View source for Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs

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|date=25 December, 2010
|time=04:48
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{{Infobox_game |colorscheme=GS|bordercolorscheme=GS
|name=Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
|jname=ポケモンレンジャー 光の軌跡
|boxart=Pokémon_Ranger_GS_cover.png
|caption=Artwork and logo of Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
|jbox=PokemonRanger3Cover.jpg
|jcaption=Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light boxart
|platform=[[Nintendo DS]]
|category=Action RPG
|players=1-4
|link_method=[[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]]
|developer=[[HAL Laboratory]]<br/>[[Creatures, Inc.]]
|publisher=[[Nintendo]]
|gen_series=[[Generation IV]] [[version|side series]]
|cero=A
|esrb=E
|pegi=3+
|oflc=N/A
|release_date_ja=March 6, 2010
|release_date_na=October 4, 2010<!--Do not change this to October 5. The Official site says that the US RELEASE was October 4, even if some stores didn't put it on sale until the 5th.-->
|release_date_au=November 25, 2010
|release_date_eu=November 5, 2010
|release_date_kr=TBA
|website_ja=[http://www.pokemon.co.jp/game/ds/ranger3/ Official Site]
|website_en=[http://www.pokemonranger.com/guardiansigns/ Official Site]
}}

'''Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs''' ('''ポケモンレンジャー {{tt|光|ひかり}}の{{tt|軌跡|きせき}}''' ''Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light'') is a spin-off action-adventure game for the Nintendo DS and the sequel to [[Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia]]. It is part of the {{OBP|Pokémon Ranger|Ranger series}} series of spin-off games. It was released in Japan on March 6, 2010, and it was released in America on October 4, 2010.

The game is set in a new region called [[Oblivia]]. The partner Pokémon is a {{p|Pichu}} with a ukulele. There are several Quests and Missions for the player characters to complete. The goal of the game is to capture all the 300 Pokémon that are available in the region, by using the Nintendo DS touch screen and stylus. Instead of capturing Pokémon in [[Poké Ball]]s, players use a device called the [[Capture Styler]] to add Pokémon to their party. The player can hold up to seven friend Pokémon. If newly captured Pokémon are to be added, the player must release at least one Pokémon that they previously captured. Rangers can only use the Pokémon to [[Field Move|help]] once; after using them, they leave the party. However, the partner Pokémon, the ukulele Pichu, will not leave the party.

Special Missions can be downloaded from the [[Ranger Net]] by connecting to the [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]]. Some of the Missions allow the player to transfer Pokémon to the [[Generation IV]] {{pkmn|games}}.

==Gameplay==
As with the previous Pokémon Ranger games, the player uses a [[Capture Styler]] to befriend Pokémon by drawing loops around them on the DS's touchscreen; the player may lift the stylus between loops, as in [[Shadows of Almia]].  Up to seven captured Pokémon may follow the player as Friend Pokémon, and can use their abilities to help the player in the form of [[Field Move|Field Moves]] on the field and [[Poké Assist|Poké Assists]] during a capture.  The player is partnered with a [[Pichu]] carrying a ukulele, nicknamed Ukulele Pichu (Japanese: '''ウクレレピチュー'''), who follows the player around in addition to any Friend Pokémon.  

===New features===
* [[Ranger Signs]] allow the player to summon various Pokémon, including the [[legendary bird]] trio, the [[legendary beast]] trio, and the [[Lati@s|Eon Pokémon]] corresponding to the player's gender.
* Friend Pokémon are placed on the field for [[Poké Assists]], and are released if they take damage during this time rather than being automatically released afterwards.  After a short recharge period, the Poké Assist may be used again.
* Certain targets now require the use of [[Field Move]]s by multiple Pokémon.
* Up to four players may tackle Missions together via a multiplayer mode. These Missions are accessible after Celebi takes the player into Oblivia's past for the third time.
* Certain Pokémon now have the {{m|Fly}} Field Move, which allows the player to roam Oblivia's {{ra|Sky}} and capture various {{type2|Flying}} Pokémon. By speaking to [[Supurna]] in the [[Aqua Resort]], Pokémon captured in the Sky can be added to the player's party. It is also possible to fly directly to locations that the player has already visited.
* Occasionally, the DS must be held vertically to chase certain people and Pokémon underwater.
* Sometimes, wild Pokémon will be "agitated" and the player will need to deplete an agitation meter with the stylus or the Poké Assists before it can be easily captured with the [[Capture Styler]].
* Previously encountered boss Pokémon can be captured again by speaking to [[Nema]] in [[Rand's House]]. She will use her invention, the "Many Times Any Time Capture Machine", which brings the player to a model of [[Dolce Island]].

==Basic information==
* The game has fifty-one optional, non-story-progressing missions called Quests where the player helps citizens of Oblivia.
*After capturing the first 300 Pokémon in the Browser, the player will encounter {{p|Lugia}}.
* [[Non-player character]]s from the first two games, [[Professor Hastings]] and [[Murph]], make appearances once again, having an important role in the game.
* The [[Go-Rock Quads]] make another appearance, after finishing the game.
* The [[legendary beasts]], the [[legendary birds]], the [[Lati@s|eon duo]], {{p|Celebi}} and {{p|Ho-Oh}} play important roles in the game.
* Special [[Ranger Net|downloadable missions]] allow players to receive a {{p|Deoxys}}, whose form is determined by how quickly it is captured (multiplayer only), a {{p|Manaphy}} {{pkmn|egg}}, a {{p|Shaymin}} met in a [[fateful encounter]], and a {{p|Heatran}} with {{m|Eruption}}, which can be transferred to any [[Generation IV]] game only once.

==Plot==
{{spoilers}}
{{cleanup}}
The game takes place in the [[Oblivia]] region, an archipelago.  The game's antagonists are the [[Pokémon Pinchers]], a [[villainous team]] who capture and control Pokémon using [[Control Gauntlets]].  Members of the Pokémon Pinchers have been working individually in the region for some time, but they have recently started to act together.  

While flying to Oblivia (on [[Staraptor]]) to investigate the Pinchers' actions, the player and their partner encounter two Pinchers chasing [[Lati@s|Latias or Latios]], depending on the player's gender.  The player stalls them long enough to let the Pokémon escape, but the Pinchers' leader, [[Red Eyes]], appears and attacks the player's partner with his plasma cannon.  The player intercepts the blast and is knocked into the ocean.

After washing ashore on [[Dolce Island]], in southwest Oblivia, the player meets [[Ukulele Pichu]] and a shipbuilder named [[Booker]].  The three return to Booker's house on [[Renbow Island]] to the north.  The player was introduced to [[Nick]], Booker's apprentice, who has a wild imagination. The player explained to Booker about what happened. Soon, a [[Ralph (Ranger)|boy]] rushes over and says that the ''UFOs'' have returned and that [[Arley]] chased after the Pinchers into [[Teakwood Forest]] and didn't come back. The player and Ralph heads to the forest and encounters a Pincher pinching a Pokémon. They headed in to [[Rasp Cavern]] and saw Arley, who stopped the two from going deeper into the cave. After the ukulele Pichu rushed in, they followed Pichu. The Pichu saw the Pinchers and remembered that its friends have been taken by them. It jumped onto one of the Pincher but the Pincher knocked Pichu off, breaking its ukulele. Then, the three saw the Pinchers. One of the Pincher take a glowing image from a stone monument, while another used a Pokémon to attack the player. After capturing the Pokémon, the Pinchers have already taken the involiths. However, an angered Raikou appears and attacked the Pinchers. The Pinchers managed to escapes. The Raikou chased after them. After this, the player must go to Dolce Island to get wood to repair Pichu's ukulele. After the wood is retrieved, Pichu joins the player as a partner Pokémon and the player continues for his investigation in the Oblivia region.

Pokémon Pinchers' plan is to get the Involiths from different stone monument from around the Oblivia region, in order to awaken the [[Legendary birds]]. When the three Legendary birds are awaken, a strong Pokémon will appear and help them in their scheme to control the Oblivia region. However, this angers the [[Legendary beasts]]. The player are required to calm down the legendary beasts, while trying to foil the Pinchers' plan. Although the player managed to prevent [[Blue Eyes]] and [[Red Eyes]] from completing the Pinchers' plan, the leader [[Purple Eyes]] did not want to give up on controlling the Oblivia region.

After the three Legendary birds were awaken, the player will encounter the [[Societea]], a group of four who is responsible for controlling the actions of the Pokémon Pinchers. Although they have retired, they decided to revive their group and took control of the Pokémon Pinchers in hopes of obtaining eternal youth. They found the ancient [[Sky Fortress]] that were used by villains a long time ago. They vaporized [[Dolce Island]], in order to let the citizens be aware of the Sky Fortress's power. However, as the player heads for the Sky Fortress, a strong barrier protected the Sky Fortress. After receiving the genuine Rainbow Grail, the player has to go to a place, called the Rainbow Dais. Upon arriving at the Rainbow Dais, the player placed the Rainbow Grail on the seafloor, and a brilliant rainbow climbs high into the sky and {{p|Ho-Oh}} appeared. After capturing Ho-Oh, it will use its power to destroy the barrier, which allows the player to head into the Sky Fortress. When arriving there, the player have to defeat three of the members of the [[Societea]], before they can battle the boss, [[Edward]].

After Edward's captured {{p|Mewtwo}} was captured by the player, [[Purple Eyes]] appeared once again, took control of Mewtwo, and challenged the player. After Purple Eyes was defeated, however, the Sky Fortress fell out of the sky, and would have crashed into the ocean, destroying all of Oblivia. Using the power of Ho-Oh again, the Sky Fortress managed to land safely and calmly on the ocean. The main game will be completed, and after the credits, the player can continue of their quest to capture all the 300 Pokémon.

<!--==Reception== -->

==Trivia==
* The localized versions of this game use the Japanese terms for the [[legendary Pokémon]]: "maboroshi" and "densetsu" are translated as "rare" and "legendary", the first being the ones only obtainable through events, such as Celebi and Shaymin, while all of the others are "legendary".
* This game brought the final proof of {{p|Phione}}'s lack of legendary status, due to it being found in the wild just as any other common Pokémon, also without the "rare" or "legendary" denomination.
* This game bears slight similarities to ''[[M02|The Power of One]]'', taking place in an archipelago, and the plot involves waking the [[legendary birds]] which causes havoc and a member of the {{DL|Legendary duo|Tower Duo}} (in this case {{p|Ho-Oh}}), is needed to quell the birds. The birds even dwell on their own islands. [[Faldera Island]] houses {{p|Moltres}} like [[Fire Island]] does in the movie, [[Sophian Island]] houses {{p|Articuno}} just like [[Ice Island]], and {{p|Zapdos}} dwells within [[Layuda Island]] in the game, similarly to how its home was [[Lightning Island]] in the movie. The main antagonist is also encountered in a large airship. The main protagonists of both ({{Ash}} and {{ra|Ben}}/{{ra|Summer}}) are also identified as "The Hero of an Ancient Legend".

==In other languages==
{{langtable|color={{GS color}}|bordercolor={{GS color light}}
|fr_eu=Pokémon Ranger: Sillages de Lumière
|de=Pokémon Ranger: Spuren des Lichts
|it=Pokémon Ranger: Tracce di Luce
|es_eu=Pokémon Ranger: Trazos de Luz}}

==External links==
* [http://www.pokemonranger.com/guardiansigns/ Official site]
* [http://www.pokemon.co.jp/special/ranger3/index.html Official Japanese site]

{{Side series}}
{{Project Sidegames notice}}
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:DS games]]
[[Category:Pokémon Ranger]]

[[es:Pokémon Ranger: Hikari no Kiseki]]

[[de:Pokémon Ranger: Spuren des Lichts]]
[[fr:Pokémon Ranger : Sillages de Lumière]]
[[ja:ポケモンレンジャー 光の軌跡]]