Okinawa Pokémon Centre

👋 Haisai! I’m CULT.
Okinawa is quite warm these days. While enjoying a swim on a hot day is great, spending time in a large shopping mall with plenty of air conditioning is also a pretty good option. Shopping is fun, and enjoying a meal in the food court is nice too, but wouldn’t it be even more enjoyable if there was something special? So today, let’s talk about the Okinawa Pokémon Center.

📌 Location and Opening Hours

The Okinawa Pokémon Center is located in the Aeon Mall Rycom. ⏰ The opening hours are from 10 AM to 10 PM, sharing the same hours as the mall itself, and it’s always cool inside thanks to the air conditioning. [Google Map]

The largest privately operated car park in Okinawa is located at the Rycom Aeon Mall, but even this can become quite crowded on weekend afternoons, making it necessary to drive around to find a space. I recommend visiting either slightly before lunchtime or after to avoid this. Even on weekdays, parking can be a challenge here.

If you’ve parked on the ground level using Google Maps navigation, you’re actually on the second floor. The structure of Rycom Aeon Mall is a bit unique. So, to get to the Pokémon Center, you need to go down one floor. The signposts are well-marked, so you should be able to find it easily.

When you come down to the first floor, there’s a small aquarium. Someone spread a strange rumour that it’s similar to the Churaumi Aquarium, and many visitors were disappointed after imagining that. It’s slightly larger than what you see in the photos. If you don’t have high expectations, you won’t be disappointed.

🎾 Pokémon Centre

Right next to the small aquarium, there’s a Pokémon Centre. There are quite a lot of children here. Both of my Nintendo Switch consoles are currently broken, so I’m considering buying a Switch 2. However, the global version isn’t available for sale in Japan, which is a bit of a dilemma. I’m pondering, “Should I try playing games in Japanese?”

It’s Growlithe and Pikachu.
The reason they are placed at the entrance is because the beast that symbolises Okinawa is the Shisa, and this Shisa resembles Growlithe from Pokémon, which led to an Okinawa collaboration. This is quite an old story. If my memory serves me right, it dates back to when the Pokémon Center was located on Kokusai Street.

As soon as you enter, you’ll find a variety of goods for sale, and the first thing I noticed was the Mudnagi cookies. I’m not sure if the cookies themselves hold any significance, but the goal is to purchase the case with Pokémon on it. I also have a Pikachu tin case.

They are also selling Pyree dolls. The display mainly features popular items. I didn’t see many non-mainstream Pokémon products. By the way, a few months ago, I deleted my level 50 Pokémon Go character. The reason was that I bet my character on a game and lost. Besides, I didn’t have time to play games anyway. Currently, I’m not playing any Pokémon-related games.

The centre is a circular exhibition hall, and at its centre, the 9th generation starter Pokémon are on display. I enjoyed playing up to the DLC The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, but the Indigo Disk wasn’t as engaging, as I kept falling asleep while playing. Neither the Gigantamax system nor the Terastal system was enjoyable for me. I found the era of Mega Evolution and Z-Moves in Pokémon to be more fun.

It was fine up until Zero’s Secret. The game costumes were good too.

On another side, various goods are on sale. This section seems to be fashion-related. There are Eevee hats and Mimikyu hats as well.

It’s Dalaquyo. If the kids know this, they’re probably not babies anymore, but rather children, right?

This monster first appeared in the 9th generation. I hope that Pokémon with a Steel/Fairy type in the Pokémon games won’t appear for the next 10 years or so.

This is the eighth-generation legendary Pokémon, Libero Cinderace, a very powerful and fierce Pokémon. As it is initially a long-legged doll, it’s a bit difficult to stand it up, so it needs to be seated like this.

In one corner, they were also selling Mega Evolution Pokémon merchandise. It seems they are selling it in advance because the sixth generation remake, which deals with Mega Evolution, is set to be released this winter. As I mentioned earlier, I find the Dynamax and Terastil systems dull and uninteresting. I prefer Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, which allow you to play with the heart of a beast, even if the balance is a bit off.

We also sell Nintendo Switch game cards. Even if you purchase them in Japan, they can display in Korean on a Korean console. This is because there is no region lock from the Switch onwards. However, the Nintendo Switch 2 is being sold as a Japan-exclusive region-locked version. It’s still difficult to purchase the Switch 2 in Korea, but the Japan limited edition is already being sold at the regular price.
If it’s hard to find in Korea, you might wonder if it’s okay to buy the Switch 2 in Japan and bring it back. However, the Japanese version only displays in Japanese.

There’s also a card game area here. I’ve actually visited this place three times, but I’ve never seen anyone playing card games. I’ve seen it a lot at the Yongsan Centre in Seoul, though.

This is the Okinawa limited edition Pikachu. It’s the Pikachu Eisa Edition that you can only purchase in Okinawa. I’m not sure if you’ve been to Okinawa World, but it’s the outfit worn by performers of traditional Okinawan dance and music there.

As mentioned at the beginning, Gadi resembles a Shisa, which is why it is featured as an Okinawa collaboration character. They even sell snacks related to it.

And this is Pikachu wearing an Okinawa T-shirt. I really want that T-shirt, but apparently, it’s not currently for sale. I hope they start selling it again because I would love to purchase it.

On a sweltering summer day, while enjoying a swim and engaging in marine activities is great, I think it’s also quite nice to enjoy the cool breeze of air conditioning while browsing Pokémon merchandise. Above all, they sell Okinawa-exclusive items that you won’t find anywhere else.

That’s all for today. I’ll be back with more useful information for your Okinawa travels. Matayasai 👋