Photography

A photo of Ethan with his party in HeartGold and SoulSilver

The concept of photography has appeared in many Pokémon games as well as in the TCG, manga, and anime. Starting with its introduction in the game Pokémon Snap, photography has appeared in several other games since.

In the games

Main series

Pokémon Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal

Pokémon Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal are compatible with the Game Boy Printer accessory. By talking to a character labeled as a "photographer," players are able to print out stats of any Pokémon in their party. Also in Gold, Silver and Crystal, although photography isn't mentioned, there is a Mail called Portraitmail that has the silhouette of the Pokémon holding it as its design.

In Pokémon Yellow, it is mentioned that the Kanto Pokémon Fan Club Chairman has taken an interest in photography.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

At the Rocket Game Corner in Celadon City, there is a "Pokémon Printer" where a player may have their current party photographed and displayed on the back of the Trainer Card for a fee of $50. The photos can be taken in four different colors: normal, black, pink, or sepia.

Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

The player can get a picture of his/her Pokémon taken with Accessories on in Jubilife City at the Jubilife TV building. This is also done when a player's Pokémon wins a Pokémon Super Contest, but only when the rank of that Contest type has not already been achieved.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Lyra and Slowbro taking a picture with Professor Oak

Cameron in the Slowpoke Well

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, there are many areas in Johto and Kanto where the player may take photos of him/herself and their partner Pokémon, although the player will often be able to photograph themselves with their entire party. These photos are recorded in a Photo Album, which stores up to 36 photos in the PC. After the player arrives in Goldenrod City, a man named Cameron will periodically be found in both regions at varying times. He will take pictures of the player's party and the surrounding area. Cameron's house is in Cianwood City, which has an automatic camera beside it for use at all times; however, Cameron cannot be found here.

With the entire party

Location	Notes	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
New Bark Town	—	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Cherrygrove City	—	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Ruins of Alph	Outside	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Ruins of Alph	Inside	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Route 32	—	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Slowpoke Well	—	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Ilex Forest	—	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Goldenrod Tunnel	Dressed as a Team Rocket Grunt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Route 35	—	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
National Park	Gate	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
National Park	Inside	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Pokéathlon Dome	—	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ecruteak City	—	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Route 39	—	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Olivine City	—	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Glitter Lighthouse	At night	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Cianwood City	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Route 48	—	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Safari Zone Gate	—	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Ice Path	—	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
Blackthorn City	—	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Route 45	—	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Frontier Access	—	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Mt. Silver	—	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Mt. Silver	Up Waterfall	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Pallet Town	—	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Route 1	—	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Viridian City	—	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Pewter City	—	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Pewter Museum of Science	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Cerulean City	—	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Vermilion City	—	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Silph Co.	—	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Saffron Train Station	—	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Celadon City	—	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Celadon Department Store	—	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Fuchsia City	—	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Route 12	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Route 14	—	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Seafoam Islands	—	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Route 21	—	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Route 22	—	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Route 26	—	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No

With NPCs

If the Gym Leader is currently in the Fighting Dojo, the player cannot take a picture with the Leader.

Character	Location	Day	Requirements
Day-Care Man	Pokémon Day Care	4 Wednesday and Thursday	—
Dragon Clan Elder	Dragon's Den	2 Monday and Thursday	—
Professor Oak	Professor Oak's Laboratory	8 Everyday	Complete the National Pokédex
Falkner	Celadon Department Store	4 Wednesday	His phone number
Bugsy	National Park (by the fountain)	6 Friday	His phone number
Whitney	Goldenrod Department Store (sixth floor)	8 Everyday from 6:00 PM to 8:59 PM	Her phone number
Morty	Bellchime Trail	6 Friday	His phone number
Chuck	Route 47	1 Sunday	Does not appear after the Jade Orb is obtained
Jasmine	Olivine Café	8 Everyday from 12:00 PM to 12:59 PM	Her phone number
Pryce	Mahogany Gym	8 Everyday	—
Clair	Dragon's Den	8 Everyday from 4:00 PM to 6:59 PM	Her phone number
Brock	Diglett's Cave on the Route 2 side	8 Everyday from 5:00 PM to 7:59 PM	His phone number
Misty	Route 25	8 Everyday from 2:00 PM to 3:59 PM	Her phone number and a Water-type Pokémon as the lead Pokémon
Lt. Surge	Route 39 at Moomoo Farm	6 Friday and Saturday	His phone number
Erika	Celadon City	2 Monday	Her phone number
Janine	Victory Road at the Pokémon League Reception Gate	8 Everyday from 6:00 PM to 7:59 PM	Her phone number
Sabrina	Olivine City Harbor	2 Monday	Her phone number
Blaine	Cinnabar Island	5 Thursday	His phone number
Blue	Cinnabar Island	6 Friday	Defeat Red

Pokémon X and Y

In Pokémon X and Y, players can find multiple black signs with white camera icons on them called Photo Spots. Upon examining them, the player can summon Phil the Photo Guy, who will offer to take their picture. The camera takes advantage of the Nintendo 3DS's gyroscope controls, and its zoom, shutter, and natural light can be adjusted. Upon taking a picture, it will be saved on the Nintendo 3DS Camera, where it can be viewed on the 3DS's photo album. The player can also upload their latest photo to the Pokémon Global Link via Game Sync.

Locations of Photo Spots

Location	Example
Aquacorde Town
Parfum Palace
Route 7 Battle Chateau
Geosenge Town
Shalour City Tower of Mastery
Azure Bay
Lumiose City Prism Tower/Lumiose Gym
Frost Cavern
Anistar City
Couriway Town
Snowbelle City
Pokémon League

In side games

Pokémon Snap

In Pokémon Snap, the entire game is based around the concept of photography. In Pokémon Snap, the player (as Todd Snap) must take the best possible photographs of the 63 Pokémon findable on Pokémon Island for Professor Oak's Pokémon Report.

The player controls the camera from a first-person perspective. To view through the camera lens, the player must hold the "Z" button. The shutter button is operated with the "A" button. In the game, the player can receive tools to aid their picture-taking such as Pokémon food, Pester Balls, and the Poké Flute.

For a period of time after the release of Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Snap Sticker Stations were available at Blockbuster Video stores, which allowed a player to print out their photos on stickers for $3. These Sticker Stations were available in the United States and Canada. In the Wii Virtual Console version, players can post them to the Wii's Address book.

Pokémon Stadium

In Pokémon Stadium, there is a "Gallery" mode where players can take photographs of their Pokémon. A player may photograph Pokémon from their Generation I Game Boy game (using the Transfer Pak) or they may photograph the game's rental Pokémon. The controls are identical to that of Pokémon Snap, but without the extra items such as the Pester Balls. Photos taken in Gallery Mode could be printed on stickers at the Pokémon Snap Sticker Stations.

My Pokémon Ranch

An example of a My Pokémon Ranch photo, featuring a Shiny Zigzagoon, Pikachu, and Bibarel

In My Pokémon Ranch, players are able to take photos of their Pokémon during any of the random ranch events (such as the Clock and the Totem Pole) or when they are playing with any of the toys that a player may buy for their Pokémon. The quality of the photo can be increased with the "Focus Lock" function.

PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure

A photograph of Meowth taken in-game from first person perspective

PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure gives the player the ability to take pictures from the game similar to previous Wii and WiiWare games.

After Pikachu has met Misdreavus in the Meeting Place, she gives them a camera with which to photos on. Each film roll can hold up to 30 pictures. These 30 pictures can be sent to an SD card purchased separately by the player so that they may put the pictures on their computer as well as free up a new film for 30 new pictures.

Photos can be taken from a third-person perspective or from first-person Pikachu's view.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Players of Super Smash Bros. Melee are able to take pictures of certain battle scenes in Camera Mode. Photos take up 4-12 blocks from the GameCube memory card. Camera Mode requires two controllers (one being put in port 4)—player 2 takes a photo of player 1's battle.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

A snapshot of two Ivysaur in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Players of Super Smash Bros. Brawl may also to take pictures of certain battle scenes if the game is paused. Photographs typically take 1 block of memory from either the Wii's memory or from the SD Card memory. Photos taken in Super Smash Bros. Brawl can be transferred to a personal computer and converted to JPEGs using various programs or websites available online. The players can also take pictures of stages they created.

In the anime

Todd Snap and his camera in the anime

Trip and his digital camera in the anime

Photography has also appeared in the anime. The first appearance of photography in the anime was in the episode The Battling Eevee Brothers, where Psyduck took a picture of Ash and his friends. Todd Snap debuted in Pokémon Paparazzi, which later inspired the release of Pokémon Snap. In the episode, Team Rocket hires photographer Todd Snap to "capture" Pikachu, not realizing that Todd means to capture Pikachu on film. Todd appears in a number of subsequent episodes, in which he tries to photograph other Pokémon, including the legendary Articuno.

In Mewtwo Strikes Back, a Fearow soars overhead with a camera attached to its neck. This camera was used by Mewtwo in search of worthy Trainers to summon to the New Island.

Photography also appears in Destiny Deoxys, where a Block Bot took pictures of Ash and his friends for passport IDs.

Photography appears again in the episode A Maze-ing Race!, where Team Rocket tries to take a group picture of Ash's, Dawn's, and Brock's Pokémon in exchange for a map. In Jumping Rocket Ship!, Team Rocket disguise themselves as photographers in an attempt to capture the Pokémon of Ash and his friends.

In In The Shadow of Zekrom!, Ash meets a beginning Trainer, named Trip, who documents his journey through Unova by taking pictures.

In The Four Seasons of Sawsbuck!, Ash meets a photographer named Robert, whose goal was getting a picture of all four forms of Sawsbuck together. His grandfather was also a photographer who had accomplished that and had taken pictures of Pokémon outside of the Unova region.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Ruby likes taking many photos. In fact, in Ring Ring Goes Beldum, he was seen taking pictures of his Nana and Kiki evolving and said that he was up to his 36th album at the time.

Todd Snap appeared in the Emerald arc as a reporter. At the end of the chapter, after looking at Todd's pictures of the events at the Battle Frontier, Professor Oak asked him if he could work with him and if he could go to an island where there are lots of Pokémon, and take pictures of them.

In the Pokémon Battle Frontier manga

In the Pokémon Battle Frontier manga, Anabel is disguised as a photographer taking photographs around the Battle Frontier.

In the Pokémon Gotta Catch 'Em All manga

Shu once took part in Pokémon photography competition in the chapter Get a Pokémon Shot!. He was lent a camera to take part but thought he had used his last shot stunning an Ekans to save the Pidgey eggs it was about to eat. He won, however, thanks to his Slowpoke who used the last shot to take a picture of the hatched Pidgey while he had his back turned.

In the TCG

The only English Pokémon Snap card

Though not prevalent, photography has appeared throughout the TCG multiple times. The first involved two contests, the CoroCoro Best Photo Contest and the 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest, which challenged players to take interesting pictures of Pokémon from Pokémon Snap and submit them. Five entries from each contest were chosen, with the winning images used on extremely rare reprints. The exact number of these cards is unknown.

Imakuni? and Poké Dude feature actual photographs of people (Tomoaki Imakuni and Hironobu Yoshida respectively) and were released as promotional cards. The individual top three winners of the Neo Spring Road and Neo Summer Road Best in Japan tournaments, and the top four ranking players of the Battle Road Summer 2002 Best in Japan tournament also had their photographs featured on Trainer cards with the respective event logos superimposed on the image. The Neo Spring Road and Neo Summer Road players were awarded either a No.1 Trainer, No.2 Trainer, or No.3 Trainer card. The Battle Road Summer 2002 players were awarded an Elite Four Trainer card.

The Pokémon Rumble card collection also used photography as illustrations for the cards. This nineteen card collection was released in conjunction with Pokémon Rumble, and used screenshots from the game as their illustration. They were not credited with the normal Illus. by <name>, but simply as Pokémon Rumble.

Any cards with a Pokémon Pikachu copyright are considered to be photographs of the anime. These copyrights have been used for movie promotions ever since 2003, and are mostly used to represent anime characters or their Pokémon.

As part of a number of different activities at the Spring 2012 Battle Carnival events held in Japan between May and June 2012, a person or group could have their photograph taken at the Commemorative Photo Service Corner and have it printed on a jumbo-sized card.

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.