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Inkay shows up around the midway point in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, as the character lives in the sewers and shows up in Wild Zone 11. But if you want Malamar early on, pretty much the only way to get it is by evolution. (It doesn’t show up in the wild until Wild Zone 20.) It is very easy to evolve the character, but you do need to play your Switch or Switch 2 in Handheld Mode.
How do I evolve Inkay into Malamar in Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Just like in all past 3DS and Switch Pokemon games, getting Inkay to evolve into Malamar in Pokemon Legends: Z-A involves holding your Switch or Switch 2 upside down when in Handheld Mode. Head to the main menu, where you can see all your characters. Turn your system upside down in your hands. The level-up arrow icon won’t appear on Inkay’s portrait, but you will be able to evolve it at this point.
Scroll over to the character portrait and open the menu for that Pokemon. Even though there won’t be an arrow, the “Evolve” option will appear above “Check Summary.” Select that. It will then immediately evolve to Malamar.
As for the Malamar Mega Stone, you need to play through the campaign to get that. While you can trade 240 Mega Stones for it at the Mega Shard Exchange at Quasartico, it isn’t available right away. You need to see Mega Malamar at a certain point in the campaign before that storefront will offer Malamarite.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is available for the Switch and Switch 2.
