Pokemon Photo:IC

Two US police officers who went off to hunt for Pokemon instead of responding to a robbery have been fired.

Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell cruised the streets searching for fantastic creatures in the augmented reality smartphone game, documents show, bagging a relatively rare Snorlax, as well as a difficult-to-trap Togetic - but no criminals.

In-car recording of their conversation revealed that they had heard the call for help at the Los Angeles department store, but decided instead to drive off.

"For approximately the next 20 minutes, the [recording] captured petitioners discussing Pokemon as they drove to different locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their mobile phones."

The Los Angeles police officers snagged the Snorlax and then turned their attention to a Togetic - which proved to be a little tricky to subdue.

The police officers insisted in disciplinary hearings that they had merely been discussing the game, and challenged Los Angeles city's dismissal.

California's court of appeal, however, did not believe their explanations, and upheld their firings.