European Pokéfans yet to make the trip to Japan in order to visit one of the country’s famed Pokémon Center stores are in luck. Today, The Pokémon Company has announced via press release that the chain is due to expand its reach later this year to none other than the United Kingdom. More specifically, this branch will be situated in London’s Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush and is scheduled to open for business in October.
That gives those intending to make the trip a solid two months to put aside some Poké dollars for the goodies available in-store, some of which, the announcement says, will be exclusive and not available anywhere else. See below for an early mock-up image of what the shop could look like:
Terrific news, for sure, but there’s a caveat to be aware of before celebrating. Unlike the various Pokémon Centers open all-year-round in Japan, this venture isn’t a permanent fixture. The Pokémon Company is describing the UK store as a pop-up outlet, meaning it’ll only be available for an extremely limited time. That period spans October 18th to November 15th, meaning fans looking to stock up on Poké-themed goodies have approximately one month to do so.
That closure date will coincide with the release of this year’s Pokémon Sword and Shield which, not even remotely coincidentally, is based on the geography and culture of Great Britain. Developer Game Freak is promising an adventure of epic proportions for the series’ Switch debut and one that’s packed with several brand new features. Those looking for further reading on the topic of Dynamax and Gigtantamax Pokémon, as well as Raid Battles and the Wild area, can do so through here.
For everyone else, here’s a ridiculously cute teaser for today’s announcement, courtesy of Pokémon UK:
Where do you think this Pikachu could be from? pic.twitter.com/gttRF7Q3kS
— Pokémon UK (@PokemonNewsUK) August 5, 2019