The alpha Pokémon wallpaper in Pokémon HOMEAn alpha Pokémon (Japanese: オヤブン boss) is a variety of Pokémon found in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. They are larger-than-normal Pokémon that appear in Hisui with increased combat capabilities. Alpha Pokémon can be identified with the 
icon in the Pokémon's summary screen and on their health bar in the wild (if transferred to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, they have the Alpha Mark instead). Additionally, wild alpha Pokémon have glowing red eyes, except for Zubat. However, they do not stay that way after they have been captured.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon who were previously identified as being an alpha Pokémon will have the title of "Former Alpha" instead that is set by the Alpha Mark 
instead.
In the core series games
Story
Shortly after the player joins the Survey Corps, an alpha Kricketune intrudes Deertrack Heights. Mai, the warden who oversees Wyrdeer, enlists Akari/Rei to help defeat the Kricketune, who in turn asks the player to aid Mai due to their skill in Pokémon battles.
While Ingo is leading the player through Wayward Cave, an alpha Crobat appears along the route. Ingo insists that the player not battle it due to the reduced visibility caused by the absence of the cave's torches, and leads them on a detour to avoid it. The player is unable to battle or catch this particular alpha Pokémon until Ingo reinstalls the torches in the cave.
During the three Trials of the Lake guardians, the player has to face an alpha Pokémon at each lake; Hisuian Goodra at Lake Verity, Overqwil at Lake Valor, and Hisuian Zoroark at Lake Acuity.
During the post-game, when the player goes to meet Volo at Grueling Grove, the two are ambushed by an alpha Vespiquen. After defeating the Pokémon, the player receives a Stone Plate from her.
Gameplay
In the wild, alpha Pokémon will be at a higher level than other species of the same kind that can be found in that area, will have at least three stats with individual values of 31 (expressed in this game as initial effort levels of 3) and will know and have mastered a move that cannot be learned by leveling up. Alpha Pokémon cannot be caught outside of battle if they are significantly higher level than the player's current obedience level. They can, however, be caught regardless of level during a battle with them. If caught, alpha Pokémon will count as heavy specimens and large specimens for research tasks. Regardless of the species' normal behavior, alpha Pokémon (except for Mantyke and Mantine) are always aggressive towards the player and will never run away, unless a space-time distortion appears around it or it is a species which only appears in the wild at certain times of day. If an alpha Pokémon spots the player, it will roar out a shockwave which, if close enough, will cause the player to be knocked to the ground; they are also forcibly dismounted from their Ride Pokémon if riding Wyrdeer, Ursaluna, or Sneasler.
Upon entering battle, wild alpha Pokémon are filled with Wild Might (Japanese: 野性の力 Wild Strength), as indicated by their glowing red eyes. This increases all of a Pokémon's stats, independently of in-battle stat boosts, and reduces damage from status conditions. Alpha Pokémon can also use agile style and strong style moves in battle.
There are three types of ways alpha Pokémon may spawn:
- Fixed alpha Pokémon spawns will always be generated upon entering a given area of the Hisui region, and will be at a fixed level; for instance, the alpha Rapidash in the Obsidian Fieldlands is always Lv. 40. These alpha Pokémon will also automatically respawn after two full in-game days.
- Random alpha Pokémon spawns may occur after the player has quelled the area's noble Pokémon. Alpha Pokémon, of the same species as the location's standard spawns, each have a small chance of appearing (between a 0.2% and 2% chance). Each location has its own rates for how likely each alpha Pokémon may spawn, including space-time distortions. Prior to the Daybreak update, during mass outbreaks, at most one alpha Pokémon could appear, however this limit was later lifted to account for the "exclusively alpha" bonus waves of massive mass outbreaks.
- During a massive mass outbreak, clearing all Pokémon in a location may cause a second wave of Pokémon to appear in the same location; if this occurs, the second wave may be composed entirely of alpha Pokémon.
During the battle against Giratina at the Temple of Sinnoh, it will be filled with Terrible Might (Japanese: すさまじい力 Tremendous Strength), which has an identical effect to Wild Might.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, alpha Pokémon transferred from Legends: Arceus will gain the Alpha Mark. They will not retain their unique sizes in these games, but will return to their alpha size when brought back to Legends: Arceus. Instead, they will be appear as the largest non-alpha height value that the species could have.
Fixed alpha Pokémon
Fixed alpha Pokémon are specimens that always appear in their alpha form in a specific location. Some of these specimens do not spawn until after parts of the main story are completed, usually needing the region's frenzied Noble to be tamed before appearing in the overworld.
Species marked with an * can only be found as that single fixed alpha specimen, in rare or massive mass outbreaks, or a space-time distortion, but not anywhere else in the overworld.
Obsidian Fieldlands
Crimson Mirelands
Cobalt Coastlands
Coronet Highlands
Alabaster Icelands
Unique alpha Pokémon
These unique alpha Pokémon can only be found once during the storyline. With the exception of Vespiquen, they do not have the usual guarantee of any stats with individual values of 31 (starting effort levels of 3). The alpha Pokémon found in Acuity, Verity, and Valor Caverns are prevented from being Shiny, and have Scale values of 128 instead of 255. Hisuian Zoroark and Overqwil do not have other fixed alpha spawns on the map.
In the anime
Pokémon: Hisuian Snow
In Two Hues, an alpha Garchomp attacked Alec and the Galaxy Team, but it was driven away by a Hisuian Zoroark that Alec had befriended in his youth as a Zorua.
Trivia
- There is a third variant of the Wild Might effect in game data, called Terrific Might (Japanese: 偉大な力), which is a version of Wild Might without the stat boosts. Its usage within the game is unknown.
- When alpha Combee and Gastrodon appear in the wild, only two of their eyes glow red.
- When alpha Spiritomb appears in the wild, the lines in its Odd Keystone also glow red.
- Arceus itself is also known as the Alpha Pokémon, though this similarity does not hold in Japanese.
- Alpha Pokémon are guaranteed to have 31 in at least 3 of their IV stats, a trait that Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have also had since Generation VI.
- Alpha Pokémon have a slightly different music track in battle. If the player starts a battle with an alpha Pokémon and one or more non-alpha Pokémon at the same time, then catches or defeats the alpha Pokémon, the music will transition back into the standard wild battle track.
Origin
Alpha Pokémon might be based on the concept of dominance hierarchy in biology. Amongst animal groups, an alpha is a member of the species that has a higher rank in the group's hierarchy, contrary to the beta members who are the more submissive ones. Alpha animals often employ aggression tactics to assert dominance and leadership over their specific groups. This concept may be seen in gameplay, where alpha Pokémon display an aggressive disposition even when members of said species typically would not. They also serve as leaders of the pack, as alpha Pokémon are regularly found in places where unevolved members of their species gather, and even show signs of territorialism, as some alpha Pokémon tend to come to the aid of the lesser members when alerted. Their Japanese name "boss" seems to reinforce this idea of hierarchical leadership.
In other languages
Alpha Pokémon
Wild Might
Terrible Might
See also
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