I tell this story every time a similar question is asked.
One day little me (I believe I was 9 or 10) was walking home from a friends house. He lived about 10-15 mins away walking, so it wasn’t too far. It was getting dark but I was used to walking from his house, so it didn’t worry me. While I’m walking I’m excitedly playing Pokémon Emerald. I think my friend and I recently were either breeding or trading Pokémon so I was excited to have one of my favorites, Cyndaquil.
As I’m walking, a boy my age appears and to my surprise he’s asking me about what I’m playing. I tell him and he replies that he loves Pokémon. So, now… I’m very excited because not only have I found a potential new friend, I can show him my newly coveted Pokémon. He asks me if he can see it and I gladly pass the Gameboy SP over.
As we’re walking and talking about Pokémon and the like, at some point I space out. I don’t remember if I was looking at the sky or what, but the next moment I turn to look at my new friend, he’s GONE. The boy took off sprinting with MY game and MY Cyndaquil(s).
Filled with a teary-eyed rage upon realization, I chase after him. He was already down the block when I noticed and it was getting darker , so I lost him. With tears running down my face and the cool autumn air pushing against me, I continued in the direction he ran. Eventually I ran into a random adult and told him what happened.
I suppose the kid ran by him because he knew exactly where the kid went. Fortunately, he got the game back for me. I bashfully thanked him and then ran off. Pretty traumatic for a kid who already had trouble with connecting with others. But….at least I had my Cyndaquil(s).