How To Get Meltan Box In Pokemon Go Without Switch

Pokemon Go Mystery Box explained along with how to get shiny Meltan

(Image credit: Niantic)

The Pokemon Go Mystery Box has been a thing for a good while now, ever since the launch of Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee. It's sort of just existed in the background since then though – Pokemon Go players aware of it have been able to use it at their leisure but Niantic hasn't pushed it into the spotlight for a long time, so newer players may be in the dark when it comes to the potential of the Pokemon Go Mystery Box. If you've seen that shiny Meltan will be available from the Pokemon Go Mystery Box as part of the fifth anniversary celebrations but you're unsure how it works, then you've come to the right place.

Pokemon Go Mystery Box explained

It used to be the case that you needed to own Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee to get the Mystery Box, but thanks to the introduction of Pokemon Home, you can get a Mystery Box and have a chance at shiny Meltan without forking out for a Nintendo Switch.

To begin with you need to link your Pokemon Go account to Pokemon Home, so on the same device you use for Pokemon Go, download Pokemon Home from your respective app store. Set everything up then switch to Pokemon Go.

Tap the Poke Ball icon to bring up the menu, go into the settings by tapping the cog in the top right corner, then scroll right to the bottom and tap on Pokemon Home. Sign in with your Nintendo Account and the pair will be linked.

Now to get the Mystery Box, you simply need to transfer a Pokemon from Pokemon Go to Pokemon Home. While in the Pokemon Home section of Pokemon Go, tap Send Pokemon and pick one of your least important critters that you don't mind getting rid of.

When complete and you've received the Pokemon in Pokemon Home, you'll get the Pokemon Go Mystery Box! That's all there is to it in order to receive the Mystery Box. Open it in your bag to cause Meltans to spawn frequently for 30 minutes, but to then use the Mystery Box again, you have to wait seven days and repeat the process of transferring a Pokemon. As with a lot of Pokemon in the game, there is simply a slim chance that one of the Meltan you catch will be shiny.

Give me a game and I will write every "how to" I possibly can or die trying. When I'm not knee-deep in a game to write guides on, you'll find me hurtling round the track in F1, flinging balls on my phone in Pokemon Go, pretending to know what I'm doing in Football Manager, or clicking on heads in Valorant.