Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura apparently¹ ran up a ridiculously expensive Pokémon Go bill after heading to Rio on July 20. However, what is really interesting is that you can't play Pokémon Go in Rio.

 

日本体操名将内村航平7月20号出征里约，却因“口袋妖怪”游戏收获了天价账单。但真正有趣的是，你在里约根本抓不了小精灵。

 

Aside from athletes being robbed, subpar accommodations, feces in the water, and the Russian doping scandals, one of the big stories of the 2016 Rio Olympics is that you can't catch any Pokémon in Brazil.

 

British Olympian Joe Clarke posted a photo showing the lack of Pokémon in the area to his Twitter account:

 

No Pokemon in Deodoro Olympic venue²! Or in Brazil!?? @NianticLabs @PokemonGoApp @Pokemon #PokemonGO

 -- Joe Clarke (@joeclarkek1) July 26, 2016

 

So when you hear Uchimura ran up a 500,000 yen³, or $5,000, phone bill while playing Pokémon Go, the first question you probably have is: how?

 

Well, apparently Uchimura didn't get the memo⁴ that there are no Pokémon to be caught in Rio, which means the gymnast must've been walking around building up crazy roaming charges, all while never catching⁵ anything.

 

Luckily for Uchimura, he was spared from having to pay the entire bill after pleading with the phone company. Instead, the company agreed to charge him a flat rate of around $30 per day and waive⁶ the extra cost, according to USA Today.

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