American Pokemon ‘Master’ embarking on funded world trip to catch ‘em all

Brooklyn native and Pokemon Go legend Nick Johnson made headlines last week when he announced that he was the first person in the United States to catch all 142 Pokemon currently available in North America. Now he’s striking out into the world to finish up his collection.

For those not in the know, Pokemon Go has a few serious barriers that prevent players from catching ‘em all. First of all, Ditto is flat out missing from the game, as are a handful of legendary Pokemon (including the Legendary Birds), although Niantic has teased that these will be released as part of special events. However, four particular Pokemon only appear in certain geographic regions.

Tauros, for instance, has only been spotted in the United States. Mr. Mime appears to be a European exclusive, Farfetch’d has only shown up in Asia, and you have to come from a land down under to get the Australian-specific Kangaskhan.

Johnson, who is head of platform for Applico, is setting off on a globe-trotting journey to secure these elusive, regionally-locked Pokemon in order to become the first person in the world to collect all Pokemon currently available in the game. He’ll be taking the journey free, thanks to sponsorships from Marriott Rewards and Expedia.

Johnson and his girlfriend will be hitting Paris to snag a Mr. Mime, Hong Kong for Farfetch’d, and Sydney for Kangaskhan. If you’d like to follow his quest to literally be the very best like no one ever was, check out his Snapchat account nja212.

What are your thoughts regarding this real life Pokemon master? Let us know in the comments below!