Remember in 1997 when an episode of Pokémon gave hundreds of Japanese children seizures? The whole world took notice, including the Pentagon's top secret weapons division. Really.
If Pikachu could immobilize people non-lethally, why not the US Army? Wanting to be the Very Best, they began research into seizure-based weapons technology, literally using Pokémon, to understand the power that's inside.
Shortly after, the project failed.