Ditto

Ditto is perhaps the most important Pokémon to have on your team if you're hoping to catch 'em all and get as many Shiny Pokémon as possible. In Pokémon Sword and Shield, using a foreign language Ditto is a great way to improve your chances of hatching a Shiny Pokémon, actually providing you with the best odds of any Shiny hunting method available.

In this guide, we'll talk you through the various ways to get a foreign language Ditto, explain how breeding with Ditto works, and show you how to find out if your Ditto is foreign or not.

What Is A Foreign Language Ditto?

A foreign language Ditto - commonly referred to as just 'foreign Ditto' - is a Ditto which comes from a copy of Pokémon Sword or Shield that has been played in a different language to your own. For example, if you're playing the game in English, but receive a Ditto from another player who has played their game in French, the Ditto will be a foreign language Ditto.

Why Do I Need A Foreign Language Ditto? - Shiny Chance Rates

We're guessing that most of you landing on this page will probably know this already, but using a foreign language Ditto can hugely increase your chances of hatching a Shiny Pokémon from an Egg.

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, the chances of catching or hatching a Shiny Pokémon are usually 1 in 4096 - so they're pretty rare. This rate can be improved dramatically with a Shiny Charm - you can learn all about that and much more in our full guide to Shiny Pokémon - but using a foreign language Pokémon increases these odds further.

By having two Pokémon of different languages breed at either of the Day Care centres found in the game, those chances are reduced to 1 in 682.7 without a Shiny Charm, or a mighty 1 in 512 with one. The reason Ditto is so important is because it can breed with almost any other Pokémon - if you get a foreign Ditto and have it breed with any Pokémon you catch in-game, you can get a 1/512 chance of the baby being Shiny.

How To Get A Foreign Language Ditto

There are a number of ways to get your hands on a foreign language Ditto, but there is a little bit of luck involved. Let's go through the options...

Ask A Friend

The simplest way - in an ideal world, at least - would be to ask any friends you might have from different countries to send one over to you. You can trade with friends by pressing 'Y' to load up the Y-Comm, pressing '+' to access online features, and then choosing 'Link Trade'. From there, both of you should choose 'Set Link Code' and type in the same four-digit code to be partnered up.

If you don't have any friends who can hook you up, fear not. You could try asking other lovely members of the Nintendo Life community in our forums, or try one of the following methods.

Surprise Trades

In the same menu as Link Trades, you'll find 'Surprise Trade'. This option allows you to select any of your Pokémon and trade it for a random Pokémon from another online player. Obviously, this means that you could end up with literally anything, and it isn't a reliable method in the slightest. Still, if someone is being super kind, you could stumble across one here.

The most interesting option of the bunch, however, comes from fans of the game themselves. A secret community of sorts has been brewing online, with a number of players all using the same four-digit Link Code to try and partner up with Ditto-trading buddies.

If you choose 'Link Trade' just like in the method above, and type in the code '4448', you'll almost definitely come across someone else trading a Ditto. Usually, other players will be looking for a Ditto that's foreign to them, so make sure to offer up a Ditto yourself. When you get matched with another player, make sure to check the Summary of their Ditto before accepting the trade to make sure that it's definitely foreign. More details on that can be found below.

How Do I Tell If A Ditto Is Foreign?

So, you find yourself on the brink of trading with a complete stranger but have no idea if the Ditto they're offering is foreign or not. Thankfully, there's a very easy way to check.

Take a close look at these images below of our very own Ditto. The one on the left is a Ditto that we caught in our own English-language game; the one on the right is one that we received by using the Secret Link Code method above. As you can see, the Ditto on the right has the code 'CHS' on its summary screen, indicating that it is a Chinese Ditto. If that player had sent us an English-language Ditto, there would be no code at all. Simple!


So there you have it! Hopefully that helps with any questions you might have about foreign language Ditto, but do make sure to leave a comment below if there's anything else you need.