Malamar Report

Malamar (the Overturning Pokémon) is a rare Dark/Psychic-type Pokémon found among seashores and mountainous terrain within the Kalos, Alola and Galar regions and the Blueberry Academy Terarium. Wickedly cruel and monstrous in terms of combat ability, Malamar are vicious creatures that won’t think twice about using their full power to confuse, hypnotize and devastate anything that dares to get in their path. These beasts are a far cry from their evolved form, so make sure that you are not lured in by the gleam in their eyes, because that gleam will likely be the last thing that you remember for a very, very long time!

The members of the Inkay family are generally classified as being squids in terms of biology, but their complete capacity to live outside of an aquatic environment nonetheless has left more puzzling issues unanswered over their evolution than anything else. These creatures share with their cephalopod relatives a basic anatomical plan with a complex nervous system and a lack of an internal skeleton, but they differ significantly in that they are capable of surviving on land thanks to the replacement of gills for a small set of lungs and a bird-like respiratory tract, minus the use of hollow bones for respiration. They additionally possess a hardened outer skin that protects them from easily being damaged from piercing strikes, which is important as these beasts are a vital source of nutrients and are often hunted when young, though this is less of an issue in the case of Malamar as they can adequately fight back with their intense hypnotic powers. These creatures tend to feed on small seabirds and shelled mollusks, as they have developed a sharp beak that can easily peck through hard shells to get at whatever creatures may be inside. The fact that these beasts are able to utilize both psychic and negative energy in battle makes them the only Dark/Psychic-type Pokémon known (alongside Hoopa Unbound) and in turn a serious threat to most opponents, as this type combination grants them considerable protection and really only makes them highly vulnerable to assaults from Bug-type Pokémon. These beasts do need to visit the water every once in a while in order to hydrate their bodies, but aside from this, they almost never travel into the water and can therefore be somewhat difficult to locate, though this only makes the search that much more fun in the end. It is lastly noted that these creatures are unique for not only being the only Pokémon that can normally possess the rare Contrary Ability but also for their ability to effectively use a combination of psychic and negative energy to flip the stat changes of a target in battle; this unique move, known as the Topsy-Turvy technique, is completely unique to this family and can more than find some great use among strategists looking to utilize stat changes employed by opponents to swing a battle in their favor.

The evolution of Inkay into Malamar is one that has puzzled scientists for years, and although new research has finally revealed the secret behind this process, it is still more than a bit confusing. Due to a genetic defect, Inkay are actually unable to evolve under normal circumstances, as their unique mixture of internal psychic and negative energy fields retards their growth to an infant state. This imbalance has come as a consequence of their special abilities and ensures that few of these creatures ever make it to adulthood, but there is one way to ensure that this is not a problem: turn them over. Although they are adapted for life on land, Inkay still have weakly-pressurized bodies, so their internal fluids and blood flow are highly subjective to the pressure on and orientation of their body in space. If these creatures are kept right-side up, then nothing really happens and they live out a fairly normal life. If they are hold upside down, however, their blood flow actually shifts direction and carries more negative and psychic energy toward their brain than normal, shifting the natural chemical balance of their body and triggering mutation in their genes. If Inkay spend large amounts of time in this flipped state, their brain chemistry will alter to the point where their retarded growth/developmental ‘blocks’ will be freed, enabling them to finally evolve into Malamar, with their tentacle-like lower head flipping to the top and developing a pair of leg-like tentacles on the top of what was once their head-cap. This associated shift in brain chemistry, however, has some serious consequences. On the upside, it significantly increases their stats overall (practically doubling their base stat total), enables them to learn the powerful Reversal attack and amplifies their hypnotic powers to the extreme, effectively making them the most powerful hypnotists in the entire Pokémon world and in turn a highly sought-after Pokémon globally for those looking to commit the most nefarious of deeds. They use this to great advantage both in and outside of battle especially, as they can use their powers to hypnotize their target into submission in combination with flashes from the light-emitting spots on their bodies, allowing them to cover them with their tentacles and spew digestive fluid on their prey, weakening and softening them so they can be easily be shredded with their incredibly sharp fins and bitten apart by their sharp and sturdy beak. On the other hand, however, these creatures develop a cruel, monstrous personality in this state, having twice the cunning and intelligence they used to have. This can make these otherwise powerful beasts extremely difficult and dangerous to use in battle, as they prefer to listen to no one but themselves and will do whatever it takes to learn the weakness of their opponent, even if it means hurting themselves in the process, just so they can hypnotize them. Malamar seem to enjoy their cruelty a great degree, though, as they will often hypnotize others for no real reason, making them do silly pranks or even causing them to jump to their death alongside the rocky, mountainous seashore areas they call home, which may or may not have resulted in many history-changing moments within the lands they occupy. Regardless, Malamar are dangerous animals to be near and can more than put to use their potential Contrary Ability to turn moves like Superpower into devastating weapons of war, making them perhaps one of the worst types of opponents to face tactically and defensively in just about any normal battle.

Though their stats alone might not suggest it, Malamar are fearsome beasts that can easily tear apart opponents as long as they have some time to power their stats up. Bug-type attacks will easily take these beasts down in a heartbeat, but if this offensive power is not available, trainers will have to play things carefully to make sure their Pokémon are not hypnotized in battle. Do yourself a favor and try to at least avoid these alien-like cephalopods in the wild if you can; they might seem like a cool addition to a team, but you would be better off raising an Inkay than trying to go toe-to-toes with a ‘marine’ animal that could care less whether you live or die as long as they can gain some entertainment in making you miserable, often without you even knowing what’s going on!

Professor Wormwood