Pokémon Go
Image: The Pokémon Company

Every once in a while a story comes along to remind us just how uplifting the gaming community can be. One such scenario was brought to our attention by Dexerto, detailing how fans from around the world have come together to support a five-year-old Pokémon Go player who missed out on the chance to catch a 'legendary' Wurmple.

For anyone who has ever played Pokémon Go, the thought of finding you have no Poké Balls when in a chance encounter with a shiny is enough to make the sweat run cold; but very few of us have ever seen this nightmare become a reality.

Unfortunately for one Redditor's young nephew, the harsh reality of Pokémon Go hunting was exposed too soon. Last week bobduncanswerve7 shared the tragic story with gut-punching photographic evidence, as the young child in his care ran up to him to announce 'I found a legendary. It's like caterpie but red but purple.' Now, news like this would usually be enough to get the heart pumping, but this story has no Hollywood ending, as the Redditor begrudgingly noticed that his innocent nephew had no Poké Balls to catch the little critter (the horror).

The 'Purmple' made an escape and the five-year-old boy was left without his shiny catch. His uncle posted the following statement to the Reddit thread to update all understandably concerned parties:

Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch it. No pokestops nor daily friend gifts, nothing. But, I promised him that I'll make up for it by getting him either a shiny or a legendary, probably Zacian or Zamazenta.

Although on the surface this is a story of tragedy, the Pokémon community's overwhelmingly positive response has been enough to inspire us to see that it's not all doom and Goomy. What started off with helpful tips about what the young player can do in the future to prevent such heartbreak from befalling him again, the comments soon became an outpouring of support for the uncle-nephew hunting duo.

From pleads to make an in-game Poké Ball purchase to heartfelt condolences, we have collated some of the most positive responses below to remind you of the good in the gaming community.

It is refreshing to see that in a story where there could have been a level of passive instruction-giving, the Pokémon community instead reminded us that while we may not be the very best like no one ever was, it's not that hard to be a good person.

What's your most heartbreaking Pokémon encounter? Let us share your pain in the comments below!

[source dexerto.com]