How To Evolve Inkay Into Malamar Explained

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Inkay and Malamar, its evolution, are members of Gen 6 Pokémon and can now be added to your Pokédex in Pokémon Go.

These dark and psychic-type Pokémon were originally released as part of the Psychic Speculator event which ran during September 2021.

What sets them apart from other Pokémon, however, is Inkay's special evolution requirement and, below, you'll discover how to evolve an Inkay into a Malamar in Pokémon Go.

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How to evolve Inkay into Malamar in Pokémon Go

If you want to evolve an Inkay into a Malamar in Pokémon Go, you'll need to first gather 50 Inkay Candy, then perform a unique action with your device.

First, let's discuss Candy. This can be easily achieved by catching Inkay using Pinap Berries, walking with an Inkay as your buddy and completing Stage 5 of the Misunderstood Mischief special research quest, which will reward you with 10 Inkay Candy.

From there, you must complete a special requirement to evolve an Inkay into a Malamar. Thankfully, unlike Sirfetch'd or Runerigus, this requirement is very easy to meet.

Much like how, in the main series games, you have to turn your console upside down to evolve an Inkay, you'll have to turn your phone upside down if you want to evolve this Pokémon in Pokémon Go! By this we mean you simply have to rotate your phone so that your screen is upside down.

That said, Niantic acknowledges that not all devices have this feature, and is currently working on a fix to impliment an alternative method:

Trainers, we're aware that devices that do not feature gyroscopes do not support Inkay's unique evolution method. We will be implementing a fix in release (0.221) that will offer affected Trainers an alternate method to evolve Inkay into Malamar. Thank you for your patience.

— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) September 20, 2021
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Until then - start catching Inkay so you can get enough Candy to evolve into a Malamar for when the new method arrives!

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