Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Notice of Related Case will not automatically join them, although it may trigger the court to combine them on its own initiative. If the court does not do so, one of the parties to both actions will have to file a motion to consoldate the cases into the Unlimited Civil case.

It wont get combined automatically, unless the judge who reviews the notice of related cases thinks they should be. There is a difference in civil procedure between "relating" cases, and consolidating cases. When a case is consolidated, the cases are merged and there is only one case. When cases are only deemed related, they tend to just be coordinated together, but they don't become one case.

In small clams practice, the judges tend to expect a request to transfer, before the small claims hearing. Take a look at Code of Civil Procedure section 116.390.