That moment you release a theory using Ditto being MIA as evidence and later the same day, Ditto is put into the game...

*Ditto comes out* *throws theory out the door*

no matter what people say, i still love this theory

As a die hard Pokémon fan, I LOVE this theory. Even though it didn't age as well with the release of all the new Pokémon and features. From just a basic sense of timeline, it all adds up. It could even explain stuff like why the Game Freak office always breaks the fourth wall, down to why the PokéDex is ordered the way it is, even the origin of all Pokémon. Though it isn't flawless, what Pokémon timeline theory is?

The Pokémon professors are all named after trees because they help you emBARK on your journey

Does that mean.... Team Rocket are actually the remnants of Team Valor?

I'd love an update to this theory talking about the additions to the game since release of this video

As someone who has played Pokemon GO daily since getting into the beta in 2016, this video is an absolute TRIP to watch! I am absolutely in love with the idea that GO is canon in the Pokemon universe, especially the bit about Pryce/Willow. Obviously a lot has changed, mostly thanks to updates to the app and the release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but this was still a fantastic watch 6 years after this game's release. I wonder if Pokemon GO has any more theories that have developed over the half decade that has passed?

its so funny that he would release this the day they put ditto into the game

"But hey! That's just a theory! A DIET Theory!" *Please make more diet theories - Sincerely the UKposts community*

Ditto also means "me too" which sounds an awful lot like mewtwo

Me watching the beginning of the video: And that's why they have banned nicknames. 🌠 *The more you know!*

Matpat: *makes theory* Later..... Niantic: *debunks theory with updates* Matpat: am I a joke to you?

what if Lt Surge, is actually an older version of the Instinct team leader......

Matpat: “why isnt ditto here??” Me, who has two dittos:

That Pokemon naming part made me laugh out loud

"Pokémon GO's Tragic end", personally I thought this was a reference to the fact that winter is coming and less people want to go outside looking for pokemon.

When your timing is so bad that you release the day ditto is released in pokemon go

That intro tho... I think I'm scarred now. Scarred with a dirty mind... Which isn't that different because my brain LOVES digging holes and staying away from baths.

But is this enough time for Omanyte and Kabuto to become “ancients fossils”

WOAH! 2 THEORIES IN ONE DAY!! THOSE CONTROLLED SHOCKS REALLY WORKED

And the day this gets released so did Ditto, from everything I've read. Interesting coincidence :)

You may be forgetting something. I would have to say the spark, or whatever his name is, the leader of team instinct, is perhaps the youngest of the team leaders. From appearance and personality, I’d have to say the guy is about 17-19 in the universe of Pokémon go. Lutenant surge is probably in his late 20s. Both share a knack for electric types. That’s all I have, but they could be the same person

MatPat: Mewtwo isn't in Pokémon Go The Mewtwo fighting at 13:49 : Am I a joke to you?

Maybe it's because they didn't want to bother programming a Ditto transforming in battles.

plot twist: the GO in the name is actually G"ZERO" as in Gen 0

Imagine someone showing up here 4 years later before saying something like, "But what if Lt. Surge was actually Spark? They do look alike." 💀

What if Pokémon go updates are history progressing forward and eventually there well be a big in game event that is a war between the three teams

niantic doesnt think that far. they probably just watch this video and be like "heeey, thats pretty good"

Lol they added ditto like a day after this

This makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you for all the deep diving you do. As a Pokemon fan I appreciate it

I'd really love a new PoGo theory, especially with everything that's developed between team go rocket and the trainer teams there isn't much lore but I think there are enough hints, like the fact the go rocket leaders all left positions in the trainer teams, that their could be a really fun episode of GT out of it

So if this theory is correct, then the timeline might go as follows: -Pokemon enter the Earth dimension -Humans begin researching pokemon, Mew possibly captured and experimented on -Porygon is created -Pokemon trainers begin to battle over how pokemon should be trained/used -Ditto is created in a failed experiment -Trainers discover the baby variants of pokemon and how to hatch them ------> WE ARE HERE

Ditto being in the game doesn't kill this theory. Mew is in captivity being cloned, Mewtwo hasn't been made yet. Unsuccessful Dittos are thrown out and now exist in the wild. Technically, Ditto being added still leaves the theory valid.

This really is just a conglomeration of diet theories - Ditto, Rare Candies, Safari Zone, the war, and Pryce/Willow, all in one theory.

I wanna see This theory updated now since legendary Pokémon and everything talked about are in the game

Wait...so if ditto is in the game now....does that mean that the cloning has started?

I'd be the type of game developer who'd see MatPat's theories and use them as inspiration for writing or rewriting parts of my story. Though he sometimes reads into things a bit more than likely intended, he makes an effort to make a lot of sense, and I appreciate that.

You could do the Ditto theory for a film theory for Detective Pikachu. There is a Ditto in it that seems to be designed to mimic humans and it is owned by the guy who's trying to put his consciousness into Mewtwo

Plays Pokémon GO on my moms phone: finds a ditto Me: WTF MATPAT

This theory was released the same day that Ditto was released in Go. Hilarious.

I think the fact that Ditto appeared means that the cloning has started. After Porygon's creation and before Mewtwo's cloning. Which means that the war will start soon.

2021: *exists* Pokèmon Arceus: *coming soon* Pokèmon GO: You're clearly older

" Pokemon Go doesn't have the most elaborate soundtrack" Years later, that anniversary soundtrack released is a phenomenal piece 😍

Guys, don't shame matpat for releasing this right when ditto comes out. It just means that at this point mew has been officially cloned and failed.

dem people at niantic be like 'FINALLY someone figured out our genius lore'

‘Every Professor in the Pokémon world is named after a tree!’ *5 YEARS PASS* Pokémon Scarlet/Violet: *decides to break canon*

Wasnt it already confirmed that Ditto was Mew's unsuccessful clone?

Niantic: Hmmm...we can't figure out a way to put Ditto in the game. MatPat: IT'S A CONSPIRACY

just today, ditto was officially announced for pokemon go... damn, I can feel the pain too matpat

Hey MatPat, you should do a theory on Professor Ivy and Brock. Why does he cringed every time her name is mention. What happened in the Orange Islands between Professor Ivy and Brock? And why is Professor Ivy never mentioned later on in the Pokemon series (not counting the episode 'A Tent Situation') if she was so close to Professor Oak?

Me: (sweats in Valor)

Or better theory: The game is still in development

I thought this video is going to talk about why pokemon GO isn't played as much anymore...

1:58 if anyone has any idea, what song is this a snippet of playing in the background?

When you transfer the Pokemon from Pokemon go to any other game it says it came from the mysterious land and dimension of Pokemon go

I feel like matpat can make a lore out of an empty room

One overlooked fact: how do all the Kabuto and Omanyte become fossils within Pryce's lifetime? That's impossible for them to all die out plus FOSSILIZE in only around 50 years?

I caught a ditto sometime around 2018, I think it was something else but when I caught it, it changed. I might have to reinstall the app and start playing again if they are adding more to it.

Can we get an updated version of this? I havent played Go since only gen 1 was in there and from my friends who have continued to play theres more info and yeah updates to it i wonder how those tie into this theory

Professor Oak created the Pokedex at the beginning of Red and Blue and you (as the player) are the first one to receive it. In GO the Pokedex wouldnt exist if this theory was true. #TheoryDebunked

MatPat posts a video placing Pokemon Go in the timeline based on the absence of Ditto. 5 hours later, I catch a Ditto for the first time. R.I.P. MatPat.

Fun fact: While the purple on mewtwo matches ditto, mew's shiny color matches ditties shiny color.

Hey! you should try to make an updated version of this Theory!

I feel like this theory is is a little bit farfetched...

This theory may have aged...poorly, but it’s still one of my faves, and at the time it came out it was pretty solid

I really love the intro song❤️

I know this theory was disproven like three days after it came out, but I still love it. Definitely a fascinating story, that's for sure!

I have a theory that Audible is the record-holder for the most sponsored videos.

People should just hire you and be like "yea, we did that on purpose. Totally."

I know I’m three years late to this theory, but how would you explain rare candy being sold for points at the pokeathelon dome in hgss?

Can definitely tell this was four years ago lol, with go's updates they added the newer pokemon, I'm not sure what roll go has on the main games, maybe it's a safari zone kind of thing

Mattt please come back to Pokémon Go with a new theory, since we’re at gen 4 being added now XD

RIP, It's almost like Niantic added Ditto just to throw you for a loop

matpat should revamp this theory, adding in new lore and updates

I love how in the middle of this video UKposts decides to give me a ad for none other than POKEMON GO for legendary raids being back 😮

*Nintendo:* "Hmm.. interesting theory. It'd be a shame, if.. someone.. took.. it." *Future UKposts Ad:* "Coming 2017 - 'Pokemon Hystoria: The Official Pokemon Timeline' by Nintendo!"

And then, when second gen comes out, or they release a mewtwo event, the theory is dead

Of course, it could be that the Pokémon universe timeline is being reflected in Pokémon go with each update, as they add new Pokémon to be discovered in the main series, and even rare candy

in this video, Matpat suggests that this takes place in the past and mentions the fossil pokemon, however it could be the opposite, it is the future, after all the fossil pokemon are revived, safari zones have taken over, gyms are simplized, and more, this is the only option I can come up with noting that mewtwo and ditto were added to the game later on.

I know this is old but, how can fossil pokemon be extinct for the last 40 years when clearly they've been living for millions of years....

Ditto coming into the game doesn't change anything about your theory Mat! What if the game is now going through the cloning process and Ditto is the failed attempt you talked about? That would explain why we still don't have mewtwo. Because they are still trying and failing to clone Mew successfully and eventually we will get Mewtwo when they finally figure out how to clone properly. But hey, that's just a theory. A comment theory! Thanks for reading!

Oh my god, the commercial before this video was a commercial for the new update of Pokémon Go of Jessie and James.

The appearance of the fossil pokemon does not indicate that Go takes place millions of years ago, but more likely its a time where cloning is readily available, and it allows for these species to be reintroduced into the modern ecosystem. Why even bring up the idea that this game takes place such a long time ago, if you are trying to create a connection between Professor Willow and Bryce, which only requires a "possible" 40 year gap? Considering the Mew/Ditto theory has never been confirmed, any foundation it would provide for "Go's" placement would be shaky at best. The anime is not canon to the games. At all. Prof. Willow has a completely different eye color to Pryce. If they are one and the same, why would Pryce make his middle name his last name? The Razz berry was only rare in Unova. Its plentiful in other regions, in the world of Pokemon. The more likely reason for no mention of the team's in Go, is that they were either formed much further down the timeline, and possibly in a region farther then the main series games explore, or "Go" takes place within a completely seperate timeline and/or universe, which, by another theory that was made, is shown to be completely possible, if "...every game is its own universe." And thanks to updates, not only is Ditto catchable, but Jesse, James, and an elderly Professor Oak became part of the game's canon, thus throwing out any possiblity that this game takes place any further back then "Red" or "Green".

Ditto just was able to be found wild in an update literally like 3 hours ago lmao

Can we just take a minute to acknowledge that Team Valor could be the origins of Team Rocket? They got defeated by Mystic and Instinct and fled to the shadows and started over again...

awesome theory, I would love to see a remaster of it though for 2024. Pokemon go has so much new content, and obviously, a lot of new pokemon to catch, along with special research tasks with some more lore related to rare or legendary pokemon. I’ve played a lot of pokemon go from 2017-2020, then kinda got bored, then came back to it around 2022 or 2023, being on and off instead of every week.

I have a question for a possible update of this theory… if the rare candy thing is true, why can we just easily make a load of them with the Pokéball Plus?

Guys chill. Ditto being released before mewto still fits the theory

Who else forgot about Pokemon go

We can even see the time flow. Because now on 2020 you can find dito and mewtwo. It's posible that GO right now overlaps with other games in the pokemon timeline.

With the new updates this may be wrong. I have like 3 dittos right now. It was the 32nd pokemon i caught

What if Lt. Surge Is the Instinct Leader? Think about it, they both have yellow hair, love electric Pokémon and the instinct leader seems to be in his teens 20-30 And Lt. Surge seems to be in his 50's seeing he had been in the great Pokémon war you have to think that since instinct was in that war (as matpat said) and if instinct was in that war and Lt. Surge was in that war doesn't that seem a little obvious. But hey! That's just a theory A Comment theory! Thanks for reading!

I genuinely adore this theory. It may have been wrong, but the researching was fantastic and it was such a fun theory!

I'm with matpat. It fits too well. "If the shoe fits" and all.

bro ur intro was awesome maybe i can recreate that song on my guitar

Every team in pokemon has always been an evil organization, but in pokemon go they are good. What if after they created the war, all teams were seen as evil after what the original three teams had brought upon the world.

Matpat: *makes this theory* Pokemon Go: *laughs with Mewtwo and ditto by it’s side*

@The Game Theorists I have a Pokemon theory about Mew, at 5:23 , You Said "Mew has the DNA of All Pokemon within it." and is from Gen. 1. However, the Pokemon Arceus is called "The God of All Pokemon", if this is True, how did it create all Pokemon from the Gen's. Before it? My personal Take is That *Mew* is "The God of All Pokemon". I,t was a Gen. 1 Pokemon, and has Every DNA of All other Pokemon within it, if so I believe that there was a mix up between the two, it just makes more SENSE! But Hey That's Just A Theory, A Pokemon Theory, Thanks For Reading! 😅😉

When he said there was no dittos in the game I actually have one seriously no joke