Like No One Ever Was

“Use Arm Thrust, Osu!” Dendra called out for her Harriyama, a slight sheen of sweat covering them both. Her, for the workout we had done before in martial arts class, and him in trying to hit my slippery snake.

“Slither around it and Hyper Drill!” It was my counter and one that Dun followed perfectly. With his new body segments, he was able to twist himself around the repeated palm strikes before placing the tip of his tail on Hariyama’s belly and spinning fast.

The Fighting Type recoiled backward, clutching at his gut. Dendra’s eyes flashed towards it, doing some quick calculations. “Looks like we need to kick it up a notch. Bulk Up!” Not Belly Drum, smart, I would have taken out Hariyama if she committed to such a Move here.

While not literally bulking up, Hariyama took a lower sumo stance, making him appear bulkier.

Dun wasn’t stopping just because his opponent did, quickly firing off a few slashes of air at Hariyama of his own accord. The Flying attack caused Dendra’s Pokemon to wince, and I knew that this was my opening. We’re gonna win!

“Gigaaaa…” I began, raising my hand high.

“Detect!” Dendra called out in a panic, trying to avoid Dun’s strongest Move

“Hyper Drill!” I shouted, dropping the hand down. Dun had caught on to my signal, knowing not to use Giga Impact, so the Hyper Drill was already charged and spiraling towards Hariyama.

Even still, an unexpected Move wouldn’t usually be enough to connect with the precognitive insight granted by Detect, but Hyper Drill was different. Dun’s long body could twist as Hariyama tried to lean out of the way, redirecting the hit into him and sending him flying back.

Hariyama gave a loud groan, stumbling back two more steps before collapsing into the hedge on the property’s edge. Meditite at the side raised their arm, announcing us as the winner. “We did it!” I ran up to hug Dudunsparce while Dendra recalled Hariyama.

“Osuuuuuu!” She cried out. “What a passionate battle! You did excellent, my pupil.” She declared proudly. She really likes this whole Sensei thing, huh? Makes sense, she’ll be a great teacher someday.

“Thank you, sensei Dendra. I appreciate all the training you’ve given me and my Pokemon.” Dun warbled out an agreement too. It’s the first time he fought Hariyama since he’s evolved, and the first time he’s won.

On the whole, I tended to win more than I lost against Dendra (Pokemon wise at least - in terms of sparring, while I was approaching her level of technical proficiency there was little I could do to make up for the gap in our sizes), but our Pokemon teams were often at uneven power levels. My strongest beating her strongest is a tipping point training-wise.

“Perhaps you need to consider other training partners?” A new voice suddenly came into my mind. Blinking I turned to face the Meditite who was staring at me.

“Oh, I didn’t realize I said that out loud. Ahh,” I gave a slight gasp as I shook off the pain. It felt like my head had been in a vice, but only for a second, the pain swiftly fading.

“Sorry about that, Meditite is trying to practice his control when speaking Psychically to others,” Dendra said. “What did he say?”

“No problem. Honestly, that’s the first time anyone has spoken to me Psychically at all, so his control is impressive.” From what I’ve read, everyone feels a bit of pain when first communicating that way, but after that very skilled Psychic Types can communicate as easily as talking. “Meditite was just saying I might want to look into other people to battle. Again, I really like training with you, but-”

“You need to face other foes, otherwise you get complacent,” Dendra finished for me.

“Exactly, don’t want to grind in the same patterns that won’t help with other battles. That Detect you’ve been using was new, when did you learn it?”

“We practiced it for my sixth Gym Badge, osu! That new leader Iono, can pack a powerful punch. I was surprised that a streamer was so tough!” Looks like we’re inching ever closer to canon. Iono being a big celebrity was making quite the news in Paldea as our newest Gym Leader.

“Are you going to enter the tournament again?” Dendra’s words snapped me out of my thoughts and left me confused.

“What?”

“The Junior Tournament! It’ll be happening in two months again. You got ripped off last time, but this time you’ll win for sure!” The League was showing more transparency and had a greater deal of protections in place to ensure an embarrassment like last time wouldn’t crop up again.

“... No, I won’t.”

“Os- whuh!?” Dendra spasmed, as she cut herself off mid-cheer recognizing what I said. “Why not???”

“Wobuffet,” I said with a straight face, causing Dendra to put her hands on her hips and glare down at me. Laughing I said “Okay, okay. But seriously? Because of what you said: ‘I’d win this for sure.’ And I would. There’s no challenge involved.” She frowned and I added “That might sound arrogant, but it’s just the truth. I have a badge won from the equivalent of a five-Gym battle, and beat you who won your sixth Gym badge. I might not have any official badges, but is there realistically any chance I face a challenge from people who are at their second Gym badge or below?”

Slowly, Dendra nodded, sighing. “Guess that’s fair. Oh! But you should enter a martial arts junior tournament!”

Smiling, I nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like fun. And I think I have an idea for a challenger to face again. I battled against them once while training for the Junior tournament last year, and they were one of the most skilled foes I ever faced…”

***

Once again I found myself face-to-face with the Terastalized Leafeon, atop the cliffs slightly to the north of my house. There was a difference in the energy of this meeting this time. While not making any hostile moves or the like, I could see something in his eyes as he registered me as a… potential threat, at least. Is it because my team is that much stronger? Because I’ve unlocked my Flying Aura, marking me as a danger to him as a Grass Type, even if he still vastly outclasses me by being a Pokemon? Or something else, like just being older, and no longer some random, dumb child that wandered into his territory.

In any case, I decided to lightly press on. “Hello again,” I said with a slight bow of my head. “I’m looking to challenge Riolu again.” He cocked his head to the side and I clarified “Any of them that are willing to fight, but in particular, the one that Dun fought in the final round last time.”

The silence stretched on between us, the guardian of this land simply staring at me with inscrutable amber eyes. Eventually, I blurted out “I brought some berries as well!” Slowly, I lifted out a few Sitrus and Lum berries from my pouch causing Leafeon’s eyes to widen.

In a flash, they were directly in front of me, causing Miles floating beside me to startle for a second. Before either of us could respond, he had grabbed the berries out of my hands with his tail, eagerly holding onto his prize. Turning around, he strutted back to his territory, a glance of his head as if to say ‘You coming?’

Following, I jumped down the first hill I was on to the meadow below, the other Pokemon gave me odd looks, but most quickly returned to their own business after seeing that Leafeon was fine with my presence. There was a small pack of Rockruffs playing about, a Clodsire surrounded by Woopers, and I thought I even saw the brief flash of yellow of a Dunsparce head before it tunneled beneath the earth. I wonder if Dun knows that Dunsparce are living here?

The pack of Riolu was my main objective, and the one I was looking for was the first one I saw after rounding the corner of a hill. She was standing up, arms in a ready but loose battle stance.

The empathic abilities they have are strong, she must have sensed my coming. Given how the other Riolu behind her looked surprised at my appearance, I guessed that it was a talent she in particular had honed.

“Greetings. Dun and I were hoping for a rematch, to see how far we’ve grown.” I said respectfully to Riolu.

She barked out “Rio.”

With a chuckle, I responded. “I’m sure you’ve grown too. But I think Dun might surprise you.” With a flash of red light, I released Dun from his ball, eliciting a series of gasps from the rest of the Riolu. Dun, like the drama queen he was, reared up his top two segments and head, giving a loud roar as he flapped his wings furiously to create a ‘dramatic breeze effect,’ as he called it.

Our opponent stood stock still for a second before shaking her head. “Olu, ri.” She scoffed, but I could tell she was surprised by his evolution. We moved over to a larger clearing, this time gathering the attention of many other surrounding Pokemon. I even spotted an Altaria and Scyther watching from nearby clifftops.

“Same rules as last time? Battle until the first one is out or a surrender?” She nodded, taking a flexible stance twenty meters away from Dun. “On the count of three, we’ll begin. “Three, two, one… begin!”

The canine-like Pokemon sent forth a Vacuum Wave immediately, trying to set the pace of the fight. Unfortunately for her, Dun and I had gone over plans, and for any battle where I would do a count in, his first Move was Protect. He was easily able to conjure the barrier well before the Fighting Type attack could hit, letting it harmlessly wash over him.

She made the bold strategy of trying to get in close, to which I responded with “Air Cutter!”

Dun’s six pairs of wings beat in unison, creating scything gusts of wind that cut across the battlefield. Riolu proved to be no slouch, ducking, weaving, and sliding under most of the attack. One blade still managed to clip her shoulder, eliciting a screech of pain, one that rattled my head.

No, that wasn’t pain, or maybe it was, but that was a Move! I realized as Dun gave an uncomfortable shudder. Riolu had also, even through being attacked and dodging most of it, greatly closed the distance between them.

“Body Slam,” I called out, hoping to let Dun use his weight to roll over on her. He tried to do so, but she once again surprised me with her speed, landing a palm heel with her left palm into Dun’s side before jumping away. He grunted in pain, but with his long body, was able to stretch out and swing around, impacting her.

“Hmm, less damage than I thought…” I wondered out loud as I eyed the impact on Dun’s side. Her Force Palm had broken scales and would likely leave a nasty bruise, but considering the Type Weakness and the Screech beforehand, was less impactful than I thought. Did she use some sort of pseudo-Agile-style attack? It would explain the speed and decreased power.

I didn’t have time to waste wondering about that, as Riolu had gotten back up from where she had fallen, growling as she did so. She’s standing gingerly on her right side, and those twitches her body is going through means Dun likely Paralyzed her as well.

“Hyper Voice, no more dodging.” The horrendous cacophony from Dun brought Riolu to the ground, clutching at her floppy ears for a second before she gave up on that and just began throwing out wild Vacuum Waves. Dun would dodge two out of three before being hit by the third. Maybe not as wild as I thought, those waves are inaccurately apart, but together form kill boxes where Dun has to be hit by at least one. Impressive, while disoriented and Paralyzed. Of course, that only works on a 2D battlefield.

“Earthquake.” Dun shifted immediately at my order, slamming all three segments into the ground once. The earth wildly shifted, rising and falling all around the field, and while my vision shook a bit, I thought that even some of the nearby cliffs were shaking too.

Riolu was tossed violently into the air, giving out a cry of pain. “Riolu!!” She called out, and for a split second, I thought she was defeated, until I saw a red flash from her eyes as she began spinning around in the air, her momentum shifting and increasing as she rocketed towards Dun, leading with her good leg.

“Protect,” I called out, not wanting Dun to get hit by her High Jump Kick. She impacted the barrier, but even that powerful Move couldn’t defeat Dun’s ultimate defense, and she eventually rebounded, flipping off of it to land on that same good leg. I followed up with “Hyper Drill!” Not wanting to give her the chance to make another strike.

She tried to dodge, but there was no avoiding Hyper Drill as Dun proved, whipping around even as she tried to Detect around it. Riolu had one last desperation Move, aiming a Karate Chop at Dun’s big soft head, even as his drill tail twisted towards her… only for her strike to fail to connect. My starter was just faster, and the strength of his blow was strong enough to knock her out.

After a glance to make sure my Pokemon was fine, I ran over to apply some medicines to Riolu, getting a pained groan from her as she woke up. “Hey, you doing okay?” I asked.

“...Lu,” she mumbled out after a moment, gingerly sitting up. Dun slithered over, preening in his victory, which just caused our foe to pout harder.

“Thank you for the match,” I said, giving her a small bow, and clasping my fist in my other hand. “We learned a lot from it.” I’m used to using Dun’s bulk and taking hits to dish them out if need be, but we haven’t had much practice dealing with someone else doing that. “Dun, Roost, and heal up.” He nodded, curling around and settling his wings, the Flying Type energy seeming to course through and out of him, healing his wounds. Riolu watched from where she was seated with wide eyes, emotions rapidly flying by her face that I was too unfamiliar with to place.

“Anyone else up for a fight?” I asked, but rather than eager, all the Pokemon of the valley stepped back. Even the powerful Scyther and Altaria turned away, not seeing themselves as a match for Dun. Huh. That’s… a little disappointing, honestly. I’m going to have to look for new places to get challenges.

Riolu suddenly stood up, barking at me. “Riolu! Ri ri!” She said, holding up one claw and circling a hand around it.

“One circle? One sphere?” I guessed, trying to figure out what she was pantomiming, not getting it until she pointed at the sun. “Oh, one year! You want to do this again in a year?” She nodded, fixing me with a serious gaze. “Alright, let’s do this again next year.”

Riolu let out a satisfied breath and began marching off, sitting on her favorite moss-colored rock that I had spotted her on last year, and began meditating. “Alright Dun, let’s go home.” She’s likely already planning out for our next battle, and we’d best do the same.

***

“Welcome, to the Rotom Phone Company!” My father declared proudly to the three of us. “This is the place where I work and I’m so eager to show it to you,” my father practically squealed with joy.

I’d like to think it’s just me he’s so eager to show this off to, but Billy is a pretty exuberant guy. Amethio and Arven at my sides looked pretty impressed. Arven because he was a bit younger, and Amethio… Hard to say but I think he just doesn’t get out enough.

“Impressive, isn’t it? Dad had it shaped like a giant Rotom phone after being inspired by Uva Academy.” Honestly, can't say that it looks that bad here. Admittedly, there is a vast difference between a Pokeball being shoved atop a historical monument and a company adding a neat paint design.

Entering through the large doors at the front of the red building we were presented with a fairly normal reception area. Some plush seats and a desk at the front, beige painted walls, and a small TV in the corner playing Rotom Phone advertisements. As we carried on through the ‘employees only door’ (with special lanyards given out to us three kids) the space transformed into a factory. Fluorescent lighting above our heads, gray concrete floors, and walls, with many doors branching off from the hallways.

Dad took us through a few of them, showing us first some of the office rooms and staff lounges and then the factory itself. It was fascinating to see all the machines and conveyor belts functioning together to make the final product of a Rotom Phone. From the catwalk above we saw dozens of them being made and placed in red cases. There were also hundreds more cases of a multitude of colors and patterns made here, placed off for sale separately.

“Why are there so many Ghosts patrolling around here?” I asked, glancing over at the Haunters, Houndstones, and a Mismagius. To be fair, five isn’t a huge number, but they’re all evolved and are keeping an eye on the perimeter only. There were plenty of people and a few other Pokemon in the factory, but they were all working on things, not guarding it. “Is this because of the incident?”

“The incident?” Amethio asked, and I explained what had happened.

“Some employees tried to steal stuff from here, chased my Dad around a bit, then got beaten by the Rotoms.”

“Gah! Not bombastic, how very un-Glitterati of you!” My father winced and I rolled my eyes.

“We don’t have time for all the details, we still have a tour to go through.”

“Being prudent with your time, that’s Glitterati brilliance for you.” This time, all three of us rolled our eyes at my father’s antics. Arven was the first one to giggle, and soon me and Amethio joined him, though the eldest boy tried to pass his laughter off as coughed after Billy answered my original question. “Not exactly. While we have upped our internal security, they were always here. They make sure that none of the Rotoms try stealing a phone. Only the Rotoms on their best behavior get chosen from the farms to be a Rotom Phone.”

“What happens to the others?” Amethio asked cautiously.

Billy blinked. “Well, they stay here until they can be proper Rotom Phones. Or they decide to leave on their own, without a phone. That’s fairly rare, however.” Is it rare because they were raised here their whole lives and have little idea of what the rest of the world is like, or because they’re just naturally inclined to behave that way?

The boys didn’t comment on it, happy to continue the tour. We entered another factory room, this one a bit different than the one before. For starters, the machinery here was far heavier duty, giant presses exerting tons of force on thick sheets of metal. The assembly lines were each far more unique, with more direct human and Pokemon involvement, checking each finished product carefully.

“This is our Rotom Catalog factory. Our best minds have created some of the finest designs for the wonderful people looking to battle with their Rotoms.” Dad beamed at me and I couldn’t help but blush. Their best minds, huh? I had some ideas on alternative forms and upgrades, but will they be any good? These people have been designing these things for years.

Amethio noticed my worry and said, “Hey, snap out of it.” I whipped my head up to face him and he followed up saying “I want to battle you after this, so make sure you’re at your best.”

A smile broke out on my face. Pretty sure that’s Amethio for ‘Are you doing alright? Please feel better!’ I don’t think the Explorer's secret headquarters are a great place for him, but there’s nothing I can say to convince him to leave. A fact likely compounded by the fact that I didn’t think he had anywhere but the Explorers to turn to. While my family could have supported him easily, like we were starting to do more and more with Arven, Amethio’s pride likely wouldn’t let him accept, even if he wanted to leave.

“We make other accessories and tools here,” My father continued, oblivious to any of my self-doubts. “Including…” Dad led us by a table covered in a cloth, tearing the covering off.

“Tada!” He exclaimed proudly, revealing…

“A stick?” I asked, looking at the red and white pole sitting on the table. It looked like it was made of metal with segments that could extend out. Like a collapsible baton, but too thin and the wrong shape for that. Plus there’s a weird attachment at the end.

“Not just any stick, but the Roto Stick! With this, you can take a selfie from farther away. Watch,” he said eagerly, taking the stick and using the four-pronged attachment on the end to connect to his phone. He gathered us all together, then flipped his phone around so it faced us while extending out to get all of us in the frame. “Say Chansey!” He told us (Arven was the only one who said it) as he pressed a small button on the end of the Roto Stick and his Rotom flashed, taking a picture.

“Selfies are becoming very popular, so I came up with this idea to capitalize on that. What do you think?” My Dad asked, beaming proudly and I felt my throat constrict.

“Uhh, I think people will buy it,” I eventually said. My feelings were too obvious as Billy’s smile faded away, replaced with a frown.

“You don’t like it,” he stated and both of the boys beside me winced. I shook my head.

“It’s not that, it’s just… I don’t get it. Like, here: Miles?”

“Yes, bzzt?” They said, floating out of my pocket.

“Could you take a photo of all of us? Try to get a landscape shot with all of us in the frame without much extra space.” I asked them.

“Bzzt, of course,” They hovered out a few meters away, asked us to reposition slightly a few times, then began clicking rapidly then floated back. “Here are the photos, Young Miss,” they said, showing me a quick slideshow of them. “I particularly like how number three came out, bzzt.”

“Yeah, I think that one’s my favorite too.” Mostly because it’s the one where no one is looking dumb in it. For god sake Arven, don’t pick your nose while your photo is being taken! Ahh, calm down, he’s just a kid. “Did you do something to make the background fuzzy and us in focus?” I know there’s a word for that in photography, my mom- first-life mom - used to love it, even if people weren’t her main photography focus.

“Yes, bzzt. I fiddled with the aperture until I got the right field of focus. What do you think?”

“I think they’re great.” Then, turning to my dad, I said “So, yeah. That’s why I’m not sure about it. I think the Roto Stick is a fine product, it’s just… the Rotom Phone is too good already. They can do so much.” Back to Miles, I added, “And thank you again for being so awesome.”

I felt a small buzz in the air as Miles swelled with pride. “My pleasure, Nemona.” They then returned to my pocket. Never hurts to thank the people close to you, and Miles does just so much for me. From all the regular uses of a phone, managed way easier, to help remind me of and plan my schedule… Dun is my first partner and so strong, but I’d be lost without Miles.

“Oh, what a terrible error I nearly made! Thank you, my dear, for helping me avoid such a costly blunder,” he nearly cried.

“Uhh, I don’t think it was that bad an idea?” Arven tentatively spoke up. “It’s just, that I’ve been liking my Rotom Phone, but they aren’t…” He struggled with the words for a moment. “Creative? They’ll help me when I ask, but only what I ask, and might not do stuff like take a selfie as well as I would.”

“They aren’t as capable of independent action,” I muttered. Or maybe just not as skilled at it. Speaking up I said, “Sorry Dad, I guess I’m just too used to Miles being so great at everything that I didn’t realize my situation might not be the same for everyone.”

“I want a Rotom like Miles,” Amethio blurted out, before blushing.

“Looking to get another battler on your team already?” I teased.

“No,” he pouted, crossing his arms. “Well, maybe. Just- saw how much you talked to Miles before and after are battles, thought that’d be nice.” My smile grew brittle. He’s still gonna be alone out there. I mean, he has the Explorers, but they aren’t his peers.

Billy laughed heartily. “I see you have excellent taste, young man.” His praise only caused the boy to blush harder. “Fret not, you’ll have your pick of whichever Rotom you like at the end of the tour.” To Arven, he said: “Thank you for your insight as well, we’ll run some more focus tests on the Roto Stick.”

We carried on, from the machinery to the minds behind them. Each engineer got their own office which was well-furnished and led to a central meeting room. This is where they met us, the dozen or so designers sitting around a circular table.

“Greetings, we’re pleased to meet you,” one balding man with a bushy brown beard said, standing up to shake my father’s hand. “I’m Emil Paramount, but you can just call me Emil. This is where we dream up what gets shipped out.”

“Is it usual for the designers to work in the same building as the factory?” I asked, prompting a small chuckle from him.

“Not exactly, no. But your father had a vision when building this branch in Paldea, where all the pieces that made the Rotom Phones would be interconnected, so we’d all have a better understanding of how everything worked together. Building this place wasn’t easy-”

“Which is when Dad got Mom’s help, and how they met,” I finished, having heard the story (in very sappy, over-the-top terms) many times by now.

“Indeed,” Billy said, thankfully electing to move on from that topic. “Emil here is our head designer and the whole team has been eager to hear about your designs.” They all smiled politely and nodded their heads at me, but that was to be expected - you don’t call the boss’ young daughter an idiot or complain she’s wasting your time if you want to keep your job.

“Alright, here are some of my designs and notes,” I said, nerves taking over as I walked up and pulled them out of my bag. Stumbling forward, I accidentally grabbed a few extra pages from it, stabilizing myself against the table with the papers scattering across it.

“Shoot! So sorry about that- let me just take those back, I only meant the stuff in the folder- hey!” I shouted as one young woman with bright green hair grabbed one of the blueprints.

“Is this a Rotom helicopter? Neat design but Rotom’s can only possess objects so large and…” She trailed off scrutinizing it closer.

“Yes, I’m aware. This kind of personal helicopter uses a very small, lightweight design, only designed to hold a single person. It’s thicker from head to tail than the regular Rotom models, but only wider and taller with the top blades and lighter than most of the current catalog.” Seeing Emil about to speak I quickly shook my head and waved my arms.

“Of course, I know that this won’t work. Rotom’s can possess any electronic but to make a truly battle-ready form they need to possess an electronic that’s a common household appliance. I read your thesis Mr. Paramount, I mean Emil, and it makes perfect sense that the Rotoms gain more strengths from the idea of the device than the actual mechanics. Not that those aren’t important too!” I was starting to breathe heavily, all the eyes watching me intently making me panic a bit. Damn it, why am I acting like this? I’m fine with being in public when I battle but this- ugh. Just focus, Nemona.

Taking a calming deep breath I slowly started over. “Apologies, I’m off my original plan a bit.” I took a few more deep breaths and nodded my head as I shuffled the papers into my folder and collected up the errant loose-leaf ones I had grabbed. The psychic design of the bag to help you grasp the items within it is very handy but might be a little oversensitive. I’ll have to look up the user's manual and see if I can adjust that later. Pulling out one of the proper blueprints and attached note pages I placed them neatly on the desk.

“Amending my original design, I decided to go for a Drone based build. I’m aware they aren’t a common household appliance yet. But in Hisui, there are records of Rotoms being able to possess devices that weren’t commonly used at the time. It’s possible that it was just a relic of the distortion fields, but given how there was no noted change in their use even after the crisis was ended by the Hero of Hisui, I suspect that there’s some temporal wiggle room for what devices can be effectively utilized. Drones are becoming increasingly popular, so I thought you might be able to create a prototype and we could test how well it works.”

There was a silence over the table, broken by Emil saying to my father in a serious tone: “You really weren’t overstating how smart she was.” From there the table broke out into a free-for-all buzz of wild discussion.

One of the men, about my father’s age, asked: “Interesting ideas and the design looks solid, but what are you hoping to achieve with this? It will likely be part Flying Type, like our current Fan Rotom?”

“If you’ll see the notes attached, I believe the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of a drone will give any Rotom possessing it a different Move.” Hurricane is a fine Move, but rather wild and hard to aim by its nature. But if it gives Roost… I had to resist drooling at the thought of being able to decently bulky Rotom a recovery Move and pure Electric Typing with Levitate, all without using up my Tera Orb.

“Hey wait, I hadn’t properly revealed those yet!” I squawked as the fear of losing their jobs had apparently been eclipsed by the excitement of what I had to offer because the designers had grabbed my notes, and were frantically passing them around to inspect. That, or my dad laughing happily at all this means they aren’t too worried about the job front. Still, it's nice to see that they’re interested in what I came up with. I knew the designs weren’t perfect, and that they’d likely have tweaks for them, but just the base concepts being intriguing was enough for me. I hadn’t just calmed down but was even starting to feel giddy at the possibilities.

“Additional Moves for existing Forms?” Another designer asked.

“Yeah. So I was thinking, a lot of appliances have more than one thing they can do. Slight tweaks to the designs might open up new Moves available in those forms. Like an ice cube dispenser on the refrigerator might let the Rotoms use Snowscape-”

“Or a heat tank connected to the tube to let the Washing Machine use… war crimes? No that’s crossed out. Ok, Scald makes more sense.” Before I could address that another designer was calling my attention.

“The other new Form you sketched out, why do you think a Radio Rotom might be part Fairy Type? Is it just the sound angle? You’ve listed Normal as another possibility, but it has far more sound-based Moves than Fairy.”

Rather than answer normally, I decided to sing out my answer.

“Music holds the secret, to know it can make you whole,

It’s not just a game oh no, it’s the song inside your soul,

Magic of a melody, runs through you like a stream,

Thoughts that play flow through your head like a dream…”

Dad had the widest grin I’d ever seen on his face, which might have looked creepier if his eyes weren’t shining with pride and happiness as well. “That’s my girl, going to be top of the RoTunes chart any day now!”

“Daaaaad,” I groaned. “I don’t have any songs I feel comfortable publishing yet, and I’m not that good.” Clearing my throat I turned back to the team. “So, as you know, I’ve been practicing a lot of singing and music lately, which made me think about this. Radios connect people to the world around them. From music to comedy to general worldly discussion, radios make people feel things. That’s why I thought it might lean into that Typing.”

One woman on the opposite end of the table said in a monotone “If you break into the non-elemental Typings first, I’ll kill you.” This did not stop her from voraciously reading the documents she had in front of her.

“Hah!” Another guy said, explaining “Janine is just upset that she didn’t manage to get the Bug Typing with her ‘electric bug swatter’ idea.”

“Fuuuuuu-dge off, Frank,” Janine awkwardly adjusted upon realizing there were three children in the room.

Scratching the back of my head I gestured at the papers and said “I guess you get a lot of ideas like these, then?”

Emil turned his head up to look at me. “From each other? Professional engineers one and all? Yes, we occasionally get ideas of this caliber,” he lightly commented and I looked away, chagrined. Okay, okay, these are decent, I don’t need to worry.

My dad clapped his hands together. “It sounds like you all have a lot to discuss, but I should probably continue the tour.” There was a pained sound from the design team, but I quickly reassured them.

“We can talk more later. I can give them my email address, right Dad?” I should probably ask my parent about stuff like this, given my age, even though I don’t think there’d be any harm, given my mental age, knowledge, and the fact that I truly hope that all of these employees have been thoroughly vetted, especially since the attempted theft.

“Yes, that should be fine dear. Make sure to forward me any ideas that bear fruit so we can begin production.”

“Of course sir,” Emil said, waving us off after we exchanged contact info, leaving my papers behind with them, as well as Miles’ Washing Machine, to get it fixed up.

Continuing down through the building, we took an elevator to the underground section which was where the farms were. It also held storage for all the necessary bits for the company to have but wasn’t used every day. Spare parts, old designs, recalled items, and boxes and boxes of folders for paper copies of all the important documents.

The tour didn’t touch much on that stuff, but Billy did show us all of it briefly before opening a large set of double doors to reveal the grand farm. It’s… dark.

Size-wise, it was huge, miles across, and quite wide, but the lights above were constantly flickering or burnt out. The ground was solid cement with a few structures here and there made up like miniature houses. Broken machines also littered the ground, used up by the Rotoms, many of which were just sort of hovering about aimlessly (I suspected some of them were Dittos as well, but even my eyes couldn't tell). A few looked over curiously at us, but many just seemed aimless. Like aboveground, many Ghost Types were guarding them here as well.

“Go ahead and talk to the Rotoms,” my Dad told Amethio. “You can talk with the overseer later about which one you want.”

“Ok,” the little boy said seriously, marching off, eyes darting about as he scouted the field, looking for the perfect Rotom to join him.

Arven ran off quickly after, releasing Maschiff. “Let’s see if we can make some friends!” Uhh, not sure they’ll be too eager to play with a Dark Type. Then again, given how this place is…

“What’s wrong Nemona? Don’t you want to spend some time with your friends?” My Dad asked, and I released a heavy sigh.

“Maybe later. Dad… what is this?”

He looked at me curiously. “Why it’s the farm of course! Where we get all the Rotoms we need for the Rotom Phon-”

“Okay, bad question. Why is this? Why is this place like this? So… bleak and dark.”

He paused for a moment, taking in the field again. “Hmm, I suppose it is lacking in color. Do you think a bright gold paint job would spruce it up?”

“I don’t think anything is going to spruce it up while it’s barely lit like this.” Crossing my arms I shook my head, watching Amethio tentatively greet different Rotoms, and met like that in turn. This reminds me so much of his situation. Technically, all of their basic needs are met, but they don’t get much more than that.

My father gave a small frown. “Unfortunately some of the Rotom can be a bit mischievous and tend to drain or break the lights. We try to fix them often, but there’s only so much we can do.”

I nodded, thinking for a moment before calling a Rotom over. This one was separate from any large groups and just drifting on its own, happening to be nearby us. They approached, tilted to the side as they hovered towards us, a curious but somewhat blank look on their face, a light buzz emanating from them. “Hey, do you want to leave this place?”

They brightened up at the idea, cheerfully pointing at my father’s own phone with one of their little lightning bolt-shaped plasmic limbs.

“No, not like that, just… in general. Do you want to leave this place and explore on your own?

See the world?” The general buzzing stopped as they just looked at me, complete incomprehension on their face. Slowly, they drifted back, still trying to puzzle out the concept.

Turning to my father I said “That’s what I mean. Sure, they can leave, and I guess a few must-have asked to do so in the past. But the general population here, they don’t see anything out of this dark, cold place that is their entire world.”

Billy was silent for a moment, his smile replaced completely by a frown as he gazed over his work. “I never saw it as that bad… What can we do to fix this?” He asked, clearly torn between seeing it as unfit for the Rotoms as it stood, but also worried about the future of his company.

I thought about it for a minute, and an idea slowly came to me. “You made this place to have all the parts interconnected, but how often do the people come down here?”

“Oh, our overseer and guard check on the Rotoms at least twice a day,” My father answered quickly and I hid a frown. Not as much as I would like, and I think explains why the other Rotom Phones don’t interact as well with other people.

“And the other workers? All the people up there, how often do they come down here?” My experience in my past life helped with knowing how very small that number would be. If you gave people a job, most of them would just stick to that role. Even looking for ways to improve or climb the ranks, it would often be just in that small area.

“I-I know it’s a big ask,” I said, turning to stare my father straight in the eye. “But what if the position of the factories above and the farms were reversed? The workers up there will then pass by the farms every day in and out on their way to do their jobs, you can have windows to let more natural light come in, maybe even arrange some field trips outside and the like.”

My father gazed off, lost in thought, probably trying to put the logistics together. “It might take a bit more work, more travel up and down for some office space that can’t be moved, but this could work. I’ll have to ask the Rotoms themselves about what they feel about all this as well, but this sounds like an excellent idea to me. An excellent Glitter- no. An excellent Nemona idea.” His smile was soft, but full of pride and wonder as he stared down at me.

Miles gave a small buzz, rising out of my pocket “I agree, bzzt. I think I would have liked something like that when I was here. Though perhaps not… if it meant I didn’t get to meet you, bzzt,” they added cheekily.

“Gah, don’t go teasing me like that!” I admonished Miles, to which they just rolled their eyes, my father chuckling in the background. “Well, I guess that means you’re ready to start learning Foul Play if you can make up Nasty Plots so casually.”

“Bzzt, I have made a terrible mistake.”

We all ignored that as Amethio returned, accompanied so closely by a Rotom that they were practically in his hands. “I’ve decided. I’d like this one to be my Rotom Phone.” The Rotom in question was trying to look calm and controlled when faced with the owner of the whole company, but also visibly vibrating with excitement.

“That sounds wonderful, let’s get you two set up,” my father said, leading us out once Arven came back from playing with all the Rotoms (they had been afraid of the dog-like Pokemon at first, but soon became friends once they realized what a softie he was). Amethio’s new Rotom got their first phone and we left, all of us quite happily.

As we exited and returned home, the young Explorer had something to say to me before Hamber took him back. “Nemona, I… want to battle you. Not right now, but someday, I want to show you how strong I’ve become.”

“Looking forward to it,” I replied with an eager grin. “You’re already strong, so don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.” Anyone like Spinel. “I’m looking forward to seeing how strong your Charcadet and Dreepy become though. And hey, even before our destined showdown, you can always message me or Arven just to talk and stuff too.”

“... I will, thank you, Nemona.”

With that, our Majordomo took the young boy away from my home. As they left, Miles alerted me to a new message. “Well, well, well, looks like that won’t be the only battle I’m preparing for…” I muttered to myself, new strategies and ideas flying through my mind at this latest development.