Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum
As a kid, I grew up loving Pokémon and would watch the anime series and movies, collect trading cards, and played the video games. I even had the anime series on VHS and those tapes pretty much lived in my VCR! While I never exactly lost my love of Pokémon (I still have Pokémon Diamond for my Nintendo DS Lite), I found a new spark in the summer of 2016 when Pokémon Go was officially released. I was running around Austin throughout the day and night with my friends trying to "catch 'em all", and I continue to reignite my inner child each time I open the app on my phone to this day.
At that time, I also quickly realized how much of an impact Pokémon Go could have on travel due to their regionally exclusive Pokémon and events. It's hard to believe that it inspired me so much 10 years ago that I wrote about the connection between Pokémon Go and travel. There have been moments throughout the past decade where I thought I would one day travel to a region for a Pokémon event. Recently, I took a trip to Chicago to hang out with some friends and one friend suggested going to the Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum when she saw an Instagram Reel soon after we booked the trip. While I am not going to recap this trip to Chicago because it has similarities to my day trip from last year, I will be sharing more about my experience at the Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum because I simply couldn't keep this piece all to myself!
What is the Pokémon Fossil Museum?
The Pokémon Fossil Museum is a special exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois that is in partnership with the Pokémon Company and corporate sponsors. The exhibit brings together the history of Pokémon, the real-life fossils that inspired certain Pokémon, and the fun of Pokémon Go all into a single location. Whether you are a forever fan of Pokémon like I am, started getting into it because of Pokémon Go, or are completely new to Pokémon, I feel like this is an interactive exhibit that is worth checking out.
When can I visit the Pokémon Fossil Museum?
You can visit the Pokémon Fossil Museum during the regular Field Museum hours. However, it is important to keep in mind that they have timed entry due to the popularity of this exhibit. My friends and I went on a Tuesday morning shortly after the Field Museum opened and things were very quiet. If you were to go on a weekend or during peak travel season, it would be much busier and that timed entry would be crucial to being able to enjoy the Pokémon Fossil Museum. This exhibit is only at the Field Museum for a limited time and will be on view through April 11, 2027.
Purchasing Tickets for the Pokémon Fossil Museum
Advance tickets are required for entry into the Pokémon Fossil Museum and they are a separate ticket from the general admission ticket for the Field Museum. The general admission ticket price for the Field Museum will vary based on things like occupation, residence, and age. My ticket was the $30 standard general admission because that was the one I was eligible for. The ticket for the Pokémon Fossil Museum is an add-on at a flat $18 for each visitor and includes a timed entry. You can see if a certain time is filling up more quickly or sold out, so this is helpful as you plan ahead of time if, like us, you are not ready to commit to purchasing tickets too far in advance but want to get a sense of what times and days are more popular than others. We purchased our tickets the night before without any issue. Again, this won't be the case if you are planning to visit the Pokémon Fossil Museum at a busier time.
Getting to the Field Museum
There are plenty of options for getting to the Field Museum. If you are a tourist, the Big Bus Tour stops at the Field Museum which is perfect if you are planning to start or end your bus tour from that location. Ride share or taxi are also convenient options along with Chicago's public transit system. If you are staying a bit closer to the Field Museum, it's super easy to take a nice walk or bike ride over while taking in beautiful views of the city. One of my friends was going to the airport after visiting the museum, so we all rode in her fiancé's car and parked in the garage that offers direct access to the Field Museum and Soldier Field. All that being said, it's very easy to get to the Field Museum and all at varying price points.
My Pokémon Fossil Museum Experience
As my friends and I entered the Pokémon Fossil Museum, we were each handed a package of trading cards featuring some of the Pokémon featured in the exhibit which was such a fun surprise! Once inside, the exhibit kicks off with a little of history about Pokémon's early video game days along with the basics about Poké Balls, and fan-favorite Pokémon through the years. Getting hit with an instant wave of nostalgia helped set the tone for us and our excitement continued to grow as we prepared to make our way through the exhibit.
Additionally, there is a bit of an introduction on how to navigate the Pokémon Fossil Museum. There were some signs with a blue background and others with a red background. These colors were a nod to the early days of Pokémon and also distinguished the different types of fossils: red for real fossils and blue for Pokémon fossils.
Throughout the Pokémon Fossil Museum, there are life size sculptures of Pokémon that added to my nostalgia for the anime and my memories as a kid of wondering what life would be like if the cute pocket monsters were real. I loved the way the exhibit was curated to position real world fossils alongside the Pokémon they inspired! It was a great example of how art imitates life and gives the exhibit an education component that I wasn't anticipating, but really appreciated.
The blending of the real fossils and Pokémon felt seamless and provided a new way to make learning about ancient organisms fun. It even includes a special connection to Sue, the T-Rex on view at the Field Museum! I won't give away too much about the featured Pokémon in this exhibit in case you're planning to visit, but I have a couple of photos to give you a better visual of what I'm describing.
Another highlight of the Pokémon Fossil Museum is the encouragement of visitors to interact with the artifacts and sculptures on view. There is plenty of space to take photos from multiple angles with the Pokémon and fossils on display. Some smaller items closer to chest or eye level included signs letting you know what visitors could touch to feel the texture of the rock and shape of the organism that made the fossil. There was even an opportunity to simulate a small archaeological dig to get a sense of what it's like to extract a fossil along some additional interactive displays as we neared the exit. This was such a unique exhibit with something that would capture the attention of visitors regardless of age and level of interest in Pokémon!
Pokémon Fossil Museum Gift Shop
After exiting the Pokémon Fossil Museum, there is a dedicated gift shop on the opposite side the Field Museum main hall. You will be handed a time-stamped ticket as you walk out of the exhibit and that will be used as your entry ticket for the gift shop. You are limited to a total of 5 items to purchase from the gift shop, and that includes the one exclusive Excavator Pikachu plushie that each customer can purchase for $40 that is only available at the register. I didn't really want to spend too much money on souvenirs, so I bought a Pokéball-themed notebook and a package of magnetic bookmarks that I could easily store in my mini backpack for the duration of the day as I ventured around Chicago. I paid about $30 in total and these were the only souvenirs I purchased during this trip.
Once I completed my gift shop purchases, I focused some time and energy on Pokémon Go, catching the increased spawns of the Pokémon featured in the Pokémon Fossil Museum. There was also a series of special research tasks to complete in the game that were associated with the exhibit along with raids and pokéstops that were associated with the Pokémon Fossil Museum. We spent a little bit of time checking out other exhibits at the Field Museum before returning to the main hall to play more Pokémon Go before it was time for our group say some goodbyes and part ways for the remainder of our trip to Chicago.
Wrap-Up
I went into the Pokémon Fossil Museum with little to no expectations because I intentionally avoided seeing anything more about it beyond the one video my friend sent as I was mapping out suggestions for our itinerary. It felt like I was being transported into a world of nostalgia and it was such an inviting experience. The exhibit offers an opportunity to connect Pokémon that fans have come to know and love to their real-life ancient inspirations in a way shared about fossils and archaeology that I never thought was possible.
I walked away with trading cards, useful souvenirs, and Pokémon Fossil Museum exclusives in Pokémon Go! If you are a Pokémon fan, the Pokémon Fossil Museum is something that I would consider to be a must-see and must-do activity in Chicago. I'd actually return to this special exhibition if I find myself in Chicago again before April 11 because I enjoyed it so much during this visit.
However, my next trip to Chicago that I have been actively planning for a few months will come a little later in 2027 feature a different museum in the city. Can you guess which one? Stay tuned to get the answer in the months ahead!
Comments