Ditto Disguise List | Which Pokémon can be Ditto in Pokémon GO?

Ditto appears at random with the appearance of other Pokémon in the game. Which ones can it be?

Pokémon Go’s innocent pink blob causes quite the headache. It’s not competitive; it doesn’t have great cp; it doesn’t even have an excellent typing that would help it out in battle. Instead, its main gimmick is transforming into slightly weaker versions of other existing Pokémon. Oh, and you need it for the app’s research function.

How do you catch something that appears as something else?

First, you need to know what to look for. I added this specific inquiry to my search history back in 2017. As it turns out, the answer is very different now. No one seems to agree on what Pokémon can be a Ditto in disguise. As of September 2019, the list has changed, yet again. The newest update removes Sentret since the shiny model arrived to the game. Game N Guides offers an updated list.

From what I’ve gathered, Ditto may appear as:

• From Gen. one:
  • Paras
  • Venonat
• From Gen.Two:
  • Yanma
  • Hoothoot
  • Ledyba
  • Remoraid
• From Gen. Three:
  • Whismur
  • Gulpin

As of right now, none of the Sinnoh Pokémon can be a sneaky Ditto. If I had to guess, I’d bet Bidoof will be on the list in the future.

Players that started Pokémon Go from day one will likely notice some of what you expect are missing. I know my first Ditto appeared as a Rattata. Imagine my surprise when I found that Rattata was no longer on the list. Well, the list has changed — a lot. And there’s a perfect reason for it.

Rarer than a Ditto is a shiny Pokémon. Coveted, a trainer’s heart rate leaps into unhealthy levels when they encounter a glittering, shiny Pokémon in the wild. It turns out, a plain, non-shiny Ditto could, for a while, masquerade as a shiny Pokémon of its original list. There are many accounts on Reddit of disheartened users catching a shiny Pokémon only for it to turn into a Ditto with that troll smile on its pink face. Catches range from shiny Magikarps to Shiny Rattatas, and a rogue Zigzagoon that was supposed to have been removed. Of course, take all of these with a grain of salt since most of them don’t have definitive proof attached.

Despite the lack of proof, Niantic was quick to fix it after reports came out. As a result, Ditto can no longer appear as Magikarp, Pidgey, Rattata, Zigzagoon, or Sentret.

Pokémon Go is still evolving and growing. As more shiny Pokémon get added, and even as the Poké Dex expands, this list will likely change in the future.