LEGO Pokémon Sets Are Coming And They're Interactive

Pokémon fans have been anxiously awaiting this collab for years, and it seems like it was worth the wait. The first wave includes 12 sets for builders 6 and up, with fan favourites including Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, Gengar, Eevee, Mewtwo and Umbreon.

The big twist is LEGO’s new SMART Play system, powered by the SMART Brick. New LEGO SMART Bricks respond to kids' play with light, sound and motion, all without a screen. So instead of just building your Pokémon and parking it on a shelf, kids can actually interact with it and get reactions back.

What LEGO Pokémon SMART Bricks do

That means kids can feed Pikachu a brick-built sandwich, tickle Charizard and get a laugh, or play out training and battle moments that trigger sounds, lights and other responses. So the more kids play, the more the sets feel like part toy, part little Pokémon sidekick.

There are two kinds of sets in the launch. The All-in-One sets come with everything needed for the full SMART Play experience, including at least one SMART Brick, a charger and SMART Tags. The compatible sets expand that play, adding SMART Tags and new storylines, but they do not include a SMART Brick of their own.

The two All-in-One headline sets are Training House with Pikachu, a 400-piece set for ages 6 and up, and Charizard vs. Jolteon Ultimate Battle, a 751-piece set for ages 8 and up. The Pikachu set lets kids nurture, feed, train and battle their Pokémon, while the Charizard set is built around a big face-off, with healing spray, training grounds and two SMART Bricks for even more interactive play.

The rest of the lineup is built around role play, too. Kids can:

• Make a berry smoothie for Bulbasaur and Bidoof
• Take Squirtle for a ride in a beach buggy
• Send a drone out to search for Mew
• Put Jigglypuff on stage for a concert
• Go treasure hunting with Eevee and Lapras
• Recreate Mewtwo breaking out of its lab tank
• Stage a spooky Cubone and Gengar showdown

LEGO is also offering a gift with purchase called Ditto as Squirtle: Movie Night with select set purchases, while supplies last. The set includes a SMART Tag, and if kids already have a SMART Brick from one of the All-in-One sets, they can use it to unlock lights, sounds, and other interactive reactions in the Ditto build, too.

This article was crafted with the assistance of an AI language model. The final content was reviewed and edited by a human and reflects the editorial judgment and expertise of Today's Parent.