Malamar is what Hypno wishes it could be. Its shtick is that it has incredibly strong hypnotic powers, so much so that “Pokémon Shield’s” Pokédex entry states Malamar has mind-controlled its victims and played a role in “history-changing events.” Malamar is essentially an upside-down squid, which is pretty clever; the only way you can get this Pokémon is to evolve Inkay while holding your Nintendo 3DS or Switch upside down. Once you start thinking about this from a meta perspective, though, it gets creepier. Malamar essentially mind-controlled you, the player, to get you to turn your handheld upside down to evolve it. It’s something you don’t have to do for any other Pokémon.
