Pokémon Black and White Sampling Tour
The Pokémon Black and White Sampling Tour was a promotional tour that took place in early 2011 in the United States and Canada. The purpose of the event was to promote the upcoming release of Pokémon Black and White Versions in North America.
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United States
The United States leg of the Pokémon Black and White Sampling Tour stopped in 13 of the 48 contiguous states: Washington, Ohio, California, Tennessee, Indiana, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Florida. Altogether, the tour ran through most of February and March of 2011. The primary focus of the tour was to promote playable demos of the upcoming Pokémon Black and White, although there were several other activities for fans to participate in. Generally, the tour stops were held in local shopping malls. Event-exclusive merchandise, otherwise only sold at Japanese Pokémon Centers, was available for purchase at tour stops as well.
The Stamp Rally, a type of scavenger hunt, ran at the event. In the Stamp Rally, attendees were given a booklet with 5 spots for stamps: Reshiram, Zekrom, Tepig, Snivy and Oshawott. To collect all five stamps, fans had to visit every section of the event: the Information Booth (where the booklets were issued), Video Game Experience (where the game demos were situated), Pokémon Center (where the merchandise was sold), Activity Zone, and GameStop (where the Celebi event was being distributed). After collecting all five stamps, attendees had the opportunity to collect a special prize, chosen at random by a spinning wheel.
Other activities were held at the Activity Zone, such as photo opportunities and screenings of Pokémon anime episodes. Attendees were also given the opportunity to obtain tickets to a movie theater screening of the thirteenth movie, generally at a theater in the vicinity of the mall the event was held at.
Dates and locations
| Date | Location |
|---|---|
| February 5-6, 2011 | Seattle, Washington |
| February 5-6, 2011 | Cleveland, Ohio |
| February 12-13, 2011 | San Jose, California |
| February 12-13, 2011 | Memphis, Tennessee |
| February 19-20, 2011 | Los Angeles, California |
| February 19-20, 2011 | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| February 26-27, 2011 | Denver, Colorado |
| February 26-27, 2011 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| March 4-5, 2011 | New York City, New York |
| March 5-6, 2011 | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| March 12-13, 2011 | Dallas, Texas |
| March 12-13, 2011 | Atlanta, Georgia |
| March 19-20, 2011 | Phoenix, Arizona |
| March 19-20, 2011 | Jacksonville, Florida |
Canada
The Canadian leg of the Pokémon Black and White Sampling Tour stopped in two cities - Burnaby, British Columbia and Mississauga, Ontario. The main focus of the tour was the opportunity for players to try gameplay demos of Pokémon Black and White before their release in Canada.
Other activities on the tour included face painting (attendees could have their face painted to look like either Pikachu or Victini), free colouring pages and photo opportunities with staff dressed as Pokémon characters such as Pikachu. Many activities from the United States leg of the tour, such as the Stamp Rally and purchasable Pokémon Center merchandise, was not available at the Canadian stops. There were also no movie theatre screenings of movie 13 in Canada.
Dates and locations
| Date | Location |
|---|---|
| February 12-13, 2011 | Burnaby, British Columbia |
| February 19 and 21, 2011 | Mississauga, Ontario |
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This article is part of Project Real-Life, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on Pokémon activities and events experienced in the real world. |