If you want to know where to buy Pokémon merchandise, you’ve come to the right place.
More than 25 years after the first Pokémon game came out, Pokémon remains a Mega Charizard-sized franchise. Millions of people collect Pokémon cards, play the games, watch the many anime series and movies, and cosplay Pokémon characters. Naturally, people have also bought tons of Pokémon plushies, T-shirts, and other stuff.
Let’s look at some of the best Pokémon merch for 2022.
List of Must-Have Pokémon Merch
1. Pikachu T-shirt
T-shirts are a practical, colorful way to show off your love for Pokémon. And you can’t go wrong with this simple, cute Pikachu shirt.
It’s an original product from the Pokémon Center, the official shop for all things Pokémon.
According to the Pokémon Center, this XL shirt is 74 centimeters tall by 59 centimeters wide, which translates out as 29.1 by 23.2 inches. Keep in mind that Japanese sizes tend to run a little small.
Note: All of the hyperlinks in this article point to recent search results at ZenPlus. That way, even if a particular item is temporarily unavailable, you can still find equally good alternatives.
2. That classic Ash Ketchum hat
If you need to keep your head covered, how about an Ash Ketchum baseball cap? You might know Ash by his original Japanese name, Satoshi.
Either way, Ash/ Satoshi wore a red hat just like this one all throughout the original Pokémon anime series. Starting in 1997, he wore it for five seasons — Indigo League, Orange Islands, Johto Journeys, Johto League Champions, and Master Quest. (* Mom provided him with new clothes at the end of season five. He probably needed them.) According to Bulbapedia, Ash’s hat is a Pokémon League Expo hat.
This would make a good Ash Ketchum cosplay accessory, or if you just want to look like a Pokémon trainer.
3. Mega Construx Pikachu building set
If you’re looking for Pokémon Lego blocks, you won’t find any (at least not officially). For whatever reason, the Danish toy company never jumped on the Pokémon bandwagon.
However, you can find Pokémon toy construction blocks. Mattel’s Mega Construx line of Lego-ish bricks now includes a whole bunch of Pokémon-themed toys.
This Mega Construx Pikachu figure is about 2 inches tall when fully built. Pikachu also comes with a Poké Ball to display the little yellow figure. Mega Construx bricks are generally compatible with Lego bricks, so you can combine your Pokémon bricks with Lego ones. (They’re not the same as the larger Mega Bloks bricks, which are aimed at younger children.)
4. Charizard plushie
ZenPlus calls this orange Flame Pokémon Lizardon, which is the character’s Japanese name. But if you grew up in an English-speaking part of the world, you probably know him better as Charizard.
This Charizard plushie is from San-ei’s All Star Collection of Pokémon plush toys. He’s 19 centimeters, or about 7.4 inches tall. He looks ready to fly into battle.
If you don’t like Charizard, ZenPlus has plenty of other Pokémon plushies to choose from.
5. Pokémon backpack
You can carry Snorlax around on your back with this unique, plush Pokémon backpack.
At first glance, it looks like a large, sleeping Snorlax plushie. But Snorlax’s back contains a zipper which opens up, so you can store a lot of stuff in his belly. It also has a couple of shoulder straps. A handy top strap on his head lets Snorlax hang around in a locker or closet when not being used.
It’s not the largest backpack ever. But it is 24 centimeters wide (9 inches), 16 centimeters tall (6 inches), and 40 centimeters deep (15 inches), which sounds pretty good to me.
6. Pokémon pen case
If you have to carry around a lot of pens and pencils, you might want this Pokémon pen case from Kamio Japan. It features the most famous Pokémon of all time, along with his Pokédex number (25). On the outside, it looks like a pretty basic pouch or box with a couple of zippers. On the inside, the pouch is divided up so you can keep your pens, erasers, and other supplies separate.
If you don’t like yellow, you can get other colors, such as navy blue, black, or ivory. ZenPlus has other designs as well.
Incidentally, a Japanese pencil case is called fudebako, a word also used to describe ancient ink brush boxes.
7. Pokémon stickers
Pokémon Snap fans should check out the Pokémon Center’s original stickers for New Pokémon Snap. The stickers are based on artwork for the game, which came out in 2021 on the Nintendo Switch.
New Pokémon Snap is a unique and creative Pokémon spin-off, which updates and expands upon the original Pokémon photo safari game from 1999.
The stickers show various Pokémon “photographed” in various poses. You also get stickers of the main male and female characters, along with Professor Mirror and Rita. The stickers are made of a type of polyester.
8. Pokémon tote bag
You can help reduce the proliferation of plastic bags with a reusable Pokémon tote bag.
For example, ZenPlus offers this Pocket Monsters tote bag. The bag features Pikachu with Eevee, and seven of Eevee’s evolutions — Vaporeon, Umbreon, Sylveon, Flareon, Glaceon, Jolteon, and Leafeon. Espeon was out sick that day, I guess.
The bag is 35 by 37 centimeters, or 13.7 by 14.5 inches. It also has a handy zipper closure at the top, which is a nice feature not seen in a lot of tote bags.
9. Detective Pikachu plushie
If you’re wondering why this Pikachu plushie is wearing a Sherlock-style deerstalker cap, you might not be familiar with Detective Pikachu.
The Pokémon spin-off franchise started out with a 2016 mystery-solving adventure video game. In 2019, Legendary Pictures and Toho produced Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, a live-action/ computer-animated hybrid film adaptation of the game. Ryan Reynolds starred as the voice of the titular detective.
ZenPlus sells several different Detective Pikachu plushies. This version is about 5 inches tall and comes with a key ring.
10. A pair of wedding Pikachu plushies
Since Pokémon has been around for 25 years, it’s old enough for these wedding-themed Pikachu plushies. These plush toys are from the Pokémon Center’s Pokémon Garden Wedding collection, which just came out this year.
The set features a beautiful bride and handsome groom Pikachu. The plushies could serve as playful wedding or reception decorations, or as a fun wedding or anniversary gift. Or, you could just keep them.
Any of the 10 items listed above should make good additions to any Pokémon fan’s collection.
