How To Evolve Inkay Into Malamar In Pokémon GO

We all love how Pokémon GO gets us so involved with all the different Pokémon and their evolutions. Last September (2021), Pokémon GO held a huge collection of events, one of which was called Psychic Spectacular, which brought forth Inkay and its evolution, Malamar in the game.

NOW READ: How to Transfer Pokemon Through Pokemon HOME on Nintendo Switch, 3DS and Pokemon GO

These two are beloved Generation 6 Pokémon and can now be found in the Pokémon GO Pokedex. However, with the addition of both Pokémon, players are left wondering how to evolve an Inkay into Malamar. Well, that’s exactly what we’re here to guide you through!

 Videogamer.com is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / Last updated on 2024-04-15 

How To Evolve Inkay

Most Pokémon in Pokémon GO can either be evolved by feeding them Berries or using special items on them like the Sinnoh or Unova Stone. The case of Inkay, however, is different. When you head over to evolve Inkay, you’ll find that the game specifies that the Pokémon has a special evolution requirement, which is left for you to figure out. 

NOW READ: How to Get Mega Energy in Pokemon GO

Keep on reading as we discuss a step-by-step process from acquiring a baby Inkay to evolving it into the dark Malamar!

Inkay Evolution Trick (The Special Requirement)

The thing is, if you know Inkay and Malamar closely, you would know that both look like squids; however, Malamar looks like an upside-down squid. This, in itself, is a very big hint at the evolution process. All you need to do is turn your phone or tablet upside down to be able to evolve Inkay into Malamar.

Here are a few steps to break it down for you from scratch.

1. Catching An Inkay

Just like every other Pokémon, Inkay spawns in Pokémon GO based on the weather in a particular area and its general rarity in the game. Since Pokémon GO uses augmented reality, the game utilizes real-world weather of different areas as well. Therefore, your luck of catching an Inkay will drastically increase in foggy and windy weather. This is when Inkays are boosted, so they appear in the wild more often.

NOW READ: Check Out All The Hot Deals At Green Man Gaming – 15% OFF Selected PC Games

Generally, Pokémon that spawn are Normal, Bug, or Flying-type. Since Inkay is a Dark-Psychic Dual type, it spawns lesser in comparison due to its general rarity. This can, however, be dealt with using different types of Incenses as well as different types of Lure Modules. These are Items in Pokémon GO that, when used, lure Pokémon to you and increase the spawn rate, so you get a better chance of finding an Inkay.

2. Acquiring Inkay Candy

Once you catch an Inkay, you will need to collect at least 50 Inkay Candies if you want to evolve it into Malamar. You get Inkay Candy whenever you catch an Inkay, or whenever you walk with Inkay as your Buddy Pokémon. As we talked about before, to increase your chances of catching more Inkay, you should use Incenses and Lure Modules. 

Note: Incenses will only work when you’re on the move, and Lure Modules can be attached to Pokestops and Gyms.

Moreover, feeding Inkays Pinap Berries while catching them will get you more Inkay Candy than catching them normally would. But if you really want to speed it up, you can use Rare Candy to evolve Inkay too. 

NOW READ: Pokemon GO Codes, Free Coins and More (January 2023)

3. Evolving Inkay Into Malamar

Upon having collected 50 Inkay Candy, go and select an Inkay with good stats to evolve. The game will ask you for a special requirement for the evolution, which they want you to figure out. All you need to do here is turn your phone upside down. Just turn it 180 degrees, and the Evolve button will do the same.

All that is left now is to press that upside-down evolve button and witness the insane upside-down evolution animation until eventually, it turns into the glorious Malamar.

What To Do If You’re Not Able To Evolve Inkay

The Inkay evolution is a very fun bump in the game that, along with other things, reminds us how creative Niantic is being with the Pokémon franchise. There is, however, one problem with this specific evolution. Since this evolution depends on a gyro-meter inside your mobile device, it restricts the number of devices that can bring about the evolution.

NOW READ: Best Attackers In Pokémon GO (Our Top 7)

A lot of players have this very complaint with Niantic, and Niantic has, in fact, responded that they are aware and are looking into the issue. Unfortunately, for the time being, that does not change anything for the affected players.

NOW READ: How to Get Terrakion in Pokemon GO

Moreover, this way of upside-down evolution is not here just for a small event’s special feature, it’s always going to be this way. The fact that players playing on any device that is not equipped with a gyro-meter have no way of evolving Inkay is indeed unfair, and we’re hoping it gets fixed soon. 

Inkay vs Malamar Stats Comparison

Both Inkay and Malamar are unique Dark-Psychic Dual-type Pokémon that are boosted in the Foggy and Windy weather. Here is a brief guide on their stats comparison.

Stats Comparison

Both squid Pokémon have very impressive stats. Here you can compare them both and decide if you want to evolve your Inkay to Malamar or not: 

Pokemon GO	Inkay	Malamar
Max CP	1048	2667
Attack	98	177
Defence	95	165
Stamina	142	200

We would recommend evolving to a Malamar if you don’t want to lose your precious Inkay, as the stat disparity is easily visible. With a pretty amped-up Defence and Attack, along with almost thrice the Maximum CP, Malamar seems like a pretty viable Pokémon to have in your kit!

NOW READ: Pokemon Go Arlo Counters

Weaknesses And Resistances

Both Inkay and Malamar have the same weaknesses and resistances because they are the same type and very closely linked. Here are their Weaknesses and Resistances summarised. 

Weakness	Percentage
Bug	256.0%
Fairy	160.0%
Resistance	Percentage
Psychic	24.4%

Final Thoughts

This method is most peculiar, but it is not the first time a Pokémon game has used this trick. Before Pokémon GO, this requirement of a very specific task for Inkays evolution was used in Pokémon X and Y too. We think it is great how Pokémon GO spices it up at times; it definitely adds to the pleasure of the whole game.