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

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.

8AM Queue check. #PokemonCenterLondon pic.twitter.com/1WdCksxF3eOctober 18, 2019

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.

Quite the queue for the opening of London’s first Pokémon Centre. This is about half of it. pic.twitter.com/ZJ4tPjVoeiOctober 18, 2019

LOOOOL! Queue so long, it’s OUTSIDE! And it’s not even open yet! 🤣 #PokemonCenterLondon pic.twitter.com/hpkev7IxElOctober 18, 2019

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:

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.