A Study of Pokemon Training, by Celedon University Chapter 3: Speculation article: Ditto, a pokémon fanfic

Author's note: It's been a while (understatement) but here's a random article, this time on a pokemon that has bothered me for many, many years. Most of the things in this fic are theories I've thought up and plot ideas I've considered mentioning in ToaNL but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Please give me some feedback on some of these ideas and feel free to use any of these within your own pokemon fics.

Summary: A Study of Pokémon Training by Celadon University.
Summary: A comprehensive look at the world of Pokémon training within Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh (Asia-pacific region) and the laws, history and beliefs surrounding it. An on-going study by the collective student body of Celadon University.

Speculation article: Ditto.

Of all documented species the Ditto is probably the most baffling pokemon to modern science. How Ditto can melt down their own bodies and reshape them into genetically identical copies of virtually anything living without altering their individual behaviour, why they appear not to age or sustain any kind of permanent injury, why after a number of years captured Ditto may disappear never to be seen again, and why they have become more common over the last few decades are mysteries that Pokemon experts around the world consider as important as documenting a Legendary Pokemon live in the flesh.

This article lists what is known about the species and contemporary theories in the scientific community regarding the species' nature.

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Appearance:

In its natural state a Ditto resembles a small blob of pink liquid with two black dots resembling eyes and a line-like mouth on its front. However to encounter a Ditto in its natural state is quite rare and most are encountered while transformed into other pokemon. Shiny Ditto are blue instead of the standard pink but do not show their alternate colouration when transformed, resulting in some extremely lucky catches by young trainers.

When transforming from memory Ditto have a tendency to forget details, and encounters with any kind of pokemon or animal with unusual facial features, such as button like eyes, a strangely thin mouth or pink where no pink should be are often clues that there is a Ditto in your midst.

Ditto in their natural state, due to their lack of bones and internal organs, are often described as feeling 'squishy' when held. When healthy, a Ditto's skin should feel slightly moist to the touch*.
*If the skin is extremely wet or feels dry and scratchy for more than a few days the Ditto could be showing signs of acute hyponatremia or dehydration and should be taken to a pokemon centre as soon as possible.

Infant/newly hatched Ditto which are extremely rare, are often described as resembling a mix of egg white and watery red liquid held together with a thin colourless film. At this stage in development Ditto cannot do anything on their own other than wiggle violently and generally lack the 'smiley face' older Ditto are so famous for. This is the only stage of development that a Ditto appears any different from the others and is thus far less recognisable.

Behaviour.

Ditto due to being rare and being unreliable in both battles and contests, are not often used by trainers and thus do not have many behavioural traits that have been proven to be universal among the species. However something all trainers who own Ditto seem to agree on is that in their natural form they are unusually docile compared to other pokemon and often try to avoid any kind of physical contact with humans or other pokemon unless first coping their form.

One theory as to why they act like this is that it is a defence mechanism; by first transforming into what the other creature is, the Ditto is significantly less likely to be eaten or attacked, and will be more able to avoid harm from the other's attacks. However when it does this even with pokemon like Aggron or Snorlax, which are fiercely territorial and aggressive towards members of their own species, the Ditto's transforming habit quickly becomes a double edged sword that can easily result in death.

Perhaps to combat this, Ditto almost always transform into an opposite gendered clone of the creature they copy, which can result in things that clearly do not form in nature such female Taros or male Chansey. To make it even stranger, after transforming into a pokemon, the same Ditto will act as if attract was used on it, trailing after the other pokemon submissively and whenever attention is brought onto it, displaying various types of counting behaviour common to the other pokemon's species; leading some researchers to question whether or not Ditto may in fact be nature's equivalent to a prostitute, offering to breed and produce young in return for not being harmed.

On the other hand Ditto transformed into humans tend to act far more awkwardly, struggling to get their new voice boxes to work and bending their knees slightly as their walk. Ditto who assume human form regularly can adapt to it but still often have trouble with their speech patterns, find it difficult to remember anything longer than a few sentences at a time and in general seem prefer pokemon form. A few that enjoy taking human form and mimicking our behaviour have been found, but the odds of a Ditto successfully imitating a human well enough to fit into our society are astronomically low.

A trait that seems to develop only as a Ditto gets older is the tendency to disappear for longer and longer periods of time. Trainers who have owned Ditto for twenty years or more often complain of their pokemon disappearing suddenly only to appear weeks or even months later looking exhausted. In some cases the Ditto disappear permanently, often giving no warning of departure.

Theories as to why they do this vary greatly but most behavioural experts liken such disappearances to those of elderly cats, distancing themselves from their humans as they feel their shorter life spans catching up with them. Ditto experts on the other hand often discredit such theories, pointing out that given how a Ditto constantly remakes its own cell structure it's unlikely a Ditto would have a life span shorter than anything other than a legendary. As one Ditto researcher and clone specialist, the late Dr Tenma Fuji put it 'Ditto are the closest things this world has to a genuinely immortal species'.
Tenma later went on to unearth one of the first known Mew fossils and using his knowledge of how a Ditto recreates its cells, refined the art of single cell cloning to the point where he ended up creating an entirely new species of pokemon, an action that made him both a pioneer of the subject and eventually resulted in his unfortunate death.

Diet.

A Ditto in captivity will usually eat whatever is given to it, as the ability to transform its stomach and the digestive enzymes inside allow it to break down whatever material it ingests. Some have theorised that Ditto could also survive by using photosynthesis while transformed into plant pokemon but most tests regarding this have been inconclusive and attempts to push the study further have been banned by various pokemon rights activists from across the world.

However to maintain a Ditto's health and improve its transforming abilities most Pokemon breeders and dieticians recommend a mix of pureed vegetation, fruits and meats, with a side dish of gelatine mixed with water every meal, since Ditto can easily become dehydrated by constant transforming and their ability to digest any kind of food will weaken as a result. Conversely, nothing but watery foods without enough sodium can result in Ditto becoming bloated and developing hyponatremia which can make transforming dangerous.

In cases where a Ditto is transformed into another pokemon its feed should match that of the pokemon it is transformed into, as it is unhealthy for a Ditto to attempt transforming one part of its body separately from the rest. Ditto fed the wrong kinds of food in this state can become seriously ill-nourished and sick; in rare cases this can even result in death.

Infant Ditto (before they begin to resemble their more mature form) cannot produce digestive enzymes and must be fed through regurgitation until they to learn how to create their own.

Reproduction:

Ditto will breed with almost any Pokemon regardless of any gender, species or type. Despite this, only one if any, of the hundred or so eggs a Ditto will lay over the course of its life span will hatch into other Ditto; instead the eggs will hatch into pokemon almost genetically identical to their other parent, proving that nature perfected cloning well before science could even start.

Why then is the Ditto population rising? One theory is de-evolution.

Proposed by Professor Elm as part of his Branch Evolution thesis at the Pokemon Researcher World Summit 1998, Elm proposed that Ditto were in fact a 'default' evolution common to all breeds of pokemon; a back up assumed when an evolving pokemon's body de-stabilised during the metamorphous stage. By having the Ditto form available, Elm argued, when a pokemon was unable to complete its evolution it could avoid death or serious injury by instead taking the Ditto form, which has no limbs or internal organs that can be damaged in the process.

While the main thesis itself was eventually discarded and forgotten by the scientific community at large, Elm's default evolution theory has become well known and is considered by many on this side of Pacific as fact. Elm himself has stated that the theory is unproven but given the amount of surveys and studies he's done on the topic it may not be that long before he announces his findings publically.

One study that seems to contradict Elm's theory is the Unova Pokemon Census organised by Professor Cedric Juniper. Conducted from 1974 to 2006, the region wide census was endorsed by Unovan Government for the purpose of confirming the number of pokemon living with people in the region, the variety of pokemon owned, how often the pokemon bred, were released, died, etc. What the survey inadvertently found was that pokemon eggs containing infant Ditto occurred across the region, often with neither of the Ditto's parents being Ditto themselves.
While the rate 'Ditto eggs' occurring across the region was incredibly low (1 in 30000 before 1994; afterwards the number rose to 1 in 12000) the number was high enough to prove that Ditto do in fact hatch from pokemon eggs instead of splitting into two identical selves as was once thought.

Since it is virtually impossible to determine what kind of pokemon egg may hatch into a Ditto as opposed to another pokemon (findings show that a Ditto parent doesn't seem to be necessary) few Ditto have been recorded hatching; though firsthand accounts are becoming more common as more people learn the difference between an infant Ditto and the insides of a broken egg.
As Ditto appear to hatch from any kind of pokemon egg with no regard to what the parents are, it is believed a fairly large number of Ditto perish at this stage due to their parents not realising they are alive or choosing to abandon them.

As for why Ditto eggs occur, some researchers have theorised that any pokemon has the potential to lay produce one as Ditto are a mutation in the species, while some others insist that Ditto are genetic throwbacks to Mew, thus explaining why the two share so many common features in mythology and profile.

Professor Rowan who has written a number of papers about the likelihood of Pokemon sharing common pre-evolution while in the egg, has made comment that Ditto fits all of the necessary criteria such a shared pre-evolution would require; however when asked about the topic during his interview on Jubilife TV's Pokemon Variety Hour, Rowan stated he had yet to conduct enough research to come to any conclusions.

Other Studies involving Ditto:

In a thesis regarding Pokemon mutation presented by Gary Oak, a new up-and-coming expert in the fields of Pokemon Genetics, History and Mutation, during the 2005 Kan-Jo League research summit, a side note regarding the Ditto used as a research aide mentions that after transforming near constantly into the Aerodactyl clone that the test was monitoring, during the five months the tests were performed the Ditto in question began to slowly develop the beginnings of fixed muscular system as well as what appeared to be a non-functioning kidney and liver. During this time the Ditto is noted to have been unusually agitated, to the point where when there was a break in the tests the Ditto took the chance to disappear for several days.
When asked if he believed that the mutation was the reason for the Ditto's unusual behaviour Gary Oak commented, that while both things had occurred at roughly the same time, it was more likely the increased workload had began to stress the Ditto out. He also noted that if the muscular system and organs did not disappear in the next few months and continued to grow as they had been doing, that he and his colleges would make the study of Ditto mutation their next big project.

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EDIT: References are currently being compiled. Please check Incomplete Archive.
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This article was written by Kirby Kagami as part of the Study of Pokemon Training, a project organised by members of Celadon University to write comprehensive articles on Pokemon Training and anything related to it within the Asia-Pacific region.

I think... That's it. Not moore... *Has writing fatigue*

For those of you wondering why I did this ridiculously long babble on nothing but Ditto, well, I found this lovely addictive thing called the TvTropes fanon Pokedex on the net a while back, began to read and was instantly hooked... Until I realised how strangely small the Ditto section was (which should really be the largest one saying 'I DON'T KNOW 'K?').
Indignant and bubbling away with half a billion ideas on how bloody Ditto work (none of which make much sense because I know very little about biology) I began to type my ideas down and this, ladies and gentlemen, is the result.

Anyway, hope you all liked the ideas I threw out there, along with the many references to certain pokemon professors... I think I'm going to collapse now.

Ps: Would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and any ideas you think I should try working on~ Just please, no pokemon comparison or 'is this true' stuff. I need things I can babble a whole chapter about.
Again, I love you all and I can't wait to hear from you~ 3