Ash's Melmetal

**Ash's Melmetal** (Japanese: **サトシのメルメタル** *Satoshi's Melmetal*) is the fifth Pokémon that Ash caught in the Alola region, and his fifty-fourth overall.

## History

### Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

#### As a wild Pokémon

 File:Ash Meltan.png
Melmetal first appeared as a Meltan in *Show Me the Metal!*, where it and several other Meltan arrived on Melemele Island. While investigating the sewers, the Meltan were divided into two groups, and one ended up at the Ultra Guardians base under the Pokémon School. After being chased out by Lusamine's Clefable, they encountered Ash and his classmates, who decided to study the newly discovered species. During their study, the Meltan scattered, save for a lone Meltan who decided to nap next to Ash's Rowlet. When Rowlet accidentally startled Meltan and caused its hex nut to fall off, Rowlet retrieved the nut before a wild Murkrow could steal it. Taking a liking to Rowlet, Meltan chose to sneak inside Ash's backpack, unknowingly causing Ash to take it home with him.

 File:Meltan headless.png
In the next episode, another incident with a Murkrow caused Meltan's hex nut to land in Team Rocket's van. After a failed attempt to replace the nut, Meltan and Rowlet encountered Team Rocket, who tried to capture them. When Meowth attacked, Rowlet defended Meltan by taking all of Meowth's attacks, leaving it unable to fight back. Rowlet's pain angered Meltan, who defeated Team Rocket with a powerful Flash Cannon. Afterward, Ash arrived and brought Rowlet and Meltan back to the Pokémon School. Seeing how it bonded with Rowlet, Ash offered Meltan to join his team, which it accepted after saying goodbye to its Meltan friends.

#### With Ash

In *Drawn with the Wind!*, Meltan rode on Sandy's back for the duration of the group's visit to Malie City. When Mallow's hair ornament was blown away by the wind, Shaymin chased after it, and Sandy and Meltan followed Shaymin. After Sandy and Meltan helped Shaymin recover the hair ornament, the three Pokémon were imprisoned by Team Rocket. However, Meltan was able to eat a hole into the cage, allowing the three Pokémon to escape. Team Rocket then sent out their Pokémon, resulting in Sandy getting poisoned by Mareanie's Sludge Bomb and Mimikyu easily dodging Meltan's Flash Cannons. However, Ash, Mallow, and Lana showed up. Ash had Meltan attack Mareanie, whose Sludge Bomb was ineffective against it, allowing it to land a Headbutt on the Brutal Star Pokémon before Sandy finished it off with Double-Edge.

 File:Ash Meltan eating.png
In *Aiming for the Top Floor!*, while Ash was battling Ryuki at the Kantonian Gym, and Rowlet was losing to Ryuki's Zweilous, Meltan angrily retaliated by eating away some of the decorations on Ryuki's suit. Ryuki then changed the battle into a Double Battle, with Ash using Rowlet and Meltan against Ryuki's Zweilous and Druddigon. Due to its slow movements, Meltan was unable to dodge Druddigon's Dragon Claws and was forced to try to protect itself with Harden. As Meltan's endurance was running low, Rowlet's Peck suddenly evolved into Brave Bird, allowing it to save Meltan from being defeated. Rowlet and Meltan then launched a combination attack at Zweilous and Druddigon, defeating them and winning the battle for Ash. Meltan later ate Ash's reward for winning-a badge-because of how tasty it looked.

In *Battling Besties!*, when Ash intended to use Pikachu to battle Faba in the first round of the Manalo Conference, Faba had his Hypno secretly use Psychic to bring out Meltan instead, having spied upon Ash's team the previous night and assumed that Meltan would be the easiest opponent for him. However, during the battle, Meltan became fascinated by Hypno's pendulum and eventually ended up latching onto it and eating a part of it, preventing Hypno from using Hypnosis. While Hypno was dismayed over losing its pendulum, Ash had Meltan attack it with Flash Cannon, defeating Hypno and advancing Ash to the second round.

In *Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Strategy!*, Meltan watched Ash and Rowlet's battle against Hau and his Decidueye. After witnessing Rowlet's victory in the next episode, a determined Meltan climbed to the top of the Manalo Stadium Pokémon Center and started calling for the other Meltan to meet up with it.

 File:Ash Meltan Evolution.png
In *Final Rivals!*, Meltan met its fellow Meltan at the Manalo Stadium docks. The wild Meltan subsequently fused with Ash's Meltan, resulting in it evolving into Melmetal and learning Double Iron Bash. The next day, Melmetal was the first Pokémon Ash sent out during his battle against Gladion, facing off against Silvally. Melmetal managed to deal heavy damage on Silvally with its newfound power, but it was still defeated by a Fighting-type Multi-Attack.

In *A Full Battle Bounty!*, after withdrawing Pikachu, Ash sent Melmetal out to face Empoleon during his exhibition match against Professor Kukui. Melmetal easily endured Empoleon's attacks before defeating it with Double Iron Bash. Kukui next sent out his Incineroar. Although Melmetal endured Incineroar's Darkest Lariat, its attempt to retaliate with Double Iron Bash backfired when Incineroar caught the attack. Although Melmetal seemingly overpowered Incineroar in the contest of raw strength that followed, Incineroar overwhelmed Melmetal and defeated it with a close-range super-effective Blast Burn.

Following Ash's decision to travel the world, he left Melmetal, along with his other Alolan Pokémon, with Professors Kukui and Burnet, before heading back to Pallet Town.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In *That New Old Gang of Mine!*, Melmetal greeted Ash upon his return to Alola and also met Goh.

In *Helping the Hometown Hero!*, Melmetal attended a party to celebrate the return of Lillie and her family after they found Mohn.

In *Paring Pokémon While Parrying!*, Melmetal watched Ash's match against Leon. In *Partners in Time!*, Melmetal appeared as a vision to Pikachu during his battle against Leon's Charizard.

## Personality and characteristics

 File:Ash Rowlet Melmetal.png
Melmetal is a naturally curious individual who is prone to wandering off on its own. It formed a very close friendship with Ash's Rowlet after it protected it from Meowth's Fury Swipes while it was still a Meltan. Also, Melmetal looks up to Rowlet and sees it as a mentor figure, much like Ash's Noivern's relationship with Hawlucha. Melmetal gets easily scared, as seen in *Show Me the Metal!*, where it was reluctant to follow its fellow Meltan into the sewer, only following when it was forced. Despite being scared, Melmetal will help its friends in any way it can. After joining Ash's team, Melmetal easily became close to Ash and became friends with its teammates. Melmetal also becomes very upset whenever it loses its hex nut.

 File:Ash and Melmetal.png
Like many of its species, Melmetal consumes anything made of metal. Frying pans, in particular, appear to be Melmetal's favorite food, as seen in *Got Meltan?*, when Professor Burnet discovered a frying pan that had been partially eaten. In the Poké Problem segment for SM115, Melmetal was seen happily consuming the frying pan Ash and Pikachu were using for target practice. In *The Secret Princess!*, Rowlet had to stop it from eating another one of Burnet's pans. Rotom later mused that it had already ruined three pans. This tendency came in handy in *Drawn with the Wind!*, when it, Sandy, and Shaymin found themselves stuck in a cage made by Team Rocket. This was shown again in *The One That Didn't Get Away!* when it ate the metal on a hunter's ship to help free a Kyogre. Because of its liquid body as a Meltan, Melmetal could not move very fast and was often seen chasing after friends or other things that drew its curiosity or riding on Rowlet. Melmetal's slow movement prevents it from dodging well, causing it to rely on moves like Harden to endure enemy attacks.

Inside and outside battle, Melmetal tends to act independently without any input from its Trainer. This was showcased in *Aiming for the Top Floor!*, where it attacked Ryuki because Rowlet was losing to his Zweilous. Later, while battling Ryuki's Druddigon, Melmetal followed up an unsuccessful Headbutt with an unprompted Flash Cannon, surprising Ash. In *Battling Besties!*, Melmetal was revealed to enjoy the theatricality of battling, as it enjoyed the applause from the crowd at Manalo Stadium before its battle against Faba. In the same episode, it was also revealed to enjoy stretching after coming out of its Poké Ball. After evolving, it gained a lot of physical strength and durability but retained its tendency to act on its own accord and cry if hit by a painful attack. As a Melmetal, it appears quite proud of its physique, flexing its body and allowing its Trainer and other Pokémon to climb on it.

## Moves used

 A **†** shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

## Trivia

 File:Ash Meltan comparison.png
* Melmetal is Ash's first:
	+ Officially owned Steel-type Pokémon.
		- Melmetal is also the only pure Steel-type owned by a main character.
	+ Mythical Pokémon.
		- Melmetal is also the only Mythical Pokémon officially owned by a main character.
	+ Pokémon to use an Electric-type move that isn't Pikachu.
* As a Meltan, Ash's Melmetal had a darker nut than the other Meltan, a result of the nut being used in Team Rocket's car for a short while. It lost this distinctive trait upon evolving.
* Melmetal is Ash's only Pokémon in *Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon* that did not use a Z-Move.
* Melmetal is currently Ash's heaviest Pokémon and the heaviest Pokémon currently owned by a main character.
	+ Melmetal is also the tallest Pokémon Ash currently owns.

## References

1. ↑ Melmetal is a gender unknown Pokémon species.

## Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Meltan and Melmetal.

* Meltan (recurring)