She escaped an abusive relationship in the middle of the night — then got revenge by stealing her ex's prized shiny Pokémon and ghosting them

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of domestic abuse that some readers may find distressing.

A common misconception is that abuse exists only in heterosexual relationships. In reality, mistreatment can occur in any relationship, as one recent case has starkly demonstrated. In a June 19, 2026, Reddit post, a 22-year-old woman (u/Various_Try4515) described a relationship with her girlfriend that eventually turned destructive and forced her to escape and transform herself.

Beauty turned into a beast 

The woman revealed an instance from the time when she was 19. At the time, she got into a relationship with a 25-year-old woman named Sierra. After dating for a few months, they moved in together. For the first six months, everything went smoothly and perfectly, but then Sierra started behaving like a “completely different person,” not in a positive way, unfortunately. Her girlfriend put a restriction on everything, including food. She couldn’t eat anything without her permission, which caused her to become malnourished within the next few days. Sierra even forced her to quit her job, and while she grappled with being jobless, she was hit and made to do inappropriate sexual acts.

About a year after the start of the relationship, she finally escaped, running in the middle of the night. While running away, she grabbed the copy of Sierra's favorite book, “A Court of Mist and Fury,” and ripped out her favorite chapter. She knew that the first editions sell for $250 to $500, which Sierra wouldn’t be able to afford with her income. After getting out of the tormenting relationship, she engaged in therapy and turned her life around.

An eye for an eye

After some time, the thought of revenge crossed her mind. She remembered that she still had access to Sierra’s personal information and passwords, which she could use to steal her money or even lock her out of her own accounts. Instead, she chose to go the other way and be a little mischievous. She decided to steal her Alolan Ninetails Pokémon Go, which she was addicted to. "What’s really sad, though, is the fact that doing those two little petty things is what I knew would hit her the hardest. I knew that not loving her anymore wasn’t gonna shake her to her core, so I needed another way to inconvenience her. And I really hope I did!" she concluded.

Same-sex intimate partner violence

A study published in Frontiers in Psychology reported that 43.8% of lesbian women experienced same-sex intimate partner violence (SSIPV) during their lives, which involves acts of physical and sexual violence, emotional and psychological abuse, and controlling behavior. 29.4% of these women experienced episodes of violence with their partners. 63% of the lesbian women reported that they experienced psychological intimate partner violence. According to the study, the extent of abuse in lesbian relationships is greater than that in heterosexual relationships due to social exclusion and societal shame.

'Better than petty' revenge

People wrote remarks of support and assurance to the woman. u/Marvin said, “Well done. Top-shelf quality revenge. It's better then petty.” u/JasmineGlows echoed the sentiment, “Real win is you got out and moved on.” u/upbeat2679 shared, “I know this may sound petty for most but compromising her Pokemon Go account would really drive a wedge in her heart for a long time (speaking from own experience got scammed and lost my account, it's been 7 years and it still hurts).”

If you're queer and are being subjected to abuse or need any help, please contact the LGBT National Hotline at 1-888-843-4564.

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