The town with the carp castle also has a park with the Pokémon carp’s evolved form.

Hiroshima Station went through some pretty extensive renovations last year, with a brand-new station building called Minamoa added to the amenities. Minamoa has a variety of shops and restaurants offering all sorts of Hiroshima cuisine and souvenirs, but arguably the building’s biggest draw of all is that it has a Gyarados plaza!

Yes, that’s Gyarados, the fearsome Water/Flying-type Pokémon that evolves from the humble Magikarp, that we’re talking about here. Eager to see the storied creature for ourselves, we hopped on the train and headed west to Hiroshima. This was our first visit in a while, and almost as soon as we stepped out of the Shinkansen gates on the second floor, we spotted our first Pokémon, even though it’s one that requires a trained/Trainer eye to see.

While most people’s attention will be drawn to the wall of Pikachu illustrations, we were looking at that bench in a familiar shade of pale purple, and just as we expected…

…it turned out to be Ditto! We especially liked how the Ditto bench isn’t just a different color, but also a different material from the ordinary benches it’s flanked by, and we got a special kick out of seeing unsuspecting travelers sit down for a spell without ever realizing they were seated on one of the most popular Pocket Monsters.

Speaking of the benches next to Ditto, perched on the one to the right is Munchlax.

The baby version of Snorlax is known for its big appetite, and is seen here taking a moment to sample the local sweets scene. Held in each of its hands is a momiji manju, a maple leaf-shaped cake filled with sweet bean paste, chocolate, or custard. With Hiroshima Prefecture being famous for its maple trees and beautiful fall foliage, the cakes have become a symbol of the prefecture itself, and while most people eat just one at a time, they’re tasty enough that we can’t really fault Munchlax for doubling up.

Making our way from the Shinkansen gates to Minamoa, we passed through a section of the station on the first floor where we encountered even more wild Pokémon.

This Snorlax, perhaps the older sibling of the Munchlax we’d seen earlier, was surrounded by healthy fruit snacks illustrated on benches…

…and this cheerful Bulbasaur is happy to share some vines for travelers to rest on too.

Furret has actually claimed part of the bench for itself, but we’ll give it a pass because of how adorable it is.

But again, these were all just bonus Pokémon. Gyarados is who we were really here to see.

After making our way inside the Minamoa building, we hopped on the escalator and rode it up to the ninth floor’s Sora Moa rooftop terrace.

Even before heading out into the open-air space, you can see Magikarp through the windows, and it looks like at least one of them managed to complete the difficult evolution process, because here’s Gyarados!

The clever visual design has Gyarados looking like it’s bursting up from watery depths, allowing for a life-size recreation of the Pokémon’s head. It’s in the middle of performing its powerful Hydro Pump attack, and the super high-pressure blast of “water” shooting from its mouth is actually a slide, boarded by climbing up the back of Gyarados’ neck.

In contrast, the ridable Magikarp rocking horse/seesaw-style play equipment gently flops back and forth, just like Magikarp does when performing its less-than-super-effective Splash “attack.”

But why are Gyarados and Magikarp in Hiroshima? Because along with maples, Hiroshima has a connection to carp. During the Sengoku period, carp were kept in the moat of Hiroshima Castle to be used as an emergency food source in the case of invasion, earning the fortress the nickname “Carp Castle.” Today the schools of fish live a beautiful, decorative existence, and Hiroshima’s professional baseball team is named the Carp as well. There’s also the fact that carp are seen as a symbol of determination in Japanese folklore (tales of carp swimming to the top of waterfalls and becoming dragons is why Magikarp has such a difficult but ultimately rewarding evolution process), and Hiroshima, given its World War II history, is a place that can appreciate stories of overcoming adversity.

Because of that, Gyarados and Magikaro are Hiroshima’s representative Pokémon, just like Slowpoke is for Kagawa or Lapras is for Miyagi. The Pokémon Center Hiroshima megastore, which is located inside the Ekie building that’s also attached to Hiroshima Station, always has a large amount of Gyarados merch in stock, and even a Gyarados statue at the front of the store.

▼ Red being Hiroshima’s image color, it’ s red Gyarados, and you can see a bit of it in the photo here.

▼ The walk from Gyarados Plaza to Pokémon Center Hiroshima

Getting back to the Gyarados Plaza, Gyarados and Magikarp are joined there by a few other Water-type Pokémon, including Mantyke, Luvdisc, Marill, and the most cheerful Psyduck we can ever recall seeing.

▼ It’s good to see Psyduck looking so contented. Poor guy has been through a lot.

There is one word of caution we should add if you’re planning to visit Gyarados Plaza, though no, it’s not about the danger of incurring the creature’s wrath. Since it’s an open-air park, the plaza is closed to visitors during inclement weather such as heavy snow, severe rain showers, and strong winds, so you’ll want to check the forecast and plan accordingly. Aside from that, though, it’s a charming place that’s great for snapping some Pokémon photos even if you’re too big to use the play equipment yourself. And if you happen to be on the opposite side of the country, in Japan’s real-world Kanto region, don’t forget that Poké Park Kanto is opening soon.

Location information
Gyarados Plaza / ギャラドスひろば
Located inside Minamoa
Address: Hiroshima-ken, Hiroshima-shi, Minami-ku, Matsubaracho 2-37, Minamoa 9th floor
広島県広島市南区松原町2番37号 minamoa9F
Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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