This episode is dedicated to the release of Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

It was later rewritten to conform to events that occurred in the anime after its publishing.

Episode 99: Let's Get Going!

Ash, Brock, and Brenda are moving through some woods. Ash seems very excited about something. As he pushes ahead, he looks to Pikachu, who runs at his feet, and eagerly says, "Let's go, Pikachu! He must be close!"

"Pika ka!"

Brenda asks, "Ash, why are you so excited? From the stories you told me, I thought you didn't like this guy too much."

Ash looks back to her and says, "We had our differences, but that only made us that much stronger friends when we worked through them."

Brock comments, "Yeah, I've seen the two of them interact since the beginning of their journeys. It's been quite the ride."

Today is certain to be a day of nostalgia and returns to the classics, as our heroes are prepared to meet with an old friend of Ash's. But who could it be? Let's go and find out.

As Ash runs between some trees, the light from the Sun on the other side blinds him, and he ends up crashing into someone else on the other side, causing him to fall to the ground.

The person he ran into taunts, "Well, well, well, clumsy as usual, huh Ashy Boy?"

Ash looks up to see Gary Oak standing over him offering a hand to help Ash up. He gladly takes it and Gary helps him up. Gary wears a black button-up shirt as well as green shorts and tennis shoes. All casual clothes, compared to the lab clothes he was seen wearing last time. His Umbreon stands at his side.

Ash says, "Wow, Gary. It's great to see you again!"

Gary grins. "I know. I tend to have that effect on people."

Ash suddenly gets annoyed. "I was just trying to be nice!"

Gary laughs. "Cool it, I was just kidding. You know I'm more mature than that now."

Brock greets, "Hi, Gary."

Brenda asks, "Gary, do you remember me from Aurora City?"

Gary nods. "How could I forget you, Brenda?"

Ash asks, "So, I've been wondering, Gary, why'd you want to meet up with us?"

"I was hoping to ask you favor. You caught a Melmetal while you were in Alola, right?"

Not sure where this is going, Ash nods. "Yeah, I found it when it was a Meltan. It and its friends snuck on a boat from Kanto. Professor Oak said that no one had ever seen the Pokémon before."

Gary chuckles. "Believe it or not, it had been seen before. By us."

Ash is confused. "Huh?"

Gary laughs. "I had forgotten too, but recently it all came back to me. Once I tell you the story, it should all come back to you too. You see, it all started back when we were still in Kanto, in a forest not too different than this one…"

Ash, Brock, and Misty, all wearing the clothes from their first adventure in Kanto, walk through a forest that is similar to the one in Tenno. Pikachu is on Ash's shoulder, and it looks like it might be a little heavier than it is in the present. In one hand, Ash holds a Pokéball, with the other, he's holding his shirt aside so that he can see the gym badges pinned to the inside. The Boulder, Cascade, and Thunder Badges hang there. Ash declares proudly, "By this time tomorrow, we'll be in Saffron City, and then I'll get my next badge. This one'll be for Butterfree! You may not be with me anymore, but I know you'll be there in spirit, cheering me on!"

Pikachu adds, "Pikpi!"

Misty taunts, "Not that you'll need it, the Saffron Gym Leader will probably just end up handing you the badge for free."

Brock admits, "You do seem to have a habit of that happening to you."

Ash snaps with annoyance, "Take that back! Pikachu and I are going to win that gym badge, fair and square! We won't accept anything less!"

"Pika!"

Misty says snidely, "We'll see about that."

Ash is trying to find something to retort with, but then he notices something else. Up ahead of them, Gary, wearing his classic purple shirt, seems to be carving something into a tree. His Eevee sits atop his head. He finishes and admires his handiwork. Satisfied, he says, "There we go, that will be sure to get his attention, huh Eevee?"

Eevee chuckles and agrees, "Vee!"

Ash demands, "Whose attention?"

Gary turns around. "Ashy Boy! Didn't expect to run into you here." He shrugs. "I guess that even losers move fast sometimes."

Ash pushes Gary aside to see what he was carving. Written across the tree trunk are the words "Gary Was Here! Ash is a Loser!"

Ash, fuming with anger, turns back to face Gary and shouts, "I am not!"

Gary laughs. "I'll admit, I didn't think you'd be making it here so soon, but you're still a loser."

"Oh yeah, would a 'loser' have three badges?" He shows Gary his badges.

Gary laughs. "Is that all?" He pulls out a badge case and shows its contents to Ash. It contains four badges, a Boulder, Cascade, and Rainbow Badge, as well as an unknown red badge.

Ash cries in outrage, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

Misty leans in to observe the badges. She points out the obvious nonchalantly, "It means he has one more badge than you, making him better than you. Also, he probably actually earned all those badges."

Ash asserts, "Well, I'll be earning my fourth badge at the Saffron Gym tomorrow, then I'll have four too!"

Brock points out, "Hate to break it to you Ash, but Gary doesn't have a Saffron Gym Badge either. That means if he battles the gym leader there and wins too, then he'll still be beating your four badges with his five badges."

Ash stammers as he struggles to find a comeback.

Gary laughs. "You know what? I was planning on going to Saffron City, but if you're planning on going there, that must mean the gym leader there is a pushover. I'll just go to some other gym. Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation." He turns to leave. "Let's go, Eevee."

"Vee."

He raises an arm and begins to say, "Smell you la-"

Ash clenches his fists in anger, no longer willing to take these insults. He leaps at Gary and tackles him down. The two of them tumble and fall into a river situated behind them.

Brock and Misty both shout, "Ash!" They try to run after him, but the current of the river carries them away too fast.

Misty says with dismay, "This isn't good."

Who's that Pokémon!?

Revered long ago for its capacity to create iron from nothing, for some reason it has come back to life after 3,000 years.

Ash and Gary have both managed to emerge from the water some ways downstream. Gary looks down at his wet clothes and complains, "This is just great! You didn't just throw us into a river, but you got us completely lost!"

Ash shouts back, "How is this my fault!?"

Gary regains his composure, and points out, "You're the one who tackled me."

"Well, maybe if you didn't make fun of me so much, I wouldn't have tackled you!"

Gary taunts, "What can I say? I call things as I see them."

"You know what, enough of this! Let's settle it right here, right now! Gary, I challenge you to a battle!"

Pikachu leaps down from Ash's shoulder and prepares for battle. "Pika!"

A slight grin comes to his face. "Are you sure that's what you want, Ashy Boy? I'd hate to shatter all your delusions." He pauses to ponder. "Actually, on second thought, that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all."

Eevee leaps down off his head. "Eevee!"

Ash shouts, "Let's Go, Pikachu! Use Thunder Shock!"

"Pikaaaa chuuu!"

"Dodge it, Eevee!"

Eevee leaps to the side, causing Pikachu's Thunder Shock to hit a bush behind Eevee. The attack destroys the bush, revealing some sort of metal cube hidden and half-buried beneath it.

Both Ash and Gary see it, and their curiosity wins out over their desire to battle. Ash asks, "What is that?"

Gary answers, "I don't know, but it looks old."

Ash runs over to it, and with much effort, yanks it out of the ground. It's some sort of black metal box. On one side of it is a strip of semi-transparent red material, and on the other a blue. On its top is a Pokéball-like etching. "It's a box? What's something like this doing out here?"

Gary asks, "What are you waiting for? Try opening it."

Ash fiddles around with it, until the box almost seems to pop open by itself. A mysterious fog emerges from the box and falls to the ground before dissipating. Ash is enthralled. "This is so weird."

Gary asks, "Well, what's inside?"

Ash looks in and pulls out a hunk of metal. "Nothing but this. I wonder what it is."

Gary, suddenly losing all interest answers, "It's junk, that's what it is. You keep it, seems like a perfect match."

Before Ash can retort, Pikachu and Eevee notice something. "Pikapi!"

"Eevee vee!"

Ash and Gary look to the metal and see it morphing. It has transformed into a Pokémon with a silver metallic blob for a body, a wire for a tail, and a golden lug nut for a head.

Ash says, "Woah! I've never seen a Pokémon like that before!"

He quickly pulls out his original Pokédex. It says in its electronic voice, "No data available."

Ash confused. "No data? How's that possible? Dexter is supposed to know about every Pokémon."

Gary surmises, "That can only mean one thing. This is a Pokémon that no one has ever seen before!" He ponders something. "Though, something about that Pokémon does seem familiar to me…"

"Never seen before! Then I just have to catch it!" He pulls out a Pokéball and prepares to throw it.

Gary mocks, "Come on Ash, every trainer knows you've got to battle a Pokémon before you throw a Pokéball."

As if to prove him wrong simply for the sake of proving him wrong, Ash looks at him defiantly and asks, "Oh yeah? Just watch. Go, Pokéball!" He throws the ball at the Pokémon. Seeing his throw, he shouts, "Yeah, that was an excellent throw!"

The Pokémon jumps up and down, seemingly in joy, when it sees the ball. It then leaps up and wraps it liquid metal body around the Pokéball. Within seconds, the Pokéball dissolves away and is absorbed into the Pokémon's body.

Gary says, "Told you it wouldn't work."

Ash pulls out another Pokéball. "I'll just have to try again." He thinks for a moment, and then decides, "This time, I'll try throwing a curveball."

Gary is baffled. "If it didn't work the first time, why would it work this time? And what is a curveball supposed to change?"

Ash ignores him. "Go, Pokéball!" He throws the ball in such a way that it spirals inwards towards the Pokémon. Once again, the Pokémon seems joyed to see the incoming Pokéball, and once again it absorbs it. The Pokémon then looks at Ash expectantly, waiting for him to throw another.

Ash snaps his fingers. "Shoot, it was so close too."

Gary, in continuing confusion, says, "No, no it wasn't. It wasn't even close to close."

Ash thinks on this, contemplating other idea. "Hey Gary, how about we both throw a Pokéball at the same time. Maybe they'll combine into some sort of super-Pokéball that will catch it."

Gary just stares at Ash, completely speechless. "How dumb can you be? What in the world would make you think something like that could ever work?" Ash tries to respond, but before he does, Gary adds, "Besides, even if that crazy idea did somehow work, that Pokémon just keeps absorbing the metal from the Pokéball. Not even a 'super-Pokéball' would work." Upon saying this, Gary realizes something. "Hey, wait a sec… That's it! Absorbing metal! I know what this Pokémon is!"

Ash turns to him. "Really, what is it?"

Gary nods. "Yeah, I'm sure of it. Gramps told me about it. The Pokémon is called Meltan, and get this, it's a super-rare Pokémon."

Ash is shocked. "A super-rare Pokémon!?"

"Yeah, one that no one was even sure existed, some even call it mythical. That's why it wasn't in the Pokédex."

Ash looks at Meltan with awe. Meltan tilts its head, as if asking Ash to throw another Pokéball. "Wow… that really is a new Pokémon…"

Gary continues, "According to Gramps, Meltan's body is made of liquid metal, and it will absorb all sorts of metal into its body. That's what it was doing with your Pokéballs. I have no idea what it was doing in that box."

Ash gets an idea. He digs into his backpack and pulls out a metal wire hanger. He cautiously approaches Meltan and asks, "Hey Meltan, are you hungry for some more metal?" He holds the hanger out towards Meltan.

Meltan hops up and down as it puts its arms up and down, cheering. "Mel, mel, mel!" It then reaches an arm forward, and begins to pull the hanger into its body, liquidizing and absorbing it. "Meltan!" Meltan is very happy.

Gary suddenly remembers something else. "Wait, Gramps also told me that according to the texts written about Meltan, whenever one appears, there's always more nearby. Ash, we need to find the others!"

"Why?"

"Why!? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Even a loser like you should be able to realize that. If we learn all about Meltan, we might be able to make a new Pokédex entry for it!"

Ash gasps. "A Pokédex description written by me…?" He seems very excited by this possibility. He looks back Meltan and asks it, "Hey, Meltan, do you think you could show us to your buddies?"

Meltan thinks for a moment, and then affirms, "Meltan!" Its head begins to rotate rapidly on its vertical axis, spinning in a blur of motion as it shouts, "Meeeeeelt!" It then stops, and beckons for them to follow it, as it happily waddles forward.

Ash says, "Let's go, Pikachu."

While Gary says, "Let's go, Eevee."

Snooping up above in their balloon is Team Rocket. They're listening in on what Ash and Gary have been saying via some sort of ridiculous looking sound amplifying machine. They all look to each other mischievously. Jessie says, "So, the Twerp and the Jerk Twerp have found themselves a rare Pokémon."

James says, "And an undiscovered one at that."

Meowth surmises, "Just think about how much The Boss would appreciate it if we handed him an undiscovered Pokémon. It'll prove to him that I really am the top cat."

James ponders, "So, if what Jerk Twerp says is true, then those Meltan things should be all over the place. I say we get down there and catch as many as we can."

Jessie points out, "It's a veritable rare Pokémon buffet."

All together, they proclaim, "Let's go!"

It's Melmetal!

In a montage, Ash and Gary search high and low for other Meltan, which doesn't seem to be that hard of a task. Ash carries the mysterious box in his backpack, with it peeking out. The original Meltan seems to have taken a liking to Ash, and sits atop his shoulder, opposite of Pikachu.

Ash and Gary find Meltan all over the woods. Ash finds one that seems to have gotten stuck beneath a rock. Gary finds one inspecting a tall tree with curiosity. Ash finds a group of three dancing around randomly. Gary finds another two chasing each other around a boulder. Ash finds one simply lying on the ground, staring up at the sky. Gary finds a handful huddling together in a tree hallow. Ash finds another group huddling under a bush. And it continues on as such, with each new Meltan found following Ash and Gary in an ever-growing group.

When the two meet back up, each have a massive group of Meltan blissfully following behind them. The various Meltan all play and interact with each other as they follow. Ash proudly boasts, "I've got 49 Meltan, how many did you find?" The two groups move towards each other, to coalesce and comingle.

Gary laughs. "Behind as usual, eh Ashy Boy? Take a look at my 50."

Ash angrily mutters something under his breath.

Gary thinks for a moment. "I think Gramps said that the ancient texts said Meltan would always appear in groups of 100."

Ash realizes, "So there's still one more?" He gets excited. "I'll find that last Meltan first!"

Gary asserts, "That would be impossible, because I'll be the one finding it first."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

They glare at each other intensely.

Jessie cackles and proclaims, "Find that last Meltan if you want, but those ones you have now are ours!"

Meowth shouts, "Go, Magneto-Vacuum!" Suddenly, the ignorant group of Meltan begin to be pulled towards an unseen source. Ones that haven't been affected yet attempt to grab a hold of their friends being pulled away, but they too end up sucked away.

Ash notices the Meltan on his shoulder being pulled away. "Meltan!" He grabs it and holds it close to his chest.

Gary demands, "Alright, someone tell me what's going on here!"

Team Rocket's balloon lowers from the sky. Attached to the bottom of it is a massive holding tank, which, in turn, is attached to some sort of vacuum that is sucking up the Meltan. The happy-go-lucky Meltan in the tank don't seem to mind their imprisonment, being more curious than anything else.

Jessie declares, "Let's go and prepare for trouble!"

James continues, "And let's go make it double!"

"To protect Kanto from your homecoming!"

"To unite all peoples with classics forthcoming!"

"To denounce the evils of remaking the past!"

"To extend our reach and have a blast!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket switches things up at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare for a remastered fight!"

Meowth leaps between them. "Meowth, that's right!"

Ash shouts, "Team Rocket, haven't you had enough of chasing me around yet?"

James laughs, "Ha ha ha! You'll soon learn that Team Rocket doesn't tire easily!"

Gary demands, "What do you losers think you're doing with those Meltan!?"

Meowth responds, "Is it that hard to figure out? When you have a group 100 undiscovered Pokémon, they tend to be a hot commodity."

Jessie is fixated on the tank of Meltan. She gushes, "Wow, these guys are mega cuties! I might just have to keep one for myself!"

James realizes, "Speaking of keeping one, look!" He points at the Meltan on Ash's shoulder. "We missed one."

Meowth suggests, "Alright, how about we use our new anti-twerp weapon to get it? The one that we got from headquarters."

Jessie and James smile deviously. James throws a Pokéball. "Straight from Team Rocket HQ, here's a surprise!" From the Pokéball appears a Hypno.

Jessie shouts, "Hypno, hypnotize that last Meltan so it will come to us willingly!"

"Hypno." Hypno begins to swing its pendulum. Ash's Meltan looks instantly entranced by the pendulum. It jumps off from Ash's shoulders.

Ash shouts, "Meltan, no!"

But as Meltan approaches Hypno in a trance-like state, it suddenly leaps at the Pokémon's pendulum and begins to consume the metal. This cause Hypno to panic.

Gary laughs. "What do you know? Meltan just wanted a snack!"

Meltan finishes eating the pendulum and runs back to Ash's side. The Hypno runs off into the woods, crying.

Jessie and James shouts, "Wait, don't go!"

Meowth doesn't seemed worried. "We've got more than enough Meltan. I think we can spare missing one."

Gary shouts, "You'd better free those Meltan, or else!"

Meowth laughs. "Or else what?"

Gary throws a Pokéball. "Go, Squirtle!"

A tough looking Squirtle appears in front of Gary. "Squirtle!"

Ash says with surprise, "So Gary's first Pokémon was a Squirtle then." He then pulls out one of his Pokéballs. "Charmander, I chose you!"

Ash's Charmander appears. "Char!"

Team Rocket is ready. Jessie and James both throw a Pokéball. Ekans and Koffing appear.

"Ekansssss!"

"Koffing!"

Gary orders, "Squirtle, use Rapid Spin!"

James orders, "Koffing, use Sludge!" Koffing launches globs of sludge at Squirtle, but Squirtle, spinning in its shell, knocks the sludge to the side, and rams into Koffing.

Ash commands "Charmander, use Ember!"

Jessie counters, "Ekans, get that twerpish Pokémon with Poison Sting!" The two attacks collide. Charmander's Ember quickly overpowers Ekans' Poison Sting.

With both of Team Rocket's Pokémon down, Gary commands, "Squirtle, Water Gun!"

At the same time, Ash orders, "Charmander, Flamethrower!" The two powerful attacks hit their mark and knock out Koffing and Ekans.

Jessie and James quickly recall their Pokémon. James urges, "Meowth, I think it's time for plan B."

Meowth agrees, "Plan B, it is." He pulls out a remote and presses a button. Suddenly, a large robotic body without a head comes running into sight.

Ash asks with surprise, "What's that!?"

Meowth declares, "Initiating Combination Procedure!" He presses another button, and the balloon lowers into the body. The basket enters the robotic body completely, while the balloon stays above, making it the head of the robot. The Meltan tank is now strapped on the back of the mech. The robot adopts a fighting stance. Meowth announces, "You may be able to defeat a couple of wimpy Pokémon, but can you handle this? Let's go, Mecha Meowth!"

James explains, "This robot may be a little ugly, but it draws power straight from those Meltan. You won't beat this one!"

Meowth angrily demands, "What did you just say!?"

Gary looks to the Eevee on his shoulder and says, "You'd better get in on this one."

Ash says, "You too, Pikachu."

Pikachu and Eevee, alongside Charmander and Squirtle, prepare for battle.

Ash doesn't wait. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Meowth shouts, "Oh no you don't!" The robot swipes at Pikachu to stop it.

Ash shouts, "Agility!" Pikachu disappears with a burst of speed and reappears on the opposite side the arm. It then attacks the mech with electricity. "Pikaaaaa chuuuuuuu!" The attack seems to do nothing.

Ash gasps. "It didn't work!"

Jessie laughs. "Did we mention we Pika-proofed this one?"

Gary doesn't seem to care, he orders, "Eevee, use Baddy Bad!"

Before Eevee can attack, Jessie, James, and Meowth break out in hysterical laughter. They all laugh, "Baddy bad!?"

James asks while laughing, "What kind of name for a move is that!?"

Jessie struggles to say through her laughter, "I've never heard of such a ridiculous name for an attack in my life!"

Meowth can't help but add, "I wouldn't be caught dead using a move with that name!"

Ash is laughing too. "They do have a point Gary, what sort of ridiculous move is that?"

Gary smugly responds, "Laugh all you like, but Baddy Bad, despite the sound of it, is a mega powerful Dark-Type move that only Eevee can learn."

Ash's laughter turns to confusion. "Dark-Type? What do you mean?"

Gary can't believe this. "You're telling me you've never heard of the Dark-Type before? Come on Ash, even a loser like you should know about it."

Ash accuses, "You're just making things up to make me look dumb."

"I don't need to make you look dumb, you do that to yourself. It's a real type."

"Prove it. Name one Dark-Type Pokémon."

"Well, for one, there's Eevee's Dark-Type evolution, Umbreon."

Ash shakes his head with disbelief. "Okay, now I know you're making things up. Eevee can only evolve into Jolteon, Flareon, or Vaporeon."

"Wow, Ash. I knew you were ignorant, but this is a whole new level. Let me guess, you think there's only 151 Pokémon, don't you?"

Ash, thinking he's beaten Gary, proudly announces, "No, in fact I don't. I know that there are 150. Guess I'm not so dumb, am I?"

Gary groans and shakes his head in disbelief. Giving up on Ash, he says, "Eevee, just use Baddy Bad."

Team Rocket are still too busy cracking up to notice Eevee has run behind the mech, and now covers itself in shadowy energy, and rams itself into the Meltan tank. The moment they feel the impact, Team Rocket stops laughing. A crack has formed in the tank.

Gary shouts, "Again!" Eevee rams into it again, and the cracks widen.

Ash understands Gary's strategy, and suggests, "Pikachu, you use Quick Attack on the tank!" Pikachu adds its power to Eevee's, and now both Pokémon are continuously ramming the tank.

James shouts, "Meowth, what are you waiting for!? Stop them!"

Before Meowth can have the robot turn, the front of the robot is assaulted by Squirtle's Rapid Spin and Charmander's Scratch. This forces Meowth to keep his attention forward to attempt to swat away the attacking Pokémon.

Ash cheers, "Yeah, keep it up, guys! We'll free the Meltan!"

The Meltan on Ash's shoulder cheers, "Mel!"

Ash then looks to the side and notices something emerging from the trees. It's another Meltan. "Gary, look! It's the hundredth Meltan!"

The new Meltan happily waves to the one on Ash's shoulder. "Tan!"

Ash's waves back. "Meltantan!"

James sees how many cracks are in the tank, and advises, "Meowth, we really need to stop those Pokémon."

Meowth is extremely annoyed. "I know that. It's just hard when attacked from all sides like this. Don't worry though, this robot is built tough. Even if the Meltan are freed, we'll be able to take them back by force.

Moments later, the tank cracks open, freeing the 98 Meltan. They all pour out from the tank, cheering, as if it were some sort of ride.

Jessie shouts, "No, come back here, my cuties!"

The moment they're free, Meltan jumps off from Ash's shoulder and quickly shuffles over to the freed Meltan, along with the hundredth one. Once they're all together, they begin to glow. The first Meltan begins to absorb the other Meltan and grow larger in the process. As it glows and grows, its shape begins to change. When the glowing ceases moments later, a seemingly new Pokémon now stands there. It is very large. It has the liquid metal body of Meltan, but with several more lug nuts across its body, including ones on its neck, shoulders, feet, elbows, and hands.

Gary says with disbelief, "That's Melmetal! Meltan just transformed into Melmetal!"

Ash is shocked. "Woah, that's amazing!"

Jessie is devastated. "Not my adorable little Meltan…"

James laments, "So much for our 100 undiscovered Pokémon for The Boss."

Meowth reassure, "That one Pokémon was made from the 100 Pokémon, so it's got to be at least as valuable as they would be combined! Now it will just be easier to deliver to The Boss." He presses some buttons, in preparation to grab the new Pokémon.

Melmetal shouts in a metallic voice, "Melmetal!" It swings its arms around randomly several times, as if to warm up, then it then begins to rapidly spin, its arms outstretched. It slams its massive lug nut fists into the mech, tearing it apart with ease.

Team Rocket all collectively gulp. Within moments, the mech explodes, sending Team Rocket hurtling into the air. As they fly upwards, James complains, "This is just the worst."

Jessie disagrees, "No, it could be worse."

Meowth says, "Do tell."

"Things could be like in the nightmare I had last night." She shivers at the thought. "I dreamed that some terrifyingly obnoxious blue blob pestered me at every turn, never giving me a moment's rest."

She has a quick flashback to the dream, in which Wobbuffet appears in front of her. "Wobbuffet!"

James and Meowth both agree, "That does sound bad."

They all shout, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" as they disappear from sight.

Back on the ground, Ash hugs Melmetal. "Wow, Melmetal, that was awesome! You're so powerful!"

Melmetal happily responds, "Metal."

Gary points out, "Now that we're seeing Melmetal too, we'll be able to write two Pokédex entries."

Ash excitedly says, "Wow, that's great!"

Ash and Gary, rejoined by Brock and Misty, stand around Melmetal. Ash asks, "Melmetal, are you sure you don't want to come with us? You'd be an awesome addition to the team."

Gary says with annoyance, "Come on, Ash. Melmetal's a mythical Pokémon. You can't keep it confined to a Pokéball. You've got to let it stay free. Catching it would be wrong."

Ash reluctantly nods. "Yeah… I guess so…" He looks back to Melmetal and says, "I'll never forget you, Melmetal."

Gary adds, "Neither will I."

But in an ironic twist, the Hypno from before suddenly jumps down at them, holding a small rock tied to a string. Perhaps in revenge for before, it swings the makeshift pendulum, quickly putting everyone to sleep.

Back in the present, Ash gasps. "No way! I remember everything now! But how could I forget something like that?"

Gary laughs. "It was that Hypno. I bet it was so embarrassed by losing its pendulum that it decided to erase our memories of it ever happening. I only just recently remembered when reading over the study notes you sent Gramps on your Meltan."

Ash nods as he thinks it over. "Yeah, that sounds right." He looks back to Gary. "So why did you want to see my Melmetal?"

Gary smiles. "Ash, you said that your Meltan originally came from Kanto?"

Ash nods.

"I have reason to believe that your group of Meltan is the same group we met back then."

"But how is that possible? They merged into Melmetal."

Gary explains, "Melmetal is able to break apart its body back into 100 Meltan. I believe that that happened to our Melmetal."

Ash gasps. "No way, so the Meltan I caught… it has to be the same one from then!"

Hearing all this talk, Brenda decides to look up Meltan in her Pokédex. "Meltan, the Hex Nut Pokémon, and a Steel-Type. Meltan's body is composed of liquid metal. It will consume any source of metal it finds to add to its own, creating a unique alloy within its body. Evolves into Melmetal by gathering 100 Meltan."

Gary laughs. "The irony is, you still ended up getting to write a Pokédex entry for Meltan. You discovered the Pokémon twice."

Brenda asks in surprise, "Really, you wrote that?"

Ash proudly answers, "Yup, that's the Pokédex entry I wrote after I left Alola." He looks to Gary. "Sorry, I guess you didn't get the credit you should have."

Gary shrugs. "Stuff happens. Besides, I've added plenty to the Pokédex since I became a Pokémon researcher. Anyways, I was hoping for the chance to study your Melmetal. I'd also love to reunite with an old friend."

Ash nods. "Yeah, sure. Let's get to a transporter and I'll ask Professor Kukui to send its Pokéball here. I'd love the chance to talk to it about the time we actually first met."

Gary beckons for everyone to follow him. "Come on, the lab I'm working in right now isn't too far from here, you can transport the Pokéball to there."

Ash nods. "Let's go, Pikachu."

The past revisited, a new story told. Sometimes we shouldn't just look forward. Sometimes it's better to look to the past. For what's old can always become new again. Come on everybody, let's go!

To Be Continued…