Malamar (Inkay)

Praestigiae maximus verne

Overview

The ocean floor comprises roughly 70% of the Earth’s surface. Humans have visited less than 1% of it in person and only surveyed 5% of it with unmanned research vessels. Most of what we know about life in the abyssal zone of the ocean comes from trawls which naturally select for slow and stationary creatures in and around the very bottom layer.

We get a glimpse of what life is like far beneath the surface every single night. The largest migration on Earth (measured by both biomass and number of organisms) occurs not in the skies or on the plains, but in the sea.

Sunlight is the source of most of the ocean’s bioenergy, with the remainder coming from chemosynthesis around a small number of hydrothermal vents. Photosynthesis is only viable where there is light, and light is only present in a small portion of the ocean’s volume. For the denizens of the sea, light can also mean death. The abundant phytoplankton lead to an equal if not larger number of zooplankton to feed on them, which are in turn fed upon by everything from minnows to ship-sized behemoths. And those creatures also have predators. The surface has almost all of the food, but it also has almost all of the predators. What is a small oceanic creature to do?

The answer for many is to live in the ocean’s suburbs, the zone just beneath the light, during the day. Every sunset those creatures rise to feed on the resting organisms or phytoplankton at the surface. And every sunrise they slink back down to the depths as the residents wake up.

Malamar are a deep sea enigma that have never been captured or even seen alive in the depths and very seldom appear on the surface. The only proof of their existence comes from deep scars on surfacing wailord, bloated corpses washing up on beaches, and inkay raised and evolved in captivity.

By contrast, inkay are plentiful enough on the surface to be a reliable draw for tourists across their range each night. Inkay are almost never seen during the day as they sleep down in the depths.

Malamar are extremely difficult to raise. They are also powerful hypnotists capable of dishing out some of the hardest hits of any predator. Trainers looking for a husbandry challenge with high rewards can hardly do better than training an inkay.

Physiology

All evolutionary stages of the line are currently classified by the Department of Agriculture as dual psychic- and dark-types. The dark typing is heavily disputed. The top contenders for a secondary typing are water due to their habitat and use of water pulses for propulsion, bug due to their anatomy, and flying due to their ability to levitate above the surface and use of air for propulsion. Malamar are exceptionally difficult for psychics to interface with, much less read or control. Proponents of the dark typing hold this as evidence of it. Opponents hold that so long as triple typings are disallowed, pokémon that fit the criteria for three or more typings should be given the two they fit best.

Inkay are very similar to surface cephalopod pokémon. Their body is composed of two core parts. The first is made up of a translucent hat-like mantle. Pink flesh is visible through the white mantle. The mantle also has four yellow dots spaced at equal intervals. The mantle itself contains an elaborate system of chambers for water, air, and other fluids and gasses that is used to raise inkay to the surface and lower them back down to the depths.

The rest of their body is colored a dark blue. It terminates in six short tentacles that resemble a skirt when they are held close together. Two other tentacles reach slightly past these six. Inkay have two complex eyes on their face with a small pink feature between them. This, contrary to popular belief, is not an inkay’s beak. They do not eat from it and instead use it to ward off predators who might attack the eyes. The inkay’s real beak is hidden behind their tentacles. It is roughly half as long as the tentacles themselves. Near it are three valves they use for filtering water, releasing waste and propulsion.

The tentacled portion of malamar is nearly identical to that of inkay, although it is somewhat larger and darker on the outside (the inner bits near the beak stay roughly the same shade). They also gain an additional two tentacles. Malamar’s mantle grows far larger until it is roughly 50% longer than the bottom tentacles fully extended. The inner pink flesh becomes a dark, nearly black, shade of purple. Malamar gains two more lights, stacked in three rows of two. These lights are visible from any angle. Two ridges on the top of an inkay’s mantle grow into functional legs. It is unclear what the purpose of these legs are in the deep; they are used to balance on land. Malamar’s two arm tentacles grow to lengths exceeding the rest of their body combined and can be held down to form two more legs or arms when on land or extended towards their beak in the water to form powerful weapons for defense and offense. Their arms are tipped with axe-like blades sharp enough to seriously wound a wailord by either slashing blood vessels or puncturing their air bladders.

Inkay and malamar use bioluminescence to create elaborate patterns. These are used for communication between members of the species, to calm down predators with hypnotic patterns, or to transfix prey long enough to be slashed open and eaten. These light patterns work on most pokémon and animals, including humans. Most of malamar’s mantle is composed of tissue that forms their nervous system. They are highly intelligent creatures capable of figuring out complex puzzles in seconds. They also possess telekinetic capabilities. Whether or not they have pure telepathy or just use their light patterns for hypnosis is disputed.

Malamar are sexually dimorphic and their maximum size varies widely between captive and wild specimens. All measurements given below are from the tip of the mantle to the end of their arms. Captive females grow up to six feet from the tip of their mantle to the end of their beak and captive males grow up to five feet long. Wild females can grow up to twenty feet long and males can grow up to eighteen feet. Captive malamar can live up to five years. Evidence suggests that wild malamar do not live much, if any, longer.

Behavior

It isn’t terribly clear what wild inkay do during their daily rest. They usually deconstruct or detach external tracking devices. When injected with a tracking chip their behavior appears to be altered considerably for a few days. On the surface they tend to swim in troupes of roughly twenty inkay. They form a grid where the closest inkay is roughly thirty feet away from the next one. They move in close synchronization while flashing their lights to confuse and captivate predators and prey alike. Genetic testing suggests members of a troupe are all siblings.

Inkay are capable of levitating over the water and surviving in moist air for up to twelve hours at a time. They are well known for the mid-air flips they perform while moving. It is disputed whether or not these are accidental, serve a clear biological purpose, or are a form of play.

Inkay are intensely clever and often distracted by new and interesting environments or puzzles. This holds true for wild inkay who will sometimes put themselves in possible danger to investigate something of interest to them. They consider machines of interest and are often cut up by the propellers of boats. The boat tours that bring tourists close to inkay troupes often kill them.

Inkay primarily hunt small fish (both pokémon and non-pokémon). Wishiwashi are a favorite of theirs in Alola and they are one of the few natural predators of wishiwashi. They can get away with picking on individuals without facing the wrath of the collective because their disorienting lights make schooling nearly impossible.

No one knows exactly what depths malamar frequent or what their wild diet is. It is assumed from captive specimens that they eat large sea pokémon and non-pokémon fish, but this has never been confirmed in the wild. Attempts to release captive malamar to observe their behavior in the wild tend to go poorly. They tear off mechanical trackers quickly and malamar with inobtrusive trackers inside of them appear to die shortly after release. The leading theory is that malamar are somewhat social creatures in the wild who teach vital skills to other malamar. Without this upbringing newly released malamar struggle to survive.

Captive malamar can stand on their main tentacles and the expanded carapace ridges. They are also capable of levitating a few inches off the ground. Like inkay they can survive in moist air for half a day. Their air sacs and carapace ridges appear to be proportionally larger and stronger than their wild counterparts. It might be physiologically impossible for a wild malamar to stand, float or survive on land. In any case they almost never come to the surface.

Husbandry

Inkay require a seafood diet. They aren’t very picky at all on what they eat and are fine with crustaceans, fish, mussels and even the flesh of other cephalopods. There is some evidence that wild malamar engage in cannibalism; in captivity this has only occurred in very cramped aquariums or between very underfed malamar. Inkay prefer fresh seafood to pellets and mixes but will eat those in a pinch.

Inkay should be kept in saltwater about as often as they are kept outside of it. Some habitat pokéballs can meet this requirement. Consult a specialty pokéball or fish supplies store for more details.

Inkay are incredibly intelligent creatures and will require either frequent access to toys or an equally intelligent playmate. They appear to be motivated by curiosity alone; the presence of food at the end of the puzzle does not affect their willingness to solve it. On the flip side, inkay in aquariums are incredibly gifted escape artists and their nimble tentacles and telekinesis allow them to frequently break out of supposedly unescapable cages. Inkay are capable of contorting their body to fit through any space bigger than their beak. In the Aquarium de Ambrette an inkay was filmed waiting for a security guard to pass by and then swimming through the filtration system into the adjacent fish tank, eating the fish inside and then moving back to her own tank when it was time for the next security sweep. They are capable of learning rules, but they tend to see rules as a constraint. They will try to break the rules without getting caught for the thrill of getting around the constraint. This makes inkay difficult to keep in line. The best solution is to present them with new and interesting environments or highly intelligent playmates. Brionne are very good for this purpose and can even help keep inkay hydrated.

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Inkay are not particularly affectionate. When they do run their tentacles over a trainer it is often in an attempt to steal something or to figure out their trainer’s puzzling anatomy.

Inkay are most active at night in and out of aquaria. In community tanks, especially those with large pokémon, inkay tend to seek shelter for the entire day and then come out at night.

They can be housebroken, but housebreaking is a rule they will often seek to break. Their waste is a stream of dark liquid.

Malamar are often best approached on a case-by-case basis. Inkay tend to have similar personalities to each other and relatively few individual quirks. Malamar are moody and wildly different from each other in temperament and behavior. They tend to hide during the day in public aquariums and then prey upon other tankmates at night. These hunts are motivated by curiosity and playfulness more than hunger. Malamar are fiercely territorial over their preferred corner of the tank and will seldom leave it except to hunt. Curiously, captive malamar seem to ignore each other entirely even if they were in the same troupe in the wild and raised together in captivity.

Malamar are easily bored by humans and will often seek comeuppance against the people who control or restrict them. This usually takes the form of hypnosis. Inkay will almost never hypnotize a human unless they believe themselves to be at immediate risk. Malamar have no such reservations. When training a malamar it is very important to have frequent therapy sessions, ideally with a psychic, and to keep a diary several times a day on your emotional state and the subject of your thoughts. Malamar brainwashing tends to be accompanied by a general boost in mood, a detachment from other humans and pokémon, and a mild obsession with obtaining fish. Some malamar trainers become obsessed with battles and competition; others abruptly come to resent it. Malamar training is really best left to public aquaria, psi-sensitive trainers capable of recognizing telepathic assault, and trainers formidable enough to earn their malamar’s respect.

See Evolution for more details on what to do when your inkay approaches evolution.

Illness

The most common illness for inkay is dehydration. This happens when their water sac runs low. Dehydration can be reversed if the pokémon is quickly submerged in salt water and allowed to stay there until they float out on their own. The symptoms of dehydration include drastically lowered activity, general apathy, and a refusal to eat. A substantial increase or decrease in the frequency or volume of their waste discharges should also be noted. For any symptom without an obvious cause, dehydration should be assumed to be the root problem.

Consult a veterinarian if the problem persists.

Evolution

Inkay tend to evolve around their third birthday, although the amount of battling they partake in can move this back or forward. It is suspected that the actual catalyst for their evolution is reaching a threshold of telepathic activity across their lifetime.

Inkay tend to become lethargic and eat far more when they approach evolution. They will also all but stop releasing waste. This should be the point where trainers who do not want to deal with a malamar should release their inkay back into the ocean. Inkay in the wild evolve by swimming deep beneath the surface and never reemerging. In public aquariums they usually seek out either the deepest or most protected spot in the aquarium and stay absolutely still for days on end as they grow and change. The water pressure and available light both appear to affect the amount of time it takes to evolve and the size they grow to.

Trainers who wish to evolve their inkay and then keep the malamar should work out an arrangement with a local aquarium or rehabilitation center to loan out a pressurized, dark, and secluded space. Inkay should be provided as much food as they will eat during the runup to evolution. Malamar will often be very clumsy during their first couple of weeks after evolving, especially on land, but they should never be laughed at. They tend to lash out when they believe their intelligence or agility is being insulted.

Battle

Malamar are most often used as an anti-metagame pick on competitive battling teams. Their popularity waxes and wanes depending on what sort of threats are popular at any given time. In metagames dominated by psychic types, malamar become relatively popular. These scenes tend to attract psychic trainers who have an easier time raising malamar. The cephalopods are also very good at countering other psychic-types. The same goes for metagames with large pools available. Malamar are some of the best pokémon for taking down large and slow aquatic pokémon such as wailord and miltoic.

Malamar are most easily countered by bug types that can break their concentration with sonic attacks and retaliate with powerful slashes. Sharp cuts can tear through their skin and seriously injure them. Malamar and inkay are vulnerable to cuts but they can patch them up easily in saltwater given a few hours (or days for particularly severe wounds). Pokémon that can present puzzles or traps mid-fight can often confuse or distract them as they obsess over how to ‘solve’ the problem, something ordinarily best left to the trainer while the pokémon reacts to the immediate problems at hand.

Malamar are a mix of arena control and tech fighters. They are superb at setting traps such as trick room. Malamar also have very sharp claws and can move quickly in short bursts by releasing air or water jets. They function like a mix between primarina’s arena control and golisopod’s hit and run styles, although they aren’t quite as adept at either role. Still, they are one of the few trap setters that can keep up with and even knock out the glass cannons, nukes, or set-up sweepers that usually counter them.

Only psychic bloodliners should attempt to use a malamar on the island challenge.

Inkay fight rather differently than malamar. Without sharp claws they struggle to end the battle quickly. They must use light patterns to pacify the opponent and levitation to avoid them. Tricks such as protect and trick room can prolong this phase of the fight. Once the opponent is subdued, they can be hit with a barrage of ranged or melee attacks without much fear of retaliation. Be mindful that if opponents are allowed to switch out this can disrupt the inkay’s hard work. Inkay are particularly useful against totems as the core of the battle is one very powerful pokémon that can stay on the field a long time. Provided that inkay can take a hit or two they are quite useful for draining the totem and setting them up for a harder hitter to take out.

Acquisition

Inkay require a Class III license to adopt, capture, or purchase. Troupes are found in Kala’e Bay almost every night. They can sometimes be seen off of Route 1, Route 2 or Hau’oli City. There are rare sightings of inkay around Tapu Beach and the eastern shoreline of Poni Island. They are somewhat rare in captivity, especially among trainers or suppliers who might be willing to part with them. It is easiest to simply capture an inkay.

Capture of a malamar is illegal due to the difficulty of finding one, the possibility that they are endangered, the difficulty of taming one, and the simple fact that no captured malamar has survived for longer than a week in captivity. Possession of a malamar requires a Class V license for the general population and a Class IV license for psychic bloodliners who earn a PsiTest score of 130 or higher.

Breeding

Malamar have never been bred in captivity or been observed reproducing in the wild.

Relatives

There is some argument that wild malamar are not the same subspecies as captive malamar. The theory’s popularity stems from the size differences between wild and captive malamar. The argument goes that there is a benthic inkay that never surfaces at all that evolves into deep sea malamar. The inkay that come to the surface are a different subspecies entirely and the malamar known in captivity are a subspecies that fares so poorly in the wild that they are almost never seen. The main argument against this idea is that there is no reason for inkay to undergo the costly process of evolution if they would almost certainly die immediately afterwards. There are also only very minimal genetic differences between captive and wild malamar. As such it is generally accepted that captive and wild malamar are the same subspecies.

However, there still are three accepted subspecies. The malamar in Alola are Pacific malamar that generally prefer equatorial surface waters. They live all across the equatorial Pacific but are most abundant near islands and coasts due to the greater abundance of prey.

The Mediterranean malamar (P. m. ambrette) lives throughout the Mediterranean and warm waters of the eastern Atlantic. Coastal sightings have declined considerably since the 1700s due to industrial whaling depleting malamar’s prey. Mediterranean inkay have somewhat brighter colors than Pacific inkay and are 20% smaller on average.

Southern malamar (P. v. krios) are the largest subspecies by far. One female that washed up on the coast of New Zealand’s South Island measured fifty feet from the tip of her mantle to the end of her arms. They are more heavily armored than the other subspecies with thick, leathery skin covering their mantle. The Mediterranean and Pacific malamar have weaker and fewer suction cups than the average cephalopod. By contrast, the southern malamar has relatively long leg tentacles lined with powerful suction cups and sharp barbs. It is speculated that southern malamar use the threat of surface level wounds to deter opponents from going for their eyes while their long, brutally sharp arm tentacles go for the kill.

Southern inkay are pure white across their entire body; southern malamar are pure black. Outside of their coloring, southern inkay also require very cold waters and can only surface for one or two minutes at a time. The subspecies also appears to be far less playful than Pacific inkay, which in turn are less curious than Mediterranean inkay.

It is difficult to study the southern malamar and inkay. The farthest north they have ever been recorded was Tasmania. They are only common in the seas around Antarctica. Southern inkay are shy and tend to run away from approaching research vessels or humans. Southern malamar have only been held in captivity three times. The Vermillion Aquarium displayed one for nine days in 1971 after one of the inkay in their cold waters exhibit evolved. The new malamar quickly killed everything else in its tank, broke the glass while visitors watched, and proceeded to slash through or drown eighteen people before being withdrawn. SeaWorld evolved one in 2006; while there were no casualties, the new malamar refused to eat and died six weeks after evolution. Mwasaa binti Musa evolved one of her southern inkay in 2009. The malamar, Akil, listened to Musa’s commands and even battled for her in a handful of competitive matches. However, in one match it tried to attack the opposing trainer after dispatching one of his pokémon. Akil broke the arena’s shields and came within a fraction of a second of succeeding before Musa recalled him. His behavior rapidly deteriorated and he was eventually put down.