Pokémon Go player becomes first to reach 1 billion XP

A YouTuber named Brandon Tan became the first player to rack up a billion XP in Pokémon Go. This is fifty times the experience points needed to reach the highest level in the game. Brandon took more than three years to complete this feat.

Brandon Tan started his Pokémon Go adventure on August 7, 2016. After an hour, he reached level ten and was completely sucked into the game. He retired from his other mobile love, Clash of Clans, and devoted himself entirely to catching Pokémon. Brandon previously had a YouTube channel with Clash of Clans videos, so this was a big step for him.

After 82 days, Tan reached level 40, the highest level in the game. To reach level 40 you need twenty million experience points. For this, Brandon spent days in the Vivocity mall in Singapore. Brandon said he was “very satisfied” after reaching level 40. Every day he gained about 300,000 experience points.

In January of 2017, Brandon discovered a new place to grind. This location was just five minutes away from his home, by Singapore’s Marine Crescent Park. There, Brandon could catch about 20 to 25 Pidgeys every hour. At the time, Brandon mainly caught Pidgeys, Caterpies and Weedles. This is because you only need twelve “candies” to evolve this Pokémon. According to Brandon, these are therefore the best Pokémon to catch for gaining XP.

Brandon and his friends play Pokémon Go

Not long after, Brandon and his friends found a new route to grind. He did this from two in the afternoon until half past six in the evening. From 7:30 to 12:30, Brandon and co. the game in Crescent Park. Then Brandon stuffed as many friends as he could into his car, after which they started grinding in the car again. They did this until half past six in the morning. For six months, Pokémon Go was the YouTuber’s life, he said.

In June of 2017, raids were introduced in Pokémon Go. Brandon and his friends took full advantage of this. The group of friends drove around all day and played nothing but raids. After a day they realized that it is more efficient to drive towards the next raid immediately after starting a battle.

After this, Tan mainly focused on legendary raids, which were released in July 2017. During the Rayquaza raid, Tan said he played every day for 11 days from 6 am to 9 pm. He reports that he has taken the time to eat and sleep with his friends. “Believe it or not, I’m just human too.” In April of 2018, he decided to play Pokémon Go a little less often. That’s not to say he stopped playing the game completely, but he did say he took ‘more time for himself’.

Brandon delivers a speech after hitting a billion XP

Besides, it’s not all roses and moonshine for the Pokémon veteran. In 2018, his account was blocked for 30 days because he sold Pokémon to other players for up to 300 euros. He was asking these amounts for Legendary Pokémon like Mewtwo.

In May 2019, Brandon achieved 900 million experience points. It took the YouTuber about four months to cover the last 100 million XP. During that time he traveled to Japan, Indonesia and Australia, among other places. Brandon made the billion experience points in his home country. He achieved his ultimate milestone in front of an audience of friends and fans.