HOW TO BOOK - POKÉMON CAFÉ

The Pokémon Franchise is the biggest and most successful of all the time. For 20+ years almost every child grew up with it and heard at least once about those cute little Pocket Monsters. But what if I tell you that there are actual Pokémon Café's in Japan that are just a dream of a little child that is already over 20?

It is the year 2020, spring to be precise and even though there are a lot of things going on in the world I just fulfilled one of my dreams on my, at least it seems like it, never ending Bucket List of things that I want to see and experience.

Now, me being in Japan with my dear friend Brina we decided to check out how to book a table to finally eat one of the cutest dishes ever. In the following you'll get to know step by step of how YOU can enjoy a nice lunch or dinner the same way we did.

Once a Pokétrainer, always a Pokétrainer.

#01 FIRST STEP // INTERNET

Open the following link and you will be redirected to the official Pokémon Café website. After that you may have to switch the language from Japanese to English, sometimes it is already in English, therefore, I can't tell how the page looks like on your laptop, computer, tablet or phone. But usually there should be a button written in English to tell you, to click on it and with that it switches to the preferred language.

The Reservation Button can be found in the upper right corner which is coloured in Brown.

https://www.pokemoncenter-online.com/cafe/

#02 MAKE A RESERVATION // STEP BY STEP

Now you get the full details and what you actually have to do. Don't worry, no fees apply for a reservation which was one of my fears in the beginning.

There are two different Pokémon Cafés, you have to pick the one which is nearest to you.

I live in Tokyo, so it makes sense to pick the one which is marked in Dark Grey in the following photo. The other one is in Osaka. Pick that one in case you are visiting the city or nearby areas like Kyoto, Nara...

After that you'll see a page which is the Online Reservation System that is leading you through the reservation, and since we want to make a reservation you don't need to take a look at the other buttons on the bottom of the page. In case you like to read the entire text above, just scroll down and the English translation appears.

It's all about the Table Reservation now and the amount of people that join your happy lunchtime. Brina and I have been two, that's why I picked two guests. In the end you can be a group of eight in total. So in case you are more than eight, just split the group in two groups and make a separate reservation.

After you chose how many people like to join, you need to pick the date and after that the time. It is already the end of the month, that's why I checked the following month and there are some more days left. The 8th looks like a good day and let us see which time is the best to go there.

Good for you, there are a lot of slots left.

The Pokémon Café usually opens at 10.30 am and last appointment that can be made is at 20:35 in the evening and lasts for 1 1/2 hours. Just imagine being there all day long. Haha.

Decide the time you like to go there, click on the button and the last step before you get an E-Mail send to you is to add some information like your name, phone number and E-Mail address. The last thing you have to do is to click on the "Next Step" button and you are good to go. Within seconds, they send you the Reservation E-Mail and that's it.

Easy, right?

When the day comes, please have the E-Mail open to show to the staff to verify it is really you. Or, you can take screenshots of the mail. I do that often, because I don't trust the internet connection anywhere. Just a small tip that I like to share with you.

For the very end I share some more photos of my day at the Pokémon Café and Pokémon Center which is next door. Still, cannot believe that I have been there, and I know it wasn't the last. In case you booked a table and took some photos, let me know in a message, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.