There are five trash cans in the Lost Hotel. Their locations are:
- Route 15 side:
- In the first hallway by the Punk Guy
- West of the Punk Couple
- Just right of the Twirling Whirlwind
- Route 16 side:
- On the east side of the room north of the south hall
- In the far southwestern corner
If one of these trash cans is shaking, a Pokémon or an item can be found inside it.
The trash can west of the Punk Couple will contain a Pokémon or item every day, while the remaining four trash cans may only contain a Pokémon or item once a week, on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, only three of those four trash cans will shake, while the last will remain empty. Both types of trash cans also contain different Pokémon and items (meaning, even on Tuesdays, the daily trash can will contain the same types of Pokémon and items as it does every other day).
Once a Pokémon or item has been found in a trash can, that trash can will not shake again for the rest of the day. Exactly what will be in a trash can is not set until it is opened, so soft resetting may yield a different item or Pokémon each time.
The Lost Hotel's battlefield
Pokémon the Series
Ash and his friends arrived at the Lost Hotel in Rotom's Wish!, deciding to stay over for a night because of a rainstorm. Upon entering, they saw that the hotel was in a dilapidated state. They soon found out that the hotel had its own battlefield and decided to check it out. They quickly found the battlefield, where they saw the hotel's owner, Mantle, defeating a Trainer and his Pangoro in a battle with his Krookodile.
After the battle was over, Ash and his friends were shocked to learn that Mantle was forcing the Trainers who lost to him to hand him their Pokémon. Ash tried to protest to this, only to be almost forced into a battle where the ownership of his Pikachu would've been at stake. Luckily, the group managed to escape, thanks to the distraction caused by a Rotom. In a storage room, Rotom entered a TV and showed the group that ten years earlier, during the hotel's opening day, the original owner of the place, Weston, had been challenged to a battle for the hotel's ownership by Mantle. Weston's Rotom had been scared by Mantle's Krookodile and escaped, leading to Mantle declaring himself winner by default. Weston was downgraded to a mere concierge, with Rotom hiding from him out of shame.
Ash and his friends understood that something needed to be done to fix things, but Clemont protested that they would need a time machine for that. Hearing this, Rotom led the group into an elevator, transforming it into a time machine and sending the group ten years back in time. Just when Mantle was about to declare himself winner by default, Ash and his friends protested and demanded a five-minute timeout to get Rotom back. After reuniting Weston with Rotom, the group came up with a plan to give Rotom a chance to beat Krookodile. Using the various devices in the storage room, Rotom was able to Form Change into its Wash, Frost, and Mow Rotom forms, using the super effective Hydro Pump, Blizzard, and Leaf Storm attacks to defeat the Intimidation Pokémon. When Mantle and his thugs tried to use force to get their way, Pikachu and Rotom used Thunderbolt on them and put them into submission.
Having secured the hotel's future with Weston as its owner, the group was returned to the present. There they discovered that the hotel was now in much better shape, with Mantle and his thugs now working for the hotel. In the hotel's ten-year anniversary party, the group overheard Weston thanking his nameless heroes from ten years before for saving the hotel. To their utter surprise, the group discovered a photo of themselves with Weston ten years earlier in the entrance hall, proving that they indeed had just traveled back in time.
Pokémon Adventures
The Lost Hotel first appeared in Pinsir Glares, where X, Y, and their friends went there to rest and hide after foiling Team Flare's plan to kill everyone in the Kalos region with the ultimate weapon. They also encountered Siebold, who cooked a meal for the group. Soon after, Y had Shauna cut her hair, and Gurkinn gave her a Mega Ring.
In Hawlucha Attacks, Blue visited the Lost Hotel to inform Gurkinn, Diantha, and Ramos about X and Y's group having left to meet up with Professor Sycamore in Anistar City, conveying them Y's apology about their unannounced departure and assuring them that they would be safe, as he had told his Charizard and Rhyperior to escort them to their destination.
