How to evolve Inkay into Malamar in Pokémon Go

Flip things over.

Happy Inkay by a PokéStop
Image via Niantic

The Dark/Psychic-type Inkay made its Pokémon Go debut back during the Psychic Spectacular event, first appearing in the wild and one-star raids. Since then, it’s also been featured in other Research tasks.

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Fans who’ve played Gen VI will know Inkay is a bit odd. It not only has a rare typing but also lives up to its title of the Revolving Pokémon with its unique evolution method, which might confuse players who haven’t yet encountered the Kalos-native.

Related: How to get and use Mega Energy in Pokemon Go

Typically, in order to evolve Inkay into Malamar in the mainline games, players would need to level up their Pokémon to level 30 and then hold their Nintendo 3DS or Switch systems upside down at the end of the battle. As weird as it might sound, this fits the two Pokémon’s designs perfectly since Malamar is the larger upside-down version of Inkay—something you might not realize until after you’ve learned about their evolution.

And just like with many other mechanics, Niantic has replicated this to an extent in Pokémon Go

How to evolve Inkay into Malamar in Pokémon Go

After you capture an Inkay in Pokémon Go, you will also need to get 50 Inkay Candy before you can evolve it.

Related: How to evolve Hisuian Qwilfish into Overqwil in Pokémon Go

Once you are ready, hold your mobile device upside down, which should register fairly easily. Then you can initiate the evolution and get yourself a Malamar.

Don’t feel bad if you couldn’t figure out this random evolution method on your own. Inkay arguably has one of the most bizarre evolution requirements in the franchise. After all, who would ever think to flip their mobile device or gaming system upside down in order to evolve a Pokémon?

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Cale Michael
Lead Staff Writer for Dota 2, the FGC, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more who has been writing for Dot Esports since 2018. Graduated with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma Christian University and also previously covered the NBA. You can usually find him writing, reading, or watching an FGC tournament.
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Karli Iwamasa
Karli is a freelance writer and editor for Dot Esports based in the Bay Area. She mostly writes about Pokémon with a focus on competitive VGC but also enjoys VALORANT.