Nintendo / Game Freak / Garigari-KunOh dairy – it looks like someone caught his hand in the fridge.
Takashi Ono, a 43-year-old man from Japan, was arrested today on suspicion of fraud after trying to win Pokémon illegal means. A competition hosted by Japanese ice cream maker Akagi Nyugyo Co. has prompted people to submit winning popsticks from their Garigari-kun brand. ‘You win a Gari Pokémon card’ is engraved on the winning sticks, and winners can return it to the company to use for rare Pokémon cards.
According to the Japan Times, Ono is suspected of forging a total of 25 winning sticks. The company contacted police after he became suspicious of so many one-man vines. There are even reports of similar vines selling on auction sites for more than $ 500 (about £ 367), although a box of ice cream costs just $ 3 (£ 2.20).
According to PokeGuardian’s report on the story, at least one person had to open 41 boxes before finding it one lucky stick – it looks like each box contains 6 lollipops, meaning the chance of winning (at least for them) was around 1/246. To find 25 sticks, Ono must have eaten perhaps 6,000 of the delicacies with pineapple flavor. Yes, we see why the company was suspicious.
All this for Pokémon Cards? You better believe it. The winners will receive a limited edition Mythical Zarude card as a connection to the upcoming Pokémon movie, Secrets of the Jungle, which appears in the West this year. The card itself sells for around $ 300 (£ 220). Here is the bad boy himself:
© Pokémon / Nintendo / Creatures / Game FreakWould you pretend to have eaten thousands of ice cream cones for a potential profit? Is this the coolest crime ever committed, or at least? Discuss your thoughts below in the comments!