Tokyo opened the first real-world Pokémon Center store.
The Pokémon Company opened the first Pokémon Center in Tokyo in April 1998. The retail chain takes its name from the Pokémon Centers in the games and anime, where Trainers can heal and manage their Pokémon. Real stores instead focus on officially licensed merchandise such as plush toys, figures, clothing, cards, and stationery.
The first store helped turn Pokémon’s fictional medical facility into a recognizable retail brand. Pokémon Centers later expanded across Japan and eventually appeared outside the country, including locations in Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.
This fact is distinct from in-game Pokémon Centers, which appeared in the original Pokémon games released in 1996. Those virtual facilities were part of the gameplay from the beginning, while the first physical Pokémon Center store opened two years later. Tokyo is also home to several later Pokémon retail locations, so the first store’s exact site can be confused with newer branches.