PokéBase - Pokémon Q&A
1 vote
1,199 views

Lets say an Imposter ditto(no.1) comes in and revenge kills a mew, then you send in an imposter ditto(no.2). Will no.2 ditto transform into a mew or a ditto?


When a Pokemon with Imposter comes into play, it uses Transform automatically.
Smogon


>As soon as the user comes into battle, it Transforms into its opponent, copying the opponent's stats exactly, with the exception of HP.
Bulbapedia


It transforms itself into the Pokémon it is facing.
Pokemon DB

by

1 Answer

0 votes
 
Best answer

The Transform paradox

In Generation I if Ditto (or another Pokémon with only Transform) faces another Pokémon with Transform in a Trainer battle where neither Trainer has any items and no Pokémon besides the Pokémon with Transform, the battle will never end. This is because when Transform is used, the Pokémon will turn into its opponent, resulting in a Transform moveset of, again, only Transform. Since every time Transform is used, it gives the Pokémon using it the target's moveset with 5 PP each, Transform will continue to Transform into itself, restoring the PP every time it is used. Due to this, one will never reach a point where it can only use Struggle, unlike Wynaut and Wobbuffet in later generations who, although they too have no directly damaging moves, will eventually run out of PP and thus be able to use Struggle. This is likely why few Trainers have Ditto in the Generation I games.

This bug is not present in any other games because of a change in Transform mechanics: from Generation II onwards, it is not possible to Transform into a Pokémon that is the Transformation of another Pokémon.


This is from Bulbapedia's page for the move transform this probably remains true for Imposter as it "Transforms" upon being sent out. So the second Ditto's ability would fail and it would remain a Ditto.

by