Ditto is one of the most valuable Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Whether you’re interested in winning lots of badges, defeating the game, or simply trying to complete your Pokedex, it’s an absolute game changer to have a Ditto.

Catching a Ditto can be a bit confusing, as they have a unique mechanic which disguises them in the game. Luckily, there is more than one way of catching a Ditto.

In this post we will look at how to catch Ditto in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, as well as its uses, strengths, and even breeding techniques.

What is Ditto Used For?

Ditto isn’t a particularly great Pokemon for battling.

It has a move called Transform which turns it into a copy of its opponent. This move takes a turn to complete, so you have to take a hit from the enemy Pokemon. Once you use this move, your Ditto is a carbon copy of the opposing Pokemon.

So, what is Ditto used for if you can’t really use it for battling?

Ditto is mostly used for breeding Pokemon. Learning how to breed Pokemon is simple, but if you want a very specific attribute on a Pokemon, it can get a bit complicated.

For the basics, you just set up a picnic with a Ditto and a Pokemon you want to breed. Gender does not matter, which makes Ditto the perfect Pokemon for breeding.

After a few minutes, you will start to see eggs in the picnic basket. If you eat food with ‘Egg Power,’ you will get eggs a lot faster. This can include sandwiches or the various food items from the shops and restaurants in the game.

You will never get Ditto eggs during this process which makes it easy to get a guaranteed egg for the Pokemon of your choice.

Where to Catch Ditto

Ditto Tera Raid

You can catch a Ditto in the overworld or in Tera Raids.

In the overworld, Ditto doesn’t actually look like a Ditto. They appear as a transformed Pokemon, copying a random Pokemon that can spawn in the same area.

To catch Ditto in the overworld, you should go to Medali or Port Marinada. There are Pokemon Centers near the two towns, and you can look for Dittos around the vicinity by battling random Pokemon nearby until a Ditto shows up.

Once you encounter a Ditto, they will transform back into a Ditto as the battle begins.

For Tera Raids, finding a Ditto will be completely random. The best tip to find a Ditto is just to check every single den out there.

They can appear as other elements because of the Terastallize mechanic. However, Dittos are easily distinguishable as a silhouette due to their blobby shape. You can easily tell if a Tera Raid is going to feature a Ditto or not.

How to Capture a Ditto

There isn’t a special way of capturing a Ditto. As long as you don’t use a Pokemon with a Teleport move, you should have it locked down.

To make things easier, you can get a Pokemon with False Swipe to bring the Ditto’s HP down to 1.

If you put status effects on the Ditto, it makes it easier to catch as well.

You can even spam any type of Pokeball until you capture it without doing any damage to Ditto. It is still possible to catch a Pokemon this way.

In Tera Raids, there is a 100% guaranteed catch rate after beating the Pokemon. You can use any Pokeball you want, especially if you want a specific Pokeball for the Ditto (purely for aesthetic purposes).

Last Tips and Tricks

Check Ditto Summary

Once you finish the game, you can look at the Pokemon in your box to check their IV, EV, and nature.

Always check the Ditto’s IV, EV, and nature when you capture them. This will be useful for breeding.

If your Ditto has ‘Perfect Stats,’ you need to keep it. Using a Ditto with perfect stats in breeding will give you a high chance of breeding a Pokemon with perfect stats as well. This applies to the Ditto’s nature, too.

Grabbing a Foreign Ditto

One of the ways you can get shiny Pokemon is through breeding. This is the Masuda method, where you have breed Pokemon with different origins (caught in different countries) for a higher chance of getting a shiny.

Try your chances at a surprise trade or even look through Discord or Reddit communities to make the trade. Other players may also want your Ditto because it could be foreign to them if they are from another country.

What to Do After Catching Ditto

One of the most important things to do after catching a Ditto is to spend some time getting to grips with how breeding works in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Ditto can be an absolute game changer if there’s a specific egg or egg type you want, so it’s worth reading up on.

If you want to get your Ditto into a battle as quickly as possible, there’s a few ways you can level up fast and get it to a good point for competitive play.