Pokemon GO: April Fools' 2-Oh-22 Special Research Tasks and Rewards

Niantic has dropped their long-anticipated April Fools event for Pokemon GO. The star of which is, unsurprisingly, Ditto. Of course, with every new event comes a wave of new Special Research tasks for players to compete in for a variety of different rewards ranging from Pokeballs to berries.

Ditto, the Transform Pokemon, is notorious in the franchise for being a master of disguise. In the anime, an episode starring Ditto is bound to squeeze a few laughs out of the viewer. This is due to Ditto's signature move, Transform. In the main series, Transform allows Ditto to copy the enemy Pokemon in every way.

To implement this mechanic into Pokemon GO, Ditto is one of the hardest Pokemon to find. Rather than appearing as itself in the overworld, Ditto will disguise itself as another Pokemon. The list of Pokemon Ditto can appear as is also constantly changing, which makes for a nice surprise when players find one.

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Pokemon GO's April Fools Tasks and Rewards

Ditto and its shiny variant as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The April Fools' 2-Oh?-22 Special Research comes in three total stages. Surprisingly, only the second stage requires the player to catch Ditto, while the third stage is all reward collection. The first stage of this Special Research is fairly standard, with it requiring the player to catch various Normal-type Pokemon.

The first objective requires the player to catch 10 Pokemon. These can be any Pokemon the player encounters. Upon completion, the player will be rewarded with 25 Pokeballs. The next step requires the player to catch 5 Normal-type Pokemon. This rewards the player with 5 standard Potions.

The final step to the first stage requires players to perform 5 nice throws. This task rewards the player with 5 Nanab Berries. To make things easier, players can complete all of these tasks at the same time. After completing all 3 tasks, the player is rewarded with 15 Ditto candy, 1,000 Stardust, and 5 Razz Berries.

The second stage of Pokemon GO's April Fools' 2022 Research is the only other stage that has tasks to be completed. This is also the stage where players are required to catch Ditto. The two stages require the player to both catch and transfer 10 Pokemon. This is easy enough as it directly ties in with standard gameplay.

The remaining task for this stage requires the player to catch 3 "Transform Pokemon". This refers to Ditto. As previously stated, catching Ditto in Pokemon GO can prove to be a pain in most cases as it disguises itself as other Pokemon. Players may have trouble as the list of potential disguises always changes.

Ditto as it appears in Pokemon Sword and Shield (Image via The Pokemon Company/Nintendo Life)

As of the start of the event, the possible disguises Ditto can use during the month include:

• Ekans
• Gastly
• Natu
• Surskit
• Finneon
• Lillipup
• Dwebble
• Swirlix

While Ditto appears identical to these Pokemon, there are a few ways to help players tell a Ditto apart from its disguise Pokemon. The big difference is that a Ditto will always have a darker catch ring as it will always be harder to catch than its disguise.

After completing this stage, the player will be rewarded with 1,500 XP, 15 more Ditto candy, and 1 Silver Pinap Berry. Finally, the third stage of the Special Research is purely reward claiming. The player will be rewarded with a bevy of items, XP, Stardust, 15 more Ditto candy, and an encounter with Ditto itself.