Ditto has been an iconic Pokémon in most of the Pokémon games through the years. It isn't a Pokémon that you'd probably take with you into battle, but it certainly serves other purposes.
While Ditto hasn't been a hard to find Pokémon or a hard to catch Pokémon in previous games, things have changed a bit in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. In this tutorial we're going to look at what it takes to catch a Ditto and explore some of the things you can do with it.
This guide won't act as a one size fits all solution to finding and catching a Ditto in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but it will help you get there.
Why is Ditto Important in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Before we look into where you'd find a Ditto or how you'd catch it, it's worth mentioning why you'd want one at all.
Pokémon breeding has been around since the very first Pokémon games. You'd pair a male and female version of the same Pokémon and you'd end up with an egg that hatches that same Pokémon after a certain amount of time has passed.
Ditto is a Pokémon breeding shortcut.
Instead of having a male and female Pokémon you can have a Ditto and any other Pokémon. When paired you'd get a copy of that other Pokémon, not the Ditto.
This is great because you generally can't catch a second starter or some of the promotional or legendary Pokémon in the game. Pair one of these unique Pokémon with a Ditto and you'll have something to share with friends and family.
So where do you find one in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
Where to Find a Ditto
Ditto can be found in many zones within the game, all of which can be accessed fairly early in your play through. This means you can get to breeding and trading quite fast.
Take the following habitat image, available through the Ditto Pokédex entry:
While Ditto can be found in many of the Northwest zones of the map, I've had most of my personal Ditto success outside of Porto Marinada or Medali. You encounter Porto Marinada when pursuing the water badge gym leader and you visit Medali when it's time to battle the normal type Pokémon gym leader.
Here's the catch though!
You can't just go to these Ditto habitats and expect to bump into a Ditto. In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet the Ditto roams incognito. In other words the Ditto is always disguised as another Pokémon.
So how do you know if you're in the presence of a Ditto or not?
You could just battle everything in sight, but that could be time consuming. Instead, use your target lock when wandering the Ditto habitat to see the names of every Pokémon before battle. You're looking for one of two things:
- Is this a Pokémon you've already encountered? If yes, does it have the Pokémon's name or does it have question marks?
- Does this Pokémon have a name of Ditto?
The Ditto will show up as question marks on all Pokémon if you've never encountered a Ditto before. Let's say you've battled or caught a Jigglypuff before. Future Jigglypuff should have a clearly visible name of Jigglypuff. However, if you see "???" instead, that is a Ditto. If you've encountered a Ditto before, while the Pokémon won't be visible as a Ditto, the name will be Ditto.
Those are the sure tell ways to spot a Ditto in the wild.
In a future tutorial we'll explore how to use the Ditto to breed Pokémon like Charmander or Quaxly.
Need more help finding and catching Ditto in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on the Nintendo Switch? Check out the video below which will walk you through the process. If it helps you catch a Ditto, consider clicking the "Like" button on the video and subscribing to the channel on YouTube.