Pokopia Paint Guide: All 18 Colors, Patterns and Smearguru

Pokopia's whole paint system hangs off a Pokemon the story never makes you meet. Bulbapedia's entry on Smearguru, the paint-splattered Smeargle who runs it, notes that he is the only Pokemon with a unique appearance in the game that you are not required to encounter as part of the story. That makes the system easy to walk straight past.

It is worth the detour. Serebii's tables put it at 18 colors, 116 patterns and 444 paintable items, walls and roofs included. This guide covers how to unlock it, which berry makes which paint, the mix for every color, and where each pattern comes from. All counts are as of Ver. 2.0.1.

Finding Smearguru and unlocking paint

Smearguru lives in Bleak Beach. Bulbapedia places him painting at a canvas beneath a gazebo, and VGC's directions are to head toward the back of the area, toward the big cruise ship sitting in the water.

His request is a short chain. This is Bulbapedia's summary, and Pocket Tactics' walkthrough gives the same first two steps:

1. He asks for a Leppa Berry, because he is starving.
2. He asks you to crush it, which means handing it to a Pokemon with the Crush specialty. It comes back as red paint, not food.
3. He wants something to paint. Bring a paintable piece of furniture and he recolors it with the red paint.
4. He takes you on as his disciple and gives you the paint balloon recipes. Once you have painted something yourself with a balloon, Bulbapedia says, he can paint designs and patterns as well as solid colors.

Crush is the step that can hold you up. Serebii's base-game Pokedex gives it to 23 Pokemon: Onix, Steelix, Conkeldurr, Electivire, Pawmo, Pawmot, Dugtrio, Geodude, Graveler, Golem, Magmortar, Larvitar, Pupitar, Tyranitar, Metagross, Cranidos, Rampardos, Shieldon, Bastiodon, Tyrunt, Tyrantrum, Amaura and Aurorus. Its Bubbly Basin dex adds four more: Croconaw, Feraligatr, Sharpedo and Crawdaunt. Pocket Tactics and VGC both use Pawmo for this step, and Serebii lists its habitats as the Tantalizing restaurant and the Cafe space. Onix, which our specialties guide covers as a Bulldoze Pokemon, carries Crush as well.

Which berry makes which paint

Each of the six berries crushes into one main color, with a chance of a bonus bowl of white or black. Black and white have no berry of their own. Serebii's paint table shows which berry can roll which bonus, and Gfinity describes both as random extras.

The last column matters more than it looks. Serebii's flowers page says every save grows the standard berry, Leppa, plus one other berry chosen at random, and its item table also lists the five non-Leppa berries in the Withered Wasteland, but only as that random second berry. Out of the box, that is red, one other base color and whatever bonus white or black those two roll. Going by Serebii's item locations, the Clefairy, Arcanine and Dragonite Doll Dream Islands carry all five non-Leppa berries, so any of those three is a one-stop run for a full palette. Serebii also lists 3D printing from other players' islands or Cloud Islands, and the occasional Pokemon willing to trade a specific berry. Our resource guide covers Dream Island runs, and our trade guide covers buying berries your save does not grow.

Three more ways to get paint:

• The PC Shop. Serebii's item table lists all eight paints, black and white included, in the shop once Palette Town or a Cloud Island reaches Environment Level 5. Gfinity gives the same Palette Town Level 5 gate. This is how you stop relying on bonus drops for black and white.
• Seadra and Kingdra. If you own the Expansion Pass, Serebii's Litter page lists black paint as what these two Bubbly Basin Pokemon drop around their homes, and says a higher comfort level means more drops.
• The community box. Serebii describes it as a box that Pokemon put found items into and take items out of to process. Nintendo's Ver. 2.0.0 notes fixed a bug where "processing berries in the community box" did not produce paint correctly, so this is a supported route for paint.

Outside the paint balloons, the only recipes on Serebii's crafting table that take paint are fireworks. It lists white, red, green, yellow and blue fireworks, each made from one bowl of that paint plus a Pokemetal, a sturdy stick and a glowing stone.

All 18 colors and their recipes

Serebii's paint page, its crafting table and Bulbapedia's Paint specialty page agree on all 18 colors and the paint each one uses. Eight colors use two bowls of a single paint. The other ten mix two paints, one bowl of each.

Watch the bottom two rows. White plus black does not make gray in Pokopia. Serebii, Bulbapedia and Gfinity all list that mix as Beige. Gray is blue plus white. Plan a gray build around white and black and you will end up with beige.

Read the paint counts as a recipe, not a guaranteed price. The pattern section below shows a case where the menu asked for more.

Smearguru or a paint balloon

There are two ways to put a color on something.

• Ask Smearguru. Nintendo's own tips article sums it up in two sentences: bring berries to a Crush Pokemon for paint, then bring the paint to Smearguru to change the colors and patterns on certain items. Ver. 2.0.0 lets him paint several times in one conversation, so you no longer re-talk to him for every piece.
• Throw a paint balloon. Serebii's crafting table has 18 balloon recipes, one per color, each costing the same paint as the table above, and all unlocked once you first get paint. Pocket Tactics says you throw them at furniture or at the outside of your house. Ver. 2.0.0 also made the target item easier to see when you aim a balloon.

The balloon list has no patterns on it, so applying a pattern means going through Smearguru.

What you can paint

Serebii's paintable-items table lists 444 items, and 46 of them also take a pattern. It covers far more than furniture. By our count of the names, roughly 150 are building pieces: about 70 wall, pillar and partition sections, 35 roof and awning pieces, 34 floors and tilings, ten doors, seven windows and two gates. Bulbapedia's Smearguru entry says he will customize "applicable objects, blocks, or houses."

Patterns are pickier. Serebii says they typically go only on an item's fabric areas, and the 46 pattern-capable items lean that way: 11 beds, seven chairs and stools, seven rugs and six sofas, plus a few tables, a chest, a closet, a locker and oddities like a lunch box and a Hoppip water bottle. Some items also paint in two separate parts that can take different colors or patterns. Both Serebii and the in-game tips that Bulbapedia records say so, and the pop art chair's own description says its backrest and cushion colors can be changed.

Ver. 2.0.0 added ten items to the paintable list, per Nintendo's update history: stylish stool, handrail, metal chain, workbench, vending machine, bike, bookcase, Pokemon Center counter, arrow sign and rope.

Where all 116 patterns come from

Serebii's and Bulbapedia's pattern tables both come to 116 patterns. Bulbapedia splits them into two tabs, 48 on Pattern #1 and 68 on Pattern #2, and the menu screenshot further down shows the Pattern #1 tab. Every Pattern #2 entry is a Pokemon design, from a Bulbasaur pattern through to a Manaphy one, and all 68 come from Vespiquen.

A few notes on the rows:

• Dream Islands. Serebii's Human Records table lists ten "peculiar pattern" records, all found on Dream Islands, each becoming a pattern once you show it to Smearguru. Bulbapedia's table has 20 Dream Island patterns, which is ten designs in two colorways each. Our outfits guide covers the rest of the Human Records.
• Photos count now. Nintendo's Ver. 2.0.0 notes say "Smearguru can now learn patterns from photos stored in References." A photo of a patterned item is enough.
• The Daily Shop. Serebii notes that patterned items sometimes turn up in the daily shop, and showing one to Smearguru unlocks that pattern too.
• The diploma. Nintendo's update history says the dynamic Ditto print is "obtained by talking to Smearguru after acquiring the diploma." Serebii says the diploma prints once you scan a complete Pokedex, which our Pokedex completion guide covers.
• Bubbly Basin. Serebii marks these eight as needing the Expansion Pass, and Bulbapedia says you show Smearguru patterned furniture found in a room in Bubbly Basin. Our Bubbly Basin DLC guide covers what the pass costs.

That screenshot is the reason to check costs in the menu. Bulbapedia's table lists the orange houndstooth colorway at one red and one green. On this Plain chair the menu asks for three red and one green. Serebii's paint page says patterns "require a larger amount of paint," and Nintendo's Ver. 2.0.0 notes fixed a bug where "painting certain items may use more paint than intended." We cannot tell which one this screenshot shows. What is clear is that the Owned / Needed panel gives the real number before you confirm, so check it.

Vespiquen is the pattern machine

74 of the 116 patterns, nearly two-thirds, come from one Pokemon. Vespiquen is the only Pokemon with the Gather Honey specialty in both Serebii's Pokedex and Bulbapedia's specialty list. Bulbapedia says you trade it 3 honey for one item from a daily selection of four random furniture pieces, each carrying a pattern you can then show Smearguru.

Setting that up:

• Vespiquen lives in the Field of Flowers habitat. Serebii lists it as common in the Withered Wasteland, Bleak Beach, Rocky Ridges, the Sparkling Skylands, Palette Town and Cloud Islands. Our habitat guide covers getting a Pokemon to move in.
• Honey turns up in flower patches in the Withered Wasteland and Bleak Beach, per Serebii's item table. On Serebii's Litter page, Combee is the one Pokemon whose Litter drop is honey, so housing Combee gives you a supply that refills on its own.

Plan for this to take a while. The selection is four random items a day, so collecting all 74 is a project measured in weeks, not one honey run.

Smearguru paints for himself too

Serebii's item table lists three paintings by Smearguru himself: Painting (landscape), Painting (portrait) and Painting (still life). Leave a blank canvas near him and he fills it in. The landscape is also one of the original placed items in Bleak Beach.

Serebii lists the blank canvas in the PC Shop once a Cloud Island reaches Environment Level 3, and its recipe (1 paper, 1 lumber) as a Daily Shop special. The canvas also sets up one of the camera's Highlight Reel shots. Serebii's list has "Let's Get Some Paint On This Canvas," which needs Smearguru and a blank canvas and pays out a Paint Photo Frame.

Where the sources disagree

We checked this against Serebii, Bulbapedia, Nintendo's update history and tips article, VGC, Pocket Tactics and Gfinity. Where they cover the same ground, they agree on the colors, the berries and the totals. They split on a few details:

• Houndstooth and Poke Ball patterns. Bulbapedia says you unlock each by crafting a sample of the Houndstooth print or Poke Ball print block. Serebii files houndstooth as known from the start and the Poke Ball pair under Dream Islands. Serebii's menu screenshot above shows houndstooth on the first row, right after the eight starting patterns, which does not settle it.
• The dynamic Ditto print. Nintendo ties it to the diploma. Bulbapedia names its two diploma patterns "Ditto transform" and files a "Dynamic Ditto" pattern under the Bubbly Basin furniture. Go with Nintendo.
• 66 or 74 Vespiquen patterns. Bulbapedia's Gather Honey page says 66 unique patterns. Bulbapedia's own paint table, and Serebii's, both list 74.
• Paint per job. Covered above. The tables list a recipe, and the menu gives the real cost.

Quick Action Checklist

• Go and find Smearguru under the gazebo in Bleak Beach. The story does not require you to meet him.
• Bring a Leppa Berry and a Crush Pokemon. Pawmo and Onix both work.
• Paint one item yourself with a balloon. Bulbapedia says that is what opens up patterns.
• Check which second berry your save grows. Run the Clefairy, Arcanine or Dragonite Doll Dream Island for the other four.
• Raise Palette Town to Environment Level 5 to buy every paint, black and white included, from the PC Shop.
• Gray is blue plus white. White plus black makes beige.
• House a Vespiquen and a few Combee for the 74 honey-trade patterns, at 3 honey per trade.
• Photograph patterned items you cannot keep. Since Ver. 2.0.0, Smearguru learns patterns from photos.
• Read the Owned / Needed panel before you confirm a pattern.
• Leave a blank canvas near Smearguru for one of his paintings.