Pokémon is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a national mall tour that will send top video game players to New York for the first-ever Pokémon national video game championships.
The Pokémon Journey Across America tour kicks off Feb. 25 and will include live costume characters, arts and crafts stations, a Pokemon Trading Card Game play area, character downloads for Pokémon video games and a 10th anniversary lounge that will offer fans a look back at the franchise and a sneak peek at upcoming product launches. The tour, which kicks off Feb. 25 in Miami, also makes stops at Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston and New York.
Under the tour, fans can compete in two age groups—12 and under and 13 and up—to qualify for the finals at the Pokémon Video Game National Championships in New York. Kids must pre-qualify for the event online at Pokemon.com.
The top competitor from each age group at each tour will fly to New York in August to vie for the championship title. The championship location has not yet been announced. Alloy Media + Marketing’s AMP agency, New York, handles the tour’s execution. The agency is working with Pokémon USA on creative development.
“It’s a great way to reach the core Pokémon audience,” Pete D’Andrea, Alloy’s VP-sponsorship and events, said of the tour. “It’s built to be a destination where…kids can experience what Pokémon is all about, have a lot of fun and celebrate the 10th anniversary.”
Online materials, mall signage and in-school media support.
Pokémon was first created as a video game in Japan for the Nintendo Game Boy system that taught kids sportsmanship and teamwork. In October 1996, the Pokémon Trading Card Game was introduced into the Pokémon world. Two years later, Pokémon fever hit the U.S.
Pokémon will celebrate its 10th anniversary with other events in 2006, including with a one-hour TV special called The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon on Kids WB in April and the release of the eighth Pokémon movie, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
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