Iowa man fails to sue Nintendo and Pokemon Company International for $341,000 over background checks

Kyle Owens, a 34-year-old man from Laurens, Iowa, sued Nintendo of America and The Pokémon Company International for $341,000 after they denied him Pokémon Professor certification despite his perfect 100% score. Owens filed not one, but four pro se lawsuits (represented himself without hiring a lawyer) within months, including one against Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. But The Pokémon Company never had to respond.

According to Justia, the judge dismissed all four cases under a single consolidated order and warned Owens that further frivolous filings could result in Rule 11 sanctions, i.e., court-imposed punishments or fines.

Prior charges, rather than a conviction, hold sway

The issue was that Owens, who desperately wanted to join the Pokémon Professor Program, was screened, and the background check discovered three Pennsylvania charges dating back to 2022 for disorderly conduct, a weapons offense, and criminal mischief, each with a pending warrant for failure to appear rather than a conviction.

On September 1, the Pokémon Professor aspirant filed four pro se cases in forma pauperis, prompting mandatory pre-service screening under U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). This means a judge must review the complaint before serving it on anyone, e.g., The Pokémon Company and Nintendo of America. The judge can also dismiss the case outright if it fails to state a plausible claim, as happened with Owens.

The Pokémon case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa and accused The Pokémon Company and Nintendo of Sherman Act violations. According to Owens, requiring a background check for Pokémon Professor volunteers and rejecting him over the results amounted to unlawful restraint of trade and monopolization of the “official organized-play” market.

A vetting program with a sensitive audience in play

All four cases were reviewed by U.S. District Judge Leonard T. Strand, who rejected Owens’s case, finding that screening and vetting volunteers for a program aimed partly at children was reasonable and was not designed to limit competition.

Owens had applied for and passed his Pokémon Professor badge certification on March 12, 2024. However, The Pokémon Company International revoked his certification after discovering his past offenses and active warrants on May 6, 2024.

Owens also filed other lawsuits, including one against a community college over housing accommodations, another against a former employee over racial harassment, and a third against another college over expulsion. The judge dismissed all four cases that day.

Strand called the $341,000 damages claim “dubious, if not outright absurd.” Amid all this, neither Nintendo nor The Pokémon Company has commented, appeared in court, or addressed the matter legally.

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