Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Developer	HAL Laboratory Creatures, Inc.
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo DS
Release Date	JP March 20, 2008 US November 10, 2008 AU November 13, 2008 EU November 20, 2008
Rating	ESRB: E

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is the second Pokémon Ranger game which was made for the Nintendo DS and brought in Pokémon from the fourth generation.

Story

This game is set in a region called Almia, where the player (Kellyn if male or Kate if female) starts out as a student at the Pokémon Ranger School. This storyline follows the various missions that the player performs at school and around Almia as they graduate into a rookie trainer and work their way through the ranks of the Ranger Union. The player gets caught up in the schemes of Team Dim Sun, who are involved in a plot to control the minds of Almia's Pokémon with Miniremo Units and seem to have some connection with the shady oil company called Altru, Inc.

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to the previous game, but the capturing system has been modified. The Capture Styler now fills up the Friendship Gauge as the player draws loops around the target Pokémon. The player can stop drawing to avoid attacks, although the Friendship Gauge will slowly drain during these lulls. The Capture Styler can be upgraded with collectible cards. There is also the new option to ride certain Pokémon in order to cross some areas such as bodies of water.

Instead of being restricted to one partner Pokémon (which was picked based on the trainer's gender in the previous game), this game initially allows the player to choose between three different partners (Starly, Pachirisu and Munchlax) at the beginning of the game. Other potential partner Pokémon could be met through various means in the game, which totals to seventeen (one for each elemental type). The player can switch between the partner Pokémon at the Partner Farm by Chicole Village. In addition to a variety of story missions, the player can optionally perform a total of sixty sidequests for local citizens which are simply known as Quests. There is also a Capture Arena where one can practice. This game contains 270 Pokémon from the first four generations that are recorded in the Ranger Browser.

The game could connect to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to download six Ranger Net missions. These primarily featured legendary Pokémon from the fourth generation, and three of them had event Pokémon which could be transferred to the fourth generation games. However, these missions could only be downloaded during limited periods of time in 2008 and 2009, so it is no longer possible to reach these missions through legitimate means. Any downloaded missions could be replayed indefinitely, although each Pokémon could only be transferred once per the game.

Connectivity

The previous game linked up with only Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Versions to transfer a Manaphy egg through the Mystery Gift feature. This game expands the connectivity as it can link to all of the fourth generation color versions. This game also has a Manaphy egg mission in the Ranger Net as well as missions in which player can earn and transfer the event Pokémon Darkrai as well as a unique Riolu that knows Aura Sphere. However, the limited nature of the Wi-Fi missions means that these Pokémon are no longer available.

Legacy

Sequels

This was followed by Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, which was also released for the DS.