THE FUSE

Pokémon Pokopia is, by pretty much all accounts, a hit for Game Freak, Omega Force, and Nintendo, and one of the things we like to do here at Kotaku’s Pokémon column Exp. Share is look at the butterfly effect of something small from the series’ beginnings leading to developments we’re seeing now, in the franchise’s 30th anniversary. Ditto’s appearance as a protagonist of one of the best games of 2026 would likely never have happened had it not been for one episode of the original anime. If you’ve never seen “Ditto’s Mysterious Mansion,” it’s a fascinating time capsule depicting The Pokémon Company’s efforts to figure out a monster’s identity in real time.