Rotom
Exspiravit intesta
Overview
Over the course of the last century rotom have gone from rare, malevolent tricksters to a highly desired component of luxury consumer electronics.
Rotom are a solid introductory ghost-type due to the relative ease of appeasing them and their comparatively simple diet. Electricity and silicon aren't always cheap, but they are much easier to conceptualize and routinely provide than endings, friendship, or fear. Rotom are also the rare electric-type that improves electronics rather than destroying them.
The main drawback of rotom is the difficulty of obtaining one. Specimens trained to work in a phone or pokédex often lack battle experience and are unwilling to fight. Having a phone put out of commission while its occupant is recovering is also undesirable. Wild rotom, the kinds that are willing to battle, are far more mischievous than tame specimens and can only be found around recent wormholes. This puts any trainer who wants to scout for rotom at risk of encountering an Ultra Beast instead.
Progress is being made on rotom breeding, but nearly 95% of rotom sold on the markets are wild caught. Their rarity, combined with the demand for rotom in luxury electronics, makes obtaining a battling specimen very expensive. For now, they are still limited to wealthy, connected, lucky, or risk-seeking trainers.
Physiology
Rotom are classified as dual electric- and ghost-types when they are not possessing an electronic device, dubbed an appliance by rotom scholars. There is ongoing debate as to whether rotom occupying an appliance should have their ghost typing temporarily replaced with either steel or a typing thematically linked to the appliance. The Department of Agriculture has identified five broad categories of appliances as granting a secondary typing in place of the ghost typing. Whether this policy should be extended to other appliances or reversed altogether is a controversial topic.
Rotom's core body takes the form of two orange or white spheres stacked on top of each other with a conical spike extending from the top sphere. The top sphere is much larger than the bottom and contains a pair of blue or white eyes. Some rotom have monocolor eyes while others have an apparent iris. Some wild rotom have been documented with what appear to be compound eyes. Some have been seen with no eyes at all. The eyes appear to be strictly cosmetic and will gradually change over time to match those of nearby species.
The core body is surrounded by a layer of ectoplasm. Rotom ectoplasm is unusual in that it does not display the typical properties of spectral fog, such as billowing in the wind or being disrupted by objects moving through it. Instead, it acts as a sort of plasma filled with electrical potential. Two to four thin arms extend from the core, again depending on the length and number of arms typical in the area. The ectoplasm smells faintly of sulfur.
Captive rotom are rarely seen in their vase form. They prefer to live inside of and integrate with nearby technologies. At the most basic level of integration, rotom can disrupt a device's standard functions and take control of them. The process is faster and more effective for more advanced technologies.
At higher levels of integration rotom can levitate and move their appliances, but not phase them out of the physical plane or move them through solid objects. Rotom will typically extend arms from the appliance while moving it but this is not required. Rotom begin to display abilities conceptually linked to the appliance, such as launching heat waves from an oven or aerokinesis when occupying a fan.
At the final state of integration, the appliance itself changes. Its circuitry is altered and even the materials can change to something more advanced or alien. The more complex the device, the more it will change. The most advanced electronics can be transformed into materials and configurations that are not understood by modern engineering and cannot be operated without the rotom possessing it.
Fully integrated appliances begin to display abilities conceptually linked to the object. Microwaves can blast out radiation from across the electromagnetic spectrum. Modern washing machines can 'clean' things by purifying metals, killing bacteria, and even imposing temporary mental compulsions against swearing. Refrigerators can flash freeze nearby liquids or hold objects inside them in short-term temporal stasis. Bicycles made to incorporate rotom can be altered to run at the speeds of motorcycles, function as paddle-boats, or even fly under moonlight.
Computers and phones made to accommodate rotom can resist hacking from porygon. They can operate at speeds a decade ahead of their time and incorporate features only tangentially related to the software installed.
Rotom pokédexes can scan opposing pokémon and glean information specific to the individual rather than the species. They can gauge rough elemental energy levels, apparent health, and physical condition and ownership of observed pokémon. They can also quickly browse the web for any available information on opponents and form a crude simulation of what the trainer and pokémon are likely to do given past recorded battles. The species has managed to revive a technology that was considered defunct with the advent of smartphones.
The consensus in the fields of ghost and alien studies is that rotom alter devices to match the technologies of their home. Whether this home is another point in space, such as another planet, or another point in the timeline is still debated. Integration occurring faster in more advanced devices is due to the pokémon better integrating with technology closer to ones it is familiar with. The elemental and conceptual linkages are less well understood. They may be linking into the spirits of the inventor or past users. Whether appliances truly grant rotom new abilities or merely help them channel ones they already had is also disputed. Rotom are evasive when asked the question.
Rotom's core spheres typically grow to nine inches in height with ectoplasm adding a more widely varied amount. They typically weigh eight to ten ounces. Wild and captive lifespans are both poorly understood. Rotom admit to having an 'expiration date,' but it appears to be more than four decades. Captive specimens were rare before this time and it is extremely difficult to do long-term studies on them in the wild.
Behavior
Wild rotom display very different personalities than captive specimens. In the wild rotom are mischievous tricksters that enjoy playing pranks on anyone who approaches. These pranks are seldom fatal, but they enjoy creating highly stressful situations. They have been known to burn irreplaceable paintings and documents, raze memorial gardens, and generally push people to their breaking point without causing physical injury. When there are no humans around, they instead turn their attention to the most intelligent species they can find. Rotom have never been observed playing pranks on other ghost-types in the wild. This is likely a survival instinct: dragons and true psychics cannot follow them into whatever realm they phase their ectoplasm into, but ghosts can and will.
It was previously believed that rotom fed on feelings of stress or irritation. This has subsequently been proven false. Wild rotom spend most of their time following storm fronts to feed on the static electricity in the thunder clouds. When they do descend it is often to areas with quartz deposits that can be melted and absorbed into the ectoplasm.
Rotom began to act differently in the 1940s and 1950s. They gradually began moving into cities full time to feed on the abundant electricity and silica. Some would come to help the humans they lived alongside rather than harm them, especially when it granted them access to ever more sophisticated electronics to inhabit. Even rotom that are not bonded with humans generally prefer to live in abandoned buildings with ready access to potential appliances. They can make these buildings abandoned by driving out the previous inhabitants with their pranks.
Captive rotom do not entirely lose their mischievous streak. Those occupying computers are known to insert 'joke' bugs into the code and regularly play games with the user. They try to never cause enough frustration to be abandoned outright but will still sometimes try to embarrass their owner by delaying transactions while a line forms behind them or turning on text-to-speech when their trainer is reading something lascivious while in public.
Rotom are more helpful than harmful, but they require patience to deal with. When allowed and inclined to battle they typically take out their mischievousness on opponents. Trainers with a good sense of humor can also work with the rotom to play pranks on other people rather than being the punchline themselves.
Rotom are not particularly social with conspecifics. When in close proximity they tend to ignore each other. On the surface they tend to spread out. Their behavior inside of thunderclouds is not well understood, but they are probably asocial there as well. When in captivity they will frequently converse with their trainer. When asked why humans make better conversational partners to them than conspecifics, rotom usually state that other rotom are annoying.
Husbandry
Rotom prefer to spend most of their time inside of an appliance. They can levitate one appliance at a time. If it is well-enough integrated, a single appliance can also be stored inside of a pokéball. Most rotom will want to own multiple appliances, especially if they frequently battle. All but the heaviest will need to be carried on the trail.
The best appliances are those with the most advanced circuitry. Computers, phones, and pokédexes are good as a home device of sorts. The appliances recognized by the USDA for their combat applications are microwaves and ovens, lawnmowers, refrigerators, washing machines, and fans. Of these, fans are often the smallest and lightest but typically have the crudest circuitry. The only really suitable ones are those custom-built for rotom. Washing machines and microwaves are usually recognized as the best for combat due to the advantageous typings they convey, but are also some of the bulkiest. All appliances custom built for rotom are expensive, typically costing four or more figures. They can also be difficult to repair if they are broken in battle. Less wealthy trainers usually purchase less sophisticated appliances for combat, typically a fan or miniature oven of some sort, and accept that their rotom's integration will never be as thorough as it would be with a custom-made machine.
Rotom feed on electricity and silica. Electricity can be provided through the charger of the appliance they occupy. The best silica are circuit boards. The rotom will melt them down and absorb the silica into their electoplasm. Quartz, sand, and glass are also acceptable, but will not provide as much energy.
While they are not as skilled a translator as proper telepaths, rotom can still be used in that capacity. It will take them some time to understand the languages of pokémon other than ghost types. Rotom initially do not have a full understanding of human languages, either, but properly coded and integrated devices such as smartphones, pokédexes, and computers can let them learn quickly.
Some trainers with rotom in their consumer electronics use them as a digital assistant like a porygon. There are dangers to this as rotom are famously mischievous. However, most of the time they will do a solid job of combing emails, setting reminders for upcoming events, scanning for and removing malware, and quickly navigating software. Porygon and Porygon2 are generally considered to be more reliable as assistants, but they lack the personality and ability to upgrade hardware of rotom. The disabled and those who handle highly secure information generally prefer porygon for the reliability while casual consumers and the elderly prefer rotom for the novelty and company.
If a rotom is not going to be battled with, some trainers keep it as a seventh team member. Pokémon Centers usually have policies against checking in with more than six pokémon on hand or checking more than six at a time, but most make exceptions for non-battling rotom and porygon.
Illness
Injured rotom will need time to fully purify and restore their ectoplasm. This occurs naturally so long as they are allowed to feed. There is little that can be done to accelerate this process aside from specialized potions made for ghost-types. These tend to be expensive and have a short shelf life so not every Center will use them on a ghost that will recover naturally in time.
Minor damage to highly integrated appliances can be repaired by the rotom itself. Severe damage can render the appliance unusable as either a home or battling instrument. Some appliances can be repaired by a normal mechanic. Fully integrated appliances are often too advanced for anyone to properly put back together.
Rotom rarely suffer conventional illnesses. They lack an organic body to get sick. Because they do not feed on emotions they are highly resistant to most of the common phantom illnesses. Instead, they suffer from a gradual decrease in the potential energy in their ectoplasm as they age. The few captive rotom deaths from 'old age' that have been observed were between ten and sixty years after capture. It was difficult to tell how old the rotom were at the time of death. Particularly severe damage to the ectoplasm may also be fatal.
Evolution
Rotom are not known to evolve to or from another pokémon. Their appliance integration may be an 'evolution' of the appliance, but the rotom can still freely leave it at any time with no consequences. It is also endlessly repeatable. It is not viewed as an evolution.
Battle
There are five appliances recognized for use in battle. Some rotom also fight without an appliance. This strategy is dubbed 'naked rotom' and is used primarily for the speed boost and ability to phase out of the physical world for short periods of time. Battling with and against all six styles will be covered here in varying degrees of detail.
Rotom-Wash is the most widely used rotom form on the competitive circuits. The Ginga Corporation in Sinnoh makes a mid-sized washing machine designed for easy integration and use in combat. Imported machines are expensive, around $5,000, and too heavy to take on the trail without a dedicated pack pokémon or the rotom carrying it.
Electric- and water-typing is exceptional, especially with the ability to hover above most seismic attacks. Rotom are also more resistant to ghost and dark damage when in appliance, leaving it difficult to exploit elemental weaknesses. In turn the rotom can unleash powerful thunderbolts and hydro pumps at opponents when using an offensive strategy. The most common combination is to soak the opponent in cold water before unleashing thunderbolts that spread across their entire body. Defensive tactics rely on the appliance's enhanced durability and the many tricks ghosts have up their sleeves, such as pain split and will-o-wisp, to more gradually wear down opponents. Some mix of the two strategies makes rotom-wash one of the most annoying pokémon to face.
This isn't to say that rotom-wash is unbeatable. Their washing machine is enhanced, but particularly strong fighting-types can break it and force the rotom out. Damage to the machine while rotom is operating it will also damage the ectoplasm and potentially knock it out. Becoming elementally aligned with water means that grass-types with long-ranged offenses can shut rotom down quite easily. However, rotom can still ignore the spores that many grass-types use to weaken opponents. They are best fought like inorganic pokémon rather than organics or even ghosts.
Rotom-wash are also slow. They cannot dodge many laser style or electrical attacks and can be trapped by clever arena controllers. Most teams will naturally have some way of dealing with them so long as they can stall out the switch clock. Water-types that don't care about electricity are particularly solid counters. Swampert and the increasingly popular quagsire in particular make for excellent checks.
Rotom-heat is the next most popular. Fire and electricity have good offensive coverage together. The sheer amount of heat the appliance gives off also makes most fighting-types wary of making direct contact. The pokémon's will-o-wisp attacks are also supercharged, making it easier to cause intense psychosomatic pain and discomfort. Opponents that try to run out the switch clock can be countered by setting up with nasty plot alongside them, further increasing the pokémon's offensive power. The worse defensive typing and lower durability of the appliance means that this strategy is usually used offensively rather than defensively.
Rock-types with stone armor are annoyed by ghost-type attacks rotom-heat unleashes but can otherwise tank electrical and fire attacks. Rotom in appliances are also often reluctant to attack with ghost energy as it temporarily diminishes their control over the appliance. Eventually the rotom can be taken out with a few lucky hits from a rock attack. Ground types with offensive options other than seismic moves are the next best counters. Gliscor in particular can duel the rotom in midair, weave around will-o-wisps, and eventually take them out. Ranged fighting-types like mienshao and lucario can break the appliance from a distance. Dragons can also usually close the distance and finish off rotom-heat quickly. Finally, steelix are used to enduring high temperatures and do not care at all about electrical shocks. They are perhaps the best counter to rotom-heat.
Rotom-mow is the distant third most popular appliance. Because they are elementally and conceptually linked to a lawnmower, this form is much faster than the two mentioned above. They also tend to hug the ground more and seem to struggle with fast flight. This is also the only rotom form that prefers to fight at melee range, closing the distance with opponents and then unleashing their whirring blades on them. From a distance they can still rely on leaf storm and thunderbolt, although they often prefer to use thunder wave instead to make it easier to get close. This appliance is almost always used offensively, with a few sets also taking advantage of defog or a status move to make them an offensive support option.
Because rotom-mow want to get in close, most fighting-types can get to work damaging the appliance once it comes to them. Even the best lawnmower appliances are not nearly as durable as the fully integrated appliances of the wash or mow forms. Mostly they rely on the surprise factor of whirring blades, loud noises, and occasional projectile attacks to intimidate opponents into retreating. Some pokémon simply do not care. Trying this tactic against a dragon is asking for failure. Some fighting-types simply welcome the strange challenge. A few poison-types suck as muk do not mind the blades and have little to fear from leaves or electricity.
Neither rotom-frost or rotom-fan are very common. Rotom-fan are good at removing hazards and blowing away the traps of arena controllers in general. They unfortunately lack the raw offensive power of many other appliances and aren't particularly durable either. Their speed is useful, but they can be outlasted by most walls and eventually caught and knocked out by offensive pokémon. Rotom-Frost has a devastatingly good offensive combination and solid bulk, but they are not at all fast and are the most vulnerable to fighting-type attacks due to their elemental linkage with ice. Trainers that want a more durable appliance usually go for rotom-wash. Those who want more offensive power in a fight go with rotom-heat. Rotom-mow is sometimes used as a strange, speedy third option. The others are used only against specific opponents where they might be useful, such as hazard stacking stall or dragon specialists.
Naked rotom fight very differently from the appliance users. They can phase out of reality for short periods of time, zip around the battlefield unencumbered, and hit opponents with disruptive tricks such as pain split, will-o-wisp, and thunder wave. They can also use their speed and phasing to evade enemy attacks while setting up nasty plot.
Rotom in appliances are usually allowed to leave and reenter the appliance midbattle. It is considered unsportsmanlike to target an unoccupied appliance on the field. Doing so intentionally can incur penalties such as fines or suspension.
Acquisition
Rotom do not breed in the wild (see Breeding). The only rotom to be found in nature are relatively recent arrivals from wormholes, space-time distortions, and other points where the barriers between dimensions are thin or the timeline is distorted. Alola has one of the largest rotom populations as a result. There is a small wild population in Poni National Park. Capture is usually prohibited to allow for research. Rotom can also often be found around recent wormhole activity. Rotom are quite likely to either be ignored by first responders or slip past their quarantine area. The problem with wormhole chasing is that Ultra Beasts, especially smaller ones like kartana, are equally likely to escape initial containment efforts. Trying to find and capture rotom this way can be exceedingly dangerous.
For trainers willing to try it is nearly impossible to actively hunt down rotom. It's best to camp nearby and wait for them to come and try to pull pranks. Then a ghost-type can be used to trap and capture them. Rotom should quickly be exposed to some sort of computer, including smart phones, pokédexes and tablets, to try and coax them into being relatively tame.
Rotom can be captured with a Class II license. They can be purchased with a Class I. Shelters usually do not take rotom due to their propensity for pranks and the demand for them on the open market.
Breeding
Rotom can reproduce. The Ginga Corporation has done so and independent scientists have verified the feat. The exact details are a trade secret. All that is known is that it requires an integrated supercomputer and a few other factors. While rotom breeding has helped meet the demand in recent years, it still cannot be done at scale. Individual trainers cannot do so either. Even attempting would require purchasing a supercomputer and the systems needed to run it and experimenting until the rotom reproduce. Even then the attempt would probably fail. None of Ginga's competitors have succeeded in reverse-engineering the breeding process.
Relatives
As extradimensional aliens without DNA it is difficult to determine rotom's lineage. Some scientists have linked them to spiritomb and golurk as spectral pokémon bound to minerals. They theorize that rotom may have been created by humans and sent out as scouts to explore space and time. Their interest in modern technology and advancement of it might be designed to advance our civilization to a level where the rotom's creators would take interest in us or to make us dependent upon them in preparation for an invasion. This is all speculation: there is no concrete evidence that humans created rotom and their ectoplasm is very different from that of spiritomb.
Chandelure have the closest ectoplasm to rotom of any spectral pokémon. Even then it is not a particularly close relationship.
Some scholars have positied that xurkitree are rotom's closest relative. Both have highly charged bodies, extradimensional origins, and similar diets. However, rotom can be found in incursions that xurkitree are not.
Finally, there are those who theorize that rotom is a missing link between machine and spectral pokémon. In some time and place, rotom may have evolved to be permanently linked to their appliances and add generators to support their continued life. Eating silica would keep their body going indefinitely. This would also explain the rather sudden appearance of terrestrial machine pokémon in the early 1900s. All older machine pokémon are extraterrestrial. Of course, steel-based machines are quite similar to the mineral pokémon that have existed for millions of years. Gigalith and klinklang sharing an ancestry is just as plausible, if not more so, than rotom and klinklang. The extraterrestrial machines such as metagross may have also assembled the first machine pokémon for their own purposes.
For now scientists have nothing but speculation on where rotom originated from. Perhaps in time the answer may come to us, either from the minds of this world or another.