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Pokemon’s cute, cozy life sim spin-off may be hiding some deeply tragic lore as fans question the backstory of our Ditto protagonist: “What happened to their trainer?”

Catherine Lewis

16 September 2025

Pokemon Pokopia could be home to a very sad twist

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(Image credit: Nintendo, The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Pokopia – the adorable Animal Crossing and Minecraft-like life simulator – was one of the big highlights of the September 2025 Nintendo Direct, but fans are already concerned about the lore implications of our latest protagonist.

As showcased in the trailer, Pokopia sees you step into the shoes of a Ditto – specifically, one who’s taken on the form of a human. It’s our introduction to this that’s raised a few eyebrows, though – we see the ‘mon break out of a Poke Ball in the depths of a cave, before spotting a dirty, broken Pokedex on the floor next to it.
On this Pokedex, we can see an image of a Ditto (potentially the very same one) standing next to its trainer, which our blob-like friend stares at for a moment before taking on a human-like form itself. The slightly worrisome concept of other Ditto disguised as humans on the loose in the Pokemon world aside, this setup raises a rather pressing question – where is this Ditto’s trainer?

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“Ditto comes out a Poke Ball next to a buried Pokedex – are they a trainer’s Pokemon? I think so. But what happened to their trainer?” one fan on Reddit writes, before asking the question I’m slightly concerned to find out the answer to – are they OK?

What happened to Ditto’s trainer? (Pokémon Pokopia) from r/pokemon
Another questions if this could be part of Pokopia’s story, in a way that could see us “discover new things” tied to the trainer’s disappearance “and where they ended up” as we progress. Meanwhile, another suspects that the “game probably won’t be that deep,” but “it seems to hint Ditto’s trainer perished.”
“Perhaps they fell through a dimensional rift and became a Faller, much like Anabel in Sun/Moon or Ingo in Legends: Arceus,” one theorizes. “I doubt the game will really explore what happened to the trainer, but it would be pretty cool all the same.”
Pokemon is no stranger to slipping tragic lore into its games here and there – Scarlet and Violet’s main plot got surprisingly dark, in fact. Could we really be playing as a Ditto that’s been left abandoned after the disappearance or even death of its trainer, though? It sure looks like that could be the case, despite the life sim having perhaps the cutest coat of paint the series has ever seen. We’ll just have to wait and see when Pokopia launches next year.

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I’m GamesRadar+’s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield’s student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming’s news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you’re sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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