There are seven known forms of Rotom to those in the Pokemon world. One is the basic form of Rotom, an Electric and Ghost type Pokemon that inhabits no objects. Another is an Electric and Water type Rotom that inhabits a washing machine; it has been dubbed Rotom-Wash by researchers. There is another that inhabits a lawnmower and takes on an Electric and Grass typing; researchers have dubbed the lawnmower Rotom as Rotom-Mow. The fan Rotom, dubbed Rotom-Fan, is an Electric and Flying type. The refrigerator Rotom is Rotom-Frost and is an Electric and Ice type. The last known form of Rotom, the oven form, is an Electric and Fire type Pokemon dubbed Rotom-Heat.

My goal for this research is to see if there are undiscovered forms of Rotom, to see if this Electric and Ghost type Pokemon can inhabit other objects and take on new types. I intend to conduct my research on a cell phone, a computer, a television, and a drill.

*****

A young man with black hair sat back in his chair and stretched. With a few clicks of his mouse, the document he had been writing had been saved and the document closed. He turned the computer off and moved to the kitchen.

Professor Sycamore was a Kalosian interested in researching the Rotom forms. As the region’s Pokemon professor, he was also in charge of making sure that new trainers got one of three starter Pokemon: Fennekin, Chespin, or Froakie. He was also well known by the Alolan Pokemon professor, Professor Kukui, who distributed the Rotom Pokedex to new Alolan trainers who were deserving of it. Sycamore had been the one to invent the Rotom Pokedex. That invention led to Sycamore wanting to do further research on the Rotom forms to try and discover a new form.

Over the course of the next few weeks, maybe less or maybe more, Sycamore hoped to have Rotom enter a cell phone, a computer, a television, and a drill and record the results. Those four objects were of the easiest access to him. This was all trial and error, but he hoped that at least one would get him the result he desired.

Rotom-Cell Phone
My first trials were with the cell phone. It was a small device, but I figured it could work. If all else failed, it wouldn’t just be me that knew a Rotom wouldnt be able to transfer into a cell phone. The world would know too.

We began the trials after breakfast. I presented Rotom the cell phone on a table. It was a small black device, and the Pokemon could easily see the screen.

I watched Rotom slip into the screen with ease. It lit up for a moment, but Rotom slid back out with a frown. It shook its head. The cell phone trial looked to be a failure. Rotom appeared to be unharmed by it. Perhaps the device was too small for Rotom to really deal with.

Rotom-Computer
I found an old computer in the store room and pulled it out after lunch. Before I even considered allowing Rotom into the computer, I tested it to make sure it worked. I wasn’t sure if Rotom would be able to inhabit a broken device. There was a broken computer in the store room as well that I pulled out, but we would do two separate trials here: one with the working computer and one with the broken. They would likely yield different results.

We tried the working computer first. Once it was booted up (which was a slow process because it was an old, outdated computer that had seen its fair share of use before we discarded it), Rotom slid into the screen. It took on a bright light for a moment, but Rotom slid back out. It wore the same expression as when it slid out of the cell phone: rejection, sadness. Another failed trial.

We tried the broken computer next. That one didn’t boot up at all, so Rotom was unable to easily slide into the screen. It had to put some of its own electrical energy into the screen before it could slide in. Once inside, the screen lit up in Rotom’s colors, electric blue and orange, and seeing those colors made a smile light up my face. Was this going to be a success? Had I actually found another object Rotom could inhabit?

A few sparks flew from the computer. I flinched when I saw them, and the smile was wiped off of my face. This didn’t happen with other objects. It never happened with a refrigerator or a fan or any of the other known objects a Rotom could inhabit. This was odd. Something was wrong.

Rotom flew out of the computer screen and landed on the ground. It was twitching a bit, but it weakly tried to float up into the air. I rushed over to it and picked it up in my arms. Rotom remained awake as I rushed him to Lumiose’s Pokemon Center.

*****

Sycamore waited for a couple weeks after the incident with the broken computer. Rotom stayed overnight at the Pokemon Center to ensure that he was alright. When Kalos’ Pokemon Professor went to pick up his Rotom at the center, the Electric and Ghost type Pokemon was in high spirits. It acted as if nothing had happened at all. Still, Sycamore was sure that Rotom had memories of the event, as the Pokemon was hesitant around computers, especially any that would break.

Sycamore spent the two weeks he and Rotom had taken off from the research to organize his notes. He was able to type up his notes on the cell phone and computer experiments and note what all had happened to Rotom. The Nurse Joy at the Lumiose Pokemon Center said all of Rotom’s tests came back fine and there were no abnormalities. Sycamore was glad to hear that.

The two weeks off gave Sycamore a chance to gather the last objects he would need for his experiment. He was able to find a broken cell phone to use, and he wanted to see if a broken cell phone would yield the same results as a broken computer. Sycamore believed it would, but he didn’t want to just assume that would happen.

He was also able to find a working television and a broken television. Both were flat screen televisions, but the broken one was from Hotel Richissime and the working one was from the Looker Bureau. Apparently the Looker Bureau had raided a home that supposedly had some stolen possessions, but the owner of the television had already invested in a new one by the time the culprit and the stolen goods had been found. Because they weren’t using the working television, the Looker Bureau gave up the television in exchange for a few free meals at Sushi High Roller.

The last objects Sycamore needed were drills. He had difficulty finding a working one that he could just borrow from someone. He already had a broken one in his store room, so he just needed one that worked. Why so many broken objects found a home in there was beyond him, but having them there was useful for the time being so he couldn’t really complain much. After asking around most, if not all, of Lumiose City (including the city’s gym leader, Clemont) and receiving no good results, the Kalos Professor caved in and bought a brand new one. It would probably end up in the store room like all of the other objects he didn’t use, but that was okay. He would be able to complete his experiment now, and that was what mattered.

*****

Rotom-Cell Phone
Not much change from earlier tests. Rotom was not harmed by the broken cell phone. The same process was used when the Pokemon entered the phone as when it entered the computer. The major difference was that the phone did not reject Rotom as the computer had. Rotom simply slipped back in and slipped back out with that same look of disappointment it showed when the tests with the working cell phone and working computer had failed.

I have concluded that the smaller broken objects should not harm Rotom. I cannot say the same for larger broken objects, but after seeing what happened to Rotom after the broken computer experiment, I’m hesitant to have Rotom try the broken television. I hope the results are the same as the broken computer if they have to be bad instead of the results being worse.

Rotom-Television
No major issues with the working television. This was a quick test, however, as Rotom slipped in and out within a minute. It was as if it had already tried to inhabit a television before and failed. It looked at me as if it had indeed tried this before and failed, but it gave a little shrug and tried anyways for my sake.

The broken television provided vastly different, and vastly worse, results than I’d hoped.

CC: 8250
Target: Rotom
Notes: I did it for invitational, tbh, but this is nowhere near done lmao.