There has always been a select few Pokémon that have more obscure ways to get them to evolve. In the early games, the trickiest ways revolved around trading, but as the generations passed, new and fourth-wall-breaking methods began creeping in. Inkay was one of the most tricky to evolve when it debuted on the 3DS, but now that it’s back in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk.
Considering we’re no longer in the two-screen system days, the old evolution method had to be tweaked for the new hardware. Whether you know the old way or not, here’s what your Pokédex won’t tell you about evolving Inkay into Malamar.
How to evolve Inkay
If you had an Inkay back on the 3DS, then you may recall the method to evolve it involved leveling it up to 30 and then turning your console upside down while it was in the process of leveling up. The same concept applies in The Indigo Disk, but tweaked a bit for the Switch.
First, get yourself an Inkay and get it to level 30 as normal. Inkays are very common in the Coastal Biome in the DLC area, so you should encounter one without needing to look long. Before it is about to level up, make sure you take your Switch out of the dock if you’re playing on the TV and are not using any other controllers connected to your console. You must be using the official Joy-Cons connected to the console.
When your Inkay begins leveling up, spin your console upside down until the animation finishes, and you should have yourself a new Malamar. If something happens to go wrong, you can try again every time it levels up, either through battle or by giving it a Rare Candy.
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