Ruins of Alph: Difference between revisions

Ruins of Alph アルフのいせき Ruins of Alph "Wild Missingno. appeared!"
Map description:	{{{mapdesc}}}
Location:	Southwest of Violet City
Region:	Johto
Generations:	II, IV
Location of Ruins of Alph in Johto.
Pokémon world locations

The Ruins of Alph (Japanese: アルフのいせき Ruins of Alph) are located in Johto, with entrances to the south and west of Violet City. The ruins are filled with Unown once any one of four slide puzzles inside the chambers have been activated. The name may come from the first four letters of "alphabet," which the Unown inside represent.

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, each slide puzzle that is completed unlocks a specific subset of the 26 alphabetic forms of Unown. To unlock all 26 alphabetic forms, all four slide puzzles must be activated. The slide puzzles can be completed in any order; the first completed slide puzzle will cause a man to give the player the Unown Report. Once the first seven pages of the report are complete and the 26 alphabetic Unown forms have been caught, the entrance room of the ruins will have a gold plate that reads "Our friends look up and heartily congratulate us". Reading the plate causes one of the researchers to speak to the player, after which the ! and ? forms can be encountered in the entrance room.

If the player listens to the Pokégear radio while near or inside the ruins, they will hear strange noises generated by it on channel 13.5. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the player must be inside one of the chambers and any channel on the radio will broadcast the noises. Some of those noises are actually Ho-Oh's distorted cries, and the melody of the Azure Flute.

Geography

Pokégear's map information

A place where you can find a former adventure.

Outside the ruins

There are several scientists in the area listening and studying the ruins to discover more about them. They say it is more than it seems and that the puzzles in the caves must have something to do with the mystery of the past of the Ruins of Alph. In the area there are several small caves with puzzles; solving the puzzles cause Unown to appear in the main ruins. Pokémon Crystal later explains that these puzzles are signals that summon the Unown.

There is a secret entrance to a small part of the Ruins of Alph in Union Cave which leads to a patch of grass full of Natu and Smeargle. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, if the player has Arceus in their party, the Sinjoh Ruins will be available and the player can choose a level 1 Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina with their respective orbs.

Hidden rooms

In Pokémon Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, patterns appear on the walls of the puzzle chambers. When the patterns' directions are followed, doorways to hidden rooms appear, where the player can get many items and learn some of the history of the Unown. In the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal, a scientist theorizes that the sudden appearance of these patterns is related to the newly-built Pokémon Communication Center and the radio waves emanating from it.

Items

Rock Smash

First Chamber

In the northernmost chamber, the far wall reads escape upon inspection. Using an Escape Rope there opens a hidden room upon re-entering.
In HeartGold and SoulSilver, it does not consume the rope and instead the player gets an ! over their head, and the room opens. It holds:

Falling through to the floor below reveals the following message spelled out on the ground in Unown:
Our words shall remain here for the ages^C
Our clan engraved words in this place^HGSS

In HeartGold/SoulSilver, this chamber contains a touchscreen puzzle that forms Kabuto. Once completed, the A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J forms of Unown are unlocked in the main chamber.

Second Chamber

In the south-easternmost chamber, the far wall reads light.
Getting a Pokémon to use the field move Flash will open the hidden room which contains the following:

The floor below reveals the message:
Thus we shall erect a Pokémon statue outside^C
Our clan created Pokémon statue outside^HGSS
In HeartGold/SoulSilver, this chamber contains a touchscreen puzzle that forms Aerodactyl. Once completed, the R, S, T, U, and V forms of Unown are unlocked in the main chamber.

Third Chamber

Artwork of Ethan at the entrance of the Ruins of Alph

The third chamber is accessed through Union Cave but requires a boulder to be moved. The far wall reads water.
The hidden room will open if the player has a Water Stone in their inventory, though, in HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, the player is required to select "Use" from the items menu while facing the wall for the room to open. Inside, they can find:

The floor below reads
They possess great insight and refuse the outside world^C
They possess power to sense with mind and reject outside^HGSS
In HeartGold/SoulSilver, this chamber contains a touchscreen puzzle that forms Omanyte. Once completed, the K, L, M, N, O, P, and Q forms of Unown are unlocked in the main chamber.

Fourth Chamber

The final chamber is also accessed through Union Cave. It is the cave just left of the third chamber. The far wall reads Ho Oh.
If Ho-Oh is the first Pokémon in the player's party in Generation II, or anywhere in the player's party in Generation IV games, the hidden room opens, where there are:

The floor below reads
We humans must learn to walk in harmony with them. We depart for their sakes^C
We humans need to walk with them. We leave here for the sake of them^HGSS
In HeartGold/SoulSilver, this chamber contains a touchscreen puzzle that forms Ho-Oh. Once completed, the W, X, Y, and Z forms of Unown are unlocked in the main chamber.

Pokémon

Generation II

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
Inside
Unown	G		S		C		Cave	5	100%
Outside
Natu	G		S		C		Grass	18-24	90%
Wooper	G		S		C		Grass	22	0%	0%	5%
Quagsire	G		S		C		Grass	22	0%	0%	5%
Smeargle	G		S		C		Grass	20-22	10%
Smeargle	G		S		C		Grass	20-22	10%	10%	0%
Surfing
Wooper	G		S		C		Surfing	15-19	60%
Quagsire	G		S		C		Surfing	15-24	40%
Fishing
Poliwag	G		S		C		Fishing Old Rod	10	15%
Magikarp	G		S		C		Fishing Old Rod	10	85%
Poliwag	G		S		C		Fishing Good Rod	20	65%
Magikarp	G		S		C		Fishing Good Rod	20	35%
Poliwag	G		S		C		Fishing Super Rod	40	70%
Poliwhirl	G		S		C		Fishing Super Rod	40	10%
Magikarp	G		S		C		Fishing Super Rod	40	20%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.

Generation IV

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
Inside
Unown	HG			SS			Cave	5	100%
Outside
Natu	HG			SS			Grass	18-24	90%
Smeargle	HG			SS			Grass	20-22	10%
Surfing
Wooper	HG			SS			Surfing	10-20	60%
Quagsire	HG			SS			Surfing	10-25	40%
Fishing
Poliwag	HG			SS			Fishing Old Rod	10	5%
Magikarp	HG			SS			Fishing Old Rod	10	95%
Poliwag	HG			SS			Fishing Good Rod	20	40%
Magikarp	HG			SS			Fishing Good Rod	20	60%
Poliwag	HG			SS			Fishing Super Rod	40	93%
Magikarp	HG			SS			Fishing Super Rod	40	7%
Rock Smash
Geodude	HG			SS			Rock Smash	3-14	100%
Special Pokémon
Linoone	HG			SS			Hoenn Sound	18	20%
Whismur	HG			SS			Hoenn Sound	20-22	20%
Bidoof	HG			SS			Sinnoh Sound	18	20%
Buizel	HG			SS			Sinnoh Sound	20-22	20%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.

Trainers

Generation II

Trainer	Pokémon
Psychic Nathan Psychic Nathan Reward: $832	Girafarig♂ Lv.26 No item
Trainers with a telephone symbol by their names will give their Pokégear number to the player, and may call or be called for a rematch with higher-level Pokémon.

Generation IV

Trainer	Pokémon
Psychic Nathan Psychic Nathan Reward: $832	Girafarig♂ Lv.26 No item
Trainers with a telephone symbol by their names will give their Pokégear number to the player, and may call or be called for a rematch with higher-level Pokémon.

Layout

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Needs all HGSS maps

Version	Outside	Main Chamber	Puzzle Chamber	Item Chamber
Gold			File:Ruins of Alph Puzzle GSC.png
Silver
Crystal			File:Ruins of Alph Puzzle GSC.png

Version	First Chamber	Second Chamber	Third Chamber	Fourth Chamber
Crystal

Eyecatch

• 

  Morning (Unown S)

• 

  Day/Evening (Unown G)

• 

  Night (Unown T)

In the anime

Ruins of Alph in the anime

The Ruins of Alph appeared in Fossil Fools, in which Team Rocket tried to steal a group of Omanyte and Omastar living among the ruins. Unlike the games, no Unown were featured.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

The Ruins of Alph appear in Into the Unown. Gold and Bugsy visit the ruins, encountering Unown and Team Rocket. Gold manages to capture an Unown for Bugsy.

In the TCG

This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring the Ruins of Alph in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Related cards Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card	Type	English Expansion	Rarity	#	Japanese Expansion	Rarity	#
Ruin Wall	T	Neo Discovery		74/75	Crossing the Ruins...
Ruins of Alph	T [St]	Undaunted		76/90	Reviving Legends		077/080

In other languages

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 阿露福遺跡 Ālùfú Yíjī European French Ruines d'Alpha German Alph-Ruinen Italian Rovine d'Alfa Korean 알프의 유적 Ruins of Alpha European Spanish Ruinas Alfa

Johto
Settlements New Bark Town • Cherrygrove City • Violet City • Azalea Town • Goldenrod City • Ecruteak City Olivine City • Cianwood City • Mahogany Town • Blackthorn City • Safari Zone Gate • Frontier Access Routes 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 Landmarks Dark Cave • Sprout Tower • Ruins of Alph • Union Cave • Slowpoke Well • Ilex Forest • Radio Tower • Global Terminal Goldenrod Tunnel • National Park • Pokéathlon Dome • Bell Tower • Bellchime Trail • Burned Tower • Moomoo Farm • Olivine Lighthouse Battle Tower (Crystal • HGSS)/Frontier • Cliff Edge Gate • Cliff Cave • Embedded Tower • Safari Zone • Whirl Islands Mt. Mortar • Lake of Rage • Team Rocket HQ • Ice Path • Dragon's Den • S.S. Aqua • Mt. Silver (Cave) Access to Sinjoh Ruins • Kanto

This article is part of Project Locations, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every location in the Pokémon world.