Raticate is a large, rodent-like Pokémon. Although it is often depicted on its hind legs, it is a quadruped. It is primarily tawny-colored with a cream underside. It has narrow black eyes, ears with ragged edges and dark insides, and large incisors that grow constantly. There are three whiskers on each side of its face, which it uses to maintain balance. It has short arms with three-fingered hands and webbed feet with three toes. The webbing on its feet allows it to swim. Its tail is long and scaly. A female will have shorter whiskers and lighter fur.
If attacked, Raticate stands up on its hind legs, bares its fangs and shrieks in an intimidating manner at its enemy. It is willing to take on larger foes if provoked enough. Its teeth are strong enough to gnaw through steel and their constant growth means it often needs to gnaw on something, like rocks and logs. It may even chew on the walls of houses, and is capable of chewing through cinderblocks and toppling concrete buildings. Its large incisors are also used for its former signature moves Hyper Fang and Super Fang. This Pokémon typically lives in plains and savannas.
In Alola, Raticate has become heavier and darker due to its urban environment and higher calorie diet. Its fur is mostly black with a brown, leaf-shaped patch on its belly and brown inside its ears. Its hands, feet, cheeks, and tail are a whitish-cream color, and its hands are much smaller. It has large, puffy cheeks with four whiskers under its chin and two sprouting sideways from the top of each cheek. Its large incisors are still visible, but its eyes are now red. This variant uses its nest as a food stockpile, and generally prefers to have the Alolan Rattata it commands to go out and forage for food while it remains in its nest and eats. It is selective in what it eats, however, only eating fresh, high-quality foods, such as fruits. Rumor has it that a certain high-class restaurant even exploits this selectivity, bringing Raticate along to buy ingredients and letting it taste test new dishes.
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It uses its whiskers to maintain its balance. It apparently slows down if they are cut off.
