LOOK: Japan's Pokémon Theme Park Is Now Open—Here's What to Expect

(SPOT.ph) It wasn’t too long ago when we first heard whispers about a Pokémon outdoor theme park opening in Japan—and now it’s official. PokéPark KANTO is finally ready to welcome trainers and collectors alike to come and catch ’em all. Ready to whip out your Pokédex and Poké Balls? Here's a quick look at what to expect and everything you need to know before venturing out into this Pokémon Paradise.

Also read: Gotta Know It All: What to Expect From Japan’s Upcoming Pokémon Park

PokéPark KANTO is the world's first permanent outdoor park dedicated to the beloved video game and animated series. This 26,000-square-meter outdoor adventure is located in Tokyo's Tama Hills area, within Yomiuriland Amusement Park.

From the calming, feel-good atmosphere of the Pokémon Center to the competitive buzz of a Gym battle and the adventure-ready paths of Viridian Forest, PokéPark KANTO drops visitors straight into the world of Pocket Monsters.

The park is divided into two main areas, Sedge Town and the Pokémon Forest. In many ways, exploring PokéPark KANTO feels like starting the video game: You begin in the Pokémon Research Lab, head into town to gather the materials you need, i.e., your power-ups (merch), and whatnot, and then venture out into the wilderness where you will encounter wild Pokémon.

Unlike most theme parks with thrilling rides at every corner, PokePark KANTO is more of a walkthrough park—similar to the Studio Ghibli theme park in Aichi. Here, the thrill would come from seeing and interacting with replicas of buildings, characters, and life-sized Pokémon you'd only see in-game.

Think, heading into a real-life Pokémon Center, where staff will give you a Poké Ball, which you will give to the nurse to heal the fatigued Pokémon inside. All this plays out with all the bells and whistles you find in-game. An animation plays as she heals your Pokémon, you’ll hear that familiar jingle, and poof, your Pokémon is once again a-ok.

Heck, there's even a Sedge Town Gym, where you can catch a real-life battle featuring a bunch of human performers and some animatronics. But the real highlight at this spot is Pika Pika Sparks!, a fun, family-friendly lights-and-music show featuring Pikachu and friends. Just note that this show requires you to book limited-access tickets through the official PokéPark KANTO app. Unless you splurge and get the highest ticket tier a.k.a., the Ace Trainer's Pass, which automatically grants you access to the show and reserved seats.

But that's not to say there aren't any rides at all. There are actually two attractions you can ride at PokéPark KANTO: Pika Pika Paradise and Vee Vee Voyage. Just note that tickets to both rides are sold separately through the PokéPark KANTO app—unless you have the Ace Trainer's pass, which grants you one priority pass for each of the rides.

Aside from these two, there are also a bunch of ring-toss type carnival game booths scattered throughout Trainers' Market, meet-and-greet sessions with your favorite Pokémon, and a parade. For collectors, you can stock up on Poké Balls that have pin badges, featuring random creatures and their numbers in the Kanto Pokédex. If you don't get that one pin you like, you can look for staff members (or fellow trainers) with lanyards and pins and trade with them, too, much like how Disney pin trading works.

These rides may not make you scream with delight, but to make up for the lack of big thrill rides, the park boasts a strong merch game, enough to make this Poké-adult excited to visit. In Sedge Town, you'll find the Poké Mart, Daisuki Shop, and a bunch of other kiosks selling the cutest Pokémon merchandise that'll make your heart flutter.

At the Poké Mart, you’ll find a lineup of drinks and snacks dressed up in designs inspired by your favorite Pocket Monsters. Sip on a Bulbasaur—a refreshing kiwi and melon blend—go fiery with Charmander’s strawberry and black tea mix, or keep it cool with Squirtle, a bright, lemon-flavored drink.

Other food kiosks feature other Pokémon-themed snacks, and for us, the one we're most excited to go to would be the Snorlax popcorn cart. As the name suggests, this snack cart sells popcorn—a popular theme park snack in Japan—, but aside from filling your bellies, it's at this stall where you can purchase an adorable Snorlax popcorn bucket. You best believe, this is one of the merch we just have to have from PokéPark KANTO.

There's no shortage of cute merch outside of food and beverages. The Daisuki shop and countless other kiosks also sell original licensed Pokémon merchandise, from t-shirts, plushies, headgear like headbands and plush caps, to take-home sweets in cute tins. And if you're thinking of skipping the park and just heading straight to Pokémon stores for these merch, you might want to think again, as the park does have a slew of PokePark Kanto exclusive merchandise any collector would love to have in their collection. This includes a wide selection of Gen 1 Pokemon merchandise, stickers, hats, plush toys, and many more.

Once you're done with your fill of shows, shopping, and snacking, you can now head over to the Pokémon Forest to spot full-sized Pokémon out in the wild. While it seems there's not much to do with these Pokémon except maybe play a game of I Spy, or get awestruck with how massive they really are IRL versus in-game, the Pokémon Forest is a good opportunity for Pokémon Go players to actually catch some rare and shiny Pokémon in the wild. All things considered, this part of PokéPark KANTO looks like a laid-back immersion in the game's forest-adventure elements.

Don't be mistaken. You'll also find other Pokemon around Sedge Town but those are more domesticated creatures, often interacting with humans. These ones in the forest are wild Pokemon, so you'll be surprised at where you'll find your favorite creatures.

If you're planning to visit PokéPark KANTO, you'll need to book your tickets in advance. Same-day admission up to two months ahead is available on a first-come, first-served basis, but take note: sales will close once tickets sell out—and right now, they're already sold out for the entire month.

The process of buying tickets varies depending on whether you're buying from inside Japan or overseas. For us Filipinos, we would need to use the English booking website to secure our passes. Ticket prices vary depending on the visit day, with some days of the week i.e., peak days like holidays and weekends, costing more.

There are three types of tickets you can avail when heading to PokéPark KANTO: Ace Trainer's Pass, Trainer's Pass, and Town Pass.

As the name suggests, the Town Pass only grants bearers timed-entry access to Sedge Town. This is the most basic PokéPark KANTO ticket type, priced at JPY 4,700 (roughly P1,751). Town Pass ticket holders can still enter other parts of the park, like the Pokémon Playhouse, the Sedge Gym, the Daisuki Shop, and others (except the Pokémon Forest) by getting limited-access tickets by lottery using the official PokéPark KANTO app.

The next ticket tier is the Trainer's Pass. This ticket grants a single entry to the Pokémon Forest within a specified time slot with no re-entry, as well as unlimited entry to Sedge Town. Just like the Town Pass, Trainer's Pass holders can enter other parts of the park, like the Pokémon Playhouse, the Sedge Gym, the Daisuki Shop, and others (except the Pokémon Forest) by getting limited-access tickets by lottery using the official PokéPark KANTO app. A Trainer's Pass will set you back at least JPY 7,900 or roughly P2,942.

For those who want to do it all, the best pass to purchase would be the Ace Trainer's Pass, starting at JPY14,000 (P5,213). Look, we get it. This ticket tier is almost twice the cost of the other two, but if you're looking to experience everything PokéPark KANTO has to offer, then this is the best way to do so. Just like the Trainer's Pass, the Ace Trainer's Pass grants you access to both the Pokemon Forest and Sedge Town but this time at any time you desire—no waiting for timed-entry. It also offers other perks such as special meet-and-greets, a reserved seat for the Sedge Gym Show, use of priority lanes for attractions, and original merchandise.

Seeing what's posted online, at first glance, it seems PokéPark Kanto is leaving a lot to be desired (Japanese animatronics, where art thou?). But considering this is the first permanent outdoor Pokémon exhibit, we think it's still worth a stop when in the Tokyo area. Call us simps, but we're betting anyone who grew up playing earlier versions of the game or watching the OG anime will still get chills seeing their favorite creatures IRL (we know we will). And besides, let's be honest, the sheer merchandise alone is enough of a draw—healing your inner child and whatnot.

PokéPark KANTO is at Yomiuri Land Amusement Park, Inagi, Tokyo, Japan. For more information, visit PokéPark KANTO's official website.

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