Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia: Difference between revisions

The game follows the protagonist, a young Pokémon Ranger as he or she graduates from Ranger School and takes on the duties of a fully fledged Ranger. The male is called Kellyn (Hajime in the Japanese version) and the female is called Kate (Hitomi in the Japanese version). Only Kellyn appears in the Pokémon anime.

Missions advance the story, which is centred around the antagonists Team Dim Sun (Team Yami Yami in the Japanese version) and their unknown intentions involving Pokémon mind-control machines called Gigaremos powered by dark crystals. Quests usually consist of the player travelling around the Almia region, performing varying tasks requested by citizens in exchange for rewards.

The game starts at the Ranger School, with the player enrolling as a student after expertly capturing a Pikachu. The player quickly makes friends with two of classmates, Rhythmi who dreams of being an Operator, and Keith, a rival, who dreams of becoming a Top Ranger. After the player and Keith nearly discover what Mr. Kincaid, a teacher, is doing in the basement, Mr. Kincaid seals it off from all students. Both the player and Keith show strong potential as Rangers, and graduate with full honors after defeating two Tangrowth at their graduation ceremony. The player stays in Almia, while Keith and Rhythmi go to Fiore as part of their training. The player's family moves into a nearby town known as Chicole Village, and the player goes to live with them.

The next day, the player becomes an Area Ranger in the local village of Vientown. After recovering a Partner Pokémon at the beach, the player begins his/her first major mission by patrolling a nearby cave. The Pokémon inside the cave are unusually aggressive and resistant to capture by the ranger's styler. At the back of the cave, the player finds a strange machine (later called a Gigaremo) that appears to be controlling the Pokémon. The rangers promptly destroy the device, freeing the Pokémon, and begin researching its abilities. Subsequently, the rangers discover that the Gigaremos are being set up by Team Dim Sun, suggesting wider criminal activities. The player travels to the Ranger Union, the headquarters of all ranger operations in Almia, to warn the rangers about the Gigaremo. On the way, the player sees Altru Inc., a powerful oil company that is building a massive tower in the center of the Almia region.

Soon afterward, the player is informed of a fire in the Vien Forest, north of Vientown. After going into the forest, the player will have to capture a Blastoise and use its Rain Dance ability to douse the fire. Afterwards, the player is congratulated on how well the player has done, and can progress onto the city on the other end of the Vien Forest-Pueltown.

A few days later, the player is sent on a mission to retrieve his missing team leader, Barlow. Barlow was last seen in Boyleland investigating a volcanic cave. The player will have to go to Pueltown and take a boat to Boyleland. Deep inside the cave, the player finds members of Team Dim Sun deploying new Miniremo devices to control all of the Pokémon on the island. The player dodges the guards and learns that Barlow has been captured and is being placed on a ship along with the Pokémon. The player sneaks on board, locates Barlow, and the two launch an assault on the ship's bridge. Although Barlow's styler is destroyed in the ensuing attack, the player forces Team Dim Sun, including its leader, Mr. Kincaid, to abandon the ship, saving all of Boyleland's Pokémon. The ship crashes into the yard of the Ranger School, never to sail again.

Recognizing the threat posed by Team Dim Sun, the Ranger Union promptly promotes the player to the rank of Top Ranger. At the Union, the player discovers that Keith has also been promoted to Top Ranger, and that Rhythmi has achieved her dream of becoming a Top Operator, where she serves as the player's guide. During the player's first mission as a Top Ranger, he helps another Top Ranger, named Sven, to investigate a Dim Sun mining operation in the Chroma Ruins, east of the Ranger Union. They discover that Dim Sun is searching for dark crystals for powering the Gigaremo devices. After defeating a Spiritomb, they also discover a massive hole, apparently left from removing the legendary "Shadow Crystal" whose current location is unknown. While studying the dark crystal retrieved from a captured Gigaremo, several Union workers accidentally discover that the crystals can be neutralized by a set of red, blue, and yellow shards. The player and Keith go on to separately collect the sources of these shards; the blue gem from Almia Castle, the red gem from Boyle Volcano, and the yellow gem from Hippowdon Temple. Although the player takes both the blue and red gems, Keith is captured by Dim Sun, which uses him to blackmail the player into surrendering the yellow gem. Meanwhile, Sven raids Dim Sun's undersea base, stealing plans for an "Incredible Machine". The plans reveal that Altru Inc.'s tower is actually a massive Gigaremo powered by the Shadow Crystal and that Altru has been behind Dim Sun's activities. Realizing that the tower will become operational within hours (i.e. during the tower's "opening ceremony"), the Ranger Union orders all of its rangers to attack the tower. Equipped with a specialized styler designed to overcome the Gigaremo's influence, the player succeeds in deactivating the tower's force fields and rescues the yellow gem, allowing the other rangers to launch an airborne assault on the Shadow Crystal at the tower's top. However, the tower reaches operational capacity before the rangers can reach the Shadow Crystal. Altru Inc.'s president, Blake Hall, takes the chance to destroy the ranger's only hope of disabling the tower (the three colored gems) by charging the crystal to its maximum power level and summoning his strongest Pokémon, Darkrai. Darkrai instead goes insane from the intense power overload, attacks Blake, and darkens the area, preventing the rangers from approaching the Shadow Crystal. By empowering his/her styler with the gems, the player stops Darkrai's rage, allowing the other rangers to disable the tower by converting the Shadow Crystal into a "Luminous Crystal" which undoes the mental torture inflicted on Almia's Pokémon. In the end, peace returns to Almia and its inhabitants, and the characters enjoy a concert originally planned for Altru Inc. (ironically played by the Go-Rock Quads from the original Pokémon Ranger) while the player returns home to his family. The game ends showing Darkrai circling the Luminous Crystal, signifying the return of peace.