A 2-year-old Pokémon fan has experienced exactly what would make any child at that age terribly sad: She has lost her beloved stuffed animal, a Squirtle, which she chose as her first from all three starters. Now her parents are asking the community for help, and they are immediately ready.
What are the parents asking for? The Reddit user Active_Environment, a parent of a young Pokémon fan, reports that their daughter has lost a stuffed animal of her favorite Pokémon, Squirtle. To comfort her, her parents told her that the Pokémon is traveling the world – at least until the newly ordered Squirtle arrives with them, but the little girl does not need to know that.
The author of the post is now asking the community for help: He is requesting photos of Squirtle, whether they are other stuffed animals, figures, or other forms located in different places around the world. It would be even nicer if a message could be included, which Squirtle could write as a sort of postcard to the girl.
“It can be anywhere: in front of a local landmark, in nature, at home, in your neighborhood, or just with something that represents your hometown. I would love to show her that Squirtle is having a wonderful journey and meeting nice friends all over the world,” writes the parent. The last request would be to sign the message with “Carapuce,” which is the French name for Squirtle, because that is indeed his name.
And the community took this task to heart.
Squirtle “travels” around the world
Where was the girl’s Squirtle “traveling”? The Reddit post with the request has received over 5,000 upvotes and 250 comments from Pokémon fans worldwide, who are letting Squirtle travel through various places. This includes different states in the USA, Japan, England, Australia, and more.
They sent suitable pictures and messages to the child to help her worry less about her Pokémon:
The comments are listed corresponding to the order of the image gallery:
- “Hey Lila, when I was just about to leave for work, I found this Squirtle in front of my door. It seemed a bit lost, but I showed it the way. Superior, Wisconsin is pretty far from home, and Lake Superior is not a great place to swim this time of year. I hope the directions help Squirtle get home sooner rather than later.” (TheComedian922)
- “Hi! I had to learn how to drive first to get home!” (Snakebit3)
- “Hello Lila, Squirtle visited me here in Australia and diligently helped me with baking. It is a bit impatient when it comes to the dough rising – but such things take time!” (catkoicalico)
- “It is currently visiting its friend Charizard in Mumbai!” (cassiusbright006)
- “Hello Lila, Squirtle and its friend Pikachu traveled to Hong Kong to see the beautiful skyscrapers and the river! Squirtle was so happy to be by the water, but with Pikachu nearby, it was a bit scary; Squirtle still misses the delicious dim sum, so they will return one day with all their friends!” (FlyingNeonPoop)
The messages and pictures were submitted in such quantity that they would overflow this article. We still recommend you to take a look at the thread yourself. By now, it can be browsed like a photo album:
How do the parents react to the community’s efforts? It seems that the author of the post did not expect such a reaction and thanks everyone for the posted greetings from around the world:
“I did not expect so many comments and sweet pictures. I am trying to respond as much as I can, but I am a little overwhelmed. This will bring my daughter so much joy!”
Stuffed animals can hold great significance for many people, especially children, just like Squirtle does for the 2-year-old Pokémon fan. On another occasion, a different child came across a stuffed doll from another anime franchise, which touched the entire community through its similarity: “He is like me” – girl touches everyone with her resemblance to an anime hero, gets to meet the speaker
