Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is an action/role-playing video game developed by Creatures Inc. for the Nintendo DS video game console. It is the sequel to the Pokémon Ranger video game, also for the DS.

The game takes place in the Almia region. The player begins as a Pokémon ranger-in-training at the Ranger School and quickly graduates to a rookie Ranger and must advance from there. The player may choose their character’s gender, but unlike in the original Pokémon Ranger, this choice does not affect their partner Pokémon.

Much of gameplay is similar to the original game. Players must capture/befriend wild Pokémon to aid them by circling them with their Nintendo DS stylus (known as a Capture Styler in the game).

There is a major change from the original capture method. Instead of having to complete certain number of loops without lifting the stylus, the player must fill up a Pokémon’s Friendship Gauge by drawing loops around the Pokémon, but can lift the stylus to avoid attacks. However, the power in Friendship Gauge will decrease over time if the player stops drawing loops for too long. The amount of power in the gauge filled by each loop increases as the player levels up the styler.

Source: Wikipedia, "Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia", available under the CC-BY-SA License.