This Singaporean has caught them all!
Less than two weeks after the release of the Pokemon Go game in Singapore, a 39-year-old app developer has claimed to have caught them all, including the rarest and most powerful ones.
Mr Terence Ho told The New Paper he has caught all 145 available Pokemon in the game within 10 days of playing it. He showed TNP a live video of his Pokedex as proof.
His captures do not include the six legendary Pokemon - Ditto, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo and Mew - which have not been released in the game yet.
So far, only two other people in the world have reportedly caught all 145 - Mr Nick Johnson from the United States and Mr Ahmed Ali from the United Kingdom.
Business Insider reported on July 22 that Mr Johnson from Brooklyn was the first person in the world to catch all the Pokemon, accomplishing this just 16 days after the game's release in the US on July 6.
Mr Ahmed also caught all the Pokemon in two weeks, according to The Sun.
This could mean that Mr Ho, who took just 10 days since the game's launch in Singapore on Aug 6 to get them all, could be the player who did so in the shortest time so far.
Mr Ho said: "It's always been the goal of every Pokemon trainer to catch all the Pokemon in the Pokedex. I'm no different."
Mr Ho was unaware that he could be the fastest player in the world and seemed surprised at the possibility. "Wow! I didn't know that! But I'm sure other players may not believe me and claim that I 'cheated' to catch all 145 of them," he said.
The bachelor works as an app-developer at THWL Apps, which recently released an app which compiles worldwide news onto a single app.
He said news was an integral part of his Pokemon-hunting process.
"Before you catch any Pokemon, you should always read up on the latest news so that you know where the rare Pokemon are going to spawn."
Mr Ho also started the SG Pokemon Go Singapore Facebook group and has been updating the page with locations of the various Pokemon that he caught.
His first Pokemon was the starter fire-type Pokemon Charmander, and his last was the grass-type Victreebel which evolved early Tuesday (August 16) morning at 12.05am.
Mr Ho bought 'coins' in the game to buy incense, lucky eggs and lures, in order to progress faster in the game. He claims to have spent $150 on these in-app purchases.
Mr Ho admits that he spent many hours after work catching Pokemon at the nearby park and would play till even after 1am on many nights.
He has also been to locations all around the island, including Punggol, where he finally caught the rarest of all Pokemon, a Cloyster.
Since completing the whole set of Pokemon, he has cut down his play time by at least half after achieving his goal.
He said with a laugh: "It's time for me to get back to proper work!"
Mr Ho caught all his Pokemon when he was at level 24, but crossed level 25 late on Tuesday. The highest level in the game is 40.
He had decided to use his 'candy' in the game to evolve into new Pokemon rather than to power up his Pokemon to higher combat levels.
"My focus has been catching all the different types of Pokemon and filling the Pokedex," he said.
As for the best spots to go to catch the rare ones, Mr Ho said Sentosa was a "nest for Pikachus". "Occasionally, a Raichu may be spotted too!"
To complete his set of 145, Mr Ho had to catch Pokemon in region-exclusive spots - North America, Europe, Australia and certain areas of Asia.
These Pokemon are Tauros (US exclusive), Farfetch'd (Asia exclusive), Mr Mime (Europe exclusive) and Kangaskhan (Australia and New Zealand exclusive).
When asked how he caught these virtual creatures from Singapore, Mr Ho said he got friends living in these regions to log in for him to catch them.
Mr Ho said this was a "creative way" to catch Pokemon without breaking the rules, even though some players would consider this cheating.
"Every one of us use our own unique and creative ways to solve each problem. All players have this problem of catching region-exclusive Pokemon," he said.
"What I did was to think out of the box, devise a possible solution and executed it. I only have every supportive friend around me to thank for this accomplishment."
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