Pokemon Center London has officially opened and the queues are as long as you'd expect

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Pokemon fans are joining lengthy queues for the chance to visit London's Pokemon Center

(Image credit: Pokemon UK)

The Pokemon Center in London officially opened to the public today, and swathes of eager fans have been queuing up for their chance to see all the Pokemon delights for themselves throughout the morning. Folks have been posting photos and videos of the lengthy queues leading up to the Pokemon Center, which is located in Westfield London, Shepherd's Bush. 

Naturally there's been a lot of excitement surrounding the pop up Pokemon Center - especially since you can play a short demo of Pokemon Sword and Shield - and the frankly impressive length of the queues people are recording is all the evidence you need. The store opened at 10am local time, but the queues were already in full swing at 8am, with some getting to the shopping centre to wait in line as early as 4am. 

And that's just the inside. To truly get an idea of just how busy it is on opening day, you just need to see these photos of people forming queues outside the shopping centre itself earlier this morning. And let me tell you, Westfield in Shepherd's Bush is absolutely massive... that's how the long the queues have already become.  

I was fortunate enough to check out the Pokemon Center for myself yesterday, and I can wholeheartedly say it's worth the wait. Since it's a pop up shop, it's not too big in scale, which is why they can only let in groups of people at a time to allow you to check out all of the merch in safety. 

The Pokemon Center has lots of exclusive items such as a commemorative pin badge, a smartly dressed Pikachu plushie, and all kinds of merch featuring the adorable English gent Pikachu sporting a little bowler hat and Psyduck umbrella. 

The special London Pikachu also adorns the walls, and a statue of the adorable little mouse stands in the center's window. With lots of exclusives items you can't get anywhere else, increased Pokemon Go spawns, and a chance to try Sword and Shield before it releases, it's not hard to understand why everyone's so eager to visit the magical location - it's a true treat for Pokemon fans in the UK. 

If you're as excited about Pokemon Sword and Shield as we are, be sure to check out our latest preview below: 

Heather Wald
Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at 12DOVE. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good. 

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