Shortly after bringing the creature of light home to Sunyshore, I discover that it was not a ghostly apparition after all, but an undiscovered species of Pokemon.
This Pokemon expresses a range of unique characteristics: it hovers in the air, suspended by a power unseen. When presented with an unfamiliar situation, it can turn invisible. Crackling sounds accompany its presence, as though the space around it is alive with static electricity, yet this Pokemon seems to the source of this power.
Moreover, this Pokemon possesses the rare ability to enter and operate electrical appliances! One weekend afternoon while I was doing laundry, it entered the drying machine and caused the temperature in the exhaust vent to spike. My clothes came out as dry and brittle as charcoal.
As timid as it is mischievous, this Pokemon enjoys corrupting machinery. It floods the house with the washing machine and blows sand over to the neighbor's house while possessing the electric fan.
Since it can hijack motors, I name this most wondrous Pokemon Rotom. Motor and Rotom. Surely the link is obvious.
Rotom and I become fast friends. It is always there to greet me when I come back from school. Any bitterness left over from that day dissipates immediately at that smile. It joins me at the dinner table and listens to me talk. At night, its silent vigil dissuades the shadows in my room from joining those in my head.
Eventually the hole in my heart left by Cynthia's absence is filled by Rotom's company.
I promise Rotom that I will never forget it. That I will never allow us to be separated. As though it understands me, Rotom's smile grows bigger and lights up the darkness in my heart. Though the electricity from its body forbids me from touching it, it ultimately matters not, for we are bonded on a much deeper, incorporeal level.
When the weather is clear, I like to take Rotom around town. One day, we stop by the toy store. Rotom shows interest in the display of toys behind the glass windows.
Although I have never held a toy, watching Rotom marvel at the model aeroplanes evokes a sense of witnessing something precious. My parents believe that toys are a waste of money and a hindrance to my academic pursuits. Yet I find myself yearning to hold that aeroplane in my hands. To join the other children in setting their aeroplanes into the vast blue sky, in launching our emboldened dreams into the galaxy.
Rotom inspires me to build my first toy: a cardboard train. Followed by a patchwork bear and later, a music box that plays the Proteam Omega theme song.
My favorite toy is the robot. I build it using the wreckages of an ironing machine and scraps that wash up on the beach. The pride of my twelve brief years in this world, this robot will protect me from the dark and the dangers that life will throw at me.
Out of all my toys, Rotom favors the robot the most. When it enters the machine, the robot comes to life, walking over, and embracing me. Its eyes light up happily as I hold it-which I am sure—is due to Rotom emitting a lot of electricity.
From the moment we embrace, I know that we will remain best friends throughout the rest of our lives.