# Background [Rotom](https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/rotom), my favourite Pokémon. Ever since I heard about this mysterious ghost in the [Old Chateau](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Old_Chateau) I've been intrigued. My favourite type of Pokémon is the [Ghost](https://pokemondb.net/type/ghost) type. Ostensibly, Pokémon is aimed at children. But the series has grown up a bit with a millennial audience, and so the Ghost types have gotten more interesting with each generation - a fine balance between cutesy and horror. Especially the lore and Pokédex entries of [certain](https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/yamask#dex-flavor) Pokémon. So when I started playing Pokémon Platinum and hearing rumours that there was a haunted mansion with a hidden ghost-type Pokémon in it - I knew I had to find it. You've got to remember that this was 2007/2008 - the internet was very young, and we were still in the era where rumours and _"My cousin works at Nintendo"_ stories were everywhere. You found out about these events from hearsay. I feel like it was the first Pokémon I remember setting out to obtain that required these multiple steps, not just "complete the game, go to the end game zone". There might have been others before it, but for me this was the first one. So there I was, a young 18 year old me, walking around at night (the game had an internal clock and you had to walk around the haunted mansion at night), seeing all these weird haunting activity like the TVs turning on, spying ghostly children and an old man walking about... One TV screen flickered constantly. In Platinum this usually meant there was a show on that you could watch for in-game tips. I walked up to the brilliant white screen, my shadow behind me looming larger as I approached. I press A, and the static buzzed a high pitch scream. Then, out of the screen jumped... <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/sprites/master/sprites/pokemon/versions/generation-v/black-white/animated/479.gif" title="A wild Rotom appeared!" /> A mischievous ghost of an electric motor that haunts household appliances! # Why Rotom? Well, if the story above hadn't shown you how much I like Rotom, then maybe these points will. - It is an electric/ghost type - the only one with this type combination. - It's name is "Motor" backwards, which is so simple it is almost dumb, but it works so well as a name. - In each game, it can interact through special locations to change it's form and type into one of these special forms: - Heat Rotom - a microwave oven - Wash Rotom - a washing machine - Frost Rotom - a fridge - Fan Rotom - a desk fan - Mow Rotom - a lawnmower - These forms are so dumb but they also work really well - because they also change the typing to reflect the form. I.e. Heat Rotom, an oven, becomes a eletric/fire type. - Rotom also features in some games as a non-catchable Pokémon that aids the player: - In [Gen VII](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_VII) Rotom possess your Pokédex and talks to you throughout the game. - In [Gen VIII](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_VIII) and [Gen IX](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_IX) Rotom possess your phone and plays a similar role. - Rotom have also been seen to possess bikes, drones, and other devices. ## Other random trivia These other things make Rotom really unique: - When encountered in the Old Chateau, the Legendary Pokémon music plays, even though Rotom is not a legendary Pokémon. There are no other instances of this happening. - [Ken Sugimori](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ken_Sugimori) personally designed Rotom to be based on [Pulseman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulseman). # My shiny journey I've never caught a shiny Pokémon. Yes, really. I know what you're thinking. Surely, after over 25 years - I should have encountered _at least one_ shiny Pokémon. And you know what? I probably have. Here's the thing. Remember earlier, I mentioned about the whole hearsay era? I grew up in that - a time when information was unevenly distributed. I didn't know what a shiny Pokémon even was until 2008-ish. When I did find out, I vaguely recalled two instances where I had seen a little red star on a Pokémon and couldn't figure out what it meant. In my original copy of [Sapphire](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Ruby_and_Sapphire_Versions), my [Torchic](https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/torchic) and [Zigzagoon](https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/zigzagoon) both had it. Notice anything about those two Pokémon? Their shiny sprites are very subtle. I wouldn't have even noticed, playing on a crappy original [Game Boy Advance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Advance), often on the school playground, without a backlight. | Original | Shiny | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/sprites/master/sprites/pokemon/versions/generation-iii/emerald/255.png" title="Torchic" /><br> | <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/sprites/master/sprites/pokemon/versions/generation-iii/emerald/shiny/255.png" title="Torchic" /> | | <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/sprites/master/sprites/pokemon/versions/generation-iii/emerald/263.png" title="Zigzagoon" /><br> | <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/sprites/master/sprites/pokemon/versions/generation-iii/emerald/shiny/263.png" title="Zigzagoon" /><br> | You can probably guess what happened with these Pokémon? They were victims of the ol' resetting save files problem. I probably reset my copy of Pokémon Sapphire twenty times. So do I have any now? Yes, I do. But they're either from events, or from games like [Pokémon Go](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_GO) where the shiny odds are so low and all you do all day in that game is catch 'mons. So those don't count. I have never, until this day caught a shiny on a main series game through a random encounter or an egg. # Shiny hunting Rotom After being my favourite Pokémon for over 16 years, and having never obtained a shiny Pokémon on a main series game by myself, I decided in December 2024 I set myself a goal 2025: **Obtain a shiny Rotom** But, there are tonnes of ways and tonnes of [different odds](https://rotomlabs.net/shiny-rates) for catching and hatching shiny Pokémon. Which will I choose? I could just go for the easiest - using the [Masuda method](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Masuda_method) in a modern game like [Scarlet & Violet](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Scarlet_and_Violet). However, this feels cheap to me, and I don't know why. I think, I need to go back, as far as I reasonably can, to a point in time (and a game) that emphasises the importance of this Rotom. I could go straight back to my most recent Platinum [save](https://paulwrites.software/pokemon/games#Pok%C3%A9mon%20Platinum). However, I have moved the only Rotom I had on that save to my Pokémon Black [save](https://paulwrites.software/pokemon/games#Pok%C3%A9mon%20Black). I could start a brand new save, but my overall aim is to build an archive of completed games, and that would me resetting my Platinum progress, which I don't want to do. Hmm... Pokémon Black... I think I put more hours into that game than any other. And I am on track to do it again. My current goal is to complete the Unova Pokédex. It is also the most nostalgic game to me - the peak of my Pokémon journey was in 2009-2011 when I was at university in the week, and playing [Pokémon TCG](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Trading_Card_Game) on the weekends with my friends. Yes, I will do it on Pokémon Black. The Masuda method in Pokémon Black has [slightly better odds](https://rotomlabs.net/shiny-rates#black-white) than Platinum too, at 1 in 1365.75 chance of hatching a shiny Rotom. I am not sure if this was a programming oversight but it was [discovered by dataminers years ago](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Masuda_method#cite_note-8). As a time-poor Dad, this would help me a lot in my quest. So here I go, setting out on my quest. The current date is 20th December 2024. I wonder how long it'll take me before I see the elusive shiny Rotom... <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PokeAPI/sprites/master/sprites/pokemon/versions/generation-v/black-white/animated/shiny/479.gif" title="A shiny Rotom appeared!" /> # Current Progress - Start date: 20/12/2024 - Non-English language Ditto obtained: ✅ - Hatching started: ✅ - Eggs hatched: 63 - Last updated: 20/12/2024 - ⭐ Goal completed! ⭐ The [odds calculator](https://dazzabound.github.io/shiny-odds/) is really handy. ## Current goal: Completed! ## Updates ### 20/12/2024 - Started the journey, and wrote this article. - Posted on pkmnclassic.net forums to try and source a foreign-language Ditto. - In less than 30 minutes I was able to find a friendly community member who shared with me a Japanese language Ditto. - Started hatching! - Eggs hatched: 63 I GOT IT! ## Goal completed! On the 63rd egg hatched, I hatched my shiny Rotom! According to the Shiny Odds calculator, only 4.5% of trainers would have hatched a shiny at this rate. I'm really happy that it only took me one day - I'd say around 5 hours of hatching. I think my next goal will be to figure out a way to train Rotom up with good [EVs](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Effort_values) so he can become a key member of my forever team. Oh, and I'll also have to come up with a good nickname!