The First Pokémon Go Player In The UK To Catch 'Em All Says The Game Helped His Anxiety

    Pokémon goals.

    Sam Clark, a 33-year-old from Southampton, Hampshire, claims to be the first person in the UK to catch all the available characters in Pokémon Go.

    He walked 140 miles in order to do so and lost two stone in the process. He told BuzzFeed News: "I’ve caught in total over 13,190 Pokémon and I have walked over 20,027 kilometers."

    Just last week, someone in America became the first to complete the full set.

    He went on to say that he had collected 143 Pokémon – the 142 currently available in the UK and a bonus one, because "it's possible to hatch Tauros as an egg". He said that there was a 0.8% chance of it being hatched.

    There are still six legendary Pokémon – Articuno, Ditto, Mew, Mewtwo, Moltres, and Zapdos – that are not believed to be available at this time.

    Other Pokémon are exclusive to regions – the Tauros that Clark hatched can only be found in America, while Farfetch'd is exclusive to Asia and Kangaskhan to Australia and New Zealand. The Europe exclusive, which Clark caught, is Mr Mime.

    Clark, a self-employed IT technician and father of four, posted a video on YouTube yesterday, saying: "I think I should be the first person in the UK to have the full set."

    View this video on YouTube

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    He told BuzzFeed News that he'd walked the equivalent of "five marathons". He said: "I’ve been all through Southampton, all the way down to Gloucester.

    He said the game had helped with his anxiety: "I had an unfortunate incident in my shop, someone threatened to kill me. This game has me out meeting people. This game can’t be bad. [Pokémon Go] is exercise without the exercise. I have lost two stone playing this game and it’s going to go down. I have nothing but respect for this game."

    He is now a local celebrity. "I’ve been mobbed in my local pub by some kids, when I told them I’ve collected them all. I’ve had girls come up to me in the street asking for selfies," he said. "I know it’s only going be 15 minutes of fame, but hey let’s ride the wave whilst it's there," he added.

    He said he'd played with the trading cards as a 16-year-old: "Some of the kids playing it now don’t even know there are cards… they think this [Pokémon] is new. I still have my trading cards and I don’t let my kids touch them. They are my pride and joy."

    He had some important advice for newcomers to the game: "Get out there and meet people. Catch Pokémon, it really is a community spirited game."

    He said there was a lot of negativity around gaming in general: "I’ve had old people call me a 'virgin' and a 'geek' and [saying] I’m unemployed, living off the state, although I have my own business and I live at home with my wife and kids."

    But he said: "You get people who complain about people who sit in and play games all day but this game is encouraging people to go out. I had a heartrending personal message from a lady who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, she saw her child get killed, she hasn’t been able to go out much but the game has helped her get out the house. I was nearly in tears and I have kids. I have a heart."

    And his favourite Pokémon?

    "I am old school, I am a Squirtle guy. And my all time favourite is Blastoise. I went on a mission to get a Blastoise card. It’s my pride and joy. I picked the blue team. I had to stick with my boy. He’s not my... strongest Pokémon but that is my favourite one."