Ditto's Disguises Make it Hard to Catch in 'Pokémon Scarlet' and 'Pokémon Violet'

Catching them all is part of the allure of every new Pokémon game, but in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, some Pokémon are a bit more difficult to capture than others.

Ditto has long been a bit tricky to find, and in Pokémon GO, it often disguises itself as other Pokémon, so you won't know its true form until you've captured it. But how do you capture a Ditto in Scarlet and Violet?

Beyond some players' need to complete the PokéDex in its entirety, there are quite a few reasons to want a Ditto in your collection. For starters, if you have any hope of obtaining a Shiny Sprigatito, Quaxly, or Feucoco, you'll need to have a Ditto. These starter Pokémon are Shiny-locked at the start of the game, and the only way to get the Shiny version of any of them is through breeding. This, of course, will require you to have a Ditto to increase your chances.

Ditto is actually incredibly handy to have if you plan to do any breeding in Scarlet and Violet. Given that it can transform into just about any Pokémon in the game, breeding with a Ditto will help you get exactly the Pokémon you're looking for when you start your breeding journey.

Unfortunately, finding a Ditto in the wild is a bit trickier than it has been in previous games — ever the shapeshifter, Ditto will take on the appearance of the Pokémon in the surrounding area, so you won't know if you've encountered it until you start battle.

Thankfully, we know that Ditto is specific to certain regions in the game. This elusive Pokémon will only spawn in Areas Two and Three of the West Province, so you can complete your search there.

You'll have to start battles with all of the Pokémon you encounter in that area, as Ditto won't reveal itself until the start of the battle. This also means you'll want to turn off the auto battle feature as you conduct your search.

Since this is such a tedious process, some Pokémon fans have shared their own hacks online to help make this process easier. For starters, if you hold down the ZL button while in the region, it'll lock onto the nearest Pokémon, displaying its name and level.

If the Pokémon appears with "???" instead of its name (and it appears as a Pokémon you've previously encountered), then it's likely a Ditto. That being said, Ditto isn't the only Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet to disguise itself.

Zorua will also disguise itself as other Pokémon — and if you use the ZL trick mentioned above, it may be a Zorua instead of a Ditto. The Pokémon will still transform into its true form at the start of the encounter, though, so you'll know its identity right away.

Other players have also pointed out that if a Pokémon seems to be behaving strangely, it's likely either a Ditto or a Zorua in disguise. If the Pokémon is traditionally aggressive, or has a specific walk to it, you should note when it isn't behaving quite right, as it's likely an imposter.

Once you think you've found a Ditto, be sure to save your game before beginning the encounter, as you'll want to soft reset if you aren't successful in your attempt to catch it.