That is not their intended use (The Pokémon Company) It turns out Pokémon trading card decks are sturdy enough to block a bullet, as one lucky fan found out to his surprise. There are many reasons to buy Pokémon trading cards, be it the game itself, the pleasure of collecting, or to hoard the rarest ones and sell them for exorbitant prices on eBay. Now, we can add one more reason to the list: because they act as an impromptu bulletproof shield, if someone tries to shoot you. This week, one fan shared a story online about how their own collection of Pokémon cards miraculously blocked a bullet aimed at their chest. The fan, known as LolaInSlacks88 on Reddit, didn’t have the cards in their breast pocket, like you see all the time in movies and TV shows, but nevertheless they did act as a shield to protect him from incoming fire. As they explained on the Pokémon Trading Card Game subreddit, they were asleep at home when they were awoken by loud explosions. Apparently, this was a common enough occurrence for LolaInSlacks88 to assume these were gunshots being fired by their neighbour. They believe the neighbour had accidentally fired their gun towards LolaInSlacks88’s house, as they found a hole in their wall next to a Tupperware bin containing their Pokémon card collection. Upon inspecting the bin, they found the bullet had been stopped by one of their card decks. Perhaps fittingly, it was a deck themed around the pokémon Incineroar, who is famously overpowered in the competitive circuit – at least for the video games. ‘The actual 9mm bullet was still inside the box. If it hadn’t been there, it would have likely struck me while I was asleep as it was level with my bed,’ wrote LolaInSlacks88, following up with an image of a police report (with personal info obviously blacked out) to prove they weren’t fibbing. More Trending ‘I’m okay, but I now count Incineroar as my guardian angel pokémon and have never been happier to have piles of cardboard in my box. You never know–they might stop a bullet!’ It doesn’t sound like their neighbour faced any consequences (the report says the police couldn’t find enough evidence to identify who was responsible), so LolaInSlacks88 can only hope it doesn’t happen again. In a reply to another Redditor, they said, ‘Of course no one admitted to doing it. But they stopped using their property like a shooting range, so hopefully they learned their lesson.’ Incinceroar’s already a fan favourite… or the most hated depending on who you ask (The Pokémon Company) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy