Meltan and Melmetal

Meltan (メルタン, Merutan) and Melmetal (メルメタル, Merumetaru) are Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Meltan is a small, metallic Steel-type Mythical Pokémon, while Melmetal is its much larger evolution. Both Pokémon were first introduced, and could only be obtained, through the mobile game Pokémon Go. Revealed in September 2018, Meltan is both the first Pokémon exclusively obtainable in Pokémon Go and the first Mythical Pokémon to evolve. Melmetal's anime debut was in the Pokémon Ultra Legends episode, "Z-Move Showdown".

Meltan and Melmetal
Pokémon series character
National Pokédex
Zeraora - Meltan (#808) - Melmetal (#809) - Grookey
First appearancePokémon Go (2018)
Designed byMisaki Hashimoto
Hironobu Yoshida
Voiced byJapanese:
Kenta Miyake
English:
Samantha Cooper (Meltan)
James Weaver Clark (Melmetal)

Design and characteristics

Meltan is a small Pokémon measuring 8 inches (0.20 m) tall. Its head is shaped like a hexagonal yellowish nut, with single, round, black eye within it. Its body is a fluid, grey blob of liquid steel, and it has a single red coloured tail-like protrusion which resembles an electrical cord.[1][2][3] According to its description at the Pokemon.com website, Meltan is a curious Pokémon which has the ability to utilise its metallic limbs to corrode and absorb metal, generating electricity in the process which it uses as an energy source and for combat, firing the electricity from its eye.[4]

Meltan can be evolved in Pokémon Go, making it the first evolvable Mythical Pokémon. Its evolution, Melmetal, is significantly more massive, with a vaguely humanoid shape and a height of around 8 feet 2 inches (2.49 m). Although Melmetal retains Meltan's greyish liquid metal body and hexagonal nut head, Melmetal's design also features several other hexagonal nuts in place of its limbs and joints.[5][6] Its Pokemon.com description noted that "Melmetal was worshiped in ancient times as a Pokémon with the power to create metal".[4]

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, Melmetal received a Gigantamax form with access to the unique G-Max Move G-Max Meltdown. Gigantamax Melmetal uses its flexible and elastic-like body to make giant fists and land long-distance punches, and can generate electric charges powerful enough to vaporize an entire hill.[7]

Appearances

In the video games
Meltan's initial appearance in Pokémon Go on 22 September 2018

Meltan first appeared in Pokémon Go following the global Chikorita "Community Day" event on 22 September 2018, with players in the Asia Pacific region being the first to encounter them in-game. Meltan's name was shown as "???", and capturing it would result in it transforming into Ditto or Chikorita.[8] Several days later on 25 September, The Pokémon Company released a trailer introducing the Pokémon as Meltan, and confirmed that the Pokémon would link Go to the Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! games on the Nintendo Switch.[2] Junichi Masuda in an interview with Eurogamer noted that the reveal method was planned by TPC and Niantic in order to give players a strong first impression of Meltan being cute.[9]

A second trailer, released in October, revealed that Meltan could only be captured in Go and can be obtained by transferring a Pokémon from Go to the Let's Go games.[10] Later in October, a trailer revealed Meltan's evolution, Melmetal, which can only be obtained by evolving Meltan in Go.[11] In November, following the release of the Let's Go games, Go launched a "Special Research Quest" which allowed players to capture Meltan without playing the Let's Go games.[12]

Meltan can also be transferred into Pokémon Sword and Shield through Pokémon Home as of February 2020.[13] Through a link between Go and Home, Sword and Shield players could obtain a special "Gigantamax" form of Melmetal.[14]

Other media

Meltan is featured in the Pokémon anime series, with a Meltan joining the team of protagonist Ash Ketchum, and evolved together with its fellow hordes into a Melmetal.[15]

Reception

Before its initial appearance, data miners had previously discovered Meltan's model, labelled as "Kecleon" while being designated "Pokémon 891".[16] When Meltan was initially "revealed", many players assumed that Meltan was a placeholder and was accidentally revealed through a glitch.[17] Prior to its name being made public, players gave it nut-related nicknames such as "Nutto".[18] Emma Schaeffer of Electronic Gaming Monthly commented on the release method, noting that the unexpected addition when many players were looking at their screens, combined with Niantic's past glitch history, caused it to become much more popular than other Pokémon revealed in the normal manner.[19]

Within hours of the release of the Let's Go! games, Meltan became a trending topic on social media for Pokémon players.[20]

References
  1. Kent, Emma (25 September 2018). "New Pokémon is mythical, called Meltan". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2018-11-10. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  2. Allegra, Frank (25 September 2018). "Pokémon: Let's Go! introduces new Pokémon, Meltan". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2018-09-30. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  3. Craddock, Ryan (25 September 2018). "The Mystery 'Nut Pokémon' Officially Revealed As 'Meltan', Will Appear In Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  4. "What Is Meltan?". pokemon.com. The Pokémon Company. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. Hoffer, Christian (24 October 2018). "Pokemon Reveals Meltan's Massive Evolution". ComicBook. Archived from the original on 2018-11-19. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  6. Martinez, Phillip (24 October 2018). "New 'Pokémon Go' trailer reveals Meltan's evolution, Melmetal". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  7. "Gigantamax Melmetal". Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  8. Martinez, Phillip (22 September 2018). "A mysterious "nut" Pokémon appeared during 'Pokémon Go' Community Day". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  9. "Junichi Masuda on Pokémon Let's Go's difficulty, mechanics, and the series' future". Eurogamer. 12 October 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-11-19. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  10. Allegra, Frank (10 October 2018). "Meltan is Pokémon Go's first exclusive monster, with time-limited transfers". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  11. Phillips, Tom (24 October 2018). "Mythical Pokémon Meltan's evolution revealed". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2018-11-14. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  12. Hoffer, Christian (18 November 2018). "'Pokemon Go' Meltan Special Research Quest Revealed". Comic Book. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  13. Craddock, Ryan (12 February 2020). "You Can Now Get Another 35 Pokémon In Sword And Shield". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2020-03-05. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  14. "How to Get The Gigantamax Melmetal in Pokemon HOME". ScreenRant. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  15. "'Pokemon' Anime Puts Hilarious New Twist on Poke Ball Throwing". Comic Book. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  16. "Pokemon Go may have revealed an entirely new Pokemon and the existence of Gen 8". GamesRadar. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  17. Kumparak, Greg (25 September 2018). "That weird nut Pokémon that showed up in Pokémon GO? It's official now". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2018-10-12. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  18. Gach, Ethan (25 September 2018). "That Mysterious New Pokémon Finally Has A Name: Meltan". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2018-09-26. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  19. "With Meltan, Pokémon nailed something it's been messing up for years". EGMNOW.com. 17 October 2018. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  20. Nakamura, Yuji (15 November 2018). "Nintendo Bets New Hex-Nut Pokémon Will Boost Switch Sales". Bloomberg. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
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