Did The Pentagon Really Install 'Pokémon' Vending Machines? Gotta Catch 'Em All Apparently

It's no surprise that people who work in government technology are into nerdy pursuits. After all, you don't love tracking numbers all day without a little flair for the nerdy side of life.

So, when news started circulating that the Pentagon now boasted a Pokémon loot box vending machine, it wasn't exactly hard to believe.

But is it true? The possibility of government agents hopping over to the Pokémon vending machine during lunch to indulge in a little nerdy pursuit is breaking the internet with questions. Here's what we know about whether or not the rumors are true.

The rumors appeared to start on social media. One Reddit post shows a photo of the purported vending machine, a Lucky Box, incongruously perched in the middle of a corporate setting.

While the box reads "CGC Certified," one Reddit user pointed out, "Based on the image, that’s not even an official kiosk from TPC, it’s just a second-hand distributor."

So, what exactly are we looking at? According to the post, the box appeared in the Pentagon's dining area around mid-December. It appears to be located in the primary dining area where Pentagon agents eat.

Is it real? It's hard to say. While the vending machines do exist and seem to be real, there's a lack of context in the photos that makes it hard to track.

There are some hints that it's real, but others that call the validity into question. There's not a lot of proof either way, but we're inclined to think this is one of those "strange, but true" stories.

Of course, 2025 and 2026 seem to be the years of cornering "strange, but true," so it's easy to believe that something as benign as this is true.

It's an odd update to the Pentagon dining area, to be sure. But this isn't the first time that the government has brushed up against Pokémon.

Although it seems to be a friendly collaboration this time, it wasn't necessarily so friendly in the past.

At the height of Pokémon Go!, when everyone was buried in their phones, trying to catch rare Pokémon, the government stepped in and said, "Not on our watch." Or, at least, "Not on our phones."

According to The Military Times, the Pentagon banned the game from official phones back in 2016.

Gordon Trowbridge, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, told the outlet, "I think taxpayers would appreciate government phones being used for government business."

He added, "We have asked, as we do periodically, that Defense Department personnel avoid putting the game and similar games on their government-issued mobile devices."

However, it was still permitted within Department of Defense properties and it would seem that in the 10 years since that ban was issued, things have warmed considerably between the Pentagon and Pokemon.

And, funny enough, that's not even the strangest thing to happen in 2025.