But apparently, that wasn’t the case for two men aged 42 and 54 who decided the best way to expand their collection was to steal someone else’s.
About 2.40am on Monday 21 September, the pair allegedly forced entry into a collectable and trading card store in Perth’s Cine Centre Arcade, smashing the front glass door and display cabinets before making off with Pokémon and other collectable cards worth an estimated $25,000 to $28,000.
But nine days later, their luck started to change. Perth Detectives located the pair at a train station in Warnbro, sparking a foot chase.
While Detectives didn’t release Pikachu, they did unleash the Canine Squad, tracking the pair to nearby bushland before officers arrested them.
Investigating Officer First Class Constable Elaine Gallagher said the quick work by police also meant most of the stolen cards could be recovered.
“We managed to recover 80 per cent of the stolen Pokémon cards and a few AFL trading cards which have now been returned to the owner,” said 1/C Gallagher.
The offenders may have been looking to level up their collection but instead found themselves in a battle they weren’t going to win.
Perhaps they thought they were joining Ash Ketchum’s team but instead turned out to be more Team Rocket.
After all, their motto is “Prepare for trouble and make it double!”
This time, though, Team Rocket didn’t blast off, they blasted straight into the lock-up.
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