A Pokemon Go player attempting to earn a record breaking 1,000,000 experience in a single day is now banned after triggering a Niantic anti-botting measure.

With the success of Pokemon Go, many trainers eyes widened at the potential opportunities to become a literal Pokemon legend. Some players decided to accomplish this through art or memes, others through more nefarious means, but perhaps the most impressive are those who accomplish goals within the game many might think are impossible. One such person is Jimmy Derocher, who saw an opportunity to be the first player to (legitimately) acquire over 1,000,000 experience in a single day.

Derocher planned it out perfectly: to travel a loop of 10 PokeStops, each with lures attached  to them, catching new Pokemon and evolving them while on the move until finally hitting 1,000,000 exp. Each time around the loop should take no more than five minutes, to maximize new PokeBall acquisition and capitalize on the lure spawning of Pokemon. Breaks were encouraged, but only when arriving at a particularly lucrative clump of three PokeStops.

And what better way to become legend that to do it all while livestreaming on Twitch? Derocher and several friends would work together to catch all the action and livestream it to any interested viewers. In addition, 25% of all donations made while livestreaming would be put towards charity. It's the set-up for a wonderful Pokemon Go adventure that would potentially go down as an event in the game's history. That is, until 13 hours into the event when Niantic's anti-botting tech flagged Derocher's account and soft-banned him.

Derocher was 13 hours into his 24-hour window, proving his critics wrong by having accumulated over 600,000 experience points. 1,000,000 wasn't just a possibility, it was within reach. If Derocher just kept going at the same pace he'd been, he could make his goal. Instead, disaster struck. Niantic flagged Derocher's count and soft-banned it, which prevented him from catching any more Pokemon for 24 hours. The dream was dead.

That didn't stop Derocher from trying, though. He struggled for another hour and a half, earning experience for spinning PokeStops and having Pokemon run away. 25k over the next hour and a half wasn't going to help him cross one 1,000,000. As disappointed as Derocher was, he was able to produce some cash for charity. He logged 25 miles with the Charity Miles app and promised $50-60 of his livestream donations to a good cause. From there, he decided it was best to start a conversation with Niantic.

Apparently Derocher was fully aware that his 1,000,000 run would likely catch Niantic's anti-botting mechanisms. He's sent a tweet requesting Niantic flag his account as safe for the duration of the stream, but obviously Niantic's got bigger issues to deal with right now. Still, Derocher is hoping the event will lead Niantic to give more thought into their banning practices so as not to punish their most dedicated fans.

"Games are meant to be played, and in my opinion played well," says Derocher, whose Pokemon Go journey is likely just beginning. Building his legend will simply have to wait for another day.

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Source: Kotaku