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Rotom's Status as a Legendary

Pokemon.com has finally settled the debate: Rotom is not a legendary Pokemon. Now, Pokemon fans can sleep safely in their beds, unplagued by impertinent thoughts of Rotom…

…or can they?

Rotom is quite an oddball, fitting not into legendary Pokemon, but not really like the rest of the Pokemon, either. For quite a while, Pokemon fans debated over Rotom’s status. There was quite a bit of conflicting evidence, though it seemed that the “Rotom ain’t no legend’ry” crowd had stronger proof. When Pokemon.com came out with that mailbag, the debate was settled, tucked away into a neat little corner, and never looked at seriously again.

I can’t help but feel that there’s something odd about this whole situation. Rotom, though not a legendary Pokemon, seems to have been created almost as if to lure people into thinking that it is a Pokemon.

The Evidence

What was it that deluded Pokemon fans into believing Rotom was a legendary? Quite a few things, in fact.

It was often noted that Rotom, when encountered, had the legendary Pokemon theme. There was no non-legendary Pokemon that had that theme (although legends have certainly lacked a theme, as demonstrated by Mesprit and Cresselia), so why would Rotom needlessly have it?

Another thing not oft noted is the way the game reacts upon finding Rotom. The perspective of the camera goes around the TV… sort of like when finding a legendary Pokemon. Once again, no other non-legendary Pokemon has this trait.

Rotom could be taken for a legendary when found by first-time players; it is unique, after all. If it sounds like a legendary and it looks like a legendary, then it’s a legendary, right? Who would try to breed Rotom with a Ditto? Rotom can breed, but it’s not something first-time players would try.

Platinum added yet another spin to this story. Rotom has its own event. Events were reserved only for Legendary Pokemon, excluding Pokemon with crazy-special moves they couldn’t normally learn. When’s the last time there was an event for a Psyduck? This was awfully suspicious, and further supplemented by what the event unlocked – Rotom was a Pokemon with a mysterious past! It is quite heavily implied that Charon own Rotom, and that there was debate about whether or not Rotom was a Pokemon at all. Rotom then ran away and everybody (except Charon) stopped caring. Angsty past? Rotom’s as legendary as a DS is Nintendo!

There were other small pieces of evidence that seemed to point towards Rotom as a legendary; a Pokemon guide (the ultimate Pokemon handbook) referred to Rotom as a legendary. It was banned from an official Japanese tournament held in 2008 due to the special status of the alternate forms as event-exclusive Pokémon.

Now, a lot of this can be refuted. Shaymin and Cresselia didn't have the legendary theme, but were still officially legends. Music wasn't enough to prove it. The developers wanted to make fighting Rotom fun, which is why the perspective swivels. It is essentially the Fourth Gen's version of Snorlax/Sudowoodo/Kecleon, only it didn't block your path. Rotom can breed, so it is not unique. The only other breeding legendary is Manaphy, and it only breeds Phione, not more Manaphy. Rotom had an event because GameFREAK had an idea, not because it was a particularly special Pokemon. Third party handbooks like the Ultimate Pokemon Handbook are typically full of errors; after all, the Ultimate Pokemon Handbook didn't even put Darkrai as a legend, and Shaymin wasn't mentioned. As for the Japanese competition, all event Pokemon are banned, and Rotom just happens to have an event. It doesn't have stellar stats, it doesn't have an amazing ability, and it doesn't have any great myth. Rotom's legendariness is debatable.

I find this off. Rotom is amazingly special for a non-legendary Pokemon. What other Pokemon has had this same treatment? I think that Rotom is a faux-legendary, a little joke by GameFREAK to make us all squabble about Pokemon even more. Why else would they plant several misleading clues like the Legendary music, or give Rotom an event? It seems to me that they wanted to mess around with us and did that on purpose. Rotom is not a legendary, but it was crafted to be like one, which is why I dub it a faux-legendary.