Pokémon Scarlet & Violet DLC: How to evolve Inkay into Malamar
Inkay originally came out in Pokémon X & Y, which is all the way back in the 3DS era of games. It had one of the more unusual evolution methods, and we haven’t had to evolve Inkay into Malamar since the Nintendo Switch was released. If you’re struggling to get your Inkay to evolve, here’s what you have to do.
Indigo Disk: Where to find Inkay
Inkay about to evolve into Malamar in Indigo Disk DLC
The Pokémon Company / Nintendo
If you want Malamar you will first need to catch yourself Inkay. These can only be caught in The Blueberry Academy Terrarium, and are quite a common spawn. We found plenty of them all over the Coastal biome, but they can be found in other locations, too. There is no specific spawn location, you can find them pretty much wherever there is water.
Indigo Disk: How to evolve Inkay into Malamar
This uses a similar method to the 3DS, but it is definitely trickier on the Switch. First, you need to make sure that your Switch is in handheld mode, as it will not work if your console is docked. Secondly, make sure that you have unpaired all other Joy-Con and controllers from your console. The only controllers that should be connected are the Joy-Con attached to the console.
Inkay should be upside down before you feed it the Candy, and stay like that until it evolves.
The Pokémon Company / Nintendo
Inkay evolves via level-up, and you can do this with Experience Candy or via level-up. We recommend using Candy, as it is a pretty difficult process. Your Switch needs to be upside down for the entirety of the evolution process. This means you should turn it upside down before you feed your Inkay the Candy, and keep it upside down until it evolves.
Malamar
The Pokémon Company / Nintendo
If you are using battle experience, your Switch must be upside down before Inkay gains experience and remain upside down for the remainder of the battle until it evolves. If this doesn’t work on your first try, it’s because the gyro in the Switch can be a little finicky. You may have to try again to find the right angle.
