The augmented reality game became an instant sensation, so much so that people from all around the world negelected their work and dedicated all their waking time chasing after Pokemon.

Well, that's apparently still happening today.

Pokémon > robbers

Two policemen in Los Angeles lost their appeal to have their jobs back after they were sacked in 2017 for reportedly ignoring a robbery call just so they could play 'Pokémon Go'.

Vice, quoting court documents, reported that the former LAPD officers, Eric Mitchell and Louis Lozano, received a call from a patrol supervisor, requesting for both of them to respond to an apparent robbery in progress at a Macy’s supermarket at Los Angeles’ Crenshaw Mall.

While other policemen left the scene of a homicide to respond to the call, Lozano and Mitchell chose not to respond despite being in the area and instead, they reportedly drove away.

To make it more damning, video and audio evidence showed that the duo was discussing the robbery but didn’t want to respond.

They were also heard saying later that a “Snorlax just popped up .. at 46th and Leimert,” and discussed how to best catch the rare Pokémon.

Court documents also noted that while they were in their way to catch the Snorlax, Mitchell alerted Lozano that "a Togetic just popped up", referring to another Pokémon.

Despite not being able to catch the robbers, Mitchell and Lozano reportedly managed to capture both the Snorlax and Togetic.

Appeal was thrown out

Of course, when their supervisors found out about their 'adventures', they were both given the boot.

They had appealed their sacking for “willfully abdicating their duty to assist a commanding officer’s response to a robbery in progress and playing a Pokémon mobile game while on duty”.

They also claimed that the LAPD had violated their privacy by listening to their conversation.

In their appeal, both men said that they were merely catching “images” of Pokémon, not playing a “game”. They went further to say that 'Pokémon Go' was not a “game” but was more of a “social media event” that was not “advertised as a game.”

However, the duo admitted to chasing after the Snorlax because they wanted to “chase this mythical creature”.

The drama came to an end last week when the court ruled in favour of the LAPD, stating that that the police department has the right to sack them for their act.