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Raticate and its pre-evolution, Rattata, were Normal-type Pokemon from the first generation of Pokemon. Rookie trainers could catch a Rattata as early as Route 1 in the Kanto region. It wasn't until the eighth generation of Pokemon did Raticate and Rattata receive a regional variant. In Alola, the Rattata and Raticate are Dark/Normal-type, unlike their Kanto counterparts. It wouldn't be until 2021 where these Alolan rat Pokemon made their debut in Pokemon GO.

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Thanks to their Dark-typing, Alolan Raticate and Rattata have access to different moves from the Normal-type Raticate/Rattata. Of course, in Pokemon GO, a Pokemon's moves are split into two categories: Quick and Charge, and the number of moves per moveset are limited. Depending on the Alolan Raticate's moveset, it can make a good battler against Team GO Rocket or PVP, or it can be used to defend Gyms.

How To Get Alolan Raticate In Pokemon GO

pokemon go alolan ratatta

The Alolan Rattata can be caught as a Shadow Alolan Rattata from Team GO Rocket grunt. If they say, "Where there is light, there is also shadow," then their team will consist of Dark-type Pokemon. There's a chance the first Pokemon they send out will be an Alolan Rattata, and their second being Alolan Raticate. If they're defeated, players will be able to catch Rattata in a bonus encounter. Sometimes, they'll be given the opportunity to try and catch Shadow Alolan Raticate instead.

Alolan Rattata and Alolan Raticate have increased spawn rates in the wild during in-game events. The Greedy Gluttons Event (2022) not only added Guzzlord to Pokemon Raids, but it also had event-themed Pokemon (such as Alolan Raticate and Gulpin) appearing more frequently in the wild. The Raticate/Rattatas caught during Greedy Gluttons Event were not Shadow Pokemon, meaning players didn't need to spend Stardust or Candy to purify them.

For those that have a regular or Shadow Alolan Rattata, they can evolve it into Alolan Raticate with 25 Rattata Candy. A Purified Alolan Rattata will cost 22 Rattata Candy instead.

Alolan Raticate: Typing & Moves

Rattata_Raticate_SM009

As a Dark/Normal-type Pokemon, Alolan Raticate has the following type effectiveness:

Super-effective against

Psychic, Ghost

Weak to:

Fighting, Bug, Fairy

Resistant to/Not very effective:

Ghost, Psychic, Dark

Since Alolan Raticate is a dual Dark/Normal-type, it will have a 4x weakness to Fighting-type Moves. This means GO players would do well to keep it away from Fighting-type Pokemon, or Pokemon that have a Fighting-type move as their Quick Move. While it does gain two Type weaknesses that Kantonian Raticate doesn't have (ie: Bug and Fairy), it has more moves that are super effective against most Psychic and Ghost-type Pokemon. In addition, Alolan Raticate will gain STAB from Dark-type moves (like Bite) compared to the Normal-type Raticate.

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In Pokemon GO, an Alolan Raticate can have one of the following Quick and Charge Moves as of 2022:

Quick Move

Charge Move

  • Bite (Dark-type)
  • Quick Attack (Normal-type)
  • Crunch (Dark-type)
  • Hyper Beam (Normal-type)
  • Hyper Fang (Normal-type)
  • Frustration (Normal-type, Shadow Alolan Raticate only)
  • Return (Normal-type, Purified Alolan Raticate only)

Best Moves For Alolan Raticate In Pokemon GO

pokemon go alolan raticate moveset

Alolan Raticate's Pokemon GO moves aren't as diverse as its learnset in the mainline Pokemon games. On the bright side, it will gain Same Time Attack Bonus (STAB) from any of its Quick or Charge moves. On the downside, limiting its moves to two Types (Dark and Normal) severely limit Type coverage.

Quick Move

Charge Move

Pros & Cons

Moveset option #1

Bite

Hyper Beam

  • Pros
    • Dark-type STAB from Bite; Normal-type STAB from Hyper Beam.
    • Bite can deal with Psychic and Ghost-type Pokemon with ease.
    • Hyper Beam is Raticate's strongest Charge Move in terms of Damage (not DPS).
  • Cons
    • Bite is not very effective against most Dark, Fairy, and Fighting-type Pokemon.
    • Hyper Beam uses a lot of EPS, and Bite generates less EPS than Quick Attack.

Moveset option #2

Quick Attack

Hyper Beam

  • Pros
    • Normal-type STAB from both Quick Attack and Hyper Beam.
    • Both moves are Alolan Raticate's strongest Quick and Charge Moves in terms of Damage.
    • Quick Attack has a higher Energy per Second (EPS) than Bite.
  • Cons
    • Both moves are not very effective against Ghost, Rock, and Steel-type Pokemon.
    • Hyper Beam has a large negative EPS.

Moveset option #3

Bite

Hyper Fang

  • Pros
    • Bite is super effective against certain Types; Quick Attack, as a Normal-type move, is not.
    • Bite has a higher DPS than Quick Attack.
    • Hyper Fang has a lower negative EPS than Hyper Beam.
    • This moveset is better for trainer battles than gym battles/raids.
  • Cons
    • Hyper Fang is weaker than Hyper Beam in terms of damage and DPS.
    • Bite deals less damage and has a lower EPS than Quick Attack.

Moveset option #4

  • Quick Attack
  • Bite

Return

  • Pros
    • Return has a short Cooldown and a DPS of 50 in gym/raid battles.
    • Quick Attack + Return means Normal-type STAB; Bite + Return means Dark and Normal-type STAB for Raticate.
  • Cons
    • Return has a higher damage (ie: 130) in Trainer/PVP battles than it does when defending gyms (35).
    • Return can't be learned via Elite TM. Alolan Raticate can only have Return if it was caught as a Shadow Alolan Raticate (or Rattata) first.
    • Players will need to purify their Shadow Alolan Rattata, which costs Stardust and Candy.

Movset option #5

Quick Attack

Crunch

  • Pros
    • STAB from both Quick and Charge Moves.
    • Crunch has a small chance of lowering the opponent's Attack by one stage.
  • Cons
    • Quick Attack is not very effective against Ghost-type Pokemon, and will need to rely on the Charge Move (Crunch) to deal more damage.
    • Crunch will deal not very effective damage against Fairy, Fighting, and Dark-type Pokemon.

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