A Pokémon Go trainer who has caught all 145 Pokémon tells us how he did it and why it was a relief

'I didn't feel like I could keep up this pace of playing, and sort of don't want to either'

Earlier in the week, we erroneously reported that a man had “caught ‘em all” on Pokémon Go.

The Brooklyn-based trainer had captured 142 Pokémon, but another player has since got in touch with us claiming to have "surpassed this milestone" to become "the first one to catch all available Pokémon in the game so far, a total of 145 excluding Mewtwo, the legendary birds, and Ditto." We caught up with him.

Independent: Congrats on the completion, what country are you from?

John McAuliffe: I am from Dublin, Ireland, and by god there is a paltry choice of wild Pokémon here. I found out very fast that the denser an area is in population, the better overall, so London was a worthy visit.

You started playing on the 14th of July… I forget, was that after the formal launch of the game or before, when we were all playing it by hacking the region settings?

I forget exactly when I started playing, but I downloaded the API from a third-party site after the game was released in America but before it was released in the UK and Ireland. It wasn't the same method of downloading by changing settings on your phone. This was more widely used from what I can tell.

What were the last few Pokemon you had left to catch?

The last one I needed to bring me to 145 was Muk, which I got from a last minute evolution of a Grimer I was saving. Kangaskhan came before that, which was a very lucky hatch from a 5k egg.

John's proof

What was your strategy? Did you use online maps like PokéVision?

PokéVision basically enabled me to do this. It helped me focus on finding specific Pokémon to meet the minimum requirement for an evolution and to find rare forms of hard-to-get Pokémon in the wild. I could get lucky and find low levels which were easy to catch, such as a CP 700 Charizard, so I didn't have to save up all the candies. I also paid close attention to the information online about where to find what. Water Pokémon, of course, near sources of water. Grimers I found to be remarkably uncommon and located mostly inland away from water. I also spent as much time in the city centre as possible when playing because the more people around, the more spawns show up on PokéVision in that area.

Most people think some Pokémon are region specific, but you didn’t leave the country (bar London) right? Can they all be found using eggs?

Yes, all the region specifics can be found from the 5km eggs without leaving your country. But a cheap trip to London was worthwhile to get a lot of Pokémon I couldn't get in Dublin. As it is a much more populated city, there are far more spawns per square kilometre on PokeVision.

How many hours do you estimate you put into catching 'em all, and how many kilometres?

Since I started, it all seems like a blur. Not to say I am an addict, but I didn't have much else to do over the past few weeks so I did find myself playing a lot each day, with backup batteries to make sure I don't miss those vital opportunities to catch rares.

How did it feel catching the final currently available Pokémon?

It sort of felt like a relief. I didn't feel like I could keep up this pace of playing, and sort of don't want to either. But when I was low levelled, watching some YouTube videos of high-level players with strong, rare Pokémon, I was very eager to get to that point myself. Now that I have, I feel worthy of their mettle.

Are you a serious badass at the Gyms?

Unlike many high-level players, I strove to succeed without spending any real money, so Gyms were quite important because you can get up to 100 gold coins per day by having a Pokémon in them. To help me achieve this, I avoided Gyms in highly populated areas, focusing instead on Gyms in the suburbs and around where I live so they would face less competition. I spent mornings taking as many as I could when the game seemed to be less active and claimed my reward that morning to maximise my coins income. With my coins, I bought a few bag upgrades and incubators, which were the only two things I needed. I found incense and lures to be a bit of a waste, and lucky eggs to be too expensive.

Is your phone’s battery life hopelessly f*cked?

My phone is good to go. I took some technical advice about HTC batteries, and not to charge them to 100% and not to leave them charging overnight. These tips, I presume, helped save the battery life. This is down to the chemistry of how the battery works. But I carried around a second battery at all times.

Any top tips for others?

Depending on what you are going for - levels, full Pokédex, or strong Pokémon, there are different aspects of the game to focus on. I was not concerned much with levelling after I got to 20. I just wanted the full collection, but I got a lot of experience and strong Pokémon in the process. To do this, I used a variety of tools available for free on the internet. Pokévision lets you track Pokémon accurately, with timers on how long you have left to catch them. PokéAssisstant lets you calculate the hidden values, known as IVs, of a Pokémon to determine whether it is going to be strong when you evolve. This helped me save my candies and stardust for the very best. CMMCD helped me keep up to date with server functionality. It proved very reliable for telling me when exactly I could get back into the game after a crash. Other than that, don't take you eye off the Pokévision map for a second when you are out, because a Blastoise might be around the corner.

What are your hopes for someday catching a Mew or Mewtwo?

I certainly will keep playing the game, though now I can relax a bit more. I will still strive for the full collection, including the legendary birds and Mew and Mewtwo. Until then, I will focus my efforts on unlocking the elusive Ditto easter egg.

Read more: PSA: You've been using Pokémon Go incense wrong