So I went to a real-life Pokemon Center in Osaka today.
Wow.
If you've ever been to an American Disney Store, think -that-, only with something that was designed to be 100x more marketable. Oh, and it's Christmastime.
There were hundreds of little kids running around (as expected), plus quite a few couples, and the random foreigner or three. They were of course, selling the games, but they also had tons of figures and plushies to go along with the more unique merchandise. Some of the ones that I found interesting were the Poke-chow for various species of 'mon; and a Pokemon coin-presser, so you could get a 10-yen piece flattened like a penny on a railway track, only with your choice of 'mon pressed into it.
There were some adorable vile Christmas-cake plushies of Pikachu, Pichu, and Piplup, and I even found a life-sized Piplup.
They were running some kind of 'Eevee collection' special while I was there, so they were selling the complete set of Eeveelutions plushies for a mere $6 each. The normal price was something like 8 bucks, so I suppose it was pretty good. I bought a file-folder with the Eevees on it for a buck. They also had some rather stylish shot glasses with Umbreon and Espeon on it. And I remember there was a tea set, too... And the usual assortment of school supplies, trading cards, and candy with various 'mon printed on them.
They were showing off some new pokemon game while I was there, too. PokePark for the Wii. I didn't care enough to watch long, but it looks like a Mario Party-style game, but with Pokemon characters. Seeing the kids all lined up to watch the unveiling was pretty adorable, though.