I haven't seen this before and all I can tell is that it is recent. I wonder if it might be less of a virtual pet and more of a game as the packaging gives an adventure/combat feel. There have been Vpets in the past that have mixed care giving with battling, some seeming to be more heavy on the battling to the point it might as well be a game. What's advertised looks to be a quality item because otherwise I would assume it is some weird knock-off pokeball. Perhaps the producer was going with that angle and while not intentionally trying to be a Pokemon copycat, the similarity was intended to draw the same audience (would work for me since I'm always interested in games similar to Pokemon).
Chances are there will be some dialogue in the device which might pose a problem, but perhaps you'll get lucky and it will only be token. Or maybe you'll have a full-blown story; I've heard of people playing JRPGs even when they can't speak the language and somehow they still manage to enjoy the game and complete it. If you have any basic knowledge of RPGs, it will probably come in handy for this device.