It's no surprise what great length "Pokemon GO" players would go to "catch 'em all," and one user from Austin, Texas decided to go ahead and challenge himself (and inadvertently, the Niantic game) to what really can be achieved with the mobile game that won the world over since its release in July. Jimmy Derocher took to Facebook to hold a 24-hour long lure party in his hometown, complete with livestreaming which proceeds would go to World Vision and Austin Pets Alive.
According to PCMag, Derocher was able to earn as much as 600,000 points within 13 hours before the "Pokemon GO" app prohibited him from catching more Pokemon. This is because of the anti-bot feature in the game, which Niantic famously included in one of their more recent updates. It seems that the studio is bearing down on players who continue to use third-party apps, as cheaters who would be caught would definitely get their accounts suspended by Niantic. Furthermore, the game already shut down access to third party apps that would enable players to get a leg up in the game via GPS spoofing and the like.
Derocher's mission to reach a million XP came about as a challenge, as he wanted to disprove "Pokemon GO" players who believed that it could not be achieved without using some kind of a cheat. He then devised a special walking route in his hometown of Austin, which he aptly called "Jimmy's Route."
Derocher explained to Kotaku that Niantic's anti-botting policy had preventing him from moving forward in the game. The "Pokemon GO" anti-botting policy is not a full blown ban, but a "soft ban" that prevents users from accruing more XP than they normally would. He tweeted at Niantic's John Hanke in the hopes of sharing his experience to show them that "their limit was actually hurting players who play efficiently."
Nonetheless, Derocher's "Pokemon GO" mission did yield some positive results, as his event was able to raise about $60 from the stream donations for World Vision and Austin Pets Alive. Check back regularly for more "Pokemon GO" updates.