Ditto in Pokémon Go remains one of the game's most elusive creatures, as it actively disguises itself as other Pokémon. Players looking to catch this shapeshifting Pokémon must first identify and capture its disguised form, which will then reveal itself as Ditto with an "Oh?" prompt if successful.
Ditto's disguises are not static and change periodically. To aid trainers in their Ditto hunts, especially for those seeking a shiny variant, the current list of Pokémon that Ditto can appear as has been updated for July 2026. Following the "Completely Normal" event, which concluded on September 23, 2025, Ditto can be found disguised as Mankey, Growlithe, Magnemite, Voltorb, Sentret, Teddiursa, Seedot, Surskit, Slakoth, Whismur, and Duskull.
For those aiming to capture a shiny Ditto, it is important to note that if a shiny version of a Pokémon appears in the wild, it will never be a Ditto. This means a shiny Mankey, for example, will always remain a shiny Mankey and not transform into a shiny Ditto. This prevents players from accidentally losing a shiny encounter.
Finding a shiny Ditto relies purely on chance, with any regular Ditto encounter having the potential to be shiny. The encounter rates for shiny Dittos are significantly higher than the standard shiny rates. According to research from The Silph Road, the probability of encountering a shiny Ditto is approximately one in 64. This means players will need to rely on luck when encountering and attempting to catch the disguised Pokémon.
Shiny Ditto was first introduced to players through a paid Special Research Task during the Kanto Tour in 2021. However, it is now available as a regular in-game encounter.