Rotom-Based Technology is a Terrible Idea
The Rotom Phone (Art from the official Pokémon Sword and Shield website)
The World of Pokémon is as wondrous as it is bizarre, and you needn’t look further than Rotom, a devious little ball of plasma capable of inhabiting electronic devices, to prove my point. While this peculiar power was highlighted in its debut with 2007’s Diamond and Pearl games, the subsequent Sinnoh installment, Pokémon Platinum, would showcase Rotom’s abilities by introducing five unique forms, each the result of the plasmatic punk possessing a different gadget.
Rotom (center) and its five alternate forms introduced in Pokémon Platinum (Art by Ken Sugimori, sourced from Bulbagarden)
What began as a cool gimmick, however, has suddenly spiraled into something more. The Sun and Moon games of 2017 introduced the Rotom Pokedex, a device that explicitly demands the inhabitance of a Rotom to function and, in turn, allows the Rotom to participate in your adventures as a navigator and travel buddy. 2019’s Sword and Shield games upped the ante even further, taking that same technology and applying it on a humongous scale; now, Rotom are in camera drones, PC boxes, and, most notably, smartphones.
Now, an ordinary, rational person would probably use this Rotom-ification of Pokemon’s infrastructure as a means of critiquing similar guide characters that crop up across all gamekind, or simply using it as an example of a previously blogged-about trend of modern Pokemon adventures feeling more like tourism trips than proper journeys. Maybe they’d focus solely on how saturating the world with Rotom-related things makes the Pokemon itself feel less unique.
But if you’ve been here long enough, you won’t be surprised that I’ll instead be wasting time with a semi-satirical ramble about how utilizing Rotom to such an extent is an in-universe recipe for disaster.
Rotom are Natural Troublemakers
Rotom? In MY digital infrastructure!? It’s more likely than you think! (Screenshot from Pokémon Twilight Wings Episode 5: The Assistant. Click here for the exact timestamp)
Let’s start by beholding the Pokedex entries of Rotom in its various forms. I’m sure you’ll recognize a pattern very quickly…
“This form of Rotom enjoys making mischief by turning up the heat. It will gleefully burn your favorite outfit.” –Heat Rotom’s Shield Pokédex entry
“This form of Rotom enjoys coming up with water-based pranks. Be careful with it if you don’t want your room flooded.” —Wash Rotom’s Sword Pokédex entry
“When it’s like this, Rotom likes to play pranks that are freezing cold. You may find it’s turned the bath you just filled to solid ice!” —Frost Rotom’s Shield Pokédex entry
“In this form, Rotom applies its new power over wind to its love of pranks. It will happily blow away any important documents you can find.” —Fan Rotom’s Sword Pokédex entry
“In this form, Rotom focuses its antics on plants. Any flowers you were growing are going to get mowed down.” —Mow Rotom’s Shield Pokédex entry
Not much of a helper, that Rotom; it clearly prioritizes prank-pulling and chaos-sowing over being any kind of actual helper by default.
Now, let’s imagine that same chaotic energy transplanted into everyday life as, say, a phone or computer. Important zoom calls and interviews crashed, metaphorically if not literally. Embarrassing photos taken and posted when you least expect it. Degenerate videos in your search history and timeline to make you look like a pervy buffoon. It even has physical control of the device as well, so even if your devices are digitally secure, a Rotom could just fly away, bury itself in the sofa cushions when you need to make a call, or just fry itself in a glass of water if it thought it was funny.
It only gets worse was we start looking at using Rotom on a much grander scale. As shown in Pokémon Twilight Wings Episode 5, Rotom are even capable of infiltrating big business security systems (likely without the need of the specialized motor that enables it to make use of its standard forms)! With that kind of power, you can wreak all sorts of habit wherever you can squeeze yourself: hijacking TV networks, leaking confidential data, releasing people’s Pokémon remotely (Pokémon’s Black and White Versions show that groups like Team Plasma are capable of such feats themselves)—the possibilities are as wide as a Rotom’s imagination, and as vulnerable as your technology is to it.
That same imagination and destructive potential rests quite literally in the palm of your hand as Rotom lives the life of what is practically a sentient computer virus.
But all this is assuming Rotom is just being Rotom, doing what it does entirely of its own volition…
Because you don’t technically OWN that Rotom, do you?
Rotom Phones are a Threat to Your Privacy
Don’t forget the time a Rotom glitched Pokemon’s main website during Sirftech’d’s reveal. (Old photo from Pokémon Sword and Shield website, sourced from IGN’s article on the topic)
Sure, you may have gotten a Rotom Phone for your birthday or something, but that Rotom isn’t necessarily one of your Pokémon, or else it’d be one of the six Pokémon on your team, and your starter wouldn’t technically be your first Pokémon. In the best-case scenario, any Rotom causing trouble is just a “wild” specimen doing as it pleases and/or appearing content to be your phone friend, if it isn’t a phone phony doing any of the shenanigans that I’ve previously mentioned.
But in the worst-case scenario, that Rotom could be a living wiretap, sending everything it sees and is used for to someone else. Maybe they’re sending the info to the phone company so that they can improve their algorithms, if they’re not selling it straight to the government or International Police. Maybe they’ve been coerced with berries or Poképuffs by scammers and/or hackers to steel your financial details or forge fake evidence to ruin your life.
Given they seem content to be agents of chaos in their own right, I’ll admit that the odds of a Rotom participating in such devilishness, while possible, is less likely than a Rotom just wanting to mess with you. Nonetheless, that possibility must be addressed given that pretty much every known region of Pokémon tends to host at least one group of evildoers and/or rabble-rousers that could employ Rotom in their quests for whatever-domination.
It also highlights the simple truth behind why a Rotom might even be inclined to any kind of misdemeanors in the first place…
Good or Evil, Rotom is Still a Living Creature
Nobody would like it if they were sticking Pikachu into those smartphones, right?
(Source: Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary)
I may rebuke the thought of Rotoms being utilized as impetuses of advanced technologies, but that’s just because I’m aware of its natural proclivities. They do what they do because it’s in their nature, and through that lens, a different argument on the pro-Rotom side of things can also be presented.
Imagine yourself in a Rotom’s shoes. You have this incredible power to jump in and out of electronics. You could be having fun being a pesky poltergeist just doing cool stuff as a sentient microwave, fridge, etc. Instead, though, you’re stuck being a phone for some stuffy businessperson with boring calls up to their eyeballs, or a snotty brat who takes WAY too many selfies (and that’s to say nothing of whatever…naughtiness they might be getting into).
Rotoms shouldn’t be itemized to such an extent not only for the sake of safety and security, but for Rotom’s sake as well! It wants to be a free spirit, maybe even a pal or partner if it ends up getting caught! Becoming an on-demand service confined to a pocket, however, is just a buzzkill.
I know there’ll be people out there pointing to the Corviknight used to ferry people across the Galar Region, the Pokémon that help out at bakeries and other establishments, and/or perhaps that one Geodude that is used as a literal pickle stone and say “Hey! This isn’t an isolated case! Pokémon all over the place are subjected to the same kind of menial tasks!” To them, I’d say that there’s a difference between being with a dedicated partner/trainer with a job tailored to not only their specialties, but also their demeanors, and being crammed into a smartphone.
The only way I can see smartphone-bound Rotom happy with such a fate would be one where it is getting constant attention and rewards from its trainer, but we know that not every phone-stuck Rotom will be that lucky.
Conclusion
We know from official artwork and gameplay that the Rotom Phone will be returning in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which means it’s safe to expect other Rotom-utilizing technologies to be present as well. Hopefully now, though, you’ve begun to realize how bad of an idea it is to use such technology so precipitously, and are praying that the world of Pokémon is ready to deal with whatever malice- or whimsy-induced havoc they deign to unleash.
And in the meantime, I’ll stick with a Poryphone (or literally any other phone, honestly).