The most difficult problem in electrical engineering is the same one which has plagued mankind since the inventors of the lightbulb started their famous experiments: "How do we keep the Magnemite away?" Historically a rare pokemon occasionally found feeding in thunderstorms or preying on other electric-types such as Pikachu, the electronic revolution has seen the population of this magnetic pest of a pokemon explode.
Many solutions have been tried to protect manmade electricity from Magnemite; some bury the wires or add a layer of dirt to the insulation, others use controlled burns or even other magnets to drive them away. Some have attempted to set up habitats such as the Kanto Power Plant to lure them away, but this has merely caused their numbers to grow. None of these techniques are completely successful, and research has continued into finding methods to secure wires from this pokemon whose appetite alone costs Kanto billions of pyen a year in economic damage.
For now, they are most typically warded off by other pokemon, typically fire-types such as Growlithe, as they are prone to levitating on anti-gravity before feeding. Others simply rely on local electric pokemon (at times even other Magnemite) to act as generators, eschewing wires and circuits entirely: this does not ensure the Magnemite will keep away, but it does ensure that if any approach, they will be located quickly and can be battled or captured. This is a stopgap measure, not a solution; annoying as they are, Magnemite power outages remain a fact of life for the people of the pokemon world.
