Smeargle is now available in Pokemon GO. Gamers have been waiting months to finally catch the beast after the second generation released for the mobile Pokemon game, with the creature nowhere to be seen. Admittedly, a lot has been changing within the game recently. Fans were treated with the opportunity to catch Clamperl on February 23, 2019, while the opportunity to capture a shiny Meltan also presented itself to owners of Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and/or Eevee! for the Nintendo Switch.
Despite this, it wasn’t clear when other unreleased monsters would get their time to shine within Pokemon GO. Pocket Monsters like Kecleon and Smeargle were left by the wayside as new generations were slowly rolled out for the mobile game. Fortunately, after ample waiting, Smeargle has finally debuted in Pokemon GO. Still, figuring out how to catch the Pokemon may be tricky for anyone unaware of the game’s added AR camera functionality.
It was always assumed that developer Niantic and The Pokemon Company had major plans to release Smeargle through some sort of in-game event. That event just so happens to be the arrival of Pokemon GO’s AR camera, which provides trainers with the opportunity to photograph their favorite Pokemon in the real world. It’s this camera mode that must be utilized for anyone that wants to capture Smeargle.
Step 1: Select a Pokemon
Select a captured Pokemon from within the available storage box. Once this has been done, players will need to click the ‘camera’ icon featured at the top right of the screen under the ‘star’ icon. This will kickoff the AR camera mode.
Step 2: Release a Pokemon from its Ball and Begin Snapping Photos
The only way to summon Smeargle in Pokemon GO is to snap a bunch of photos of your creature. Snap as many pictures as possible, and when exiting the mode be sure to careful analyze everything from the shoot. If the player is lucky, they’ll notice that Smeargle has photobombed one of the pictures in Pokemon GO.
Step 3: An Encounter with Smeargle
If Smeargle appeared in one of the photos, then Pokemon GO players will encounter the artistic monster upon exiting the photo mode. From there it’s as easy as feeding it the appropriate berries and throwing Ultra Balls at it. It shouldn’t be long before Smeargle has been added to the trainer’s party and checked off of the in-game Pokedex.
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Pokemon GO is currently available across Android and iOS devices.