Since Halloween is fast approaching I’m doing a post on another one of the fourth generation’s most unique Ghost Pokemon. Presenting the mischievous Electric/Ghost hybrid, Rotom.
Rotom is based on the classic poltergeist and is able to possess pieces of electronic equipment in order to play all sorts of tricks. And it is this ability that allows it to take on five other forms, but more on that later. Though Rotom isn’t as malevolent as Ghost Pokemon like Spiritomb or Cofagrigus, its mischief can wreak some major havoc. Imagine what would happen of a Rotom got into your computer. At the very least you could kiss your next term paper goodbye if you didn’t have the foresight to back it up. Rotom are also fairly small in their true form. Not as small as Joltik, but pretty darn close. It’s kind of interesting that both Pokemon are also Electric-types.
In the Games: In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, there is only one place to find Rotom, and that’s in an old abandoned mansion in Eterna Forest known as the Old Chateau. The Old Chateau itself is an interesting location, one worthy of its own post actually. In addition to housing Ghost Pokemon, the Old Chateau is also home to actual human ghosts. This is the first time in any game where this phenomenon has occurred. There are at least two, a little girl and an old man who was presumably the butler when he was still alive.
These two ghosts aren’t even approachable in the games. They often leave the screen and vanish not long after the player sees them. And while they look like normal NPCs, it’s clear from the way they move that these people not of this world. One has to wonder just what caused these two people to become ghosts. Anyway, in one of the rooms in the chateau there’s an old T.V. set. If you go up and interact with the set at night a Rotom will jump out of the screen and attack. This is the only Rotom in the game, and if you want to get another one you’ll have to breed the one you have. A Ditto will be required for that task, as Rotom is a genderless Pokemon.
The Form Factor: When Pokemon Platinum came out, Rotom gained five new forms. These forms are obtained by have Rotom possess a special appliance. If Rotom possesses a fan it becomes Fan Rotom, if it possesses a refrigerator it becomes Frost Rotom, if possessing a small oven it becomes Heat Rotom, by possessing a lawnmower it becomes Mow Rotom, and lastly by possessing a washing machine it becomes Wash Rotom. Mow Rotom is my personal favorite of these forms. I just love that huge fanged grin it has in that form. Anyway, in the anime Rotom can take these forms by possessing any one of these appliances, but in the games a special set of these appliances is needed and can only be found in certain locations.
Like the Magnemite evolution lines, Rotom’s alternate forms went through a major type change. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, all of the forms were always Ghost/Electric-types. And the only change aside from stats that occurred was that Rotom learned a certain move based on the form it took. For example, after becoming Mow Rotom it would learn the Grass-type move, Leaf Storm. But when Generation Five rolled around Rotom’s type would change based on its form. For example Mow Rotom would become a Grass/Electric Pokemon instead of a Ghost/Electric-type. Aside from Magnemite and Magneton, this is the only time such a significant type change has occurred.
That about wraps it up for this week. For next week’s post I plan to discuss a very old favorite of mine, and when I stay old I mean prehistoric. So until then stay tuned.
