Ditto

It rearranges the structure of its cells until it can imitate anything in front of it: another living thing, an object, whatever it has seen. Pokédex entries keep insisting on the same point: the copy is rarely exact. If it transforms using data stored in its memory instead of looking at the original, details slip past it, and the quality of the result varies from one specimen to another. Scarlet and Violet add a domestic touch: each individual has a particular imitation object that it can copy better than the rest.

Transformation also helps it interact with others. By taking on another Pokémon's form, it can become friends with it, something that does not work with members of its own species, which do not get along with one another.

There is not much beneath the copy. Thirty centimetres, four kilograms and a purple, ball-shaped mass with two dots for eyes and a line for a mouth; the official category is Transform Pokémon, and it describes exactly what is there. It does not come from anything and does not evolve into anything: number 132 is on its own, with no evolutionary line and no alternate forms. Its recorded habitat is urban, which makes sense for a creature specialised in imitating objects.

Two hundred and eighty-eight points spread across six identical figures of 48. It is the flattest distribution there is and, in raw terms, one of the worst: it cannot hit, take hits or move quickly. Its complete movepool is a single move, Transform, learned at level 1. No TM, Egg Move or move tutor.

Everything it does depends on Imposter, its Hidden Ability, which no other species has. When it enters the field, it automatically transforms into the opposing Pokémon in front of it and takes its stats, types, four moves and any stat boosts that opponent has accumulated. The only thing it does not copy is HP, which remains its own. Its other Ability, Limber, merely prevents paralysis, and nobody uses it.

With a Choice Scarf, the set becomes a revenge killer: it comes in, copies the sweeper that has just boosted its Attack by two or three stages and wins the initiative thanks to the item. Smogon maintains analyses in OU, Ubers, AG, RU, NU, PU and ZU, as well as Monotype, Battle Stadium Singles and VGC. In 2025 VGC, it works as a borrowed third Restricted Pokémon, because it copies Shadow Rider Calyrex or Miraidon and takes them down with their own attacks, which are super effective against them.

The counterplay is just as clear. Substitute completely shuts down Imposter. An opponent that has already Terastallized can no longer be copied. Losing the Scarf to Knock Off or Trick turns it into dead weight, and Protosynthesis and Quark Drive boosts are left out of the replica.

It is the only member of the Ditto Egg Group and has no gender, a combination that creates a paradox: it can breed with almost everything except another one like itself. That is why one never hatches from an Egg. The 20 incubation cycles listed in its data, around 5355 steps, are a figure that is never actually used.

Its role is the opposite of everyone else's. Paired with any species that does not belong to the Undiscovered Egg Group, it acts as the second parent and the offspring comes from the other side, including genderless species that could not be bred without it. Half the Pokédex relies on this to obtain Natures, Hidden Abilities or Eggs of whichever species you want, which is why it is usually the first thing people look for after finishing the adventure.

Getting one means catching it in the wild, and it does not come cheap: its catch rate is 35, below the 45 of a starter. Wild specimens sometimes hold Metal Powder, which doubles their Defense while they are not transformed, or Quick Powder, which raises their Speed. No other Pokémon can make use of either item. It grows at a medium rate, and defeating it gives one HP effort point.