Melmetal is the lesser known evolution of the little mythical Meltan. This massive steel type doesn’t just have a unique design but it is also has a number of first and onlys for the Pokemon series.
About Melmetal
| First appearance in anime | In the Pokemon Sun and Moon series episode ‘The Dealer of Destruction!’ |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon Go |
| Region | None |
| Evolution | Meltan-->Melmetal |
| 1st Evo requirement | 400 Meltan Candy |
| Pokedex Entry | At the end of its life-span, Melmetal will rust and fall apart. The small shards left behind will eventually be reborn as Meltan. Centrifugal force is behind the punches of Melmetal's heavy hex-nut arms. Melmetal is said to deliver the strongest punches of all Pokémon. |
Melmetal’s Base Stats
| HP | 135 |
| Attack | 143 |
| Defense | 143 |
| Sp. Attack | 80 |
| Sp. Defense | 65 |
| Speed | 34 |
Appearance
Melmetal is a large, somewhat humanoid Pokemon made almost entirely of molten metal. It has a number of hexagonal nuts embedded in its body with grey ones on its shoulders, hands, feet, and stuck into its chest. It’s head and shoulders are also made from these hexagonal nuts but are gold instead of grey. Its face is a small black orb inside the hexagonal nut that makes up the head and it has a tail that resembles a red wire.
Behavior
Melmetal is an ancient Pokemon from 3000 years ago and has been worshiped by people for its ability to create metal. When a Melmetal reaches the end of its life, it begins to rust and will split its body into multiple, smaller Meltan.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Melmetal’s type is one considered to be the best in the entire Pokemon series in the form of the steel type. With lots of good type matchups, this makes this bulky Pokemon even harder to take down. It is completely immune to poison type moves and takes half damage from a grand total of 10 types! These resistances include normal, flying, rock, bug, steel, grass, psychic, ice, dragon, and fairy type moves. But it still has weaknesses and takes double damage from fighting, ground, and fire type moves.
Gigantamax Melmetal
Gigantamax Melmetal is the massive Gigantamaxed form of Melmetal. Gigantamax Melmetal is basically just a bigger form of itself but there are a few differences between the two. Gigantamax Melmetal has thinner legs and more hexagonal nuts on its hands which look like fingers and it has more of the same nuts on its abdomen which splits its body in half. Finally, Gigantamax Melmetal has its molten body creeping over its head giving its eye-like head a permanent and intimidating scowl.
Best Moveset for Melmetal
Offensive Tank: Melmetal fits one role but it's a role that's one of the most versatile in all of Pokemon. Melmetal is beyond bulky and can take even super effective hits in it’s stride but at the same time, it’s a great attacker. With moves like Double Iron Bash and Superpower in its moveset, Melmetal can be sent out and destroy opponents without any setup.
| Double Iron Bash | Thunder Punch/Superpower |
| Earthquake | Ice Punch |
How to Catch Melmetal in Pokemon Go
To get Melmetal in Pokemon Go, which is the only way to obtain it, you’ll have to put in some work. You first need to transfer a Pokemon to a Pokemon game on the Switch using Pokemon Home. Once done you will obtain a Mystery Box and using this box will cause Meltan to appear in the wild for a short time. Once you obtain a whopping 400 Meltan candy, you can evolve it into Melmetal.
Video
Trivia
Melmetal and Meltan hold a lot of firsts in the series including:
- They are the only Pokemon that are not from Generation 1 to appear in the Let’s Go games.
- The duo are also the only Pokemon introduced in Generation 7 that do not appear in the Alola Pokedex
- Melmetal is the only Mythical Pokemon with a Gigantamax form.
Melmetal is programmed to learn Thunder Punch when evolving in mainline games but it cannot ever be evolved legitimately in game.
FAQs
Is Melmetal a legendary?
Melmetal is considered a mythical Pokemon, which is differentiated from legendary Pokemon as mythicals are often obtained from events rather than appearing in game with no need for an event.
Can you still get Melmetal?
Melmetal can still be obtained but only through Pokemon Go’s Mystery Box mechanic.
Why is Melmetal banned?
When it was added with Pokemon Home, it became apparent that many mythicals and legendaries that Home gave players access to like Melmetal and Kyurem-Black, were far too powerful and had too few counters to properly balance competitive play around.
Conclusion
Melmetal may be a gargantuan hassle to obtain but it makes up for that by being a gargantuan powerhouse in battle. Once you get your hands on this Pokemon, you’ll find every minute of the struggle was well worth it as your opponent's team falls like dominoes before this terror of an automaton.
