A new Pokémon GO glitch is causing trainers to catch certain Shiny Pokémon that surprisingly turn out to be Shiny Dittos. Ditto was added to the popular mobile game back in November 2016 but its Shiny variant was only added in February 2021 during the Kanto Tour event, where players could catch the rare shape-shifting Pokémon by purchasing Special Research Task tickets that would give them the chance to encounter it.
Trainers who weren’t able to purchase tickets for the Special Research Task before the end of the Kanto Tour event initially lost the opportunity to obtain a Shiny Ditto but at the start of this month, players were given more ways to encounter and catch it. Since the start of September, players were allowed to potentially catch a Shiny Ditto by completing a Field Research task for seven consecutive days, which will grant them a guaranteed encounter with a Ditto that has the chance to be a Shiny variant. Additionally, one of the big changes introduced by the Season of Mischief is the opportunity for players to encounter Shiny Ditto in the wild, although the chances are extremely slim.
Reddit user DaRk_ViVi shared their experience with the glitch on the TheSilphRoad subreddit. According to them, they were able to catch a Shiny Drowzee that turned out to be a Shiny Ditto. While it’s completely possible, albeit unlikely, to catch a Shiny Ditto in the wild, the pool of Pokémon that may potentially transform into a Ditto is not only limited but was meant to not include any Shiny Pokémon so DaRk_ViVi’s encounter is definitely surprising and most likely an unintended glitch. They added that the catch was from a Daily Spawn, which uses Pokémon GO’s incense feature that could be the reason the glitch occurred as developer Niantic may have neglected to include it in the parameters for encountering a Ditto. Another trainer also shared their own experience with the alleged glitch, which involved catching a Shiny Teddiursa from their Daily Spawn that turned out to be a Shiny Ditto.
It’s still unclear whether getting a Shiny Ditto from a Shiny Pokémon is an unintended glitch and if the theory of it being caused by the Daily Spawn system is accurate until developer Niantic has confirmed it. With how rare it is to encounter a Ditto, let alone a Shiny one, it isn’t surprising that not a lot of people are reporting the potential glitch. However, Niantic may eventually confirm and address it shortly. The developer previously removed Falinks from three-star raids because of a bug that caused the Pokémon to appear distorted.
It’s surprising to see a Shiny Pokémon a trainer has just caught suddenly transform into a Shiny Ditto. However, the value of that occurring may vary depending on the rarity of the former as the initially caught Shiny Pokémon may be more desired than the Shiny Ditto. If it does turn out to be an unintended glitch, hopefully, Niantic can address it sooner rather than later.
Pokémon GO is currently available on iOS and Android.
Source: DaRk_ViVi/Reddit