released on July 6th.

Screenshot of Nick Johnson's Iphone Health App. Johnson said that on average he walked 8 miles per day looking for Pokemon.

Johnson said that he had a couple of nights, when he got around the 135 Pokémon mark, that kept him out till 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. This trainer's solution: heavy doses of black tea in the morning.

Even so, he said he doesn't feel like the game affected his professional life, stating that Pokémon Go is a gaming platform and he works for a platform innovation company, so he felt like the game translated back into the work he did everyday. He's even recently co-authored a book about the platform business model.

He said his passion for platforms like these are a big part of what motivated him to play the game as much as he did. Beside growing up playing the Pokémon games, of course.

But staying out till 5 a.m. isn't what Johnson considers to be the most drastic measure he took for Pokémon, citing a story of trying to catch a Porygon. He said when he noticed there was one close-by, he went to search for it, but the Pokémon Go radar was down so he had to order an Uber drive to drive him around until he eventually found it.

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"That is above and beyond anything else I did to catch one," Johnson said. "I was close to the end so it was extra motivation."

As for other fellow trainers hoping to catch them all, his first piece of advice is to talk to trainers for tips on where to find certain Pokémon.

"I probably wouldn’t be here, having caught them all, if I hadn't got those great tips like the Dratinis in Jersey City," Johnson said.

Secondly, always make sure you walk in a straight line when trying to hatch an egg because the game uses a distance displacement calculation so walking in circles or zigzags won't do you any good.

"I learned that the hard way," Johnson said.

For now, he's playing casually as something fun to do with his girlfriend and friends but is pouring his energy back into Applico. At least for now until he takes his international Pokémon catching trip.

"My childhood dreams of being a Pokémon master have come true."

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