The Fitbit revival continues with a special edition Pokémon Air – available to pre-order now

Google has announced a special edition of the Fitbit Air, partnering with The Pokémon Company for the – deep breath – Google Fitbit Air Special Edition Pokémon Sleep.

The new tracker comes with a bespoke Pokémon design – including a custom silk label that puts a cute little, sleeping Pikachu on your wrist.

Combining all the goodness of the Fitbit Air with the fun of the Pokémon Sleep app, this new special edition fitness tracker should encourage better sleep habits while providing plenty of fun along the way.

Starting with the core of the Fitbit, this provides a lightweight route to 24/7 tracking, gathering data about your steps, activities, heart data and sleep. Because the Fitbit Air is just a band rather than a watch, it's less intrusive when sleeping – and there's no screen to distract the wearer.

The Sleepy Blue colour makes this version standout a little, but the tracking that it offers will sync to Google Health as normal. That's how we make the jump into the Pokémon Sleep app, which gamifies sleep – a great way to reinforce healthy sleep behaviours.

You'll have to link Google Health (which replaced the Fitbit app) to Health Connect or Apple Health, depending on whether you're using an Android or iPhone. Then, Health Connect or Apple Health can be connected to the Pokémon Sleep app.

That will see your real sleep data feeding into Pokémon Sleep which is where the fun starts.

Pokémon Sleep uses real sleep data to unlock rewards in the app, making sleep an interactive experience. As you sleep, Pokémon will gather in the app, letting you complete your Sleep Style Dex.

The type of sleep you have – and the length – will reflect the Pokémon that appear, so you can continue to collect them all while sleeping. Your Sleep Score will be used to generate Drowsy Power for Snorlax and the higher the Drowsy Power the more Pokémon you'll see.

Of course, you don't have to use the Pokémon Sleep app (it's available for use with other devices), you can just get the special edition Fitbit Air Pokémon edition because you like the design and you're a Pokémon fan.

Preorders for the new version of the Fitbit Air are open in the US, with shipping from 15 September. It's priced at $129.99, so it's $30 more than the regular Fitbit Air.