There are no Pokémon in Brazil, but that didn't stop one Olympic athlete from trying to catch 'em all.
Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura was shocked after he racked up a phone bill of 500,000 yen or $5,000 using international data on augmented reality game Pokémon GO since he arrived in São Paulo two weeks ago. He had been training in the city ahead of the Olympic games in Rio.
“He looked dead at the team meal that day,” teammate Kenzo Shirai said of Uchimura's unfortunate discovery, according to USA Today.
Other athletes have complained that the app is not functional in the country, saying it is the "worst thing" about the Olympics. One British kayaker even tweeted the bleak, Pokémon-free landscape on the app.
No Pokemon in Deodoro Olympic venue! Or in Brazil!?? 💔😩📍 @NianticLabs @PokemonGoApp @Pokemon #PokemonGO #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/xiRMcqhXfV
Apparently, Uchimura did not get the memo. The athlete, who is favored to win the men's gymnastics all-around gold for the second Olympics in a row, drained away all of that data looking for Pokémon that just weren't there. Fortunately, he was able to reason with his phone company, which lowered the bill to a flat cost $30 a day and waived the extra fees.
“I really lucked out,” Uchimura said, according to USA Today.
If only us non-Olympian Pokémon GO addicts could get that gold medal treatment.
To learn more about Kohei Uchimura and other Olympic hopefuls, visit Teamusa.org. The Olympics begin Aug. 5 on NBC.
