Right between Alola and Unova, there sat the region of Rota. Its shape was wheel-like, with eight cities around the outside and a road connecting each to the central hub, Rota City. Known for its entertainment industry, Rota produced movies and television shows. One of these shows was Shocking Words, a form of Hangman with Pikachu's Thunderbolt being charged up instead of a man being hanged. It had gone on for 35 years under the same host, a woman named Vanna Blank. Though she was now 60 years old, viewers still appreciated her shimmering golden hair and stacked figure.

On this episode, there were three contestants. One was named Lexie Vuncannon, and her chest was more impressive than Vanna's. The next was Aubrey Simmel, a scrawny man with wedge-cut brown hair and a rainbow jacket. Faye Schnantz was the last, and she was an average-looking mousy lady. Vanna seemed to be distracted by Lexie, but she kept the game fair.

"There is no E in the Pokémon name!" shouted Vanna, gesturing towards a large board made of many screens shaped into a rectangle with missing corners. Five of them were white, representing that the Pokémon name had five letters, and the rest were a light sea-green color. As she said that, Pikachu charged up a jolt of thunder.

"R!" called out Lexie.

Vanna placed her hand on the first white tile. "One R!" The R showed up immediately.

"I'd like to solve. Rotom!" shouted Lexie.

"You got it!" The white tiles spelled out ROTOM now.

Suddenly, the green tiles of the puzzleboard turned orange. A blue aura surrounded the board, and two screens showed eyes on them.

The Rotom in the puzzleboard emitted electricity from its body. The three contestants scattered, but the studio audience stayed behind to see what would happen. Vanna tried to run, but a bolt of electricity hit her. Vanna was knocked to the floor immediately and a member of the studio audience called medical services.

Unfortunately, Vanna stopped breathing before anyone could arrive.

Then, the Rotom left the puzzleboard. As it did so, the board fell onto Vanna. Pikachu tried to shock Vanna back to life. Its Thunder Shock hit the board along with Vanna. They became wrapped in a glowing white light.

When the light disappeared, both the board and Vanna were gone, but in their place was a beautiful Pokémon. She had Vanna's hair, but was chalk-white with Lopunny's face and legs, royal blue boots, a sea-green dress that combined Gothitelle's style with Gardevoir's, and outspread wings that looked just like the puzzleboard, formed of many tiles of green and white. Six white tiles formed a row that spelled RSTLNE, the most common letters on the show.

Meanwhile, in a region named Nola near a gulf and divided by a river, an old woman named Spindini Solvana watched the news. Her favorite station was WVUE on channel 9, since it also had Shocking Words. A reporter from Rota was interviewing a newly discovered Pokémon, reportedly created from Vanna Blank and her puzzleboard. "So, what do you think your name should be?" said the reporter.

"I think it will be Lexiblanc."

"Doesn't that sound a little bit like Lexie Blank?"

"Yes."

Spindini decided she would go to Rota so that she would catch her favorite game show host and show that she was a better contestant than Lexie.