Pokémon Rumble U priced and dated for August

The Pokémon Company announced today that Pokémon Rumble U, the first Pokémon game exclusively for the Wii U, will be coming to North America on August 29. It will release alongside 18 figurines that can be scanned into the game using the Wii U's Near Field Communication feature.

"Pokémon Rumble U is the tale of a great adventure featuring Toy Pokémon, beginning when a delivery of Toy Pokémon is swept down a river and washes up on a strange riverbank," the Pokémon Company wrote. "Our bewildered Pokémon heroes set out to find their way back to the Toy Pokémon Shop. Along the way they discover all is not right. Players will learn why some of the Toy Pokémon are fighting each other, and what the enemy Pokémon are plotting."

The game will feature all 649 Pokémon from the series — not including the ones coming to X and Y — and lets up to four players play cooperatively or competitively at once.

Pokémon Rumble U will be available via the Nintendo eShop for $17.99. Individual Pokémon figurines will be sold separately and exclusively at GameStop for $3.99 each; however, the toys are merely optional and not required to actually play the game.