Pokemon Go: How To Catch Shiny Smeargle

Pokemon Go is celebrating this week's release of New Pokemon Snap with a special event until May 2. As part of the event, the Painter Pokemon Smeargle will be photobombing snapshots you take more frequently than usual, and you have your first chance to encounter a Shiny Smeargle in the game. This Shiny variant will only be available during the event, however, so if you're hoping to add it to your collection, here are some tips on how to catch Shiny Smeargle.

How To Catch Shiny Smeargle

Unlike most other Pokemon in the game, Smeargle can't be encountered as a wild spawn. Rather, the Painter Pokemon will occasionally make a surprise appearance in snapshots you take. If you happen to see Smeargle photobombing one of your pictures, you'll then spot the Pokemon on the map, giving you a chance to capture it.

As part of the New Pokemon Snap event, Smeargle is appearing in snapshots more frequently than usual, so you should have an easier time of encountering one. However, Niantic notes that Smeargle will "only appear in snapshots a limited number of times," so you have a set number of chances to encounter a Shiny variant. Shiny Smeargle will also stop appearing in the game once the New Pokemon Snap event ends, but Niantic teases that it may return again in the future.

To take a snapshot, simply open your item bag and tap on the camera. After that, choose a Pokemon you'd like to photograph and take a few snapshots. If Smeargle appears in any of the pictures you've taken, you'll see the Pokemon in the wild when you back out to the world map. Since there's no guaranteed way to make a Shiny Pokemon appear, you'll just need to take as many snapshots as you can during the event and hope you come across a Shiny Smeargle.

The New Pokemon Snap event runs until 8 PM local time on May 2, so you have until then to find and catch a Shiny Smeargle. You can read more about the event on the official Pokemon Go blog.