That evening, Professor Vero left Kitakami. The discovery that Meltan could combine and evolve into Melmetal made him eager to return to Cerulean Cave and test some new ideas.
After seeing Professor Vero off at the station, Mingyou returned to Verdant Town and took Melmetal to meet Akari and the others.
Meltan's sudden evolution had caught him off guard too. But eating all that equipment dropped by future Pokémon, along with the Iron Plate, seemed to have been its way of storing energy for evolution.
"You went from palm-sized to half a body taller than me overnight. Kids grow up so fast."
Mingyou couldn't help marveling. He and Ogerpon sat on Melmetal's shoulders. Despite the dramatic change, Melmetal was just as lively and curious as Meltan had been.
It had gone from climbing all over people to carrying them around. Close enough to the same thing... definitely!
"Mel!"
"Slow down. Don't knock down someone's wall. Head straight for the school."
Mingyou served as its navigator. Then his phone chimed with a message. He glanced at it, smiled faintly, and nodded.
"Looks like we'll have more visitors tomorrow."
"Pon?"
Ogerpon looked over curiously, but Mingyou merely smiled and put away his Rotom Phone without explaining.
Melmetal soon reached the school. Several children playing there spotted it and rushed over in excitement.
"Hey! Where are you all going?"
Carmine's irritated shout rang out. Mingyou hopped down from Melmetal and smiled at the approaching group. "Are you all here keeping the kids company?"
"Yeah. School starts soon, and these children have never attended one before. They don't know anything about being Trainers, so we thought we'd help them get familiar with it beforehand."
Akari stopped speaking and studied Melmetal curiously. "Is this Melmetal...?"
"Yeah. A few things happened, and it evolved."
"I see."