Rattata and Raticate (HGSS)

Rattata is one of Normal-type Pokémon found in the very first routes of the game. It has an appearence of a mouse.

Location: Route 29

Stats and evolution
Rattata has good Speed and decent Attack. However, it's quite frail.

It evolves into Raticate at Level 20.

Moves, Abilities and Typing
Rattata will be obtained with Tackle and Quick Attack. At Level 7, it will get Focus Energy, whose raises the critical-hit ratio. At Level 10, it will get Bite, whose is pretty powerful and has good chances to flinch the foe. At Level 13, it will get Pursuit, but it's nearly useless in-game since NPCs very rarely trade their Pokémon. At Level 16, it will get Hyper Fang, a very powerful STAB move for the point of the game. At Level 19, it will get Sucker Punch, but there's little recommendation to use it over Bite.

Immediately after evolving, it can get Scary Face, but isn't too recommended since Raticate outspeeds around 70% of the opponents in the game. At Level 24, it gets Crunch, a better version of Bite. At Level 34, it will get the very rare Super Fang, whose cuts half of the opponent's left HP, great for its Speed. At Level 39, it will get Double-Edge, a very powerful STAB move, but has recoil. At Level 44, it gets its last move Endeavor, but its effect is quite risky in-game.

With Heart Scale, it can get Swords Dance, whose raises Attack by two levels.

Raticate don't learn many good TMs. Shadow Ball, Blizzard, Thunder and Charge Beam are options, but all of them are special. Dig, Pluck, Iron Tail and U-Turn are your best coverage options, though I don't recommend Dig and Iron Tail. Strength is an option, but not too much recommended. Return is an option for Double-Edge as it has no recoil.

The only good tutor that it can get is Zen Headbutt, with 64 Battle Points. Last Resort is an option, obtained with 48 Battle Points, but can only be used after all other moves.

Raticate can have two Abilities: Run Away and Guts. Run Away makes escape from wild Pokémon without fail, while Guts raises Attack by 50% under burn poison or paralyze. Since it has enough Speed to escape easily from battles, Guts is obviously the best choice.

Normal is a decent typing, as the only weakness is Fighting.

Important Battles
Outside of fifth Gym and Bruno in Elite Four, Raticate will have a decent matchup against most of the major battles in the game. Access to Dark-type moves makes it great against fourth Gym, as well Will in Elite Four, Saffron Gym, and rival's Gengar and Alakazam.

Conclusion
Despite not appearing, Rattata can be a great addition in your team if used correctly.

Rating: 60%.