How to Get a Shiny Ditto in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

The Paldea Region is full of Pokemon – 400 to be precise. And while Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are absolutely lush with Pokemon, there are some Pokemon that simply carry more appeal than others. Shiny Pokemon being chief among them.

With the Overworld mechanic, finding a Shiny Pokmon is a little easier than it has been in previous generations (though nowhere near as easy as Legends of Arceus, where The Pokemon Company was kind enough to give us a loud chime whenever there was a Shiny Pokemon in the area). Combine that with Mass Outbreaks, and it’s likely that most trainers will find a shiny Pokemon simply by chance as they go through the game.

But one Pokemon likely remains elusive for you – and pretty much everyone else. Shiny Ditto.

How to Get a Shiny Ditto in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Ditto is a strange Pokemon in many ways. It has no egg group, so you can’t breed it. Meaning you’ll have to find this pile of DNA-copying goo in the wild. But it’s also a Pokemon that won’t appear in Mass Outbreaks. This is something I confirmed by going through weeks and weeks of date switching on my Nintndo Switch. You can call me the desperate optimist.

Related: How to Get Ditto in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

That means, for all you Shiny hunters, the only chance to find a Shiny Ditto is by heading to West Province Area Two and West Province Area Three. There, Ditto will disguise itself as other Pokemon… but even if it’s Shiny, its copied counterpart won’t be. Yes, there’s no way to tell at a glance if the Ditto is shiny.

But there is one vague grey lining. You can send your Pokemon out to automatically battle a Ditto. Normally, you’ll Pokemon will take it down as normal, even if it’s disguised. But if the Ditto is Shiny, your Pokemon will refuse to defeat it. This is the only way to tell if Ditto is Shiny without engaging it in battle.

While this all sounds incredibly tedious, you can increase your odds of finding a Shiny Ditto by increasing your Sparkling Power through sandwich munching and by obtaining the Shiny Charm. Sparkling Power sandwich bonuses will last for 30 minutes, and you can always save and reset if you don’t have the ingredients to continuously spam them for hours on end.

The Shiny Charm is a little more elusive, demanding trainers catch 400 Pokemon and fill out their Paldea ‘Dex for them to obtain it. But it will increase your odds of finding that Shiny ditto in the wild.

Good luck Shiny hunting, Trainer!