Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's Pokedex continues to grow as we inch closer to the games' launch later this year. Various official Pokemon social media accounts posted images teasing another new addition on Monday, and the leading theory among fans is that Smeargle will be getting a Paldean form in the new games.
“We’ve managed to obtain these photos of some strange markings taken by a photographer from Paldea,” Pokemon's tweet reads. The tweet includes four images, all of which show patterns painted on rocks and trees in the Paldean wilderness. Pokemon has tasked trainers with figuring out what the markings mean, and that naturally begins with working out who, or what, is responsible for them.
There are a handful of theories in the replies and quote tweets, but the leading one is a regional form of the aforementioned Smeargle is on the cards. Smeargle was first introduced to the Pokemon universe via gen two in the Johto region. As for why trainers think it will finally be getting a regional variant more than 20 years later, it has everything to do with Smeargle's tail.
The normal-type has a paintbrush for a tail, hence the logical landing point that Smeargle, or something very similar to it, calls Paldea home. If that really is the answer, Scarlet and Violet's Smeargle will likely be a different type. Or, as a few other Pokemon fans have suggested, it could well be a tease for an evolved form of Smeargle. Six generations of Pokemon since it was first introduced and the painting Pokemon still hasn't been given an evolution.
While the idea that Smeargle will have an alternate form in Scarlet & Violet remains a theory, Game Freak has already confirmed Wooper will be getting the Paldea treatment. Paldean Wooper will be a poison ground type, making it the first dual-type Pokemon of its kind since Nidoking and Nidoqueen. The games reaching so far back in Pokemon's history for Scarlet & Violet may well bolster the hope we will be getting a new Smeargle when they launch on November 18.