Is Smeargle Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Ruins of Alph area. Smeargle can learn any move via MoveSketch, which is unique. The catch: terrible stats in every area. Smeargle's gimmick is fun but the inability to survive any hit makes it a novelty. MoveSpore via Sketch is its one real use (legendary catching).
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Catchable
Catch Smeargle in the Ruins of Alph (walking, Lv 20-22, uncommon).
Gold & Silver Smeargle Locations
Two uncommon Smeargle wait at a single spot around level 20. The painter only knows Sketch, so whatever you catch arrives nearly blank, ready to copy moves off whatever it battles next.
1 location to catch Smeargle
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1Best Locations to Catch Smeargle in Gold & Silver
How to Get Shiny Smeargle in Gold & Silver
Smeargle lives nowhere but the Ruins of Alph in these games, so that single spot is your entire shiny hunt, and it offers no kinder odds than any other Johto encounter. Compare Shiny Smeargle odds across every game
Shiny Smeargle Evolution
Does Not EvolveGold & Silver Shiny Smeargle Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breed w/ Shiny Parent: Eggs inherit stats from a shiny parent, so about 1 in 64 hatch shiny. A shiny Ditto helps every egg, and any other shiny parent (the red Gyarados works) helps only eggs of the opposite gender.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 7-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 19-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 45-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 147-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in Gold & Silver with Smeargle preloaded.
Smeargle Weakness
Smeargle's Normal typing leaves it vulnerable to Fighting. It shrugs off Ghost-type attacks completely. Just 1 weak spot to worry about, which keeps teambuilding straightforward.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fighting |
| 0x (Immune) | Ghost |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Smeargle Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Smeargle
Smeargle Evolutions
Smeargle doesn't evolve, so breeding's where the action is. You'll find plenty of partners across one egg group, and eggs take an average time to hatch. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Smeargle easily with 66 breeding partners from the Field egg group.
GS Smeargle Best Moveset
MoveSketch copies any move permanently, giving Smeargle access to literally every move in the game. MoveSpore at 100%% accuracy, MoveBaton Pass with stat boosts, MoveSpikes, MoveBelly Drum passing, any combination imaginable. Stats near zero, but the move access is limitless. The ultimate setup and support tool.
Best Build
Support Moveset
- Spore
- Baton Pass
- Agility
- Spikes
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Not a lot to pick from. Smeargle gets Normal STAB for same-type damage, and limited coverage rounds things out. You're building around what's available rather than choosing from a deep bench.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A special fluid oozes from the tip of its tail. It paints the fluid everywhere to mark its territory.
Once it becomes an adult, it has a tendency to let its comrades plant footprints on its back.
Smeargle Gold & Silver Guide
For Gold & Silver, go for it. Smeargle rates A-Tier, and its Normal typing handles most of what the story throws at you.
In Gold & Silver, use Smeargle as a hazard setter. Physical side carries the damage. Speed is middling, Set up with Agility when you get a free turn.
Game Availability
Available in 16 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Smeargle spans 8 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through wild encounters in most mainline games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Smeargle.
Keep playing · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List