Pokemon Trainer Now a Real Life Job with ‘Pokemon Go’

Many people are already attempting to cash in on the success of real world location based video game Pokemon Go. Some are even attempting to live out their childhood dream by becoming full time professional Pokemon trainers.

A young woman, Alicia Thomas, recently advertised her Pokemon Go training service on Craigslist, where she asked for $20 an hour to capture Pokemon for others. Thomas has been a huge fan of Pokemon since she was young and recently had an article written about her obsession by VICE.

In her Craigslist ad, Thomas briefly describes herself, saying, “Also known as ‘Golbat-chan’ on sites like 4chan and imgur, I am a 24-year-old lifelong Pokemon enthusiast who wants to help YOU become the very best.” Thomas further explains the details of the service she is offering, stating that she will walk around New York city in 1-4 hour shifts, collecting Pokemon, activating Poke stops, and helping users hatch their Pokemon eggs.

Thomas further outlines the skills and experience that make her the right choice to expand your Pokedex, “I’m a white female, NYU grad, and a well-employed freelance journalist with a massive Golbat tattoo on my arm. I have been playing Pokemon (both cards and gameboy/DS) since 1997 and Pokemon GO since its opening day.”

“I’m in between major projects and have a lot of spare time on my hands right now and also may or may not write an article about this in the future,” she explains. “Personally, I am a level 15 trainer in Pokemon GO right now and control all of the gyms near my place. I know what I’m doing”, obviously with skills like these she’s the perfect candidate to wander around the city capturing Pokemon for you.

Thomas even agrees to focus on capturing specific classes of Pokemon such as fire, water, electric, etc. and will even send her clients screenshots of the Pokemon she catches and the client’s growing Pokedex. Given the amount of news stories based around Pokemon Go in recent days and the game’s rapidly growing popularity, it’s unsurprising that players have begun to monetize the service. It seems likely that Thomas is just the first of many real life Pokemon trainers.

Lucas Nolan is a Journalism and Media student at Dublin Business School and a regular contributor to Breitbart Tech. He can be contacted via Twitter here: @LucasNolan_