Confession of a S’porean ex-Pokémon GO addict: “I nearly lost my job.”

Submitted by anonymous (He has requested not to be named)

Unlike many Pokémon GO players in Singapore, I’m a die-hard Pokémon fan since the Game Boy days—I’ve played all the games, collected all the Pokémons and watched all the animated series, including the feature films.

My friends have always said that I have a “kid’s hobby”; at almost thirty this year, I should be interested in cars, not Pokémons. So when Pokémon GO was launched in the US and everyone went crazy over the game, there was a sense of satisfaction, as if my “kiddy” interest had suddenly become cool.

But despite being a large Pokémon fan, I wasn’t expecting Pokémon GO to be launched in Singapore so soon. A series of false hopes had made me believe that the game will be coming next year instead, as I’m convinced that given the popularity, the developer would need to build a better infrastructure to host the game.

When Pokémon GO suddenly went live here, I was taken aback—to me, it isn’t just a game. It’s a quest, and so I need money (lots of money) to begin my quest. With only two more days of annual leave, and with backlogs of work waiting for me in the office, I did not want it to be launched that early.

Then again, deep inside me, I was elated: the game of my dream has finally arrived! Now, those people who have mocked me in the past would have to eat their words, because they’ll most likely be playing Pokémon as well.

I spent the entire weekend doing just two things: playing Pokémon GO and reading guides online. I even tried calling a few car rental companies to rent a car, but they were all closed. I decided to follow the guide of taking public transport instead.

I was so absorbed in the game that I did not sleep on Saturday night. On Sunday night, I K.O-ed on my bed at around 10:00 p.m., and never expected myself to wake up at 11:00 a.m. the next day instead.

With the number of missed calls from my superior, I was left with two choices: rush to work immediately or take M.C. That Monday wasn’t exactly a good day to fake an M.C.—the next day is a public holiday, so people would most likely say that I “chao geng”, especially my superior.

Still, since I was already late, I reported sick instead.

Monday and Tuesday were, just like the weekends, Pokémon GO days. The media, both mainstream and non-mainstream, have reported sightings of rare Pokémons spawning in several locations and I made my way there even without validating the information. In order to get more Pokeballs and incenses, I’ve spent almost more than one hundred dollars buying Pokecoins.

Wednesday came, and I went to work as usual. Seeing that every single of my colleague was playing Pokémon GO makes me feel a little relieved: I wasn’t the only addict. But I was summoned to my superior’s room in the afternoon, and that was when I knew something was wrong.

My superior initially asked me about Monday, and I lied that I was sick and resting at home. Then she said this sentence that I will never forget: “I saw you in Ang Mo Kio Hub playing Pokémon GO at 4:15 p.m.”

My superior has never liked me—or maybe, it’s that I’ve never liked her. She has once warned me about my performance, and that I do not buck up, I’ll be served with a warning letter. Shivering, I thought that was when the warning letter would come.

She then told me “not to do it again” and tossed even more work for me.

I left her office in relief, only to later be served the warning letter by my HR the next day.

That day, I stayed back in the office until my superior left, and told myself to keep my Pokémon GO addict outside of office hours. To achieve that, I’ve made myself a goal: never, ever log in to Pokémon GO during office hours, even during lunch break.

My reason for writing this? People in my office are still catching Pokémon during office hours. While Pokémon GO hasn’t cost any life, I hope it won’t cost anyone’s job.

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Featured Image: mozakim / Shutterstock.com

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com