Man in China forced to apologise for expressing his love for Team Rocket on social media

Created by Satoshi Taiji back in the '90s, Pokemon has accompanied almost everyone through their childhood. Don't be surprised if most of the player base for the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield consists of fully-grown adults. 

Unlike most fans of Ash Ketchum's adventures, Garwin Qiu Guan Rong, an employee of China's sports event management company Guangzhou Central Sports, had always found himself preferring to root for the bad guys: Team Rocket. Recently, he took his devotion for the bumbling villainous trio a step further with a shout-out on WeChat.

The post had been shared on the Chinese social media platform last week (Oct 8) with a caption that read: "I love Team Rocket! No matter how many people say they're bad guys, I've loved them since I was a little kid."

"No matter how many times they fail, they get back up and keep chasing after their dreams, and seeing them do that gives me courage too. Thank you, Jessie, James, and Meowth."

The post included two pictures — one of Team Rocket and another of a post about the ongoing controversy between NBA's Houston Rockets and the Chinese government.

A day after Garwin's post, Guangzhou Central Sports issued a statement of their own on Weibo, deeming Garvin's post to be an "inappropriate content material that adversely impacts society". Yes, really. 

It also included a signed letter of apology by Garvin himself, declaring his love for his home country. Dude claims to shed tears when he "watched the parade commemorating [his] country's founding."

The inclusion of both pictures in his post got quite misleading for readers, as both Houston Rockets (the basketball team) and Team Rocket (the Pikachu-stealing trio) have similar Chinese names.

"I wasn't talking about the Houston Rockets," Garwin emphasised in his apology letter. "I was talking about Pokemon's Team Rocket."

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Some have referred to the situation as an unexpected occurrence, while several others who were utterly speechless at the actions of the company. Others deemed that the situation too extreme for a public apology.

You can’t fault Garwin's employer's though — they’re just trying to protect the world from devastation and unite all peoples within their nation. 

mabelkhoo@asiaone.com