novelGlobal Chapter 562 - 560
Chapter 562 - 560
Rotom found it hard to describe what losing felt like, because since the day it was born, it had barely ever battled at all. It had always been much better at pranks.In the past, there hadn't been any appliances with special motors that could let it change forms, so for a very long time, Rotom had existed in its ordinary state.
The girl's words made it remember the past all over again. It was strange enough that even a ghost could have something like a life-flashing-before-your-eyes moment. It had been born in a city drenched in sunlight, yet just like that boy, it had spent its days shut away in a dark room with no light at all.
But that was okay.
It could create light.
It could shine.
So it could light up his world too.
If he hated the sun, then it would become his sun instead.
But when had he left that place?
He had said goodbye to it, and after that, a group of people who wanted to study it had appeared. Rotom had felt sorrow, confusion, helplessness, fear, anger. All kinds of emotions had churned through its heart, until one by one they faded away.
All that remained was the purest, most basic feeling of all.
"Lo-lo-tom!"
I lost!
That was what Rotom thought as it fell to the floor with a sad expression.
Blizzard's secondary effect had frozen it solid, preventing it from zipping around in its plasma state anymore. Blizzard has a chance to freeze the target, and Heart Swap and Secret Key are the official English names for Manaphy's signature move and the Sinnoh event item tied to Rotom's forms. Rotom's appliance forms are officially Heat Rotom, Wash Rotom, Frost Rotom, Fan Rotom, and Mow Rotom. (Bulbapedia)
In Dawn's hand was a special pink Poké Ball.
A Heal Ball.
A Pokémon caught in a Heal Ball has its HP and status conditions fully restored upon capture.
After thinking it over, Dawn had decided this was the right Ball to use. Healing meant a new beginning.
So when the Heal Ball was thrown, granting Rotom a kind of rebirth, the Plasma Pokémon burst right back out of it in a flash, wearing a strange little smile as it quietly looked at Dawn.
Not just Dawn.
It was also looking at the glow coming from inside Dawn's backpack.
"The Prince!" Dawn cried. She had noticed her bag was glowing too. The light was so strong it spilled out into the room itself, and a cheerful little call rang through her mind.
She had gotten the Egg in Jubilife City, and had only walked as far as Eterna Forest. Sure, they had made a slight detour to the Valley Windworks and the flower fields along the way, but in terms of steps, it still didn't feel like enough for the Prince to hatch.
And yet, as though in answer to Dawn's resolute heart and Rotom's tangled mix of joy and wistfulness...
The moment Dawn took the Egg out of its container, brilliant radiance burst forth like a sun, lighting up the eerie manor. From the blue gemstone-like Egg, two antennae stretched out, and a blue Prince was born smiling, eyes still closed.
Then it slowly opened them.
"Mana~"
Like a newborn baby, Manaphy rested against Dawn's chest in her arms. The image was almost identical to the scene from the movie where May held Manaphy.
And yet, this first Prince seemed unusually intelligent. It was not blank or dazed at all. Instead, it seemed as though it had long understood everything outside the Egg. It didn't cry or fuss. It only smiled and looked around, giving cheerful little calls as though greeting everyone.
Among Pokémon hatched from Eggs, that too was something very unusual.
"That was a Pokémon Egg?!" Gardenia stared at the newly hatched Manaphy in disbelief. "So you were carrying something like that in your backpack this whole time? But what kind of Pokémon is this? I've never seen one before."
"Blue skin... it looks like it should be a Water-type Pokémon? It's not a Grass-type, but... wow, it's adorable!"
"Mana!" Manaphy raised its tiny hand, the antennae on its head swaying back and forth. After greeting everyone, the Prince turned toward Dawn and babbled something to her in a voice that sounded almost like a baby trying to speak.
"Shi-shi-kari...!"
Then Manaphy laughed happily.
"How did the Egg hatch this fast? I haven't even done that much yet..."
Dawn found it strange too. It really did feel like a miracle.
Of course, Manaphy's Egg had been stored in a small container, so Dawn hadn't been able to wipe it down and care for it constantly like a normal Egg. Hikaru gave a light cough.
"Some people can hatch and raise Pokémon Eggs just by carrying them around. There are even cases where an Egg hatches during battle and the newborn Pokémon joins the fight right away."
"And among Legendary Pokémon, Manaphy is said to have one of the shortest hatch cycles."
In the games, hatching Eggs was just a matter of walking enough steps. But in the real world, raising an Egg took a great deal of skill. There was a reason not just anyone could open a Pokémon Day Care or call themselves a Pokémon Breeder.
"Things a Pokémon experiences while still inside the Egg can be remembered," Hikaru continued. "If it undergoes a major stimulus, that can affect its personality and behavior after birth. It's even said that Pokémon hatched by people with a talent for hatching tend to resemble their hatcher in personality and behavioral patterns."
"At the same time, keeping an Egg near energetic Pokémon helps it hatch. And if one of the Pokémon traveling with you has the Ability Flame Body or Magma Armor, the Egg hatches even faster." Flame Body and Magma Armor are the official English Ability names, and both are documented as helping Eggs hatch faster outside battle. (Bulbapedia)
"Some Pokémon, when they hatch, treat the first person they see as their mother... but as for the Prince, it had already decided that you were its mother long ago."
Gold's Togepi and Pichu had both hatched from their Eggs already capable of intense battle, without the usual cluelessness of baby Pokémon. That was because Gold's influence had already reached them while they were still inside the Egg, letting them understand the outside world to a certain extent.
Rotom stared at Manaphy, and a strange emotion welled up inside it.
Right.
That's it.
It glanced again at Dawn, holding Manaphy in her arms.
This girl...
That glow of hers was so bright and happy...
The birth of a Pokémon, a new meeting between a Pokémon and a human - Manaphy's arrival made Rotom think back to itself many years ago.
Seventeen years, maybe.
Back then, it and Cyrus had been just as happy. They had believed they would always stay together, that those joyful days would last forever.
But why had they ended up separating in the end?
That loneliness had gone on for such a long, long time.
"To be born with your friend, or to grow up alongside them, is a happy thing."
Rotom heard Hikaru's words. It stared blankly at the strange backpacker for a moment, then smiled.
So that was it.
You people... you're really good people.
Just like the dearest friend in my memories.
To a ghost, time means nothing.
But to humans, time is precious.
That girl can bring light into the world. So that's why. She's the same kind of person as Cyrus.
And yet... she's also different.
And so much time has already passed.
Manaphy smiled. It sensed what was in Rotom's heart, and the antennae on its head suddenly glowed red.
That light connected Rotom and Dawn, and in that instant, the two of them switched hearts.
"Heart Swap!"
Hikaru looked at the bizarre noises coming from "Dawn" and "Rotom," whose hearts had been exchanged, and told them not to panic.
"That's Manaphy's move. Remember what I told you? The Prince of the Sea is born with the power to unite Pokémon and exchange hearts. By swapping hearts, the distance between humans and Pokémon can disappear."
"It'll wear off after a while. Though if they get too far apart, who knows what might happen."
Before Generation VII, Heart Swap was Manaphy's signature move. (Bulbapedia)
"A human becomes a Pokémon. A Pokémon becomes a human."
Rotom's mouth produced Dawn's voice. Hearing human speech come out of Rotom made Hikaru think of the Rotom Pokédex.
Because Porygon had effectively been banned from the series and had ended up taking the blame for Pikachu, there might once have been some intention for Rotom to replace it, or perhaps act as a kind of upgraded mysterious counterpart. After all, Rotom even used the same kind of battle theme music as Legendary Pokémon.
But as Rotom became more common and was successfully incorporated into all kinds of technology, its role changed completely.
It stopped being just a Pokémon and became more like a companion.
Something like the Rotom Pokédex, which could converse with humans and had a vivid, assertive personality, felt much more alive than a simple piece of AI.
Meanwhile, products like the Porygon Phone only appeared in side material like Pokémon Masters.
Then the red light above Manaphy's head flashed again, and the switched hearts were restored to their original bodies.
After that brief, bizarre experience, Dawn and Rotom looked at each other.
Dawn held Manaphy close.
"Even if it was only for a moment, I think I understood how you felt. Hiding away in this ghost-filled manor because you couldn't appear in front of humans... waiting for the day the sunlight would shine on you again..."
"Loto~" A strange smile appeared on Rotom's face. It was always cheerful, but after the Heart Swap, it now felt that following this girl might really lead to something good.
Hikaru translated, "It says this light is dazzling. Brighter than a light bulb. Pure and warm, like the sun."
"It hasn't seen that kind of light in a very long time. So it believes in you."
"Yeah. You could call this a case of the machine spirit rejoicing."
Not "machine spirit" in the sense of pretending machines have souls.
No, this machine actually had a soul.
As long as you could make the machine spirit happy, things like self-running washing machines, endlessly baking cookies, automatic lawn-trimming blowers, and machines that never overheated were all child's play.
And Rotom was the machine spirit, wasn't it?
Come to think of it, in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, there had even been a rather peculiar bit of dialogue between Cyrus from another world and the Rotom Pokédex.
Dawn smiled brightly.
"That's wonderful! I'm honored to have your approval. Please take care of me from now on, Rotom!"
"Loto~" Rotom's way of showing friendliness was usually to zap the other person with electricity as it talked to them. It had been about to do exactly that, but then it suddenly remembered the boy from long ago.
Back then, it had attacked him with electricity, and that had made him search all over for it. That hadn't been the right thing to do.
So Rotom held back its lightning.
Instead, Dawn reached out and touched Rotom's body first.
Electricity crackled through Dawn's body. Rotom panicked for a second, but quickly realized the girl in front of it seemed completely fine. It was stunned, and immediately understood something important.
I see. That's it.
You and that boy from before are alike in some ways... but different in others too.
It's not just your Pokémon that aren't afraid of electricity.
Even as a human, you barely react to it!
"Eh, I got shocked by another Rotom before, so this doesn't feel too bad," Dawn said.
"Lo-Loto?!"
Hey, hey, this isn't a matter of "not too bad"!
This is lightning!
Dawn's casual comment made Rotom feel like the girl in front of it was barely human at all.
So that's how it is.
You're Super Dawn, aren't you?
To be fair, both game Dawn and anime Dawn had always had unusually high resistance to electricity. In the anime, when she was still in kindergarten, she had once been shocked at the same time by Plusle and Minun. And the only result of that huge surge of electricity was that Dawn got a frizzy "electro perm" hairstyle.
Aside from earning her the nickname "Shiny Dawn," it hadn't done any real damage to her body at all.
Humans in the Pokémon world, especially certain individuals, were just absurdly strong.
Hikaru said, "Now that Rotom has joined the team, it's time to give you the important item."
"Rotom is a Pokémon that changes forms based on the appliances it possesses, and those appliances are products fitted with special motors, all developed by Team Galactic. Look. There's something near the television."
Hikaru spotted a rusted item lying on the ground. It was the Secret Key that could be obtained in the Old Chateau. In Platinum, it originally required a distribution event, but in the Diamond and Pearl remakes and in the manga, the key seemed to simply be located inside the manor. The official English item name is Secret Key. (Bulbapedia)
"This Secret Key opens a certain room in the Team Galactic Eterna Building. Inside are special appliances that let Rotom change forms. And their quality is extremely reliable, nothing like the low-grade junk on the market."
"While we're at it, let me show you and Rotom what those forms look like."
At Hikaru's summons, little Rotom from the Capture Styler zipped out with a gleeful laugh. Capture Styler is the official English name for the Pokémon Ranger device. (Bulbapedia)
The manor's Rotom was stunned the moment it saw another member of its species.
Huh? Why does it have the same face as me?!
It had gone years and years without seeing another Rotom.
Where had this one come from?!
"There used to be only one Rotom in Sinnoh, and that was you," Hikaru said. "But some Rotom come here from the spirit world. In other words, over these past dozen or so years, many new Rotom have already been born."
"Little Rotom, switch forms!"
Using the C-Gear, Hikaru summoned several machines. Little Rotom cackled mischievously, then transformed into a series of different forms.
"Fan, Mow, Heat, Frost, and Wash. Those are the names of its different forms. Once it enters an appliance with a special motor, its abilities rise dramatically. Its Special Attack power, defenses, and Speed all increase noticeably!"
"There are currently five available forms. After transforming, Rotom also gains different Abilities and types. It's a very rare Pokémon that can change its typing. It keeps its Electric type while replacing its Ghost type with Flying, Grass, Fire, Ice, or Water depending on the appliance, and it learns a matching move of that type as well."
Competitive players had long given Rotom nicknames like fan machine, lawn mower, oven, fridge, and washing machine. That was because Wash Rotom had been so absurdly strong for so long, thanks to its nearly perfect balance of defense, offense, and disruption, that the other forms all got casually shortened with "-tom appliance" style nicknames following the lead of the washing machine form.
Still, Heat Rotom had also enjoyed its own era of glory, and could more or less hold its own against Wash Rotom.
That said, when these forms first appeared during the Platinum era, Rotom's typing didn't actually change. At that point, the strongest one was arguably Frost Rotom, because it gained the Electric-Ice offensive coverage without having to suffer Ice-type defensive weaknesses.
"Loto~"
"Lohehehe~"
Wash-form little Rotom was already chatting with Dawn's Rotom about the finer points of form-changing. After all, this Rotom hadn't changed forms in more than ten years. It was practically an old-timer by now. As technology advanced, more machines would surely appear in the future, and it would need to keep up with the times.
Hikaru even found himself thinking that if Cyrus ever returned to normal, it might be even more interesting to tell him about the existence of the Rotom Pokédex outright.
Instead of Clemont inventing the Rotom Pokédex, what if Cyrus created it?
It might turn out a bit like a philosopher.
Wouldn't that just fast-forward straight into the Rainbow Rocket plot from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon?
"Now that you have form-changing, you should test it in real battle." Hikaru turned toward the still somewhat dazed Gardenia. "For the Gym battle later, how about using Rotom and the Prince in actual combat?"
Dawn nodded, eyes shining with anticipation.
"That's exactly what I was thinking! And the Prince... the Prince seems excited to show what it can do too!"
"Ma-na~"
Manaphy flapped its little arms. Though it had only just been born, it actually understood everything.
The Hero of the Sea should fight side by side with the Prince of the Sea. That was what Manaphy had been hoping for. It had been born precisely for this moment, to make Dawn stronger, to answer that emotion and that determination.
"Gym battle?" Gardenia blinked, then stared in shock. "Wait. You're a Gym Challenger? Seriously?"
"You're planning to use Rotom and this Pokémon called the Prince against me?"
"Haaah... I know I'm supposed to say something cool at a moment like this, but suddenly I'm feeling a lot of pressure."
Gardenia's catchphrase was to be "straight to the point," and in the anime she was even jokingly branded a "master of dodging," one of the great forces responsible for Turtwig eventually turning into what fans mocked as "jobber Torterra." After all, her Turtwig had been very fast, which led Ash to try emphasizing speed with his own Turtwig too.
Looking at later generations, that idea wasn't necessarily awful. But in Generation IV, it came with a lot of problems.
"But I'm a Grass-type Gym Leader," Gardenia said. "If you battle me using Water-type Pokémon, that puts you at a huge disadvantage."
Then she noticed Hikaru's Rotom switch into its oven form, and instantly fell speechless.
"How can a Pokémon exist that changes its type and moves just by entering an appliance? That's completely unfair! Sure, Grass-type Pokémon do have a lot of weaknesses. But I'll have you know that alone doesn't decide a battle!"
"All right! Anyway! The mystery of the Old Chateau ghosts is completely solved now! So let's go. Let's get back to Eterna City right now. Come on, come on!"
No matter how cute or interesting Ghost-type Pokémon might be, Gardenia was still terrified of ghosts. And that went double for the fact that the manor contained two actual human ghosts.
It was like Misty being afraid of and disgusted by Bug-type Pokémon. No matter how cute they were, "a bug is still a bug," as she famously said.
"All right, but before we leave, we still need to check the next room," Hikaru said, preparing to retrieve the Dread Plate. Then he noticed Dawn looking thoughtful.
"What's wrong?"
"I..." Dawn seemed to be mulling over something. Holding Manaphy, she finally seemed to make up her mind.
"In Eterna City... I want to battle you. Please. Say yes!"
"Oh? So you're finally leaving?"
In the entrance hall of the manor, the elderly ghost stood with his hands behind his back, watching them emerge from the room with the old television.
"So, the Pokémon hiding inside that appliance has been caught after all."
"It seemed to have a wish that was never fulfilled. Given that, I suppose this outcome is pretty good for it."
At the same time, the old ghost looked helplessly toward his granddaughter.
The ghost girl in the white dress had already woken up, and was currently talking with Flutter Mane. Though human ghosts and Ghost-type Pokémon were different, it was still strangely wonderful that whether alive or dead, humans could talk and even play with Pokémon.
"The strong Pokémon Trainers are coming out!"
The white-dressed girl said that, but when Dawn approached, she instinctively drifted back half a step.
Then she put on an awkward but polite smile.
It was the first time in her afterlife that a living person had scared her.
Still, there was nothing to be done about that, was there?
From the tone of the "giant Misdreavus" at her side, she had already learned that the girl's strength wasn't even the greatest among them. The truly outrageous one was the young man with the giant backpack.
You say he's a Pokémon Trainer?
Mm-hmm, yes, I understand that part.
But what do you mean he can send a whole crowd of Pokémon flying with one sword strike?
"Um..." the white-dressed girl said, looking at Dawn from a distance. Dawn felt pretty awkward too, but soon the ghost girl just started talking on her own.
"When I was alive, I came here chasing after a certain Pokémon. As for how I died... or how things became like this... I don't remember anymore."
"It seems that after becoming a spirit, you forget some things from when you were alive. Or maybe I was already dead while I was still chasing that Pokémon."
"Is being a Pokémon Trainer fun? Beating Pokémon barehanded, fighting wild Pokémon in situations where you could lose your life at any moment, and yet you're not afraid at all... Is it because you have that absurd strength?"
Dawn waved her hands frantically.
"No, no! Normal Pokémon Trainers battle together with their Pokémon. They don't fight Pokémon personally! That part was... um, please don't get the wrong idea!"
The white-dressed girl nodded thoughtfully.
"I see. I thought Pokémon Trainers were all people who could fight Pokémon with their bare hands. But you really are amazing."
"Um... could you give me a few of those Heavy Balls?"
Dawn blinked. "...I mean, I could, but what do you want them for?"
Her Heavy Balls had come from Hikaru too, and she even had the manual method to make them herself. Still, Dawn felt that compared to catching Pokémon, the things were basically just black iron hammers for smashing people.
So even if they couldn't be used properly as Poké Balls, that was fine. As long as they could open and close, they counted. After all, Pokémon could shrink down and climb inside on their own.
For the first time, the white-dressed girl's eyes truly lit up.
"When I was alive, I never became a Pokémon Trainer. But now that I'm dead, I suddenly realized something: dead people can't lose their lives anymore. So now I can become a Pokémon Trainer."
"Grandpa says it might be dangerous if I leave, because a medium might lay me to rest as a side job. But I still want to try being with Pokémon... not just playing with them, but becoming an actual ghost Trainer."
"Mm. There's another resident in this manor too. A Gengar moved in at some point, and it often scares people with us. It lives in the fifth room on the second floor and usually hides in the statues and paintings."
"I want to catch it! If I have one of those Balls, I can catch the Gengar that's always darting around and make it my partner!"
Dawn was stunned, but after thinking it over carefully, she murmured to herself:
"That actually makes a lot of sense..."
If you were alive, battling could put your life in danger. But once you were dead, there was no such concern. Maybe that was why the ghosts in this world didn't seem all that terrifying. Aside from liking to scare people...
Then what about the ghost house near Snowpoint City?
And the haunted inn in Canalave City?
Should she go visit those too?
Dawn glanced awkwardly at another item in her hand. It looked like some kind of printed card, but Hikaru had told her it was called a Member Card, and that it could open a door in Canalave City that had remained shut for fifty years, leading to an island where she could encounter the Mythical Pokémon Darkrai. The Member Card is the official English item name used to access the Harbor Inn in Canalave City, which leads to Newmoon Island and Darkrai. (Bulbapedia)
Still, it seemed that card had an appropriate time to be used. If Darkrai started giving the people of Canalave nightmares, then she should use the card to search for that ghostly inn.
And if she really couldn't find it... or if she was honestly too afraid of getting trapped in a nightmare...
Then maybe she could stop by Alamos Town first.
Use Darkrai to deal with Darkrai?
That sounded like something outrageous would happen.
Hikaru turned to the elderly ghost.
"It seems your granddaughter wants to become a ghost Trainer too. I should probably tell you properly about another ghost girl I once met."
The old ghost sighed.
"Hm... I already tried to talk her out of it. But after seeing that girl's strength, it seems she's been reminded of something from when she was alive. I can't do much about that now. I'll just have to prepare a few more Substitute dolls."
Dawn gave the ghost girl five of her Heavy Balls. Being a ghost, the girl could use spiritual power to make them float, and she instantly became excited, clearly unable to wait to head upstairs.
Right now.
Immediately.
"Thanks, Dawn! Once I've got a partner, I'll come battle you someday!"
"Gengar, Gengar! Good evening, Gengar! I've got Heavy Balls now! Gengar~ I'm coming to find you! Time to wake up!"
After the white-dressed girl floated up to the second floor, the group heard a loud roar from above.
"Geh-GENGAR?!"
What the hell?! Why are you making such a racket in the middle of the night?!
The Gengar, which had just stepped out of a second-floor room, was caught completely off guard and got smashed unconscious on the spot by a Heavy Ball.
A moment later, the ghost girl floated back out of the room, raising the Heavy Ball high overhead, overflowing with joy as though she had rediscovered the excitement she had once felt while alive.
"Look, look! Heavy Balls are amazing! It worked in one shot!"
"I caught Gengar!"
(End of Chapter)
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