If you’re familiar with Pokémon’s competitive scene, you’ll know that there are certain critters that dominate play. In any given metagame, there will be Pokémon that rise above the rest and others that are forgotten. After all, if you want to be the best (like no-one ever was), you’ve got to use the best.
There are a lot of Pokémon that aren’t exactly bad, per se but have a very niche use. Lots of players tend to copy the more successful competitive teams, which don’t often have room for these quirkier picks. Today, we’re throwing the spotlight on one of these niche Pokémon: Ditto. Why should you have one in your party, and why should you avoid it?
10 GOOD IDEA: Breeding, Breeding, Breeding
So, we’ll get the most obvious virtue of Ditto out of the way right off the bat. If you’re a veteran Pokémon player, one thing will come straight to mind when you think of Ditto: the number of times you’ve dropped the squelchy little thing off at the Pokémon Day Care.
Yes, Ditto is absolutely invaluable when it comes to breeding. It’s able to breed with every Pokémon capable of doing so (the only exception being those in the Undiscovered egg group and other Dittos), and can also pass on its Nature and some IVs when holding the right item. If you’re a serious battler, you’ll definitely want to keep an army of Ditto on hand.
9 BAD IDEA: It’s So Inconsistent
There’s no doubt this adorable blob of gelatinous cuteness has its uses in the games. When it comes to battles themselves, though, you can never be quite sure what you’re going to get from it.
Ditto’s whole gimmick, of course, is that it transforms into the opponent facing it when it’s sent out. Needless to say, then, that sort of strategy is going to have mixed results. It’s all about the timing. A poorly played Ditto can have absolutely no impact on the match at all. Consistency is key in Pokémon (which is why weaker moves that are more accurate tend to be preferred), and Ditto is very tough to use by nature.
8 GOOD IDEA: It’s Much Better Since It Gained The Imposter Ability
As we know, Ditto itself is capable of learning only one move: Transform. In Generation I through IV, it was forced to use this move on its first turn in order to become a copy of the opponent facing it. Sadly, it rarely got the chance to do so, as that usually meant taking a hit with Ditto’s own abysmal base defenses.
In short, it was all but impossible to use effectively. Pokémon Black and White finally threw Ditto a bone, however, in the form of its exclusive Hidden Ability: Imposter. With this Ability, it automatically transforms into its opponent on hitting the field. It’s still very tough to use, of course, but it’s actually functional now. As far as Ditto itself is concerned, this is right up there with Intimidate as one of the best Abilities in the series.
7 BAD IDEA: Main Game Coverage Lost
As fans know, Pokémon parties consist of only six members, each with a mere four moveslots. In the main story, just about anything goes, but competitive battlers will agonize over exactly which role they want each Pokémon to perform (and which moves to give them to best accomplish that).
Even for the campaign itself, you’ll want to be sure you’ve got a good mix of coverage on your team. This is something else that Ditto simply cannot deliver, because it’s entirely dependent on what the other team brings to the table. In that regard, you’re almost playing with a five-Pokémon team.
6 GOOD IDEA: It Can Be Much, Much Scarier Than You Thought
As we’ve mentioned, then, Ditto is a very niche pick. It’s a Pokémon that can either be crushed into sad, salty chunks of defeat and failure or singlehandedly flatten the opposing team. It’s very hard to use effectively, yes, but when unleashed at just the right moment, it can be an incredible thing to behold.
You see, Ditto doesn’t only imitate its opponent’s stats. It imitates their current stats, including any and all boosts they may have accumulated. Choice Scarf Ditto, then, is an excellent revenge killer. Its specialty is instantly turning the tables on setup sweepers, by outspeeding them and taking them down with their own moves.
5 BAD IDEA: It’s Worse Than (Almost) Everything
So, yes. You probably like the idea of nabbing the other player’s own super strong, super fast setup sweeper and sending them careening back into their Poké Ball so fast it makes their heads spin. Ditto’s stat-copying mechanic is a brilliant asset.
There’s something you’ve got to be wary of, though. Whatever happens, Ditto will always keep its own HP after transforming. As Ditto’s own stats are all a feeble base 48, this essentially guarantees that it will always have less HP than the Pokémon it’s copying (usually a whole lot less). Couple that with the PP problems we’ll get into later, and Ditto is essentially always a worse duplicate of the Pokémon it’s imitating.
4 GOOD IDEA: The Fear It Causes In Team Preview
No, this adorable little pink chunk of smiling jello probably doesn’t look all that terrifying to the untrained eye. Experienced Pokémon players, however, will know exactly how frightening it can be to see this tiny terror pop up on the team preview screen.
Having a Ditto on your team, knowing that your opponent knows that you have it, can make for some excellent mind games. It affects the way they play if their strategy is built around enabling a key Pokémon’s sweep. When will that Ditto pop up? What’s the game plan for working around it? Ditto isn’t especially popular, so it’s a factor that often isn’t considered during team-building and can throw a real spanner in the works.
3 BAD IDEA: PP Problems
As well as its middling HP, Ditto has another downside when compared to the original Pokémon it’s imitating. It will have the same moveset, of course, but each of the four moves will only have five PP.
If it stays in the battle for a protracted period, then, it’s very vulnerable to running out of PP entirely (especially when faced with opponents rocking the Pressure Ability, which doubles PP use). This is yet another thing that makes Ditto such a potential liability (though there is also the possibility of switching around to regain that PP to prevent stalling).
2 GOOD IDEA: An Interesting Challenge
As we’ve seen, then, Ditto is a very unique Pokémon that doesn’t play quite like any other. This is always refreshing to see, especially in a competitive environment where the same picks tend to crop up over and over.
Whether you’re playing through the main story or enjoying casual or more serious battles with other players, bringing a Ditto into the mix will make things much more interesting. Why not try a Ditto-centric challenge? In February 2018, YouTube’s Pikasprey Yellow defied the odds and completed a run through Generation I using only a single Ditto!
1 BAD IDEA: It Just Doesn’t ‘Fit’ On A Team
So, there we are. When all’s said and done, Ditto could be seen as the embodiment of confirmation bias in the Pokémon scene. This concept revolves around the fact that a player could use their favorite Pokémon in an obscure way, get some great results with that odd strategy once or twice, then claim that it really works.
The fact of the matter is, all the times it didn’t work could have been mitigated if the player had opted for a more standard, tried-and-true team pick. That’s often the case with Ditto: when it works, it really, really works, but when it doesn’t, you’d have been far better off with something else a lot of the time.
NEXT: Pokémon: 10 Ways You’re (Unintentionally) Making The Game Harder On Yourself
