Tag: Inkay

Why do inkay need to be upside-down to evolve? (Also, are Mallomar cookies named after the pokemon, or was that a coincidence?)

These are both excellent questions, anonymous. With the first, it simply orients the inkay into the best position to become malamar, as their “caps” are more stable to serve as feet and support their weight. (Malamar lose their ability to float in the air for extended periods of time upon evolution, largely because they devote their telekinetic power to, well, battling instead.) That and their tentacles become unwieldy in inkay’s “right-side-up” position, but turning around allows them to develop into arms. Because of all this, if the inkay evolves without turning, the malamar will essentially develop into a giant inkay unsuited for land, so inkay in general are particularly careful to orient themselves in the best manner to ensure maximum mobility.

As for Mallomars, no, that’s definitely a coincidence. However, Pockychu is a different story.

[[Bill, Pockychu doesn’t even exist… —LH]]

Inkay and Malamar

Inkay
The Revolving Pokémon
Type: Dark/Psychic
Official Registration #: 686
Entry: Despite its name and the fact that it strongly resembles a squid, inkay is completely incapable of using ink as a defensive mechanism. Rather, it is equipped with a wide range of telekinetic and mesmeric powers, most notably the ability to generate strobe-like flashing lights from its spots. Yet strangely enough, inkay is not famous for its ability but rather its unusual evolution method: by battle experience, when turned upside-down. Because many trainers strive to achieve this evolution manually and because inkay, like many creatures, is not prone to cooperating when forcibly turned the wrong side up, many trainer injuries and hilarious internet videos have resulted from attempts to train this species of pokémon.

Malamar
The Overturning Pokémon
Type: Dark/Psychic
Official Registration #: 687
Entry: The evolved form of inkay, by battle experience if the subject is turned upside-down at the time. Malamar is a tall, squid-like pokémon that possesses strong tentacles and dazzling lights. It is most known for using the lights to hypnotize its prey and lure it close enough to ensnare with its tentacles. Once it ensnares its prey, it either douses them with digestive fluids or brainwashes them into doing their bidding. Given malamar’s habits of entrancing and ensnaring prey that it either puppeteers or devours alive, it should come as no surprise to anyone that when the writer says “it is most known for,” he means “within very unusual subcultures on the internet.”