Ever since it was introduced, Ditto has been the focus of scrutiny from the Pokemon fanbase. In particular, Ditto is often theorized to be a failed clone of Mew akin to Mewtwo. However, this theory really doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. (The reasons why are outside the scope of this post, but there’s an excellent segment of a Did You Know Gaming video that goes over that!) Honestly, I’ve never really understood this theory. The evidence is weak and kinda falls apart under scrutiny. Despite this, Ditto is still a fascinating Pokémon and I think there’s still a very fascinating origin story for it hidden under the surface– that is, I think Ditto is an alien Pokémon, similar to something like Lunatone or Solrock.
As with my prior posts, in-game content is in orange, supplementary content (like spinoffs, websites, manuals, and demos) is in green, and leaked content is in blue.
Before Generation III, we didn’t get much on Ditto’s origins. Throughout Kanto and Johto, it’s mostly found in random assorted locations, like Rock Tunnel, Pokemon Mansion, and the routes near Goldenrod City. The only thing that could possibly point towards an origin for Ditto is the Metal Powder, a special held item that only works on Ditto, boosting its defenses while it's untransformed. This item is not obtainable in the overworld in any game, only being held by wild Ditto (or given out by humans in BW and ORAS). This seems to imply that Ditto is either metallic or has some special relation to metal.
Not even the Pokedex is helpful in illustrating the origins of Ditto’s oddities. It mostly comments on Ditto’s transformation abilities and their perfection, which ultimately doesn’t help us figure out its biology or origins. All it tells us is that Ditto can recombine its cells to transform into what it sees.
The first hint towards what I believe to be Ditto’s true origins is its location in Pokemon Emerald. Ditto is the only new wild encounter for a Kanto Pokemon in Emerald– most of that game’s additions were focused on the otherwise unobtainable Johto Pokemon. (The only other added Kanto Pokemon was a trade with an NPC at the Battle Frontier for a Meowth). The location Ditto is found in is a strange one– the Desert Underpass. The Desert Underpass is a cave unique to Emerald broken into by the Fossil Maniac digging away on Route 114 after the player enters the Hall of Fame. Within is the fossil that sank into the sand when not chosen at the Mirage Tower, putting the end of the cave under the desert on Route 111, as well as wild Ditto, Loudred, and Whismur. Whismur and Loudred are fairly standard cave Pokémon in Hoenn, but Ditto’s presence here is puzzling, to say the least– it is not otherwise present in Hoenn (outside of Mirage Spots, which are likely supplied by Hoopa) in any game. Why would Ditto be in this secluded cave? Well, the entrance is on Route 114, one of the places in Hoenn most inundated with meteoric impacts. This is not the only instance of Ditto being found in areas with connections to outer space, however.
I’m going to take a step aside for a second, however. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, when called at Route 47, the opposite-gender protagonist will say “Have you been to Route 47? It has such a beautiful, natural view! ...That said, have you heard of DITTO? DITTO get really energetic around Route 47. It's kind of strange…” In line with this, Ditto can be found in the wild and sometimes Swarming on Route 47, and a following Ditto will display the following message when interacted with in the area: “...Oh? DITTO’s appearance... Didn’t change!” Route 47 is the only area within HGSS to have a wild Pokemon able to Swarm where the default rarity of that Pokemon is higher than 1%-- Ditto is at a whopping 41%, pre-Swarm. As for what this means or how this ties into my theory… I have no idea! It doesn’t poke holes in it, but it’s certainly odd, and I can’t think of an easy explanation, theory or not. I discovered this while researching for this post, and have no clue what it could mean. The only thing that comes to mind about Route 47 is the Embedded Tower, but as for how that relates to Ditto, I have no clue.
Back to more standard evidence, glossing over the Sinnoh games due to the Trophy Garden not being natural and the Poke Radar seemingly showing nonnative species, we arrive at the four Unova games. Within Black, White, Black 2, and White 2, Ditto are found exclusively within the Giant Chasm. The Giant Chasm is the home of Kyurem and is stated in numerous places to be an impact crater created by Kyurem falling to the planet (“A long, long time ago, the Giant Chasm was created when a big meteorite fell from the sky. A really scary Pokémon was hidden inside that meteorite…”). The wild Pokémon deep inside Giant Chasm mostly reflect this, also. Almost every single Pokémon within Giant Chasm, both caves and forests, is either standard to a specific class of areas/encounter types (Excadrill to dust clouds, Audino to rustling grass, and Basculin to freshwater areas), Ice-type (Sneasel, Piloswine, Mamoswine, Delibird, Vanillish, and Jynx) or extraterrestrial (Clefairy, Clefable, Lunatone, Solrock, Metang, and Metagross). The remaining Pokémon are Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, and Ditto. The Poliwag line are still commonly found in freshwater areas throughout Unova, like Basculin, which just leaves Ditto. Ditto does not cleanly fit into any category here– it isn’t Ice-type or standard to any area type (it’s only found in the Giant Chasm). However, the last remaining category is ‘extraterrestrial’-- one Ditto could easily fit into.
On the topic of Kyurem, the various leaked profiles for Pokémon from the Teraleak (see this earlier post for a brief explanation of why I’m using them) shed an interesting light on this question. As with that post, I will be using machine translation as I don’t speak Japanese, but with checking of my interpretations from a Japanese speaker to ensure this is accurate).
The leaked profile for Kyurem contains the following two bullet points:
“・It has extremely unstable cellular tissue (like Ditto).
・It is believed that it creates ultra-cold air within its body, which covers its entire body and prevents its cells from deforming or denaturing.”
Kyurem’s cell structure is explicitly compared to Ditto, which makes sense– it’s capable of fusing with and subsequently splitting from Reshiram and Zekrom. In addition, Ditto is said to turn into stone while it sleeps by the Pokédex in Gold and HeartGold (“When it sleeps, it changes into a stone to avoid being attacked.”), with this behavior being directly shown in Pokémon Sleep. This reflects Reshiram and Zekrom, Kyurem’s component parts, turning into the Light and Dark Stones when they are inactive. Additionally, Kyurem was also originally going to become the God Stone when it was inactive, as addressed in the leaked profile, but this did not make it into the final product. (There’s quite a bit more in this profile, too, some of which contributes to a crazy theory, but it’s very outside the scope of this post. If you’re interested in a different theory involving the leaked info about Kyurem and speak French, check out this video!) However, Kyurem itself is extraterrestrial, so what does this mean for Ditto? (While I could go more in-depth with ideas about the relationship between Kyurem and Ditto, and their similarities, I think such discussions are best left alone due to their more speculative nature.)
Only one major piece of evidence remains, stemming from Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. (All other games contribute is similar random locations to those of Kanto and Johto, such as an island in the Workout Sea or the West Province of Paldea near Medali and Porto Marinada). Within the Alola games, Ditto is once again found only in a single area– on Mount Hokulani. In Pokémon Sun and Moon, the wild Pokémon pool in this area consists of Fearow, Minior, Cleffa, Ditto, Skarmory, and Beldum, plus Clefairy and Chansey through SOS encounters. While this has a heavy focus on Pokémon from space and close to it, it’s not exclusive, with Fearow and Skarmory not having any kind of space connections. However, Ultra Sun and Moon would strengthen this, with Mount Hokulani being split up into multiple encounter tables like many other areas in Alola. The grass at the base of the mountain retained the entire pool, with the addition of Elekid and Elgyem (and Electabuzz through SOS), with Happiny replacing Chansey. However, the field of grass at the peak of the mountain had its pool reduced, with Fearow and Skarmory being removed (and Happiny replacing Chansey). Of the two new additions, only Elgyem was added to the peak of the mountain. That left the peak of the mountain’s pool as being Minior, Elgyem, Beldum, Cleffa, and Ditto, with Clefairy and Happiny through SOS. Minus Happiny, which is invariably in the SOS pools for all baby Pokémon within USUM including Cleffa, these are all extraterrestrial Pokémon… and Ditto. Yet again, Ditto is the odd Pokémon out in an area focusing on extraterrestrial Pokémon.
All in all, Ditto has repeatedly been found in areas with focuses on extraterrestrial influence alongside many alien Pokémon. It also shares a unique cell structure with Kyurem, a known alien Pokémon. This makes it seem fairly clear-cut to me– Ditto is being secretly portrayed to be extraterrestrial. Whether this idea was the case since Gen III or whether it was retroactively applied with the Kyurem lore in Gen V, I can’t be sure, but it’s definitely something to take note of, even if you don’t actively agree.
And, hey, if you don’t agree, or if you just want clarification (or if you know what in the world is the deal with Route 47), send me an ask or leave a comment! I’m always open to discussion or criticism of my theories. That’s how we learn more!
Thanks to @kiskeym / @boh.nonso on Twitter / Medium for the leaked profile checking and for tipping me off to this idea!
Ability: DNA scan (this ability can copy its opponent typing and find the opposite of it. Example, if your opponent is a dragon type, UnioFoh will become fairy type)
Entry: UnioFoh is a strange pokemon that has been recently descovered. experts say that UnioFoh is a pokemon from another world for it’s strange body. the long tendrils that expand its body seem to have minds of their own, changing color and moving independently of the main body.
Know one knows how many UnioFohs are out there but when scientist fine a new form of UnioFoh the mark it as UnioFoh-0#
