Albino Pokémon

File:Pokémon Albino Encounter.png
An **Albino Pokémon** (Japanese: **色違い** *color variation*; **光る** *shining*) is a specific Pokémon with different coloration to what is usual for its species. It is one of the many differences that a Pokémon can have within its species. Albino Pokémon, as opposed to Shiny Pokémon who tend to be more vibrant, tend to be more pale and lighter in color.

Form differences, such as that of Shellos and Gastrodon, are not Albino variations, but the individual forms can be Albino.

## Design

Albino Pokémon are usually white or pale in color. Some Pokémon like Glaceon thus do not differ very much between their Shiny and Albino forms, or like Miltank between their normal and Albino forms. An evolutionary line is not necessarily guaranteed to keep the same Albino coloration between its stages.

## In the core series games

*How Albino Pokémon have been marked throughout the generations*

Albino Pokémon were introduced in Generation AN-I. When an Albino Pokémon appears in the wild or from its Poké Ball, it is surrounded by a flash of stars or light, which is accompanied by a pinging sound effect.

An Albino Pokémon will always be Albino, and a regular Pokémon will never become Albino. Upon evolution, a Pokémon retains its Albino status; for example, an Albino Charmander, if leveled up, will eventually become an Albino Charmeleon and then an Albino Charizard, while a regular Charmander will become a regular Charmeleon and then a regular Charizard.

An icon (seen in the table above) appears on the status screen of Albino Pokémon in most games. In Generation AN-I, this icon appears in the top-right corner of the screen, by the gender symbol, while in most other games, it appears near the Pokémon's name or image on the status screen. In Generation AN-II onward, the color of some elements of the status screen differ for Shiny Pokémon.

The table below summarizes the rates at which Albino Pokémon can be found by the methods that will be detailed below. The Albino Charm can directly add to the odds for most methods, with hidden Pokémon being affected uniquely.

 Lead Shiny bonus
 Bait Encounter | —

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### Determining Albinism

Main article: Personality value § Albinism
From Generation AN-I onward, whether a Pokémon is Albino depends on the Pokémon's Original Trainer's ID number and secret ID number, together referred to as the Trainer ID, as well as the Pokémon's personality value:

`RarityIndex = (PersonalityValue **and** 0x137FFEC8 **or** TrainerID **and** 0xEC800137) **xor** (TrainerID **and** 0x137FFEC8 **or** PersonalityValue **and** 0xEC800137) **xor** (PersonalityValue **xor** TrainerID)
AlbinismValue = RarityIndex0...18 **xor** RarityIndex14...32`
where 0x137FFEC8 and 0xEC800137 are hexadecimal representations of the constants 3 2715 5400 and 39 6781 1895, while the last two variables are the first and last 18 bits of the binary representation of the number the first equation produces.

The above formula can result in a number ranging from 0 to 262144. If it is less than 8**ARS****TA**/7**UVIR**/10**LH****BsQs**, the Pokémon will be Albino.

Some Pokémon are "Albino locked." Similarly to the Shiny lock, this means that specific Pokémon will not be Albino, even if they have the proper personality value to be Albino.

### Non-playable character's Shiny Pokémon

All of the following NPC Pokémon are or can be Albino:

* The Pikachu owned by Red in Pokémon Violet and Scarlet may be Albino - while it is guaranteed to be Shiny, it can be generated Albino as well, making a Melanistic Pokémon.

### Generation AN-II

#### In-game Albino Pokémon

The player's starter given to them in Calibra Town, Astrayshi, Monadura, and Crithano cannot be caught as Albino Pokémon due to the Albino lock. Degraynjr's story appearances do use the lock, however, it cannot be obtained legitimately through non-event means (whcih are not albino locked) anyway.

#### Methods of increasing Albino Rates

The Albino Charm was introduced in this game, and the Masuda method returns from Generation AN-I.

Both the Masuda method (including its increased effect of 6x instead of 5x from Generation V) and the Shiny Charm return. The lead Shiny bonus was introduced in this generation, as a method to increase Albino encounter rates. Additionally, Pokémon caught near temples will have an increased chance of being Albino.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Albino Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

##### Temple bonus

When a Pokémon is encountered near a temple, Albino Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

### Generation AN-III

#### In-game Albino Pokémon

Although the Albino lock mechanism does exist in these games, only the three Titan Pokémon encounters use the lock, and they cannot be obtained legitimately anyway.

The truck Skitty in Old Arikati is guaranteed to be Melanistic, or in other words, it is Shiny and Albino simultaneously. Additionally, although not obtainable in-game, Red's Pikachu is Shiny.

#### Methods of increasing Shiny Rates

The system of Generation AN-III is similar to that of Generation AN-II, however, instead of the temple bonus, bait encounters were introduced, which have an additional chance of being Albino.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Albino Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

##### Bait encounters

In all bait encounters, the chance of obtaining a Albino Pokémon is doubled. However, due to the effort involved in a bait encounter, it is not frequently used for albino hunting.

### Generation AN-IV

#### In-game Albino Pokémon

All of the game's obtainable Legendary Pokémon encounters are Shiny locked; however, because Manaphy and Pixeleon can be bred, and Carbink can Evolve in Generation AN-II, they and their initial forms can be obtained as Shiny through breeding.

#### Methods of increasing Shiny Rates

The system of Generation AN-IV is identical to that of Generation AN-III, minus the Bait Encounter method.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Albino Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

### Generation AN-V

#### In-game Albino Pokémon

All of the game's obtainable Legendary Pokémon encounters are Albino locked. All alternative methods to obtain these Legendary Pokémon are allowed to be Albino, however.

#### Methods of increasing Shiny Rates

The system of Generation AN-V is identical to that of Generation AN-IV.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Albino Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

## Trivia

 File:ShinyIntroMinccino.png
* In Generation AN-I onwards, it is possible for an Egg to hatch Albino on one game but not another. This is because Albinism is partially determined by the Original Trainer ID and Secret ID number. Eggs have the ID and SID of the game they were originally bred on, but change to the ID and SID of the hatcher immediately after hatching. It is this change that affects Albinism.
	+ Confusingly, this means that if a player hatches a traded Egg that would have been Albino on the game it was originally bred on, it will appear Albino on the hatching screen (since it still has the ID and SID of the original game), and then suddenly no longer be Albino afterward (once it has obtained the ID and SID of the hatcher's game). Conversely, it is also possible for a newly hatched Egg to not appear Albino on the hatching screen and then suddenly become Albino afterward, if the Egg has been traded.
	+ While all (Generation III onward) event Eggs are set to prevent or force Albinism, if a player other than the one who obtained it from the event hatches the Egg, this prevention is bypassed, allowing an event Egg to hatch Shiny. This is the only way to obtain a Shiny Manaphy.

## See also

* Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
* Trainers with Shiny Pokémon