DITTO

Transform Pokémon

Height: 1'00" (0.3 m)
Weight: 8.8 lbs. (4.0 kg)

They transform into other life forms by rearranging their body’s cellular structure. They learn almost no moves of their own. Ditto can be considered one of the most enigmatic Pokémon ever.
~Pocket Monsters Pokédex, 1996

It's been part of the franchise since the very beginning, yet often is relegated to side-character status.

In a video/card game that focuses mostly on utilizing combat abilities and mechanics, this happy lil guy is oft-ignored due to only knowing the one move: Transform, which doesn't replicate an opponent's HP, and its own base stats are pretty average; a situation worsened by the fact that it's usually found in the later half of the game, meaning it's difficult for the casual player to plan its inclusion in a Pokémon team. At best, it's forced into a life of studding at the Pokémon Day Care (replaced in Scarlet and Violet with the much more humane Picnics). At worst, it's left to live forever in the PC, never allowed to roam freely ever again.

I say this sweet goo puddle deserves better and more!!

For one, it's got the ideal face: 2 dot eyes and a lopsided smile. It's simple yet so readable and expressive. According to Game Freak developers Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori, Ditto was based on the smiley face :). It's supposedly amorphous, but that feature is rarely presented in most appearances (which is why I drew it based off the beta spritework for Pokémon Blue, which showcases it's pure goopiness).

For another, Ditto also has a very pleasant shiny version in a world of... some truly atrocious shiny color palettes. A gentle teal is the perfect counterpart for its lilac-pink base color!

Plus, it's said that when Ditto sleeps in the wild, it will turn into a rock to avoid being attacked, which is so unbelievably cute! Though it also implies that Ditto do fear predation?

For even one more thing, it's transform ability (an ability that only one other Pokémon, Mew, can learn naturally) is probably it's most fascinating and unique aspect! In theory, it can transform into anything, regardless of size and weight (and therefore breaking conservation of mass). In some card art, Ditto is depicted as transforming parts of its body into multiple Pokémon at once, which only increases its functionality! Understandably, later games/etc would introduce limits to it's abilities.

In its first anime appearance (episode 37: Ditto's Mysterious Mansion), it's shown that Dittos cannot transform into a Pokémon from a picture; the Pokémon must be physically there (which makes sense - it needs to be able to copy the genetic code after all). It can transform into any inanimate object. It is shown that Ditto does gain all abilities from the Pokémon it transforms from and can speak as that Pokémon, which implies that if it turns into a Pokémon capable of human speech (or human), it too could speak in human speech for the duration of its transformation.

Much of this would be retconned in subsequent entries into the franchise... Ditto would be unable to transform its own face (which is an upgrade imo. Every Pokémon is made better with a dot-eyed dopey smile), and could be forcibly returned to its true form through moments of strong emotion (laughter, shock, nerves, etc). It's potential ability to speak human speech or that of other Pokémon was also removed.

Some of these changes would be retconned again in later generations. In Gen VIII, a Ditto is shown to be able to transform into mostly-correct Pokémon from a picture. In Gen VII, the player is introduced to the Ditto Five, a group of five Ditto that rove through Alola transforming into people and temporarily living their lives, which the player must fix by defeating or catching the dittos in question in a mini-quest. This includes Ditto perfectly transforming into humans, face and all, and knowing how to perform actions such as cooking. The mini-quest ends with the implications that they're slowly learning how to more perfectly replicate humans, including ways of thinking and possibly speech, if they haven't already...

That said, it is stated that the Ditto don't have bad intentions and most, if not all, of the humans they temporarily replaced returned after benign personal issues. They just like humans so much! But how far would a Ditto go to get its fix? Have any replaced humans more fully? It's also said that the Ditto Five somtimes "mess up people's relationships," which has... implications.

On that cheery note, Ditto's primary usage for its breeding ability is interesting: it can reproduce with nearly every Pokémon of any gender, including the genderless ones (e.g. Voltorb). The only limits are those in the No Eggs Discovered group (which includes babyAzurill, Bonsly, Budew, Chingling, Cleffa, Elekid, Happiny, Igglybuff, Magby, Mantyke, Mime Jr., Munchlax, Pichu, Riolu, Smoochum, Togepi, Toxel, Tyrogue, and Wynaut, legendaryArticuno, Azelf, Calyrex, Chi-Yu, Chien-Po, Cobalion, The Cosmog Line, Cresselia, Dialga, Enamorus, Entei, Eternatus, Giratina, Glastrier, Groudon, Heatran, Ho-oh, Koraidon, Kubfu, Kyroge, Kyurem, Landorus, Latias, Latios, Lugia, Mesprite, Mewtwo, Miraidon, Moltres, Necrozma, Ogerpon, Palkia, Raikou, Rayquaza, Regice, Regidrago, Regieleki, Regigigas, Regirock, Registeel, Reshiram, Spectrier, Suicune, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Terapagos, Terrakion, Thundurus, Ting-Lu, Tornadus, The Type: Null Line, Urshifu, Uxie, Virizion, Wo-Chien, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zacian, Zamazanta, Zapdos, Zekrom, and Zygarde, mythicalArceus, Celebi, Darkrai, Deoxys, Diancie, Genesect, Hoopa, Jirachi, Keldeo, Magearna, Marshadow, Meloetta, The Meltan Line, Mew, Shaymin, Victini, Volcanion, Zarude, and Zeraora [oddly excluding the Manaphy line, which can], and paradox Pokémon; as well as Ultra Beasts), and with another Ditto, making it an integral part of any player's plan to fill in their Pokédex.

It also raises some questions... how does Ditto reproduce its own species? It's said that Ditto cannot get along well with its own kind and the resemblance to amoeba hint to it having a single-cellular body, so perhaps it doesn't and is instead a functionally immortal being. Though this first "fact" is suspect given it's shown some can get along well enough to create gangs (Ditto Five).

Yet even with that information, Ditto is alone in its egg group (Ditto), the only egg group with only one Pokémon. It (along with Unown) are the only non-legendary/mythical Pokémon that are genderless, that can't be hatched from an egg. This implies Ditto... don't reproduce sexually, at the very least. Perhaps through other means?

How many (considering the genderless species) Pokémon species are wholly dependent on Ditto to continue their existence? Was any of this evolutionarily-based due to lack of receptive partners?

Furthermore, the fact that it can reproduce with other Pokémon and aid in the production of offspring raises additional questions. Are the offspring genetically identical to the non-ditto parent (making the process much more akin to cloning than reproduction)? Can this extend to non-Pokémon species? Humans? After all, Ditto have been seen to transform into humans, practically infiltrating human society without anyone being the wiser...

But perhaps it's better to not contemplate those things and instead just accept Ditto for what it is: basically perfect in every way!