Awww! Woman finds adorable Pokémon in alley next to own neglected children

CROWN POINT, Ind. — Pokémon enthusiast and mother Jill Cakewalker, 36, says that she was “astounded” after Pokémon Go led her to an alley miles from home where she found her own children — whom she had forgotten to feed for a full three days after becoming obsessed with the hit game over the weekend.

In the location-based, augmented-reality smartphone app, players use their video cameras to find, capture and train Pokémon and other creatures. Cakewalker says that she hasn’t enjoyed anything so much since she first played Candy Crush Saga in 2012.

“So there I was hunting, and somehow I got to a sketchy neighborhood all the way by I-94 without noticing it, and I see Squirtle, the beautiful blue turtle, and he’s just there looking all cute and waiting for me to use a Poké Ball and pluck him up,” she said. “Then I see some dirty kids crowding into my screen, and they’re shouting and touching me, and just before I shoo them away, I think, ‘hmm, don’t they look familiar.’”

“And would you believe it, they were my own babies, scraping bits of stale cheese from a pizza box someone had left near a dumpster,” she said, still looking at a screenshot of Nick, 12, Joslyn, 9, and Zachary, 7 next to the vastly more adorable Squirtle.

“I told my kids to hang tight and try to find a nice doorstep to curl up on no later than midnight, and to make sure to brush their teeth with a little wad of newspaper” she added. “I needed to make a few more Poké Stops before I took them home, but now I’m all the way back near 73rd Avenue and I’m wondering if it’s worth it.”