Planning on playing Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu or Pokémon: Let's go Eevee! Later this month? Good! The games will be fun and bring joy to many-a passionate Pokémon trainer.
And you passionate trainers likely want to catch as many Pokémon as you can, but don't miss out on catching one that has very peculiar prerequisites. Namely, a little metal friend called Meltan and the need to play both Pokémon Let's Go and Pokémon GO to catch it. Here's how you'll be able to do that once you have the game for yourself.
Who is Meltan?
First things first, we should discuss the mysterious origins of Meltan. Last month, the Pokémon world was sent into a tizzy about a new Pokémon that began appearing sporadically across the world. We've since discovered it to be Meltan, a steel-type hex nut Pokémon which is cute in its initial form and seemingly has a healthy obsession with metal objects.
Meltan is a mythical Pokémon along the same vein as Mew, meaning that it has existed in the world of Pokémon for many many years, but was very rarely seen or even believed to be extinct. It was so rare that some didn't even know it existed. Well, it's back, and it seemed Pokémon GO was spawning them at very frequent intervals during community day.
In actuality, the spawn rates only increased for half an hour on that day, and anyone who caught the thing quickly found that it was actually a Ditto posing as Meltan. Go ahead, check — there'll be no record of any "Meltan" in your Pokédex.
So now that we've had a taste of Meltan, people are undoubtedly interested in how to actually catch one. If that's you, then listen up, because you won't want to miss out on your chance.
How to catch Meltan in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!
The Pokémon Company is trying something new for the launch of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! in that this marks the first time that you must play a game other than the mainline title to be able to catch a Pokémon.
In the case of Meltan, it'll involve finding a mystery box to open and trading Pokémon between one of the Pokémon: Let's Go games and the Pokémon GO mobile game. It sounds complicated, but as long as you have a smartphone — or even a friend with a smartphone — you'll get Meltan without issue. Here's what you need to do:
- Link up and transfer any Pokémon from Pokémon GO to your Pokémon: Let's Go game.
- Upon doing so, you'll receive a Mystery Box in Pokémon GO. The box can be opened immediately, so go make sure you have some Poké Balls and open it when you're ready.
- Upon opening the box, you'll see a group of Meltan spill out into the world, and the frenzy is on. Go ahead and catch as many as you can. You only need to catch Meltan once to get it into Pokémon: Let's Go, but you'll want extra Meltan candies down the line so try and catch as many as you can.
Now that you have Meltan with you in Pokémon GO, you'll need to transfer it to your Pokémon: Let's Go game just as you did with the initial Pokémon you transferred to get the Mystery Box.
Can I catch more than one Meltan?
Mythical Pokémon are mystifying for many reasons, with rarity being one of them. While Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have been much more generous about handing out Mythical Pokémon in recent years, it's usually possible to get just one such copy of those Pokémon.
That won't be the case with Meltan. The availability of Meltan will be near limitless as you can repeat the process of receiving and opening Mystery Boxes multiple times. There's a reason for this: you can only evolve Meltan into Melmetal in Pokémon GO, and the evolution requirements will be just like it is for any normal Pokémon.
How to evolve Meltan into Melmetal
Little known fact: Meltan is the first Mythical Pokémon that can evolve into a greater form. (Nope, Mewtwo was not a direct evolution, folks!) It's known as Melmetal when evolved. It becomes substantially bigger and keeps its steel type upon evolving.
It also has a unique special steel-type move called Double Iron Bash. This physical move sees Melmetal using the hex nut in its chest to spin its arms around, building up enough force to unleash a powerful double strike on its opponent. The move has a chance to make opponents flinch.
As cute as Meltan is, you'll likely want the much more capable evolution Melmetal at some point down the line. The only way Meltan can evolve into Melmetal is by feeding it candies in Pokémon GO.
You'll get Melmetal by feeding it 400 of those candies. You can earn candies for each Meltan you send to Professor Willow, by walking around with Meltan as your buddy Pokémon, as well as by transferring Meltan from Pokémon GO to Pokémon: Let's Go.
You'll also be able to use rare candies and get candies by trading Meltan to friends. Once you've amassed 400 candies, press the Evolve button on Meltan's profile screen. From here, you can either keep it in Pokémon GO or send it back to your Pokémon: Let's Go game.
Can I get more than one Mystery Box?
Seeing as catching and transferring multiple Meltan will be your most reliable method of gathering Meltan candies, you're likely wondering whether you'll have more than the 30 minutes your first Mystery Box gives you to catch more. That answer is yes.
It has been confirmed that players will be able to earn more Mystery Boxes at regular intervals. There's an unspecified timer that dictates when you'll be able to earn another Mystery Box, and once we know the details of that timer we'll share them with you. For now, just know that your path to Melmetal should be walkable so long as you have regular access to Pokémon GO and Pokémon Let's Go.
Can I get Meltan or Melmetal without Pokémon GO?
Yes and no. While Pokémon GO is required to catch Meltan, you yourself don't have to play a single bit. That means you can court some family or friends to help you out by trading whatever they catch and evolve to your Pokémon: Let's Go game.
Of course, you'll want to do it all yourself if you can, especially if you're hoping to get a shiny version of Meltan or even just get one with improved stats. Better to have your own equipment and to do it on your own time than having to rely on others, we say!
Catch ALL the Meltan!
You should now have a clear idea of what Meltan is and how to catch one to use in Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!, as well as how to evolve it into its much-improved form Melmetal. Prepare for the launch of these two games on November 16, 2018, for your Nintendo Switch by practicing your Pokémon GO catching skills!
