"Welcome to the world of Pokémon!" For hundreds of millions of people of all ages across the globe, those words – often spoken by a kindly Pokémon professor preparing a brief tutorial on the basics – have served as the jumping off point for incredible adventures.

The elders among us (y'know, Millennials like me) ventured into the world of Pokémon Red and Blue alongside Squirtle, Charmander, or Bulbasaur, tasked with traveling the Kanto region, collecting Pokémon, battling other trainers, toppling Gym Leaders in each city, and "catching 'em all" (which, at that time, meant just 150) on a black and white handheld Game Boy screen with no backlighting. Fast-forward to today, when Pokémon Scarlet and Violet introduce a ninth generation set in the region of Paldea, releasing players into a fully rendered "open world" on the Nintendo Switch alongside Fuecoco, Sprigatito, and Quaxly. (Those looking to "catch 'em all" today have a tougher task, with 1,015 total Pokémon.)

No matter which generation was your first, what console you played it on, or how old you were when you played it, something remains deeply, fundamentally true about Pokémon: it is a world we want to inhabit. To be set free into a region that's yours to explore, and with a chosen companion at your side... To be armed with Pokéballs and Potions, and to travel the routes between towns, encountering and catching wild Pokémon as you fight your way to the safe harbor of the familiar Pokémon Centers... To face off against Gym Leaders in each town, collecting badges and evolving your Pokémon into stronger and stronger forms... 

In a way few franchises can, Pokémon continuously renews itself. Outside of the long-running (25 season) television series (with its permanently pre-teen antagonist, Ash), there are no recurring characters, per se, with players basically controlling avatars of themselves, encountering new regions, new Pokémon, and new gym leaders each go-round. That soft reboot every generation doesn't affect the franchise's the core appeal: to battle, train, fight, win, heal, catch, and evolve your own team... This is a world begging to be made real in a theme park. So I hope that you'll join me as I introduce my fan-made, hand-drawn plan for bringing the Pokémon World to life at Universal's Islands of Adventure...

The What, Why, Where, and How

To start with the basics, you may have already read through my hand-drawn "Blue Sky Build-Out" redesigns of Disney California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios here on Theme Park Tourist. As in those projects, the Pokémon World we're about to tour is just one component of a larger refresh and build-out of Universal's Islands of Adventure that you can read on my personal blog if you're interested in the full, "grand circle" tour of the expanded park and want to see it in context. 

But if you've been around Theme Park Tourist long enough, you know that I love Islands of Adventure a lot. It seems to be the only park in Disney or Universal's portfolio that's mostly allowed to not be about movies. This is a park that does not and should not feature Minions, Transformers, Shrek, Fast & Furious, or other hot box office properties. Instead, Islands of Adventure really brings to life timeless, intergenerational stories: Dr. Seuss' picture books, funnies from the Sunday paper, the comic book versions of Marvel heroes, ancient myths and legends... Even Harry Potter and Jurassic Park began as books, and both have the sort of timeless, evergreen, fantasy nature that elevates them above the kind of "blockbusters" you'd expect from the Studio park next door.

So for me – as a defender of Islands of Adventure – the bar to entry for this park is really, really high, and the idea of having a video game come into the park is sort of weird to consider. And honestly, I don't think I'd want Super Nintendo World plopped down in Islands of Adventure, where it would be totally out of place stylistically and narratively. But the Pokémon World is different. Pokémon is about adventure and mythology and interactivity and immersion in a way that I think fits Islands of Adventure's spirit very well. For me, the Pokémon World fits here more than it would in the Studio park or Epic Universe.

Which leaves the issue of where to put it. I won't beat around the bush. For my build-out, I made the decision to replace Toon Lagoon. I think most visitors to Universal Orlando would agree that Toon Lagoon is the weakest of Islands of Adventure's lands. There are certainly a few reasons... 

• The IPs it leans on (Dudley Do-Right, Popeye the Sailor, Rocky & Bullwinkle, etc.) were surely "retro" and nostalgic when the park opened in 1999, but going on 25 years later, they haven't had a come back, leaving increasingly little relevance to new generations of guests. It's clear that unfortunately, this band of cartoon characters doesn't have the same staying power or timelessness as, say, Dr. Seuss. 

• The land's focus on water rides (both of which get you totally, squishy-sock soaked) makes it pass-through for many guests who just aren't in the mood or season for it.
• It has great bones. Toon Lagoon is more or less organized into three distinct "regions" – the "Comic Strip Lane" area where retail and dining is focused, the "Popeye Island" area of trails that wind around the park's coastal raft ride, and the "Northwest Camp" area around the large Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls log flume. It also "benefits" (in a build-out sense) from the large Toon Lagoon Amphitheater, which has basically been empty since the park opened. 

So while Toon Lagoon totally plays into the park's focus on timeless, literary stories, it's definitely the land most available for reimagining. So I decided I'd use parts of Toon Lagoon if I wanted to, and "demolish" others. Which, in itself, is a pretty scary thought... After all, there's a whole lot to the Pokémon World...

THE POKÉMON WORLD

In practice, staring at the park map with a big empty chunk here, I really couldn’t even think of where to begin. A Pokémon land wouldn’t be anchored by a ride, because sitting down and bopping around in front of screens isn’t the point. It would be an expansive world of various environments; a city to stock up on Pokéballs, heal your team, and battle… then wild areas to catch new Pokémon, train them, evolve them…

Pokémon’s current nine generations of mainline games direct the series’ geography, with each game set in a new “region” of a wider Pokémon world. Those regions always bear a striking resemblance to a real-world country in layout, architecture, culture, and creatures. (For example, the current ninth generation – embodied in the Scarlet and Violet video games – is Paldea, clearly based on the Iberian peninsula with heavy Spanish influence in its climate, language, cities, and Pokémon.) Slowly but surely, the Pokémon World’s map is filling up, and looking quite a lot like ours.

What there has not yet been is a region based on Italy. So with that in mind, I just started assembling. Even though I intended to basically level Toon Lagoon and start from scratch, I ended up surprising myself with how much of it I didn’t need to change at all. Instead, re-wrapping much of it – and even re-using one of its rides – my World of Pokémon came together as a whole new region – Dominio (doe-MIN-ee-o)– based on our real-world Italy.

And folks, I am telling you, I fell in love with this concept…

First Steps & Starters

You have to imagine that each “region” we visit in the Pokémon world is meant to be as expansive as a country, with dozens of cities (each with their own Pokémon Gyms) connected by wild areas and routes traveled by many trainers seeking to “catch ’em all.” With that in mind, though the Italian-influenced Dominio Region I picture is vast, we see just a small part of it – Cipresso City and the outlying wild areas: Costa di Spruzzi and the Ruins of D’aquavallo.

Obviously, I wanted this little slice of Dominio to feel real and immersive and alive, and what makes the Pokémon World feel alive is… Pokémon. They would be present in this land in many, many forms… but obviously, a central focus of this interactive environment would be catching, battling, training, and evolving them. So let’s talk about how that’s done.

As anyone who’s stepped foot on Route 1 in a Pokémon game will tell you, it’s not wise to head into the unknown without a Pokémon companion at your side. Every Pokémon game begins with a Pokémon professor briefing you on the world and inviting you to begin to your journey by selecting one of three “Starter Pokémon,” unique to the region you’re exploring. (The first generation’s – Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur – probably remain the most iconic Starter trio, but every Pokémon fan has their favorites.)

So just as in the games, if you want to really dive into the Pokémon World, your first stop should be the Pokémon Lab, right in the heart of Cipresso City (and just to your right when you enter the town from Marvel Super Hero Island). Here, I’ve tried to create an all-in-one experience. It’s a tutorial for how to find, catch, battle, heal, and evolve Pokémon; it’s a mini-show akin to Ollivander’s in the Wizarding World; and it’s the way you get to choose the Starter Pokémon that will accompany you in Dominio... What are your choices? We'll find out on the next page...