Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

POKEMON RANGER: SHADOWS OF ALMIA

Next up, let’s cover the sequel to Pokemon Ranger with, once again, the most well-regarded entry in its entire series. Also for good reason. This was pretty great. Once again you start out as a ranger, Kellyn or Kate this time, but this one starts you out as a student at Ranger School, where you learn and train to be a ranger before graduating and being assigned to a specific sector. Most of the gameplay is relatively the same as the first game, but with the ranger organization more fleshed out, with Ranger, Support, and Operator classes, though you can only be a ranger.

At the school, things are very “Hogwarts-coded,” if you will, with a Ron and Hermione duo of close friends in Keith and Rhythmi, a mean, secretive Snape-like teacher in Mr. Kincaid, and a snooty blonde kid named Isaac. There’s also the principal, Mr. Lamont, and a nice teacher in Ms. April. Outside of the school, major Rangers include the returning Professor Hastings and Murph, as well as the head of the Ranger Union Erma, and fellow rangers Barlow, Crawford, Luana, Ollie, Elaine, Wendy, Sven, Linda, and Marcus.

The villains this time are a team called Team Dim Sun, of which Kincaid from the school is a member. Notable other members include their leader Blake Hall, his sycophant Wheeler, and his trio of admins called the Sinis Trio, made up of Ice, Lavana, and Heath. Other notable characters include Blake’s father Brighton Hall, the player’s family, Isaac’s sister Melody, and the notable civilian couple Big Bertha and Little Tim. Also the Go-Rock Quads appear in this game but they’ve become a full time musical group.

As for stages within the game, we of course have the Ranger School, plus notable cities including Chicole Village, Vientown, Pueltown, Shiver Camp, Haruba Village, and Boyleland. Other notable landmarks include Vien Forest, Hippowdon Temple, Crysta Cave, Volcano Cave, Nabiki Beach, Marine Cave, Chroma Road, Chroma Highlands, Chroma Ruins, Hia Valley, Ice Lake, Almia Castle, Cargo Ship, Peril Cliffs, Union Road, Altru Park, Altru Building, Altru Tower, Chicole Path, Partner Farm, Haruba Desert, Oil Field Hideout, Sea of Wailord, Puel Sea, and the Ranger Union.

I think that covers almost everything we need, so here’s what we’ve got so far:

Characters:

All new Rangers as color swaps

Team Dim Sun: Gigaremos

All new Pokemon

Trainer System:

Lucas

Dawn

Nate

Cyndy

Barry

Professor Rowan

Cheryl

Mira

Riley

Marley

Buck

Cyrus

Mars

Saturn

Jupiter

Roark

Gardenia

Maylene

Crasher Wake

Fantina

Byron

Candice

Volkner

Joe

Taylor

Marina

Rosie

Voldon

Sashay

Terrell

Dusty

Kruger

Mysterial

Aaron

Bertha

Flint

Lucian

Cynthia

Stages:

Twinleaf Town

Sandgem Town

Jubilife City

Oreburgh City

Floaroma Town

Eterna City

Hearthome City

Solaceon Town

Veilstone City

Pastoria City

Celestic Town

Canalave City

Snowpoint City

Sunyshore City

Pokemon League

Hotel Grand Lake

Pal Park

Eterna Forest

Mount Coronet

Spear Pillar

Battle Zone

Stark Mountain

Old Chateau

Great Marsh

Lake Verity

Lake Valor

Lake Acuity

Underground

Iron Island

Snowpoint Temple

Poketopia

Gateway Colosseum

Main Street Colosseum

Waterfall Colosseum

Neon Colosseum

Crystal Colosseum

Magma Colosseum

Sunset Colosseum

Courtyard Colosseum

Stargazer Colosseum

Lagoon Colosseum

Wigglytuff’s Guild

Treasure Town

Luminous Spring

Beach Cave

Drenched Bluff

Mt. Bristle

Waterfall Cave

Apple Woods

Mt. Horn

Foggy Forest

Steam Cave

Amp Plains

Quicksand Cave

Crystal Crossing

Chasm Cave

Dark Hill

Sealed Ruins

Treeshroud Forest

Brine Cave

Hidden Land

Temporal Tower

Mystifying Forest

Blizzard Island

Crevice Cave

Aegis Cave

Mt. Travail

Spacial Rift

Dark Crater

Marine Resort

Mt. Avalanche

Ranger School

Chicole Village

Vientown

Pueltown

Shiver Camp

Haruba Village

Boyleland

Altru Tower

Sea of Wailord

Ranger Union

Thanks for reading! And now, let’s go spend some time at the Ranch!

Character Sheet: Pokemon Ranger

POKEMON RANGER

And now, we come to our new batch of non-Pokemon characters for that roster, coming mostly from the spinoff games. They include:

1. Wes and Rui

2. Michael

3. Pokemon Ranger

4. Lucy Fleetfoot

5. Baron Phobos

Next up, we have the Pokemon Rangers, the protagonists of the Pokemon Ranger series. Be they Lunick and Solana of the first game, Kellyn and Kate of the second, Ben and Summer of the third, or any of the minor supporting characters from all three, they all have a basic set of moves, including lassoing Pokemon with the ranger styler, using a special top to add a partner Pokemon's power to the battle, the ability to send a partner Pokemon to perform a task in the overworld, and so on.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Ranger Styler

A circle will be drawn around an opposing player with the styler, damaging them any time they touch the sides.

Side B: Partner Pokemon

The ranger will send forward a Pokemon, probably Plusle, Minun, Pachirisu, or Ukulele Pichu, to perform an attack.

Up B: Staraptor

Since Staraptor regularly acts as an easy transportation system for the Rangers in the games, it will do so here as well.

Down B: Partner Power Top

The ranger will spin the top and send it flying out, causing a field of elemental effect around it.

Final Smash: Super Styler

The Ranger will be able to draw a circle around all players on the stage, and then take full control of all players for a short time.

Entrance: Arriving on Staraptor.

Taunts: Up, posing with the ranger styler. Side, they'll create a circle around themselves. Down, Pichu appearing and performing its ukulele riff.

Kirby Hat: Lunick's hair and bandana

Kart: Based on the rideable Raikou.

Special Move: Ranger Styler

Spirit Battle: On Fiore Temple, with up to eight Pokemon fighting alongside them.

Victory Screen: Their victory poses.

Losing Screen: Their styler's breaking and their Pokemon running off.

Color Swaps: Lunick, Solana, Kellyn, Kate, Ben, Summer, all major supporting rangers.

Thanks for reading! Next up, Lucy Fleetfoot flies into action!

Alex & Nina

After golf, tennis was the next easy fit. A tennis game was produced and released in 2000, starring the Mario characters competing with each other. Although no generic human characters would appear in that game, Nintendo would follow its strategy with Mario Golf, releasing a handheld version alongside it, complete with an RPG mode following a young rookie as they work their way up through the ranks.

These are Alex or Nina, students of Princess Peach’s royal tennis academy. On their first day, they are paired up with a doubles partner, Harry for Alex and Kate for Nina. Alex and Nina would again reappear in a cameo in Mario Tennis: Power Tour, congratulating their successors who we will touch on later.

As a playable character, they will have two modes: Singles or Doubles. Alex and Nina will switch color swaps, with Harry and Kate acting as their doubles partner. In singles, they will be light and fast, able to move around a bit more freely. With their doubles partner activated, they will be a bit slower, but will have the added power and defense of their partner to rely on. Their moves will pull from all across the Mario Tennis series, changing slightly depending on whether they are in Singles or Doubles mode.

Likelihood rating: Probably not