A Pokémon fan visiting the Vatican had a unique experience with new Pope Leo XIV. The individual, who works as a TCG League leader, visited His Holiness with a Popplio card from the English Lost Thunder expansion. Another person presented the card, and the Pope graciously signed it. The photos since gone viral, and as of writing has been reposted over 5000 times, received 47,000 likes, and is being reported on major news sites.

The story originally blew up with a tweet from the X account Out of Context Pokémon (@OoCPokemon), shared by a user who was sent the images by friends. It became the subject of mild controversy when a friend of the card owner spoke up, and accused the pictures of having been stolen. The owner also spoke up on Reddit, providing a picture of the card and stated that the person in the photo is not him. The submitter has since apologized to those involved and admitted it was an honest mistake, having been sent them by others and thinking it was someone they knew.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected in the papal conclave held between May 7th and May 8th. His ascension to the papacy took many by surprise. This story follows his predecessor Pope Francis receiving a copy of the game Undertale in 2016, and its iconic song Megalovania later being played at the Vatican in 2022.