Capturing shiny Pokémon in any Pokémon game comes with quite a bit of luck and a lot of patience. It’s never an easy process. In Pokémon Go, the standard Pokémon have a one in 500 chance of being a shiny version when you encounter them if they’re available in the game. Even if a Pokémon has been added, it does not release with its shiny variant. Instead, developer Niantic releases a shiny version alongside the weekly and big events in the game. For those eager to start hunting the shiny version of Smeargle, this Pokémon’s shiny version is releasing on April 29 at 10 AM in your local time zone, alongside the New Pokémon Snap event in Pokémon Go.
When the event drops in your local time zone, shiny Smeargle will be added to the game, and everyone has the chance to capture it. The only way to encounter a Smeargle is to take snapshots of your Pokémon or the wild ones you’re about to catch. Smeargle appears in the snapshot, photobombing the scene, and then you can capture it yourself after you’ve taken the snapshot. This is the only way to capture Smeargle, so once it no longer shows up in your snapshots, you’ll have to wait for the next event for this Pokémon to make its next appearance.
You can catch a shiny Smeargle in future events, following the New Pokémon Snap one in Pokémon Go. The shiny version will not an event-exclusive one. Any time Smeargle has the chance to appear in snapshots will be an opportunity to encounter the shiny version.
It has not been confirmed if the odds will be the same as the standard Pokémon, a one out of 500 chance, or if it will be more closely aligned to the raid Pokémon, where players have a one out of 20 chance of encountering a shiny version.
