Pokemon GO has been celebrating Pokemon's 25th Anniversary in a number of ways, one of which will be the special Kanto Tour event. This upcoming event will feature the original 151 Pokemon, and culminates in a chance to catch Shiny Mew for the first time ever in the game.
Niantic has already given plenty of details concerning the event, such as the fact that buyers will need to choose between a Red or Green Version, and that both will feature boosted Shiny Rates for certain Kanto Pokemon. However, as per a recent Pokemon GO tweet, Niantic also seems to be hinting at the fact that Shiny Ditto will be one of the feature, or rate-boosted, Kanto Tour Pokemon.
It has already been confirmed that the Pokemon GO Kanto Tour will introduce the Shiny forms of all 150 original Pokemon, so players have known that Shiny Ditto should be appearing. Nonetheless, the official Kanto Tour event page on Niantic's site stipulates that "only certain Pokemon will have an increased chance of being Shiny when encountered in the wild." As such, players have assumed that only a select pool (namely, the Pokemon exclusive to each "version" of the event) would be appearing with increased Shiny Odds.
Niantic's tweet simply says that it has some additional details to share, but the message comes with a very specific picture. As Pokemon enthusiasts have quickly pointed out on social media, the picture, though vague, can only indicate one thing: Shiny Ditto. First of all, players only ever see the word "Oh?" above a Poke Ball in Pokemon GO when they've captured a Ditto in disguise. Second, the capture-text above a Poke Ball, which normally displays the Pokemon's name, usually appears in the color white. However, if the captured Pokemon is Shiny, the text will appear in yellow font. Thus, a yellow "Oh?" can only mean that Shiny Ditto is within the pictured Poke Ball.
Given the fact that Niantic had already confirmed the inclusion of all 150 original Shiny Pokemon, fans are speculating that this tweet suggests that Shiny Ditto will be spotlighted in some way, shape, or form. Whether it's via special Raid Battles, a unique Research Task, or simply a boosted wild encounter rate, it's likely that Shiny Ditto will be appearing more frequently than usual in the wild. The amorphous cutie is known for bearing the same exact shade of baby blue that Shiny Mew does, which has led many gamers to some interesting fan-theories regarding the Ditto and Mew...
Players hoping to take part in the Pokemon GO Kanto Tour will want to be sure to purchase a ticket via their Pokemon GO app ($11.99 USD) before the event on February 20, and select either Red or Green version. Aside from version-exclusive Pokemon, there shouldn't be many substantial differences, especially with the ability to trade with friends in Pokemon GO.
Those hoping to catch 'em all may want to team up with a friend who's okay with purchasing the opposite version, but either way, it seems that Shiny Ditto may be on the horizon for all. Ditto itself can take the form of many common Pokemon, so some players are speculating that a Shiny Ditto may appear as a Shiny form of other common Pokemon, making it slightly easier to identify. Thankfully, Shiny Mew will be found through Special Research instead, which will be available to all Kanto Tour participants, and will hopefully become available for free-to-play players shortly thereafter.
Pokemon GO is available now on the App Store and Google Play.