James's Inkay

James's Inkay コジロウのマーイーカ Kojirō's Maaiika

James's Inkay

Debuts in A Battle of Aerial Mobility! Caught at Route 4 Gender Male Ability Unknown Current location With James

This Pokémon has not evolved.

Voice actor Japanese English As Inkay Kenta Miyake Mike Liscio

James's Inkay (Japanese: コジロウのマーイーカ Kojirō's Maaiika) is the only Pokémon that James caught in the Kalos region, and his twelfth overall.

In the anime

Pokémon the Series: XY

Inkay eating a croissant

Inkay first appeared in A Battle of Aerial Mobility! while Team Rocket was dining at a café in Lumiose City. As Team Rocket was busy celebrating news from Giovanni, Inkay stole their food and proceeded to eat it from under their table. While Team Rocket was in their balloon, the same Inkay from before approached them when they dropped their sandwich and sprayed ink at them. After Team Rocket cleaned themselves off, James scanned the Inkay to get some details about him and the Team Rocket trio attempted to battle him with Wobbuffet. However, James offered Inkay some food instead as bait. While Inkay was distracted, James threw a Poké Ball at him and caught him, much to the surprise of Jessie and Meowth.

In A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship!, he was sent out for the first time to help capture Pikachu and a Dedenne, but the two managed to evade them. When the two were rescued by Ash and his friends, Team Rocket arrived and James sent Inkay out again to battle Dedenne, who was under Clemont's command. The two proved to be evenly matched until Dedenne used Nuzzle on Inkay, paralyzing him and allowing Dedenne and Pikachu to defeat him by combining their respective Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt.

Inkay and James disguised as Pikachu and Ash

In Heroes - Friends and Faux Alike!, Inkay was part of Team Rocket's plan to impersonate Ash and his friends. Inkay disguised itself as Pikachu alongside his Trainer, who masqueraded as Ash. James met a boy called Myron and his Pancham and asked for a battle, to which Myron declined. James had Inkay attack Pancham with his Psybeam and Tackle anyway, which caused Myron to call for Officer Jenny. Inkay was later seen helping Team Rocket eat a bunch of food and running off without paying.

In Facing the Grand Design!, Inkay was enjoying lunch with his Trainer until they noticed Ash and his friends walk by, and Team Rocket started coming up with a plan to catch Pikachu. Later, Team Rocket found a group of Malamar and Inkay in the forest. As they were watching the Pokémon, three trucks drove by, each containing a Malamar, one of which was the one that had previously hypnotized him. Inkay immediately chased after the trucks and followed them up a mountainside. Team Rocket watched the Malamar for a while until Inkay got upset and started a commotion, getting the attention of the Malamar. Team Rocket fled and ran into Ash and his friends before being stopped by Officer Jenny, who filled them in on Malamar's plans. Two of the Malamar arrived and attempted to kidnap everyone with their Psychic, but Inkay attacked with his Ink Spray, allowing a few of them to escape. Inkay planned on going straight back to confront the Malamar, but Clemont, Meowth, and James convinced him to talk to the group of Inkay and Malamar they saw before to get them to help out.

Inkay attacking the evil Malamar

Inkay started to tell them of the evil Malamar's plan, but was stopped by that Malamar showing up and attacking them. The Malamar and Inkay chased it off with their Psycho Cut and Flamethrower, then headed to the mountainside to stop its plans. Once they arrived, the evil Malamar grabbed Inkay and used his Hypnosis to brainwash Inkay into attacking the others. However, James managed to break Inkay out of it because of the strong bond they share, allowing Inkay to attack Malamar. They managed to stop the Malamar's evil plan, but it escaped during the fight. Afterwards, Team Rocket was back to resting in the forest and Inkay was offered to join the Malamar and Inkay they saved. James allowed Inkay to stay with them, but Inkay instead decided to stick with his Trainer, much to his delight.

Inkay and James

In Party Dancecapades!, Inkay partnered up with Jessie's Gourgeist in a dance party hosted by Monsieur Pierre. Later, Inkay was used in a Tag Battle along with Miette's Slurpuff, where he faced Ash's Pikachu and Serena's Eevee. Inkay tried hitting Pikachu with Psybeam, but Pikachu dodged it and Inkay ended up getting hit by an Iron Tail from him. Inkay then used Psybeam on Pikachu and Eevee, which they dodged. This, however, allowed Slurpuff to trap them with Cotton Spore, giving Inkay the opportunity to hit them with another Psybeam. Inkay then headed towards Eevee using Tackle, but Pikachu stepped in and took the attack. After a collision between Eevee and Slurpuff's attacks, Inkay struck Eevee again with a Psybeam. After Eevee's evolution into Sylveon, Sylveon easily dodged Inkay's Tackles and then defeated him and Slurpuff with Fairy Wind.

In An Explosive Operation!, Inkay was used to protect Z2 from Team Flare. Inkay used Psybeam to stop Team Flare's weapon from firing. Later, he fought Team Flare again along with Wobbuffet and Gourgeist. He managed to hit Mable's Weavile with Psybeam, but was then struck by Aliana's Druddigon's Slash. He and Gourgeist were then defeated by the Team Flare Grunts' Pokémon's combined attacks.

When Team Rocket, Serena, Mairin, and Professor Sycamore infiltrated Lysandre Labs in The Right Hero for the Right Job!, Inkay was sent out, alongside Gourgeist, to battle Celosia's Drapion. Inkay was sent out in Forming a More Perfect Union! to fight the Megalith Zygarde, fending off its roots to clear the way for Ash and Alain. One of the roots, however, blasted Inkay and his Team members out of the helicopter, but they were saved by Diantha's Gardevoir.

In Battling with a Clean Slate!, Inkay battled Ash and his friends for the final time in Kalos, fighting alongside Gourgeist against Ash's Greninja and Alain's Charizard. Greninja and Charizard were able to make quick work of the two and sent Team Rocket blasting off.

Following the Team Rocket trio's journey in Kalos, James left Inkay at Team Rocket HQ.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In Rocket Revengers!, Inkay, alongside the rest of Team Rocket's Pokémon at Team Rocket HQ, were sent to Jessie and James so they could be added back to their team. Realizing the potential of such a large group, the team hatched a scheme to isolate Ash's Pikachu and capture him. Inkay was one of the many Pokémon that waited at the end of the trap, where he ambushed an isolated Pikachu. When the rest of Team Rocket's Pokémon returned, Inkay joined them to launch a combined attack at the Mouse Pokémon. However, it was dodged, and Wobbuffet ended up sending it back with Mirror Coat. A wild Latias that had been following Ash then intervened and sent the evil group blasting off.

Personality and characteristics

Inkay shooting ink

Inkay appears to be a sneaky and mischievous Pokémon, as he was seen stealing food from Team Rocket and then followed them in their balloon. He seems to love food and would often go out of his way to steal it, to the point of allowing James to use this to his advantage and capture it. This was shown again in Bonnie for the Defense! where he went out of his Poké Ball on his own just to eat Team Rocket's food. He is also shown to be thankful for the other Inkay and Malamar in helping them to stop the evil Malamar by being like a hero to them.

Inkay is also a powerful and resourceful battler, shown in Grooming Furfrou! and Calling from Beyond the Aura!. He was able to beat Officer Jenny's Manectric with ease and then prevented Pikachu from attacking him by spraying him with ink in the former and easily knocked out Bunnelby with Tackle in the latter. He had no problem listening to his Trainer after he was caught.

In Facing the Grand Design!, he has a strong bond with his Trainer similar to that of Ash and his Pikachu. In fact, it was so strong that James was able to break him free of Malamar's Hypnosis by using a croissant. He also has a great relationship with Team Rocket, to the point of wanting to protect them from the evil Malamar and avenge them for being controlled by the evil Malamar previously. Ever since his previous encounter with the evil Malamar, Inkay has formed a deep grudge against it and has sworn to get his revenge while stopping it from fulfilling its dark plans of destroying the world.

Moves used

Using Psybeam	Move First Used In Tackle A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship! Psybeam A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship! Foul Play A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship!
A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

Moves improvised

Picture	First Used In	Moves Involved	Partnered With
	A Fork in the Road! A Parting of the Ways!	Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, and Psybeam	Ash's Pikachu, Jessie's Pumpkaboo, and Serena's Fennekin
	Description: Inkay combines his Psybeam with a Flamethrower attack from Serena's Fennekin, a Dark Pulse from Jessie's Pumpkaboo, and a Thunderbolt from Ash's Pikachu to create a swirling blast of energy. This was used to defeat a Pokémon hunter and his Rhyperior.
	Rocket Revengers!	Air Slash, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Psybeam, and Silver Wind	Seviper, Yanmega, Frillish, Gourgeist, Carnivine, Yamask, and Amoonguss
	Description: A combination move used by Jessie and James's Pokémon. Woobat launches Air Slash, Frillish, Gourgeist, and Yamask launch Shadow Ball, Amoonguss and Carnivine launch Energy Ball, Yanmega launches Silver Wind, Inkay launches Psybeam, and Seviper launches Sludge Bomb. The attacks fuse together to create a single massive beam of energy. This was used against Ash, Pikachu, Infernape, and Hawlucha in Team Rocket's attempt to steal Pikachu, but once they dodged, the attack headed towards Team Rocket.

Artwork

Official artwork from Pokémon the Series: XY	Official artwork from Pokémon the Series: XY	Official artwork from Pokémon the Series: XY

In the manga

Inkay in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages

Movie adaptations

Inkay briefly appeared in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages.

Trivia

• Inkay is the first Dark-type Pokémon to be owned by Team Rocket.

Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Inkay.

Team Rocket's Pokémon
Travel with:	Meowth	Rotom Phone
	Jessie			James
On hand:	Wobbuffet	Seviper	Yanmega	Mime Jr.	Carnivine	Yamask
	Woobat	Frillish	Gourgeist	Amoonguss	Inkay	Morpeko
In training:				Cacnea
At home:				Growlie	Chimecho
Released:	Arbok	Dustox	Mimikyu	Weezing	Gyarados	Mareanie
Traded away:	Lickitung			Victreebel
Lived with (all three):	Bewear	Stufful
Worked with (all three):	Delibird	Pelipper
Temporarily owned:	Porygon Zero	Shellder	Magikarp	Second Victreebel	Hoppip
	Mawile
Befriended:	Blissey
Status unknown:	Starmie			Pidgey	Numel
For a list of other Pokémon Team Rocket has commanded, see here and here

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.