Yesterday saw some bizarre news that can only be summed up in three words, “Keep Portland weird.” Arguably, if there’s one news story that shows the surreal shenanigans of the city, then this is it. It was reported by the owner of Otaku (a popular anime store) in Stumptown, that a homeless man tried to steal the giant, inflatable Gengar Pokemon from outside the premises.

The original attempted theft was captured by the Ring doorbell which showed the man attempting the steal the Pokemon. Of all the things to steal, this one seems the most unusual due to its lack of resale value and physically bulky nature. In short, it’s not exactly a practical item if you intended to make a profit from it. As seen below, this Pokemon display is far from subtle.

Speaking on the altercation, the owner said “Another meth head tried to steal Gengar from Stumptown Otaku. I chased him off with a bat, he came back and attacked Kell’s across the street. We joined up and chased him out of 2nd and two other store owner came up and all four of us defended each other.”

He also went on to add, “We found out the hard way that we can’t always rely on the police for help. So the business owners decided to watch out for each other” – Sadly, a lot of PDX businesses have been sharing this sentiment lately and have decided to take the law into their own hands, which is seen as a brutal reality of doing business in the area. On a brighter note, at least the Gengar remains at its natural home…for now at least.