#I've been watching a lot of SuMo and I like Rotom

[pkmn-downtheline]

Just Numbers

“Wartortle. Poliwrath. Golisopod. Basculin. Slowbro…” Skye’s Rotom Dex listed off the names of each of the Pokemon before him, floating above their heads. He turned to Skye with a grin. “It’s a water Pokemon-palooza!”

“You bet!” Skye proclaimed, puffing out her chest. “These guys are gonna be my special strategy!” All of the Pokemon cheered in agreement.

Lizzie closed the book she had been skimming, raising a brow. “Special strategy? For what?”

Skye spun on her heel to face her, beaming. “For my battle against Mom, of course!”

It had been almost a year since Skye had begun challenging Kanto’s Champion League. In that time she had managed to beat three out of the four Elite: Sabrina, Koga, and Leaf. Her own mother, Misty, was the final challenge she had left before she could face off against the Champion--and she had specifically saved battling her for last.

Now the match was a little over a week away, and Skye had requested that Lizzie join her at Professor Oak’s ranch for some training. However, Lizzie deadpanned upon realizing the implications of Skye’s selected team. “You’re kidding, right?” 

Skye shook her head. “Nope!” She grinned, looking at Wartortle and the others. “We’re gonna go all-out with some tidal wave-packed action!” She punched her fist forward, and Wartortle did the same. “There’s no better way to battle my mom than with water-type Pokemon, after all!”

“Only using water-type Pokemon against a water-type Pokemon Master?” Rotom asked, a question mark popping up on his screen. “Calculating… Calculating…” 

The question mark morphed into a buffering circle. After a moment, an exclamation point took its place. Rotom gasped in horror. “But that brings your chances of winning down to less than 15%!” He hovered around Skye’s head in a panicked frenzy. “It could go as high as 40% if you used Manectric, Chesnaught, or Tangela instead!”

Skye narrowed her eyes, offended. “Only 40%?”

“My calculations are never wrong!” Rotom stated, proudly placing his hands to his sides. “Keep in mind, this is an Elite 4 member you’re going against!”

Skye huffed. “Well, whatever.” She waved Rotom off, flashing her other Pokemon a smile. “Calculations are just numbers. And numbers don’t matter in a Pokemon battle!”

“You say that…” Lizzie started, her eyes scanning all of the Pokemon in front of her. “But have you actually counted how many Pokemon you’re using?”

A question mark appeared on Rotom’s screen once more, and he hovered over the heads of each of Skye’s Pokemon. “One… Two… Three… Four… Five…” He paused, and then let out another horrified gasp. “Lizzie’s right! You only have five water-type Pokemon! Official battles against the Elite 4 require a full team of six!”

Skye perked up. “Ah, right. About that.”

“Hey! Skye!”

The sound of Gary Oak’s voice cut through their conversation. Both Skye and Lizzie looked at the laboratory to see the Professor walking toward them. He had a less than impressed look on his face.

“Oh, Professor!” Skye blinked as he approached. “What’s up?”

Gary stopped when he reached them, sliding his hands into his pockets. “There’s a package for you at the front door,” he explained, annoyed.

Skye lit up. “It’s here!”

Lizzie gave Skye a quizzical look. “You ordered something?”

“Yes, she did,” Gary answered for her, his voice dripping with irritation. “Now can you stop having things delivered to my lab? Have them sent to your own place.”

“Sorry, Professor,” Skye said with an apologetic grin. “But it’s a lot easier to have you sign off on mail for me since you never leave the house anyway.” Gary gawked, and Skye offered him a wave as she began sprinting to the laboratory. “Thanks!”

“Skye’s right, Professor,” Rotom agreed, a check mark popping up on his screen. “According to my calculations, Skye is only home 10% of the time… But your stay at home rate is 95.6%!”

Gary flinched. “Wh… What’s that supposed to mean!?”

Rotom snickered, zooming past the Professor in pursuit of his trainer. Lizzie laughed nervously, following after them. “Sorry, Professor…”

By the time Lizzie made it into the lab, Skye was already well at work ripping apart the large cardboard box at the front door. Rotom zipped around curiously, attempting to get a look at what was inside.

Lizzie peeked over Skye’s shoulder. “So… what is it?”

Stepping to the side, Skye spread out her arms to present her special delivery. “Ta-dah!”

Lizzie paused upon seeing the large, bright device sitting atop the mess of torn cardboard. “Is that… a washing machine?”

“That’s right!”

Lizzie sighed, pressing a palm against her forehead. “How many times do I need to tell you to stop wasting your money on things you don’t need?”

Skye flinched, then rubbed the back of her head. “This time is different, I swear!” Spinning on her heel, she faced Rotom with a confident grin. “So, Rotom, how do you feel about doing some training?”

Lizzie furrowed her brows, looking between Skye, Rotom, and the newly acquired washing machine. That was when she blinked, lightly clapping in realization. “Oh. I get it!”

Several question marks popped up on Rotom’s screen as he processed what Skye was trying to say. “Wait a sec…” he mused, getting a closer look at the washing machine. Realization hit him, and he appeared as if he may short-circuit. “A Roto-Wash?!”

Skye grinned. “That’s right!” she proclaimed, pointing a finger at him. “You’re my sixth water-type Pokemon, Rotom!”

“What!?”

Lizzie watched on as Skye and Rotom began to banter back and forth with each other. She frowned. “But, Skye…” Lizzie started, crossing her arms. “It’s been a long time since Rotom was last in a Pokemon battle. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Truthfully, Lizzie couldn’t even remember the last time she had a battle against the Plasma Pokemon. Once Skye had begun her travels in the Alola region years prior, Rotom had ditched the battle scene in favor of the Pokedex’s plethora of knowledge. Though, a part of her believed Rotom just liked having the ability to talk.

“Lizzie’s right again!” Rotom confirmed, frantically waving his arms. “With the state I’m in, my chances of winning a battle against a Pokemon Master are as low as… Calculating… Calculating….” Rotom’s buffering symbol appeared, and once it changed into an exclamation point, Rotom practically screamed, “0.2%!”

Skye shook her head. “I said it before and I’ll say it again: Numbers are just numbers. They mean nothing in a Pokemon battle,” she said, holding up a finger. “Whether your numbers agree or not, I know you’re a really powerful Pokemon. I’ve seen you score more goals in the past than I can count!”

“But the past is the past!” Rotom reasoned. It then hung its head, a frowning emoji appearing on its screen. “I probably don’t even remember how to have a Pokemon battle…”

“That’s nonsense!” Skye argued. “Forgetting how to battle would be like forgetting how to ride a bike!” 

Rotom continued to mope, hovering lower to the ground. “But…”

Skye frowned, letting out a breath. “I know it’s been a while, Rotom…” she started, crouching down to be on his level, “but you’re still a part of Team Skye! And Team Skye needs all hands on deck if we wanna beat my mom.”

Rotom glanced up at her, and Skye smiled, continuing with, “You’re way stronger than you think, and I know that with a little polishing you’ll be unbeatable!” Pixelated teardrops began to take shape on Rotom’s screen.

Skye gave him a gentle pat on the head. “We need your strength, Rotom--because according to my calculations, you’ll raise our chances of winning to 100%! No… 200%!” Smiling wider, she held out a hand to him. “So, whaddya say?”

Rotom stared up at Skye for a long moment, the pixelated teardrops continuing to fall. Suddenly, the screen began to glitch, and electric shocks were emitted from the Pokedex. Skye yelped and recoiled, falling back onto her rear.

Lizzie inhaled sharply. “Are you okay!?”

The Plasma Pokemon emerged, and the empty Pokedex shell fell to the ground. Rotom began to dash sporadically about the room--knocking out some of the laboratory’s lights in the process.

Lizzie helped Skye to her feet, raising her brows in shock as she watched Rotom zip across the lab. “I-is it trying to run away?”

Brushing herself off, Skye grinned, focusing her gaze on Rotom. “No.”

Rotom charged straight toward Skye and Lizzie, and the two quickly stepped apart as Rotom bolted between them with lightning speed. Shocks were emitted as it collided with the Roto-Wash behind them.

The laboratory’s lights flickered back on, and both Skye and Lizzie focused their attention onto the now shaking Roto-Wash. After a moment, a blue aura began to glow around the appliance and its eyes opened.

The now Wash Rotom jumped into the air, raising its nozzle proudly. “Roto!”

Lizzie’s eyes widened. “It did it!”

Skye’s face lit up, and she laughed, “All right!” she cheered, balling her hand into a fist. “I knew you had it in you!” 

Rotom grinned, hovering around his trainer. “Roto ro!”

Lizzie smiled, approaching Rotom and giving it a gentle stroke on its head. “I guess that means Rotom wants to give the Champion League a shot, after all.”

“Of course it does!” Skye said, placing her hands on her hips. “Rotom has the Team Skye fighting spirit in it!” 

“Roto!” 

Skye looked to Rotom confidently. “Now how about we focus on that training, huh?” she inquired, giving Rotom a slap on the back. “You’ll have Hydro Pump mastered in no time!” 

Rotom recoiled, beginning to sweat profusely. “R-Roto!?”

Skye snickered. Running to the laboratory’s exit, she cheered, “Anchors aweigh!”

Rotom frantically chased after its trainer. “Roooo!!”

Lizzie watched as the two sprinted toward Skye’s other water-type Pokemon back out on the ranch. Letting out a sigh, she smiled.

Before she got the chance to follow after, Gary Oak’s voice came from behind her, “She really is something, huh?”

Lizzie paused, turning around to see the Professor standing in the doorway. She raised a brow, smiling. “No doubt about that.”

Gary huffed, letting out a light laugh. But the amused look was quickly replaced by a heavy stare. “Now can you please tell her to stop having things delivered to my house?” His eyes were shooting daggers through Lizzie, and she felt herself begin to sweat anxiously. “I’ll have you know, I live a very busy life.”

---------------

End.