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By 15 July 2016 | Categories: news

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Some of us in the office are old enough to remember the rather detrimental effects that World of Warcraft’s release had on tech employees’ commitment to the workspace. There were more than a few players we can recall who said goodbye to the drudgery of work to rather play WoW full time. The same now applies to Pokémon Go it seems, with the Guardian reporting on the world’s first professional Pokémon Go collector.

24-year-old Tom Currie has quit his job in Auckland to embark on a two-month tour of New Zealand in order to catch ‘em all. What exactly makes him a professional though is unclear, rather than simply a man fed up with work, but as it stands now, Currie has managed to track down 90 of the 151 Pokémon on offer.

With 20 bus trips around New Zealand booked, Currie has already visited six towns around the South Island, capturing digital critters along each. His trip has started to grab some national attention from the rugby-loving isles, with transport companies now offering to take him to remote parts of the country to help find more elusive Pokémon.

Much like Bilbo Baggins, Currie’s sense of adventure got the better of him. “I have been working for six years and I was desperate for a break. And Pokémon gave me the chance to live that dream,” Currie said.

Meanwhile, The Verge is reporting that South Koreans are flocking to a little seaside town of Sokcho, two hours away from Seoul, seeing that it is the only place in the country that Pokémon Go actually works. The South Korean government has placed a nationwide restriction on Google Maps, on which the game is dependent, due to security concerns. Sokcho falls slightly north of where the restrictions start, allowing Pokémon masters to start their hunts. The city has embraced its newfound tourist boon, with the town mayor announcing an increase in Wi-Fi hotspots and battery charging stations across the city.

Check the interview with Currie about his Pokémon hunting below.

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