Lego launches smart Pokémon sets that you can battle with

If you grew up with both Lego and Pokémon, this one's for you.

Announced at SXSW London on Tuesday, a new Pokémon range will be the latest addition to the Lego Smart Play ecosystem. The interactive technology was revealed by the toy company at CES in January, with a range of Star Wars sets.

Available for pre-order starting today and set for release in August, the Lego Pokémon Smart Play collection aims to make Pokémon Trainers of a new generation, involving 12 new sets with interactive Pokémon, including Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and more. And every single Pokémon in the collection can battle each other. Or just sleep and eat sandwiches, whichever you're more into.

Each Pokémon, which must be built from Lego blocks and equipped with a Smart Block, can be trained to battle others by physically connecting them with Smart Tags within each set. The more trained a Pokémon is, the better chance it has at winning a battle.

How do you start a battle? Hold the Pokémon up to the training dummy, and bring two Pokémon close together (you can hear the music change). Then, you essentially air high-five the Pokémon to attack and draw them back to defend, shake the Pokémon for charged strikes, and lights and sounds will indicate which Pokémon won. I do worry children will accidentally smash their Pokémon into each other, but Lego's pretty tough stuff.

You can also feed the Pokémon Lego sandwiches embedded with Lego Smart Tags, or you can put them to bed for a nap — and with each action, small sounds emit from the Pokémon. Pikachu giggles when you tickle them, Squirtle relishes a good sandwich, and Charizard roars when you zoom them around in the air. It's genuinely delightful.

The new Lego Pokémon Smart Play sets come as 12 "all-in-one" sets (which include one Lego Smart Brick, charger, and Smart Tags) or as "compatible" sets (which come without the Smart Brick and charger, but you can install Smart Bricks with any of the Pokémon in these sets).

There's a Pikachu-inspired tree house set, with a tiny Lego Poké Ball you need to catch Pikachu with by hitting a smart target. There's an impressive Mewtwo lab, a Charizard vs. Jolteon battle arena, a Jigglypuff concert space, a Bulbasaur and Bidoof berry-themed set, a beach buggy for Squirtle, a cavern set with Charmander and Geodude, a spooky house for Cubone and Gengar, and more, all with their own extra features like treasure chests and trophies to uncover.

The Lego Pokémon will launch in the U.S., UK, Australia, Poland, Germany, and France in August. Prices range from $69.99 to $119.99 for the bigger all-in-one sets, and $14.99 to $89.99 for the compatible sets, with pre-orders now open.