With Nintendo looking to jump into NFC gameplay a la the immensely popular Skylanders series, or the upcoming Disney Infinity, their new experiment in the Pokémon series does come with a nice bonus, at least for those looking to really go out there and "catch 'em all."

In an update from Serebii, the figurines and toys used to unlock new Pokémon for play in Pokémon Rumble U will be completely region-free, allowing players to use figures from any country on any version of the game internationally. Granted, you will still have to either make a trip to Japan or Europe, or import, if you're looking for those super secret or rare Pokémon, but collecting those several hundred Pokémon figures should at least be significantly easier now that there is no region-locking on the actual figures.

Pokémon Rumble U releases for Wii U on August 29th, 2013 in the US.