(Our store has things going on all throughout the week; Monday nights are Pokémon nights, meaning for a few hours kids and their parents can come and play/trade Pokémon, and it’s VERY relaxed and very chill. We have numerous people on Monday nights, and all of them are the nicest — especially to brand new players. A new family of four comes in, and of course the mother is worried about her daughters. They’ve never been in the store before; there are a lot of boys/men, what if they don’t know what they’re doing, will they get bullied, etc. The guy that normally runs the Pokémon nights isn’t there as he’s sick, but I refer them to one of our regulars who has told me to send new players to him. This guy proceeds to spend an hour carefully explaining the ins and outs of the game, how to trade properly, and is patient and answers every single questions the family has. All of this in the middle of a couple of games, a really annoying regular getting all up in their faces (I have to tell him off once), and kids running around the store. The mother comes up to the counter after they’re done, to buy a few things that the guy recommended.)

Mother: “Yes, hello again. I would like to get these decks, and this toy, and oh, do you have gift cards?”

Me: “Yes, we do! How much would you like to put on it?”

Mother: “$25.”

Me: “Great! Let me get the box that comes with it—”

Mother: “Oh, I don’t need the box.”

Me: “Okay, then, your total is [total].”

Mother: “I’ll take the card. This is for [Guy who helped them with Pokémon].”

Me: “My gosh, that is so nice of you!”

Mother: “He was outstanding, answered all of our questions, and was just the nicest person! And thank you for helping us out!”

Me: “Of course, ma’am, thank you so much. I know he’d appreciate it. He’s over there, if you’d like to give it to him. We’ll see you folks again!”

(The guy came up to me later on, looking slightly confused.)

Guy: “Yeah, so that woman gave me a gift card in thanks… That was unexpected.”

Me: “They seemed so nice!”

Guy: “You wouldn’t happen to know how much she put on it? She didn’t tell me.”

Me: “$25.”

Guy: “Seriously?! I wasn’t THAT good about teaching them Pokémon!”

A coworker and I are working the evening shift along the back wall in a local big box store, which means we’re just cleaning up after a day’s worth of customers have gone through.

The seasonal department is right next to the toy aisles, and while straightening up a row of patio furniture displays, we find a pile of Pokémon cards and three foil wrappers. There should be 30 cards from those wrappers, and we usually find all of the cards, or none. Typically none. This pile has 28 cards. Someone found what they were looking for, apparently.

Fast forward 10-15 minutes, and we’re cleaning up toys. We happen to be standing across from the collector cards wall, and a little boy (six-ish?) comes around the corner. He pulls two Pokémon cards out of his pocket and starts gushing at us about his super cool Pikachu and his super cool Jolteon.

My coworker and I just stood there speechless. The kid’s mother came around the corner and told the kid to stop bothering “the workers.” Kid covertly slipped the cards back in his pocket. The mother had no idea.

(A mom and daughter are waiting at a table until the dad comes over. It’s later evident he doesn’t live with them.)

Dad: “Hey, I got some Pokémon for you. Some of them were your brother’s he doesn’t want.”

(He hands over a large bag of Pokémon plushies.)

Daughter: “YAY!”

(She pulls out each one, naming them, until…)

Daughter: “Huh?”

Dad: “What?”

Daughter: *angry* “This one is NOT Pokémon!”

Dad: *frowns* “It’s not? Oh, that’s one your brother put in.”

(Mom and daughter started laughing. The plushie in question was Cookie Monster from “Sesame Street.”)

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I work in a medical office where we have a crack down on cell phone usage, as it is pretty out of hand. This coincided with the release of Pokémon Go. A couple of coworkers and I play, as does the supervisor.

Five pm hits, which marks the end of my shift. I pull my phone out of my purse and turn on the app, and an [Uncommon Pokémon] spawns in.

I catch it and brag to my coworker who feigns annoyance at me. I walk up to my boss’s office to let her know I’m leaving and to update her on the day’s tasks, ending with “oh, and there is an [Uncommon Pokémon] by my station.”

Without skipping a beat she picks up her phone and goes to find it.

(My friend and I are very close and while I am super nerdy, she is very preppy and girly. We don’t usually share personal information; however, sometimes there is an exception…)

Friend: *whispering* “Do you… you know…. watch the thing that starts with PO and ends in N?”

Me: “DUH! I actively talk and obsess over it and I have seen more episodes than anyone I know! Don’t you know that I’ve watched it for a few years now?”

Friend: “EW! YOU WATCH P*RN? YOU ARE SO GROSS! AND YOU’VE WATCHED IT FOR A FEW YEARS? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Me: “…I thought you were talking about Pokémon.”

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