'Pokémon Go' Ditto moves, stats and mechanics explained: Is Ditto the best new Pokémon?

He's cute, squidgy and an absolute badass if you know how to fight with him. Pokémon Go trainers, please meet Ditto.

The appearance of Ditto in Pokémon Go, one of only a few Gen 1 Pokémon that had yet to be spotted in the game, was an exciting surprise for players. Hopefully, you've had a chance to catch one by now and you're ready to throw Ditto into a gym fight. Here's what you need to know.

Pokémon Go: Ditto's moves are unique

Pokémon Go fansite GamePress has put together a guide for how to play Ditto, and it's all about his new move, called Transform. The move happens automatically when Ditto encounters a new Pokémon. He will always transform into the first Pokémon he sees and remain in that form until the end of a gym battle.

The first thing you need to know is precisely what the Transform ability copies from another Pokémon. Ditto will copy the moves, basic values and type of any Pokémon he targets with the Transform ability. Ditto also copies the CP of whatever Pokémon he targets.

Pokémon Go: Ditto's transform move has a huge weakness

Ditto does not copy stamina, hit points or individual values when it transforms into another Pokemon. IVs don't account for huge differences between Pokemon, so not having the best IVs after a transform move may not be an immediate problem for Ditto.

However, not copying hit points could be a serious problem. For example, It doesn't matter if Ditto turns into a Snorlax if Ditto doesn't have the enough hit points to hang on in a fight as a real Snorlax.

Pokémon Go: How to gym battle with Ditto

According to the analysts at GamePress, Ditto isn't very good as either a gym attacker or a defender. He's more of a Pokémon that you play with just for the fun of it.

Ditto transforms into the first Pokémon he sees. That means when Ditto is defending a gym, the attacker can decide precisely what Pokémon Ditto will turn into. An attacker could transform Ditto into a water type, and then immediately switch to a fire type Pokémon to win the fight.

Ditto has lower stamina compared to the best endgame Pokémon in Pokémon Go. So Ditto may not make for a good gym attacker, either. The fun in playing Ditto is deciding which Pokémon Ditto is going to copy when you attack a gym. The attacker can keep Ditto in reserve until a defender they want to copy is in the battle.

Pokémon Go hacks, tips, and tricks for Ditto hunters

If you're still hot on the Ditto hunt you may also want to check out Mic's Pokémon Go guides. Here's everything you need to know about Ditto, creating new PokéStops and how to maximize your chances of catching Pokémon. 

You can also check out our best gym attackers and best gym defenders guides. The recent balance patch may change these lists in the future as Pokémon Go trainers test the results of so many changes to CP, attack and defense values, for almost every Pokémon in the game.