PotW 49: Rotom, the Plasma Pokemon

[Roland Karloseth]

Rotom

"It's electric-like body can enter some kinds of machines and take control in order to make mischief."
-Pokemon Black Pokedex entry

Hey, everyone. Nice to see the PotW getting back on track. This week, We'll be taking a look at Rotom. There are only two pokemon in existence that can be either water, ice, grass, flying, electric, ghost, and fire type. Since Eevee does not have an evolution for flying and ghost, the only other pokemon with this type of versatility is Arceus, and well... he's an uber.

Rotom can be transformed in your pokemon Black and White game by taking it to shopping mall 9 on route 9. Once inside, at the back-right corner of he first floor is another room. Inside this room, there are boxes around with "various electronic devices" inside, and you will be prompted to let Rotom enter one of them. When Rotom enters one of them, he will attempt to learn a special move that can only be known when in that form. The moves are:

Frost Rotom: Blizzard
Heat Rotom: Overheat
Mow Rotom: Leaf Storm
Wash Rotom: Hydro Pump
Fan Rotom: Air Slash

In 4th generation pokemon games, no matter what form Rotom was in, he was always Electric/Ghost type. With the introduction of 5th gen, this is no longer the case. Rotom will now lose his ghost typing in favor of the type you have chosen for his form. This means that Heat Rotom will be Electric/Fire, Frost Rotom will be Electric/Ice, Fan Rotom will be Electric/Flying, Mow Rotom will be Electric/Grass, and Wash Rotom will be Electric/Water.

Well, lets take a look at the base stats of this pokemon.

Normal Form Rotom
HP: 50
Attack: 50
Defense: 77
Special Attack: 95
Special Defense: 77
Speed: 91

Alternate Rotom Forms
HP: 50
Attack: 65
Defense: 107
Special Attack: 105
Special Defense: 107
Speed: 86

Rotom has obtained a few good things with 5th gen. Unfortunately, with every pokemon, there is a good and bad thing about them. Lets look at a few of the positive aspects of Rotom first:

STAB Volt Switch: With Rotom's not terrible special attack stat, this move is great to put on a leading scouter. Throw on a couple more moves for coverage and choice spec him and he's good to go. Prepare to sweep anything that comes in that Rotom can take down. If the opponent leads with something Rotom should be afraid of, Volt Switch out to still do some damage and get Rotom out of harms way.

Good move pool: Rotom has a fairly decent movepool, so you can choose from various moves to tweak Rotom just the way you like him. This of course is aside from the many forms he has.

Type Versatility: Don't like Rotom in one form because of the weaknesses that form has? A simple switch will give you a new type to learn. One EVed Rotom can be six different types.

Some of the downsides to having a Rotom are as follows:

Loss of Ghost typing: When Rotom loses its ghost typing, hit also loses the STAB for things like Shadow Ball. It also brings about a new set of weaknesses and resists for each form, and you lose the ability to block Rapid Spin.

4th gen only moves: Most, if not all, pokemon have this problem now that 5th gen is amongst us. Rotom did lose access to a few moves such as Pain Split, which (though unreliable) can be used to heal Rotom.

Well, that wraps up this PotW, everyone. I hope it was informative for everyone. I personally think Rotom is a great pokemon, and was surprised at myself for not having an EVed one until very recently.