Intentional or not, there’s no way to see this park in one of Japan’s largest cities and not think of Pikachu throwing down.

After months of excruciating waiting, the latest games in Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Sword and Shield, came out on November 15. This time around the big changes are a full 3-D world map with, for the first time in the mainline series’ history, visible Pokémon wandering about. Early reviews are applauding this enhanced level of immersion, but it’s important to remember that Sword and Shield’s Galar region is a fictional setting. It’s not like real-life Japan has fused with the world of Pokémon or anyth-

We stand corrected, because it’s impossible to look at this actual Japanese park and not wholeheartedly believe it’s destined to be the site of epic Pokémon battles. Seriously, the layout of the walking path and grass forms almost an exact match for Pokémon’s persistent Poké Ball motif, and the oblong dimensions look tailor-made for two Trainers to stand opposite one another while their Pocket Monster champions duke it out in the central ring.

“I found this park, and I can’t imagine it was designed for anything other than Pokémon battles,” tweeted Japanese Twitter user @kusakakiri along with the above photo, and he also posted a few shots of the plaza in winter.

All that snow might have you guessing that the park is located in one of the chillier parts of Japan, and you’d be right. It’s in Sapporo, the capital city of Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, and not too far from Shin Sapporo Station, which is serviced by the JR Chitose Line and Tozai Sapporo Municipal Subway line.

▼ Pokémon park (red arrow) and Shin Sapporo Station (blue)

The park is unnamed, and so doesn’t have an official address. However, it’s pretty easy to navigate to thanks to a handful of landmarks. For starters, it’s on the north bank of the Notsuporokawa River, slightly east of where it’s crossed by the road called Genshirindori. It’s also just across the street from the Kobayashi Farm Vegetable Market (“Kobayashi Noen Yasai Chokubaijo” in Japanese), which does have an address: Hokkaido, Sappro-shi, Atsubetsu-ku, Atsubetsu Higashi 2-jo 1-chome 1 (北海道札幌市厚別区厚別東２条１丁目１).

▼ Park (red), Notsuporokawa River (blue), Kobayashi Farm Vegetable Market (green), and Genshirindori Road (yellow)
Note: in this image, north is at the bottom, and south at the top

From Shin Sapporo Station’s exit 7, it’s about a 10-minute walk to the park, and there seems to be a 7-Eleven along the way where you can buy snacks and drinks, though unfortunately the convenience store chain doesn’t stock Poké Balls.

▼ Park (red) and Shin Sapporo Station exit 7 (blue), with north at the top of the map

While the park looks to have been there for some time, it’s only now that’s it’s attracting attention for its unintended, but spot-on, Pokémon theming. As such, it’s not known whether or not it’s a good place for catching Pokémon GO specimens, so we recommend bringing your own Pocket Monster to snap photos with, like maybe that gorgeous kimono-fabric Pikachu plushie that just went on sale.

Source: Twitter/@kusakakiri via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Google
Insert images: Google (1, 2) (edited by SoraNews24)
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s bummed about Abra being left out of Sword and Shield.