Pokemon Go: How to Find and Capture Ditto

ByAdam B Hours
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Ditto alongside shiny ditto

Last Updated on: 27th June 2022, 05:06 pm

Ditto is a popular pokemon, with its fairly simple and goofy appearance and ability to imitate anything else, including pokemon that are put in front of it via transform. Pokemon Go Ditto specifically uses that very transform move to hide from players.

This is an article to help you find your very own Ditto in Pokemon Go.

Now, as those familiar with Ditto will know, it can use its signature move Transform to mimic the appearance of… just about anything if the Pokedex is to be believed.

Ditto, the Transform Pokémon. Ditto has the ability to reconstruct its entire cellular structure into whatever it sees.

Episode DP173, Dawn’s Pokedex on Ditto.

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Though it should be noted that later generations of anime Pokedex limit that ability to transforming into other pokemon – particulars of the ability aside, it is this very move that makes it more difficult than usual to locate wild ditto in Pokemon Go – as all the ditto present in the game have already used transform by the time you see them.

So what does this mean for the Gameplay aspect of finding Ditto, you may wonder? Well, you just have to capture one while it’s disguised to break its disguise.

Unfortunately, unlike the Ditto in the anime who by retain their thin mouth and beady eyes when transformed, Ditto present in the game don’t like to make it so easy to tell them apart from what they’re trying to mimick.

Pokemon Anime Ditto mimicking Pikachu
Example of Ditto disguised as Pikachu in the anime, Credit: the Pokemon Company

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The best way to find yourself a Ditto – notwithstanding any future events that give certain Ditto encounters, – is to know what Ditto is currently disguising itself as so that you can try to find one that way.

Ditto Disguises

Notably, you should never see Ditto itself on the map, only it indistinguishably posing as other pokemon. As of the time of writing, Ditto can be found while disguised as any of the following Pokemon:

  • Hoothoot
  • Spinarak
  • Hoppip
  • Remoraid
  • Whismur
  • Gulpin
  • Numel
  • Bidoof
  • Foongus

It should also be noted that Ditto has not been able to transform into any shiny-enabled Pokemon previously – whenever a Pokemon on the disguises list has received a shiny version, Ditto has stopped using it as a disguise. So if anything on this list has since received a shiny version, ignore that entry.

READ MORE: Pokemon Go Kanto Tour Make-Up Event: What To Expect

For those wanting to check if this list is up to date, other lists of the potential Disguises can be found here at the Pokemon Go Wiki, and here on Leekduck.

If capturing Ditto is a goal of yours, you’ll want to see out as many of the Pokemon present in the disguises list as you can as often as you can, as each one you capture will have a chance to reveal itself to be a Ditto when you capture it with a special animation.

Ditto's Pokemon Go Pokedex Entry
The Pokemon Go Ditto Pokedex Entry Credit: PokemonGO Wiki

Good luck on filling that Ditto entry in your Pokedex, Trainers.

Speaking of Ditto, did you know that Shiny Ditto was briefly available as a Kanto Tour exclusive, though the event ended up being a bit less than exclusive due to errors? You can see a bit more about that below.