An officer with the Bakersfield (CA) Police Department came upon a distraught nine-year-old boy and observed that the child was wearing a t-shirt bearing the image of a character from the popular game Pokémon. He then used his knowledge of the game to calm the boy and make him safe.

The agency said on Facebook, "Recently, one of our officers responded to a call and came into contact with a 9-year-old who was very upset. The officer noticed the child wearing a Pokémon t-shirt, so the officer began talking to the child about Pokémon. After about 30 minutes of talking about Pokémon, the officer learned the child’s favorite is Dragonite, and the officer sharing his favorite is Charmander, the child was calm enough to talk about the situation that occurred."

The social media post concluded, "As the officer was leaving, the child ran to a bedroom and came back with a Charmander card (the officer's favorite) and told the officer that Charmander would keep him safe at work. The officer promised to keep the card with him in his vest."