Pokemon Rumble U, the game revealed in Japan earlier this year as Pokemon Scramble U, is coming to North America via the eShop on August 29 for $17.99. Nintendo's answer to the Skylanders series features collectible figurines that interact with the Wii U's Near Field Communication (NFC) feature.

The story begins as a set of Pokemon toys get swept downriver on their way to delivery. The displaced toys set out to find their way back to the toy shop, but along the way discover that some toy Pokemon out in the world have formed factions and begun fighting amongst themselves. Naturally, your toys do the heroic thing and try to figure out what the evil toys are up to.

Obviously, the toys play a role in the story, which makes for the rationale to sell real life figurines. GameStop stores will sell eighteen Pokemon figures for the game, including Pikachu, Victini, Deoxys, Eevee, and Genesect. They'll cost $3.99 each, and are sold in concealed capsules so you never know what you're going to get. The announcement calls them optional, so you could potentially play the game without ever buying a figure. If you do get one, you can level them up and change their moves, and the data will be stored in the NFC figure.

Pokemon Rumble U features all 649 existing Pokemon, not counting however many are being added in Pokemon X and Y. You can also take part in multiplayer battles with three co-op partners.