Being a Pikachu has never seemed more terrifying.

Video shot at a Pokemon festival in Songdo, South Korea, last weekend shows what should have been a cheerful, innocent performance of 15 adorable creatures dancing to “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”

But for one Pikachu, they could stop the beat.

About a minute into the performance, one poor Pikachu begins to falter, seemingly unable to keep up with the song. Then it begins to deflate, and that’s when the men arrive.

Two well-dressed men, one clad in a suit, bolt onto the stage and grab the rapidly flattening Pikachu. Then, more men in suits arrive. For a brief moment, we hope they’re there to help.

But the world of Pokemon has no mercy. The men grab the flailing Pikachu and rush it offstage. In the meantime, the dead-eyed, smiling Pikachus around it continue to dance as if absolutely nothing is wrong while we can only assume their teammate is somewhere being put out of its misery.

Was it an inside job? Was he sabotaged by a fellow Pikachu vying for that front-center spot?

We may never know, but around the 4:30-minute mark, the perseverant yellow dude manages to briefly escape his captors, hustling back onto the stage to take cover in the herd. We’ll let you watch and see how that works out for him.