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The Scouting Report is a blog posting where it details the days Director Kunihiko Yuyama and his team visited the country used as the basis of the Pocket Monsters movie for the year. The blog was hosted on the official Japanese Pocket Monsters movie website. This time, the blog discusses the team's trip to Dubai to collect material to use in the 18th movie.

Entries

• Part 1: To the Desert City! (2015/4/17)
• Part 2: Baptism by Fiery Heat and the Marble Mosque (2015/4/23)
• Part 3: The Persian Gulf and Arabian Life Now and Then (2015/4/30)
• Part 4: Gold Coffee and the Water of Life (2015/5/7)
• Part 5: To Old Dubai! (2015/5/14)
• Part 6: Arabian Surprises (2015/5/21)
• Part 7: Souks! Souks! Souks! (2015/5/28)
• Part 8: Prayer and Sunset (2015/6/5)
• Part 9: Into the Desert (2015/6/11)
• Part 10: The Desert of the Red Sand (2015/6/19)
• Part 11: The Burj Khalifa and World Records (2015/6/25)
• Part 12: The Fjords of the Middle East (2015/7/2)
• Part 13: Palm Jumeirah and the Valley of Buildings (2015/7/9)
• Final Part: The Location Scouting is Done (2015/7/16)

Part 1: To the Desert City! (2015/4/17)

Pokémon the Movie XY 2: "The Archdjinni of Rings: Hoopa" premieres this summer.
It's set in "Désser City", a desert city.
We wanted Desser City to be an urban city lined with tall, modern buildings despite being surrounded by desert.

The place Director Yuyama chose to collect material from for this movie was "Dubai".
Dubai is a big city located in the middle of a flat desert, overlooking the Persian Gulf!
It's a leading city in terms of both trade, transport and tourism and is lined with huge skyscrapers, including the famous "Burj Khalifa", the tallest building in the world.



But what kind of journey did we have while location scouting?
If you read this report while picturing the scenes you've seen from "The Archdjinni of Rings: Hoopa", you might enjoy the movie even more.



Before we set off to Dubai, let's talk a little about the city:

Dubai is one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The UAE is what we call a "federal state", a country that consists of a total of 7 individual emirates, including Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Dubai holds world records in a number of fields!
In addition to being the location of the world's tallest building, as mentioned earlier (the Burj Khalifa), it also has the world's largest fountain, the world's largest artificial island, and the list goes on...!
It takes advantage of being the best in the world at so many things and has become a global tourist destination and a major resort city.

"A dazzling city-state filled with skyscrapers, Dubai can proudly proclaim itself the single most prosperous place in the Middle East (source: Wikipedia)"

Wow, that's so cool!
It's a desert metropolis.

The scouting team, led by Director Yuyama, set off for Dubai in mid-September, while the previous movie, "The Cocoon of Destruction and Diancie" was still screening in theaters.
At 30 minutes past midnight, they boarded Flight EK313 from Haneda to the Emirates for their approx. 11 hour 30 minutes ride.

They arrived at Dubai International Airport at 6:15am local time, nearly exactly on schedule.

Part 2: Baptism by Fiery Heat and the Marble Mosque (2015/4/23)

After an 11 hour 30 minute plane trip, the scouting team finally arrived in Dubai.
The local time at their arrival was 6:15am.

The instant we exited the airport, the sunlight hit us with such intensity it felt like our skin was being scorched!
It's still early morning, but the temperature was already so high it felt like we were in a sauna!
This is when really hit us that we had truly come to a desert country.
In order to avoid the heat, we immediately headed for the air-conditioned bus!
The first day of the scouting had started.

The bus followed the highway towards Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
As we were driving along, the "Burj Khalifa" soon came into sight through the window!
The bus drove through the skyscraper-lined urban center of Dubai for a little bit, but soon set off to the undeveloped semidesert. And after a short drive through that, it arrived in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.


Unlike Dubai, which has developed thanks to trade and tourism, Abu Dhabi has become prosperous through its oil resources.

Abu Dhabi is also an active player when it comes to countermeasures against global warming, as we could tell from the many green trees we could see through the windows.
Looking at this scenery through the windows of an airconditioned bus almost made us forget we were in a desert country.


The scouting team's first destination was the "Sheikh Zayed Mosque".

This is said to be the largest mosque in the world, and feels almost like a marble palace.
We stepped out of the bus, taking in the majesty of the mosque, when... Ow, the heat!

As we exited the bus, Yuyama's glasses fogged up and the thermometer showed almost 40 degrees Celsius!
Again, it was still morning, but the heat and humidity was already well beyond what you'd consider an extremely hot day in Japan.
And the temperature just seemed to rise more and more throughout the day all the way until the afternoon...

We firmly inscribed our guide's instructions to "Always carry water with you" into our minds, then set off for the mosque!


The Sheikh Zayed Mosque was made using both traditional Islamic design and modern architectural technology.
It's a relatively new building, created during the turn of the century.
Known as the world's largest mosque, it's about the size of three soccer fields and has room for 40 000.
This is one of the few mosques in the world to admit non-Muslims, and it has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in Abu Dhabi.

That said, this is still a place of worship.
Shoes are forbidden, so all visitors are required to place their shoes in the provided shoe rack before entering the building.
Likewise, women are required to wear black ethnic costumes called "Abaya" to conceal their skin and hair.
Our guide was familiar with this practice and put on her abaya in no time.


The extravagant appearance of the mosque isn't just limited to its exterior.
As we entered the building, we were greeted by an enormous chandelier.
Not only that, but a massive Persian carpet, said to be the largest in the world, spread out across the entire floor.
The absolutely stunning floral pattern brightened up the entire hall!


When we looked closer at the carpet, we could see an elevated portion in the form of a line, which practitioners line up against to perform Salāt, Muslim prayer.
When lined up here, they face in the direction of Mecca, the holy place of Islam.

You can't fully understand something without trying it, so after hearing these explanations, Director Yuyama attempted such a prayer himself.

Part 3: The Persian Gulf and Arabian Life Now and Then (2015/4/30)

Having left the "Sheikh Zayed Mosque", the team once again set off by bus.
As we were on our way towards our next destination, the historical museum "Heritage Village", we took a short stop at the coastline near "Breakwater Road" in order to get some material of the skyline.


From the park here, you have a view on the beautiful blue of the Persian Gulf.
Across the water, the buildings of central Abu Dhabi line the shore.
Three of them tower especially high above the others.
These are the three buildings that make up the skyscraper complex of "Central Market", where we'll be going later this afternoon.

The other buildings seem small at first glance, but it's really just because those three towers are so much larger than everything else in the area.
Compared to the dazzling atmosphere of Dubai, Abu Dhabi is somewhat more relaxed.
As the sea spreads out before us, it feels like we're looking at desert cities from a different angle.


This heat, though...
We saw absolutely no one other than us walking around outside.
Our only companions were the flags the UAE are so proud of, which could be seen flapping calmly in the wind under the cloudless sky all over.


The team then continued on to the historical museum "Heritage Village" to see the sights.
This is a place where you can learn about Abu Dhabi's history and cutural heritage, as well as historical Arabian lifestyle.
On exhibit are recreations of encampments and "souks" (markets) and displays of the creations of iron smiths, glasscrafters and leatherworkers, etc.
This museum taught us a lot about life in Arabia prior to the prosperous development that occurred when they started drilling for oil.


From a park scorched by blazing sunlight to exhibition facilities!
We thought the facilities would be cool and refreshing,but they were almost like steam baths...!
Nearly dizzy from the heat and constantly sweating, we had lunch at a restaurant at the premises.
The scouting team's first meal ended up being a full-fledged Arabian buffet.

Part 4: Gold Coffee and the Water of Life (2015/5/7)

After lunch, we went straight back to the bus.
The next place we would be scouting in was the five star hotel called "Emirates Palace".

"Emirates Palace" is a luxury hotel that truly lives up to the word "palace" in its name!!
Its interior is absolutely dazzling. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything is glittering like gold!
If the "Sheikh Zayed Mosque" was a marble palace, this is a gold palace!

The scouting team would of course be staying the night here!
...or so we'd wish, but we were unfortunately just here to visit.
We gathered a lot of material on the luxurious interior, and since we were already there anyway, we dropped by the hotel café, another famous tourist spot.

The café's specialty is something called "Gold Coffee", cappuccino with flakes of gold put in it, which made us feel a bit upper-class.
We were sitting here in a hotel made of marble and gold and the coffee we drank was a delicious cappuccino that tasted of gold.


Also, this hotel features the world's first vending machine for gold, called "GOLD to go"!
Since the market price for gold constantly fluctuates, this vending machine also has a system displaying the current gold price, which updates in real time.

One member of the team is a newlywed, and he started considering making a purchase "as a present for the wife!" as the others cheered him on, but he managed to keep his cool...
In the end, we left the hotel without anyone buying anything.

After this rest at the air-conditioned "Emirates Palace", the scouting continued.
Searching for places we could base the streets of "Désser City", the movie's setting, on, we walked around central Abu Dhabi.
After seeing the view from "Corniche Road", we walked across the modern park space of "Lake Park" to "World Trade Center Souk".


After a quick study of the structures and appearances of the buildings in the modern marketplace "World Trade Center Souk", we continued on to "Ittihad Square".

"Ittihad Square" is a mysterious park lined with giant, ivory white monuments like a "coffee pot" and an "incense burner".
These monuments are modeled after presents traditionally given by wealthy Arabs.


Finally, we set off for the last place we were going to scout today, "Sheikh Zayed Stadium".
This is a colossal stadium that accommodates about 50 000 people and hosts numerous regular-season soccer games, as well as concerts, motor shows and the like.

The field is made of genuine grass. Japanese stadiums supposedly won't always let you onto the field, but we had no problems with that here.
The art staff on our team was thrilled and, after walking onto it, started snapping pictures of the field surface.


We finished our scouting at the stadium at 5pm.
We then set off towards our hotel in Abu Dhabi, our first scouting day successfully completed.

We were completely exhausted, with just the slightest bit of movement conjuring up a stream of sweat!
Throughout the day, the scouting team had started referring to mineral water as "The Water of Life".
This first day truly made us realize the importance of proper hydration.

Part 5: To Old Dubai! (2015/5/14)

It's morning on the second day of the scouting.
This day we checked out of the hotel at 9am.
As we started our scouting, the weather was nice and there was not a single cloud in the sky.
It looked like this would be another day where "The Water of Life" would be essential to us.

We had spent our first day collecting material in Abu Dhabi, which is next to Dubai.
Today, we were finally going to Dubai itself!
Even here in Dubai, there are old parts of city that aren't filled with glittering buildings.
As such, we set off to Old Dubai, going "deep" into Midde East culture.

The team was headed to "Bastakiya quarter", located along the "Dubai Creek" that flows through central Dubai.
This is a place established as a "historic preservation district" in order to preserve Dubai's history and lets you see a landscape filled to the brim with the exotic atmosphere of the Middle East as you tour it.


Our first stop was "Dubai Museum".
This is the oldest building in all of Dubai, built in 1787.
It was originally known as "Al Fahidi Fort" and was a fort set up to protect against invasions by neighbour tribes. It later served as both the ruler's palace and a prison, among other things, before finally getting converted into its current function as a museum in 1971.


The building itself displays a number of panels and realistic wax figures describing the history of Dubai's development.
Outside, they have a building made from the trunks and leaves of date palms, a model of a marketplace and a wooden cargo ship called a dhow.
Well, this is definitely something we can put in the movie.


There was also a traditional Arab building equipped with a characteristic "wind tower".
A rather unique tower-like structure sticks out of the roof, a construction that sends the cool wind blowing along the walls into the building.
It's natural air conditioning!
When we entered this building... we were actually able to feel a faint breeze.

After leaving the museum, we toured the "Bastakiya quarter" itself. The old townscape has been left as is here, so we were able to see real wind towers on the buildings.
Even in the actual city itself, there are replica wind towers. They stand out from the skyscrapers and really help shape the atmospheric cityscape.

Part 6: Arabian Surprises (2015/5/21)

We finished our trip to the museum just in time for lunch.
Since we had just been looking at a historic townscape, we decided to get some traditional UAE cuisine, "Emirati food".

As we entered the restaurant, we were shown to the second floor, where there was improved air circulation due to the wind, and into a room where a carpet was spread out across the floor.
A man dressed in a white outfit called a "kandura" and a woman dressed in a black outfit called an "abaya" were acting as our waiters.


First of all, we were given Arabic coffee infused with saffron, served in small cups resembling sake cups.
We also got dried dates to go with it.

Serving coffee in these small cups sends the message of "drink as much as you want".
When we had drunk the coffee in the cup, we could hold it out, and the male waiter would refill it for us as many times as we wanted.
This is a traditional expression of welcoming shown to travelers who had come in from the desert.


The main dishes we were given were spiced chicken and fish cooked with rice, served with curry and the like.
For dessert, we had deep fried pastries that resembled holeless donuts.
Hoopa would've probably enjoyed these!

UAE cuisine consists of rice, curry and such mixed together, and the authentic Arabian way is to eat it with your hands.
Of course, the scouting team were up for that challenge!
I see, this way the tastes really get mixed properly together, making it even more delicious!

...

After the meal, we sat down to talk for a bit.
When we told our female waiter we were there to scout for the Pokémon movie, she told us that she used to watch the Pokémon anime as a kid!
This sure was an unexpected surprise in a faraway country like this!

Excited, one of the team members decided to give her a present; some roasted green tea that had been brought along from home.
A glass of cold water was produced and the tea was added to it and served to her with the English words "Japanese tea".
Apparently ice tea isn't very common to drink in Arabia, so this moment held an unexpected surprise to both us and her!



Once she tried the tea, she thought it tasted delicious!

Part 7: Souks! Souks! Souks! (2015/5/28)

Later that evening, we crossed Dubai Creek as we collected material on the various souks.
"Souks" is what they call the markets here.
Some of them are quite modern, like the "World Trade Center Souk" we visited on our first day here, but this day we were going to visit souks that still carried the atmosphere of yesteryear.


Our first destination was "Old Souk"!
This is a souk lined with stores selling cloth and fabrics, and is also known under the name "Textile Souk".
It was also filled with souvenir stores, and we had to fend off persistent barkers as we made our way through the narrow arcade.


Past the arcade was a wharf.
Here, we crossed Dubai Creek with a water taxi-like ferry called an "abra".
It was a simple wooden boat equipped with nothing but back-to-back benches, a small roof providing shadow and a cockpit seat in the middle.

Since you have to go a bit upstream until you find a bridge crossing Dubai Creek, these ferries are the standard transport across for the people living here in the area.


The ferry took us across the creek, to the area called "Deira".
By going down Al Khor Street, we arrived at "Spice Souk", which is filled with stores selling spice!
This is an arcade lined with spices, seasonings, herbs and nuts, bustling with an ethnic mood.


Our last stop was at "Gold Souk"!
When we entered the market arcade, the first store we saw was displaying "the largest gold ring in the world"!
Not only that, but every store was cramped full with gold jewelry...!!
Looking at this heavily yellow gold felt almost like watching a cartoon. It was a veritable treasure chamber!
This sight would've definitely made the Rocket Gang trio overjoyed!

Part 8: Prayer and Sunset (2015/6/5)

Having finished gathering material this second day of the scouting, the team set off for the hotel we would be staying the night at, which was located by the creek.
After checking in, we took a short rest, then decided to head back out to central Dubai again to get some more material, focusing particularly on the sunset.

Our guide took us to the rooftop parking lot of a nearby building at "Baniyas Road", which ran alongside the creek.
From here, we had a great view of both the creek and the part of central Dubai stretching out on the other side of it.


Looking downwards at the creek, we could see a huge number of both "abras", the boats we had used to cross the creek earlier that day, and "dhows", the wooden cargo ships we had seen at Dubai Museum, lie anchored.

The scene playing out before our eyes, with cargo being vigorously loaded and unloaded between the ships and the riverside, is one that has taken place constantly since the olden days of Dubai, a city that has developed the way it has by being a center of intermediary trade.
This scene really let us feel the power of the working man and the everyday life in Dubai, a sight completely separate from the economic zones and tourist traps of the modernized city we had experienced so far.


Just then, it was time for sunset prayer, and we heard voices of Muslim praying resound through the city.
One of the people joining in was a person conducting his prayer on top of one of the ships, whom we observed for a while.
Our team watched Dubai slowly grow dark across the creek as the sun set, listening attentively to the praying voices.


When we had finished our dinner, it was already as late as 10pm! And we were going to depart at 4am tomorrow!!
We double checked our plans for tomorrow, then went off to our separate rooms for the night.

The third day we were finally going out into the desert!

Part 9: Into the Desert (2015/6/11)

It's the third day of the scouting.
The team gathered in the hotel lobby at 4am!
We were going to set off before daybreak so we could view the sunrise in the desert from the sky.
That's right: We were going to participate in a "balloon tour" through the desert!

We set off, with boxed breakfast meals we had asked the hotel to prepare for us in hand!
After a short drive down the freeway, we soon arrived at the edge of the desert.
It was still pitch black all around us when we got out of the car.
Nevertheless, the heat of the desert sand seeped into our bodies.

The flame from the burner flickered through the darkness, heating the balloon and gradually inflating it...
Finally it was time to board it! We jumped into the gondola, which reached us roughly to our chests.
The balloon instantly rose into the air despite carrying both the scouting team and that day's group of tourists: 22 people in all! Wow!
The people, city and roads immediately turned into small dots and lines constantly moving further and further away from us.


That view of the desert, though!
We heard astounded voices from all throughout the gondola.
And in the middle of all that excitement, the members of the scouting team had their eyes firmly fixed on the desert, taking reference photos.

Occasionally, the cockpit below the balloon would let out a roaring sound from the burner loud enough to completely drown out people's voices!
The flame and heat from it would adjust the balloon's ascent and descent, so when it seemed like the balloon was getting close to the desert, it would once again rise upwards into the sky. When we were near the surface, we could observe how the sand dunes looked, and when we were high in the sky, we were able to experience the winds and the panoramic view of the desert.

As we kept rising and descending over and over again, daybreak was upon us before we knew it.


The sky was colored in a gradient ranging from indigo to madder red.
We were completely surrounded by a 360 degree view of a majestic desert and a sky dyed in the colors of sunrise.
This thoroughly satisfying view stretched out as far as the eye could see.


"Doesn't riding in this balloon almost make you feel like the Rocket Gang from the TV series!?"
Thinking of how the Rocket Gang gets hit by Pikachu's Thunderbolt and blasted off along with their balloon almost every episode, the feature film's writer Tomioka utters words of appreciation for them.
Maybe this trip will make us change how we write the Rocket Gang from here on!?

When the balloon landed, the dazzling, low sun was lighting up the surrounding area, growing increasingly brighter.

Part 10: The Desert of the Red Sand (2015/6/19)

After the balloon trip, the scouting team returned to the hotel again.
Since we had left very early that morning, we rested there until noon.
Wanting to get even more out of the desert, we went into the red sand regions that afternoon.
This was truly going to be day dedicated to the desert.

We rode in five land cruisers, and set off to an area further southeast from the place we had been riding the balloon through that morning!
From the cars, we could see the red desert area come into view.


Once we got there, we had to leave the cars as our drivers started making preparations for going further into the desert. This was done by taking the air out of the tires!
This is a clever method to prevent the tires from getting stuck in the soft sand.

We gently touched the desert sand, and indeed - the grains felt fine and soft.
The desert we saw from the balloon had a whitish color, but the desert sand in this area contained iron, which gave it a red color.

While we were waiting for the drivers to finish their preparations, we took a short walk through the area, spotting some Sodom's Apples blooming all by themselves at the entrance to the desert.


Once the preparations on all five cars were done, we once again got on board. Let's Driving!
The cars were roaring around in all directions, up and down the trackless path, making us feel like we were on an amusement park ride.
The guidebook was definitely right when it said "motion sickness pills are a must!"
Our bodies were constantly shaking from this thrilling(?) off-road drive.

When the cars finally stopped, we found ourselves on top of a sand dune that stretched on all the way into the horizon.


For some reason, this all felt very strange.
The scenery was such a sharp contrast from our everyday life that we felt like we'd entered a painting.
Yet there we were, very much standing in that landscape.

It was a completely silent world.
The soft sand was delicately dancing about in the air, piling up on the camera.
Despite constantly worrying about sand getting into the lens, we were enthusiastically snapping photos of the patterns the wind had drawn in the sand.
We wanted to get footage of the sun setting into the desert as well, so we started our trip back towards the desert entrance in good time so we'd make sure to get there for that.


Just like our trip into the desert, our trip back consisted of wild and crazy off-road driving.
Brimming with hospitality, the drivers were eager to a point where we wondered if they weren't overdoing it, but eventually one of the cars got its tires stuck in the sand!
We somehow managed to escape... or so we thought, but shortly after we were stuck again!! This time the car had fallen completely into a valley of sand dunes.
By the time we finally managed to pull the car loose with a rope, it had become dark all around us.


We left out a breath of relief as we left the desert and got back onto a paved road again.
It was pitch black all around us, and we were really happy we weren't left out in the desert right now.
It really felt like we had returned to the real world again.

Part 11: The Burj Khalifa and World Records (2015/6/25)

It's the fourth day of scouting.
Our first destination was the roof of an apartment complex near the hotel we were staying at.
This was the highest building in the neighborhood and gave us a 360 degree view of the streets of Dubai.


Beyond the apartment complexes and commercial buildings, we could see strangely shaped skyscrapers rise up in the distance.
When we turned towards the sea, we could see the artificial archipelago Palm Jumeirah sitting in the Arabian Gulf.
Opposite of it, we saw the Emirates Towers.
And beyond that, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Today, we were finally going to go there.

We took the completely automatically run Dubai Metro to Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Station.

When we arrived there and got off the train, we could see the Burj Khalifa rising into the Heavens right before our eyes!
It looked soaring high from where we were standing, yet we still had a kilometer to walk before we'd get to it.
It's so high you end up loosing your sense of distance.


Wanting to avoid the scorching sunlight, we took the indoor route through Dubai Mall to the Burj Khalifa.

Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the entire world.
It's about 23 times the size of the Tokyo Dome!
The mall also houses the world's largest aquarium, Dubai Aquarium. This aquarium is so big even Kyogre would be able to swim comfortably in it.

As we were walking through the mall, we starting thinking about just how many world records Dubai actually has.
We then suddenly spotted the Guinness World Records displayed at the entrance to a book store!
It seems this is a question that ends up on everyone's minds...


We wandered around the Dubai Mall for a while.
Eventually, we somehow ended up at the foot of the Burj Khalifa.

"The Burj Khalifa"
The Burj Khalifa, or /ˈbɜrdʒ kəˈliːfə/ as English-speakers pronounce it, is the tallest building in the entire world.
Its total height is 828 meters!
This is the landmark of Dubai.
It design is based on a flower called Hymenocallis, which grows in the desert.

We were going scouting here today because it's possible to view the Dubai cityscape as the sun goes down and night falls from the Burj Khalifa observation deck.
The Burj Khalifa is at its busiest at this point of the day, so we had to struggle a bit to make it to the observation deck before sunset!
How was the view from the top of the world's tallest building going to be!?


Unfortunately, Dubai was suffering from a sandstorm that day.
The view we had been looking forward to was shrouded in a white blur.

While we were unable to see the the cityscape brilliantly shine in the sunset, the buildings towering inside the cloak of blowing sand gave the scene a mysterious and fascinating atmosphere.
We might base a scene in the movie on this experience.


Bit by bit, night fell, and as the lights in the city got turned on, the sandstorm cleared up in an instant, giving us a beautiful view of nighttime Dubai.

Part 12: The Fjords of the Middle East (2015/7/2)

It's the fifth day of scouting. Today we're leaving the UAE and taking a short trip to its neighboring country Oman.
We're going to the Musandam Peninsula, an "exclave" of Oman that juts into the Strait of Hormuz.

The Musandam Peninsula is also known as "The Fjords of the Middle East". We were going to collect material on its cliff-lined coastline from a boat out at sea.

We were told in advance that the boat would be rocking considerably. Motion sickness pills are a must! Being hungry doesn't help much against seasickness either, so we had a solid breakfast before departing!
After checking out of the hotel at 7am, we then set off for a city named Dibba, where the harbor was.


As the bus drove out of central Dubai, the Hajar mountains, which tower along the border between the UAE and Oman, came into view.
The bus drove at full speed along a road surrounded by rocky mountains for about two hours.
At last we reached the border.

This was our first "border crossing" on this scouting trip.
When the bus stopped at the checkpoint, we felt a sense of unrest...?
We weren't sure if it had to do with the current situation here or not, but it seemed like we might have to postpone our scouting in Oman.

All of us had to show our passports to prove our identity.
Then we got cleared!
After entering Oman territory, we made our way to Dibba without problems.


From there, we boarded a couple two-story dhows and set off into the glittering whitecaps of the Arabian Sea.
While songs filled with an exotic mood flowed through the air, the tall waves in the sea started violently rocking the boat.
We tried finding good ways to position ourselves as we were taking photos of the mighty fjords. Every now and then, we could feel something coming up from our stomachs...

Some of us were on a boat that could make sharper turns, and were thus able to cover the seaside caves and get photographs of the steep rock and sea landscapes there.


A short while later, we had finished gathering material and set off back towards the harbor, where the waves calmed down considerably.
In a stark contrast to the excited mood they had when we set off, the crew were really relaxed now that they had finished their work.
Being on board a ship that was being gently rocked like a giant cradle and tired from the many days of constant location scouting, some of our staff fell asleep there as well.

Part 13: Palm Jumeirah and the Valley of Buildings (2015/7/9)

It's the final day of scouting.
Yesterday we had finished the last bit of the scouting we had planned to do.
Thus, today we split up into smaller groups and went off to collect material on places we each personally wanted to see.

Director Yuyama strongly requested they go gather material on Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina.
Very many people think of Palm Jumeirah when they think of Dubai.
It's an artificial archipelago designed to look like a geoglyph of a palm tree.


To get to Palm Jumeirah, we set off for Jumeirah Monorail, the first monorail ever built in the Middle East.
It currently runs a single track from Gateway Station, located at "the base of the palm", to Atlantis Adventure Station, located at "the top of the palm".
Apparently most people in Dubai tend to drive cars, so the monorail doesn't get all that much use.
Therefore, the scouting team almost got an entire empty car all to themselves and were able to station themselves at the very front of the first car to take photos from ringside seats.


As the monorail drove up the "trunk" of Palm Jumeirah, a view you simply can't get from maps or aerial photos spread out beyond the windows.
As we approached the end station, we could see the palace-like hotel "Atlantis, The Palm" come into view. The rail continued on as if dodging the hotel, eventually reaching the end station.


After we got off the monorail, we wandered through the streets of Palm Jumeirah, making our way through the perimeter to a location where we could see Dubai Marina on the opposite shore.
when viewed from the opposite shore like this, the marina is surrounded by skyscrapers, all sporting distinctive designs.
We were surprised to learn that each and every one of them is a luxury apartment complex as tall as Tokyo Tower.


Getting back to Palm Jumeirah, the archipelago is really large in scale.
It's impossible to capture the overall picture of it just from walking around in it, so we once again set off, this time in order to get a view of it from the Dubai Marina.

Our guide led us to the restaurant on the 52nd floor of the Marriott Harbor Hotel in Dubai Marina.
From here we could view Palm Jumeirah from afar, as well as get a top-down view of the marina!
This was the first time on this journey we got to view such futuristic yet inorganic skyscrapers from a location right in the middle of them.
"This is what I wanted to see", one of the graphic designers said with delight.
Maybe we'll have the battle between the legendary Pokémon take place here, then!?


The idea to view the area from a ship then hit us, and we boarded a water taxi to collect material on the Dubai Marina as we weaved down the canal.
As the ship passed under a big bridge, we exited this valley of buildings glittering in light of the sun.


When we finally reached the harbor, the day was almost over and evening was approaching.
With this, the overtime scouting came to an end.


We returned to our hotel again, where all the other staff members had returned from their individual productive days as well.

There's only 9 days left until the movie premieres! The next report will be the final part.

Final Part: The Location Scouting is Done (2015/7/16)

It's been about a year since we performed our location scouting in Dubai, the Middle East metropolis.
In reality, the place is very far from the image you get from what you see and hear in the news regarding the unstable situation in the Middle East, public order is well maintained, and we were able to do our scouting in a well-developed cityscape.
That said, the place did feel very different from all the other countries we've been to so far in every respect.



"There's a massive difference between what we see and what we hear"

While these are Director Yuyama's personal words, he does believe all the members of the scouting team think the same.
I've never seen a desert outside of photos or video before. It's first when you stand in such a landscape you get a true feeling of what it's like, just like how it's first when I actually went to Dubai I got a sense of the heat and air in the city.
Likewise, I have now experienced firsthand what terms like "desert oasis" that we normally just toss casually around actually mean.



I also have to mention the many non-standard, futuristic skyscrapers.
Seeing a glittering metropolis like this appear right out of the middle of the desert felt almost like looking at a mirage.

The premiere of "The Archdjinni of Rings: Hoopa" is finally right around the corner.
It's a tale set in the desert city "Désser City", starring Hoopa, as well as Satoshi and Pikachu, and even a grand line-up of legendary Pokémon.
How will the many hints for the movie we obtained from the material gathered in Dubai show on screen, I wonder?



That's another thing those of you who enjoyed following this scouting report should have fun looking for as you watch the movie.

"The Archdjinni of Rings: Hoopa" finally premieres Saturday July 18th!

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