Ditto
Ditto is a Normal-type Pokémon, the Transform Pokémon, number 132 (#0132) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 1 and comes from the Kanto region. It is 0.3 m tall and weighs 4 kg.
Ditto is the Transform Pokémon, a pink-purple blob that can copy any creature or object it sees. Bulbapedia lists it as the lead character of Pokémon Pokopia, where it spends nearly all of the game as a human.
How to pronounce Ditto
Ditto is pronounced DIT-oh. The capital letters show the stressed syllable.
Listen to Ditto said out loud:
In Japanese it is メタモン (Metamon).
Hear every other name on the Pokémon pronunciation guide.
Lore
Biology
Left alone, Ditto is a light-purple blob, 0.3 m (1 ft 0 in) tall and 4 kg (8.8 lb), with beady eyes, a smile, two small nubs on its head and two stubby arm-like protrusions. The Pokédex says it rearranges its cell structure to copy whatever it sees, and that copying from memory gets details wrong. It cannot mimic human speech.
Behaviour
The Pokédex says every Ditto is better at some transformations than others, and that one made to laugh cannot hold its disguise. It can get along with anything but not well with fellow Ditto, and it moves faster to duplicate another Ditto. When it sleeps it turns into a stone so that nothing attacks it.
Habitat
The Pokédex habitat is urban, and Bulbapedia says it is never far from people. In Scarlet and Violet it is found in West Province Areas Two and Three, sometimes disguised as other Pokémon. It is not available in Legends: Z-A.
Powers
Its only move is Transform, which copies its target, and all its base stats are 48. Limber stops paralysis, and the Hidden Ability Imposter makes it transform on entering battle; Bulbapedia says no other known Pokémon can have Imposter. Only Ditto can use the held items Metal Powder and Quick Powder.
Name origin
Ditto is the everyday word for a copy, or 'the same again'. The Japanese name is Metamon (メタモン), which Bulbapedia reads as 'metamorphose' or 'meta-' plus 'monster'.
Design inspiration
Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori have said Ditto was originally based on the smiley face, with eyes and mouth like a ':)'. It also resembles an amoeba, and its shapeshifting recalls changelings and doppelgangers. These are fan readings apart from the smiley.
In the games
Ditto can breed with almost any Pokémon, even some with unknown gender, producing the other parent's species. It first appeared in Red and Green (Red and Blue outside Japan), on Routes 13, 14, 15 and 23 and Cerulean Cave, and in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky it guards Limestone Cavern's Time Gear.
In the anime
Duplica's Ditto debuted in 'Ditto's Mysterious Mansion', where it performed for people who stopped coming once they noticed it could not change its face. In 'A Talent for Imitation!', a Ditto has a job as a film actor.
Fun facts
- In the Red and Green beta, its English name was Morpho.
- A Spaceworld '97 demo suggests Ditto once had an Evolution called Animon, a horned, formless, part-animal creature.
- The colours of Metal Powder and Quick Powder appear to match Ditto's normal and Shiny forms.
- For a while in Pokémon GO, many wild Ditto were disguised as the then-unrevealed Meltan.
- In Pokémon Sleep, Bulbapedia says, Ditto has more sleep styles than any other Pokémon: 11.
Base stats
- HP: 48
- Attack: 48
- Defense: 48
- Sp. Atk: 48
- Sp. Def: 48
- Speed: 48
Ditto’s base stat total is 288. Its highest stat is HP and Attack and Defense and Sp. Atk and Sp. Def and Speed.
Type matchups
What is Ditto weak to?
Ditto takes extra damage from Fighting (2×) moves.
It is immune to Ghost moves.
Evolution
Ditto does not evolve, and it does not evolve from any other Pokémon.
Abilities
Moves
Moves Ditto learns by level up in Scarlet / Violet
| Level | Move | Type | Category | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transform | Normal | Status | — |
Breeding & training
- Gender: genderless.
- Egg groups: Ditto.
- Egg cycles: 20 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 2,560).
- Catch rate: 35 out of 255.
- Base friendship (Gen 8 onward): 50.
- Growth rate: Medium (1,000,000 experience points to reach level 100).
- Defeating it gives 1 HP effort value.
- Base experience yield: 101.
Pokédex entries
When it encounters another Ditto, it will move faster than normal to duplicate that opponent exactly. (Crystal, Shield)
It can reconstitute its entire cellular structure to change into what it sees, but it returns to normal when it relaxes. (Black 2, White 2, Sword)
When it spots an enemy, its body transfigures into an almost perfect copy of its opponent. (Yellow, Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Let’s Go, Eevee!)
It transforms into whatever it sees. If the thing it's transforming into isn't right in front of it, Ditto relies on its memory—so sometimes it fails. (Ultra Moon)
While it can transform into anything, each Ditto apparently has its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to transformations. (Ultra Sun)
With its astonishing capacity for metamorphosis, it can get along with anything. It does not get along well with its fellow Ditto. (Moon)
Names around the world
| Japanese | メタモン |
|---|---|
| Romaji | Metamon |
| French | Métamorph |
| German | Ditto |
| Spanish | Ditto |
| Italian | Ditto |
| Korean | 메타몽 |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 百变怪 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 百變怪 |
Trivia
- Taller than 4% of all Pokémon (0.3 m).
- Heavier than 13% of all Pokémon (4 kg).
- Base stat total 288, ranked #903 of 1,025.
- One of 131 Normal-type Pokémon (counting dual types).
- One of 87 purple Pokémon.
- Number 132 of 151 Pokémon introduced in Generation 1 (Kanto).
- Can learn 1 different move in Scarlet / Violet.
- Catch rate 35: about 4.6% per Poké Ball at full health.
- Appears in 15 distinct Pokédex entries.
Sources and fact-checking
- Stats, types, abilities, moves, evolutions, forms and Pokédex entries: PokéAPI open game data.
- Lore: written by pokee.si in our own words, researched from Bulbapedia: Ditto (Pokémon), Serebii: Ditto (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex), Bulbapedia: Pokémon Red and Green beta.
- Pronunciation (DIT-oh): it follows how the English anime, games or official videos say it.
Last checked: . Every sentence of the lore was checked against Bulbapedia, Serebii and the game data.
Explore
Normal-type Pokémon · Kanto region guide · Limber ability · Imposter ability · Compare Ditto · Full Pokédex · Type chart · All moves
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Gen 1 Normal-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Pokémon list · Purple Pokémon list · Pokémon that start with D