How do you evolve Inkay in Pokémon GO?

Tom Bull

Tom Bull

Stuck on how to evolve Inkay in Pokémon GO? Here’s how.

Inkay is one of the more confusing evolutions in Pokémon GO, with how to evolve the Pokémon initially hidden. Only a question mark appears, with evolution not possible until a specific criteria is met.

While needing a special criteria to evolve a Pokémon is not that uncommon in Pokémon GO, for the criteria to be a mystery is unusual. Some evolutions need certain weather, a certain time of day or for a certain condition (like walking with a Pokémon) to be met.

However, none of these work for Inkay. So, what exactly is the secret to evolving Inkay in Pokémon GO?

How to evolve Inkay into Malamar in Pokémon GO:

There are two things you need to do to evolve Inkay in Pokémon GO. The first is to have 50 Inkay Candy. Then, you need to hold your phone upside down in order to be able to press the Evolve button.

You might be wondering why on earth Niantic have made you do that to evolve a single Pokémon. This unusual method comes from Pokémon X and Y, which was released on the 3DS. This was the first time Inkay was ever in a game, and in order to evolve it, you had to hold the 3DS upside down. This tradition carried on in subsequent Pokémon games. Even those on devices like the Nintendo Switch.

This Inkay evolution trick is not event exclusive in Pokémon GO either. There has never been another way to evolve Inkay in the game, so you'll have to do this every time you want to evolve Inkay into Malamar in Pokémon GO.

Of all the Pokémon GO evolution tricks, this one might be the most tilting - figuratively and literally! However, at least once you know what the trick is, it's easy to do. No need to use a Rare Stone, or get out and walk several kilometres for a single evolution.

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