Sorry Yellow Amarillo! I got this one :3
Ain't Mickey Mouse!
[Overview]
<p>Raticate has always been a forgotten Pokemon since its inception in RBY; the poor rodent never got a chance to shine. Its stats are horrendous, with none of them going past the base 100 benchmark. Its highest stat is its odd base 97 Speed, which is pretty good in NU. Its weird Speed stat is a blessing for this mouse, allowing it to outspeed base 95 Speed Pokemon, such as Jynx and Leafeon. However, Raticate probably never developed a natural resistance to pesticide. It has horrible base 55 / 60 / 70 defenses, and an even worse typing in Normal, which provides it with only a single immunity to Ghost-type attacks, though it has only one weakness, as well. With no resistances at all, Raticate can barely survive an attack. In its journey throughout the many regions, Raticate has picked up several tricks. Just like most Normal-types, Raticate has an extremely wide movepool that stretches from Kanto to Unova, including many unexpected moves. How can a common rodent use Thunderbolt? Or blow a gust of Ice Beam? Well, these weird quirks are not all that Raticate can boast.</p>
<p>More competitively, it has a great ability in Guts, which lets it boost its rather average Attack to decent levels. However, there are plenty of other Guts abusers in the tier, such as Swellow and Ursaring, which outclass Raticate in almost every aspect. Raticates's lone differentiating feature is its access to Sucker Punch, which makes revenge killing it harder, and makes it a good revenge killer, too. All in all, aside from its oversized teeth, Raticate does not seem very threatening. However, if you go unprepared against this occasional pest, expect it to bite you in the back when it sees you.</p>
[SET]
name: Guts
move 1: Facade
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Reversal
move 4: Protect / U-turn
item: Toxic Orb / Flame Orb
ability: Guts
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Once Rattata has ditched its Run Away and grown into a fearless Raticate, it can use Guts to bravely increase its Attack. Guts rectifies its borderline Attack, allowing it to launch its teeth into the opponent and put holes into the opposing team. With its status Orb activated, Raticate can function as a status absorber for the team. Not only that, Raticate can also act as a late-game sweeper or a revenge killer thanks to its boosted Attack. Like most Guts abusers, Facade is the main STAB move as it has the highest Base Power among all of its other attacks. Accounting for STAB, Facade has 210 Base Power, easily demolishing anything that does not resist it. Even a 2x resisted Facade is stronger than a neutral Sucker Punch. As previously mentioned, Sucker Punch is the main selling point of Raticate over the other Guts abusers in the tier, allowing it to quickly take up the role of a revenge killer or prevent itself from being revenge killed. As most people tend to forget that Raticate has access to Sucker Punch due to the mouse's rarity, it might actually get a surprise kill with an unexpected Sucker Punch. Just like the most common Guts abuser in the tier, Swellow, Raticate often finds itself utterly walled by Rock- and Steel-types. Raticate can use Reversal to hit them super effectively, or use it as a last resort when at low health. However, one must take note that Facade always has a higher Base Power than Reversal. Only use the latter against a foe Reversal can hit super effectively. Protect is a move found on almost all status abusers, for its ability to allow Raticate to safely activate its status Orb without having to take a hit. Additionally, while Sucker Punch is a great attack against faster revenge killers, Protect lets Raticate scout the opponent's move and ease prediction with Sucker Punch. U-turn makes Raticate a fairly good scout as well, possibly even a better one than Swellow as it is not weak to Stealth Rock. It also lets Raticate escape from undesirable situations and deal some damage to the opponent, while also taking none from its status.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EV spread is pretty straightforward. Simply maximize its Speed and Attack to make Raticate as offensive as possible, and make the best out of Guts. A Jolly nature is recommended as it allows Raticate to outspeed base 95 Speed Pokemon. An Adamant nature is viable, but the extra Speed provided is more helpful. For example, a Jolly nature allows Raticate to outspeed Jynx, enabling it to Facade Jynx to oblivion instead of being hit by a powerful Ice Beam, or having Sucker Punch fail as Jynx uses Substitute. Toxic Orb is usually the preferred item as Raticate often stays in for less than three turns, during which Toxic Orb does less damage than Flame Orb. Raticate has a few other options to sink its teeth into. Super Fang can immediately halve the target's HP, which is especially helpful if you predict a switch-in that Raticate can't really harm otherwise, such as Regirock. Quick Attack is another priority move to consider; while it has a slightly lower Base Power than Sucker Punch, it requires less prediction to use. Crunch can be used over Sucker Punch to nail Haunter, which can use Substitute to evade a Sucker Punch. Swords Dance can boost Raticate's Attack to terrifying levels if it gets the opportunity to set up. However, Raticate is unable to do this most of the time, as it is unable to force many switches.</p>
<p>Even with Reversal, Rock- and Steel-types can easily halt Raticate in its tracks. Ursaring therefore makes a great teammate, as it can easily crush pesky Rock- and Steel-types with Close Combat. Furthermore, Quick Feet and Guts make Ursaring compatible with Raticate. The duo can pose an amazing offensive presence with their powerful attacks, stressing physical walls until the end. If having two status abusers isn't to your liking, Ground- or Fighting-types, such as Sawk or Golem, are great partners as well, as their STAB moves are super effective against said Rock- and Steel-types. Entry hazard support is useful for such an offensive Pokemon; Cacturne can lay Spikes or use Encore to trap the opponent into a move Raticate can switch in on safely. Ghost-types such as Misdreavus are good teammates as well, as Raticate often attracts Fighting-types such as Sawk. Wish support is also helpful to lengthen Raticate's miserably short life. Alomomola practically heals Raticate completely with a single Wish.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Raticate's movepool is as deep as Sea Floor Cavern, which is probably a result of it eating up whatever TM it can find. However, it has a measly Special Attack stat, making about half its movepool—including Blizzard, Charge Beam, Grass Knot, Ice Beam, and Thunder—useless. Raticate can Screech at the opponents and force them to switch or be KOed with Facade. However, it also has Swords Dance, which is more reliable. The rodent can act as a suicide team supporter with moves such as Thunder Wave, Toxic, and Taunt, but that is better left to bulkier Pokemon, such as Gardevoir. Zen Headbutt is an option to hit Weezing super effectively; although Weezing is problematic, Zen Headbutt has little other use. Raticate can attempt to pull off its famous F.E.A.R. set, but there are other Pokemon that outclass it, such as Aron. Furthermore, the ever-common entry hazards make this strategy particularly hard to pull off. Raticate gained Hustle as its Dream World ability, but Guts is preferred as it does not lower accuracy.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Rock- and Steel-types are a true nightmare for this rodent, as it cannot chew through them with its sharp teeth; in fact, Raticate has no way of denting them outside of the unreliable Reversal. Other physical walls, such as Weezing and Torterra, have no problem tanking hits from such a small little mouse. Ghost-types can simply stall the pest out of its health by stalling out poison or burn damage, as it cannot touch them without resorting to Sucker Punch. Misdreavus in particular has many support moves to evade Sucker Punch, and can even inflict damage with Pain Split. However, Ghost-types do have to look out for the rare Crunch. Anything that is faster than Raticate that can hide behind a Substitute, or not be KOed by Sucker Punch, is a good check to it. Tauros is such an example, and even has Intimidate to buffer the attack. Choice Scarf users, such as Rotom-S, can revenge kill Raticate, though they have to be wary of being bitten in the back by Sucker Punch.</p>
Ain't Mickey Mouse!
[Overview]
<p>Raticate has always been a forgotten Pokemon since its inception in RBY; the poor rodent never got a chance to shine. Its stats are horrendous, with none of them going past the base 100 benchmark. Its highest stat is its odd base 97 Speed, which is pretty good in NU. Its weird Speed stat is a blessing for this mouse, allowing it to outspeed base 95 Speed Pokemon, such as Jynx and Leafeon. However, Raticate probably never developed a natural resistance to pesticide. It has horrible base 55 / 60 / 70 defenses, and an even worse typing in Normal, which provides it with only a single immunity to Ghost-type attacks, though it has only one weakness, as well. With no resistances at all, Raticate can barely survive an attack. In its journey throughout the many regions, Raticate has picked up several tricks. Just like most Normal-types, Raticate has an extremely wide movepool that stretches from Kanto to Unova, including many unexpected moves. How can a common rodent use Thunderbolt? Or blow a gust of Ice Beam? Well, these weird quirks are not all that Raticate can boast.</p>
<p>More competitively, it has a great ability in Guts, which lets it boost its rather average Attack to decent levels. However, there are plenty of other Guts abusers in the tier, such as Swellow and Ursaring, which outclass Raticate in almost every aspect. Raticates's lone differentiating feature is its access to Sucker Punch, which makes revenge killing it harder, and makes it a good revenge killer, too. All in all, aside from its oversized teeth, Raticate does not seem very threatening. However, if you go unprepared against this occasional pest, expect it to bite you in the back when it sees you.</p>
[SET]
name: Guts
move 1: Facade
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Reversal
move 4: Protect / U-turn
item: Toxic Orb / Flame Orb
ability: Guts
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Once Rattata has ditched its Run Away and grown into a fearless Raticate, it can use Guts to bravely increase its Attack. Guts rectifies its borderline Attack, allowing it to launch its teeth into the opponent and put holes into the opposing team. With its status Orb activated, Raticate can function as a status absorber for the team. Not only that, Raticate can also act as a late-game sweeper or a revenge killer thanks to its boosted Attack. Like most Guts abusers, Facade is the main STAB move as it has the highest Base Power among all of its other attacks. Accounting for STAB, Facade has 210 Base Power, easily demolishing anything that does not resist it. Even a 2x resisted Facade is stronger than a neutral Sucker Punch. As previously mentioned, Sucker Punch is the main selling point of Raticate over the other Guts abusers in the tier, allowing it to quickly take up the role of a revenge killer or prevent itself from being revenge killed. As most people tend to forget that Raticate has access to Sucker Punch due to the mouse's rarity, it might actually get a surprise kill with an unexpected Sucker Punch. Just like the most common Guts abuser in the tier, Swellow, Raticate often finds itself utterly walled by Rock- and Steel-types. Raticate can use Reversal to hit them super effectively, or use it as a last resort when at low health. However, one must take note that Facade always has a higher Base Power than Reversal. Only use the latter against a foe Reversal can hit super effectively. Protect is a move found on almost all status abusers, for its ability to allow Raticate to safely activate its status Orb without having to take a hit. Additionally, while Sucker Punch is a great attack against faster revenge killers, Protect lets Raticate scout the opponent's move and ease prediction with Sucker Punch. U-turn makes Raticate a fairly good scout as well, possibly even a better one than Swellow as it is not weak to Stealth Rock. It also lets Raticate escape from undesirable situations and deal some damage to the opponent, while also taking none from its status.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EV spread is pretty straightforward. Simply maximize its Speed and Attack to make Raticate as offensive as possible, and make the best out of Guts. A Jolly nature is recommended as it allows Raticate to outspeed base 95 Speed Pokemon. An Adamant nature is viable, but the extra Speed provided is more helpful. For example, a Jolly nature allows Raticate to outspeed Jynx, enabling it to Facade Jynx to oblivion instead of being hit by a powerful Ice Beam, or having Sucker Punch fail as Jynx uses Substitute. Toxic Orb is usually the preferred item as Raticate often stays in for less than three turns, during which Toxic Orb does less damage than Flame Orb. Raticate has a few other options to sink its teeth into. Super Fang can immediately halve the target's HP, which is especially helpful if you predict a switch-in that Raticate can't really harm otherwise, such as Regirock. Quick Attack is another priority move to consider; while it has a slightly lower Base Power than Sucker Punch, it requires less prediction to use. Crunch can be used over Sucker Punch to nail Haunter, which can use Substitute to evade a Sucker Punch. Swords Dance can boost Raticate's Attack to terrifying levels if it gets the opportunity to set up. However, Raticate is unable to do this most of the time, as it is unable to force many switches.</p>
<p>Even with Reversal, Rock- and Steel-types can easily halt Raticate in its tracks. Ursaring therefore makes a great teammate, as it can easily crush pesky Rock- and Steel-types with Close Combat. Furthermore, Quick Feet and Guts make Ursaring compatible with Raticate. The duo can pose an amazing offensive presence with their powerful attacks, stressing physical walls until the end. If having two status abusers isn't to your liking, Ground- or Fighting-types, such as Sawk or Golem, are great partners as well, as their STAB moves are super effective against said Rock- and Steel-types. Entry hazard support is useful for such an offensive Pokemon; Cacturne can lay Spikes or use Encore to trap the opponent into a move Raticate can switch in on safely. Ghost-types such as Misdreavus are good teammates as well, as Raticate often attracts Fighting-types such as Sawk. Wish support is also helpful to lengthen Raticate's miserably short life. Alomomola practically heals Raticate completely with a single Wish.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Raticate's movepool is as deep as Sea Floor Cavern, which is probably a result of it eating up whatever TM it can find. However, it has a measly Special Attack stat, making about half its movepool—including Blizzard, Charge Beam, Grass Knot, Ice Beam, and Thunder—useless. Raticate can Screech at the opponents and force them to switch or be KOed with Facade. However, it also has Swords Dance, which is more reliable. The rodent can act as a suicide team supporter with moves such as Thunder Wave, Toxic, and Taunt, but that is better left to bulkier Pokemon, such as Gardevoir. Zen Headbutt is an option to hit Weezing super effectively; although Weezing is problematic, Zen Headbutt has little other use. Raticate can attempt to pull off its famous F.E.A.R. set, but there are other Pokemon that outclass it, such as Aron. Furthermore, the ever-common entry hazards make this strategy particularly hard to pull off. Raticate gained Hustle as its Dream World ability, but Guts is preferred as it does not lower accuracy.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Rock- and Steel-types are a true nightmare for this rodent, as it cannot chew through them with its sharp teeth; in fact, Raticate has no way of denting them outside of the unreliable Reversal. Other physical walls, such as Weezing and Torterra, have no problem tanking hits from such a small little mouse. Ghost-types can simply stall the pest out of its health by stalling out poison or burn damage, as it cannot touch them without resorting to Sucker Punch. Misdreavus in particular has many support moves to evade Sucker Punch, and can even inflict damage with Pain Split. However, Ghost-types do have to look out for the rare Crunch. Anything that is faster than Raticate that can hide behind a Substitute, or not be KOed by Sucker Punch, is a good check to it. Tauros is such an example, and even has Intimidate to buffer the attack. Choice Scarf users, such as Rotom-S, can revenge kill Raticate, though they have to be wary of being bitten in the back by Sucker Punch.</p>
