Pokémon Center

Pokémon Center is my favorite Japanese store to visit. Pokémon Center is a store that only sells official Pokémon items such as plush dolls, playing cards, video games, food, and many more. The store is named after an actual place in the Pokémon world named "Pokémon Center", where people can get their injured Pokémon healed. For Pokémon fans, the store is known to be a paradise because there is no other place on Earth where you can see so many different types of Pokémon products. Until a few years ago, Pokémon Centers were located in cities within Japan. Every time I visited different cities of Japan, I always searched for the local Pokémon Center on Google Maps and made sure I checked in. As a result, I have been to Pokémon Centers in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Kyoto, Sapporo, and Yokohama. Now, Pokémon Centers are expanding to cities outside of Japan, and I was lucky enough to get a chance to visit a store in Singapore.

What is especially fun about visiting as many Pokémon Centers as possible is that each store has its own theme that often matches the city. For instance, the one in Yokohama is designed as shown below, mostly with water-type Pokémons representing the theme of ocean and harbor. The store in Kyoto, on the other hand, was represented by a traditional theme. I also love the fact that the store in Singapore had official artworks including the main tourist attractions in Singapore. If you look closely at the third image, the Pokémon versions of the Marina Bay Sands (represented by a Wailord that resembles the original ship-shaped architecture) and the Merlion (represented by a Gyarados sculpture) can be spotted. In a large city like Tokyo, the stores get upgraded to Pokémon Center DX, which is much greater in size and offers many more items. Each store has location-exclusive items as well, so I always make sure to buy those to remember that I have been to stores in different cities.

Some pictures of Pokémon Center Yokohama

Official artwork for Pokémon Center Kyoto

Official artwork for Pokémon Center Singapore

See if you can spot the Marina Bay Sands (left) and the Merlion (right) in the artwork!

I loved Pokémon Center as a kid, and I haven't changed much since. My parents think it is ridiculous to go to the same store every time we travel, but for me, going to the local Pokémon Centers adds so much fun to the trip. I hope I can visit every single Pokémon Centers in the world and complete the collection of various location-exclusive items.