Watchog

It looks like a shy burrowing animal, but it behaves like a lookout that wants to be noticed. The luminescent components of its body make its eyes and torso stripes glow, a signal it uses to intimidate rivals. It also keeps its tail raised when it detects a threat and spits out the seeds of the Berries it stores in its cheeks.

Its appearance combines traits of a groundhog with those of other small terrestrial mammals, such as a chipmunk or a meerkat. The yellow stripes resemble a reflective vest and reinforce the idea of an animal assigned to control the passage of others. Its ability to see in the dark fits that alerting role.

It occupies the second position in a short evolutionary line. The small Patrat develops a taller silhouette, a more aggressive stare and defensive tools tied to intimidation. The species retains the Normal type and stands out for accumulating control moves alongside direct physical attacks.

It is not a strong competitive choice. Its base stats are 60 HP, 85 Attack, 69 Defense, 60 Special Attack, 69 Special Defense and 77 Speed, for a total of 420. Attack is its best stat, but it is not enough to make up for its modest defenses and insufficient Speed for an attacker that needs to move first.

The Ability that defines its potential is Analytic: it powers up the move if it is the last to act. The problem is obvious: it has to take the hit or accept that the opponent will move first, exactly when its 60 HP and 69 defenses leave it very little room for error. Keen Eye prevents its Accuracy from being lowered, while Illuminate provides no useful benefit in battle.

The Normal type gives STAB to Tackle, Super Fang, Hyper Fang and other moves of the same type. It also lets it switch into Ghost-type moves, although it remains vulnerable to Fighting-type attacks. Crunch covers Ghost- and Psychic-types, and Hypnosis can disrupt the pace of a battle; its accuracy limits that plan. Nasty Plot opens up an unnatural special route for a species with 60 Special Attack, while Swords Dance makes better use of its 85 Attack.

In a normal playthrough, it works as a temporary attacker or a source of status conditions against slower opponents. In serious battles, its lack of power, bulk and Speed makes other rodents such as Raticate easier to justify.

Breeding takes place in the Field Egg Group. The gender ratio is 50% for each sex, so there is no need to look for a specific split when forming the pair. Hatching requires 20 cycles, equivalent to approximately 5355 steps using the usual conversion.

Its catch rate is 255, a figure that makes it trivial to catch when it appears in the relevant game. Its base friendship starts at 70 and its growth rate is Medium, two useful details when planning its training from the time it is still Patrat.

Its evolution has one exact condition: Patrat must reach level 20. No stone, trade or friendship condition is involved. When it evolves, it keeps the Normal type and offers a spread more focused on physical Attack. Its level-up moves include control tools such as Hypnosis, Thunder Wave and Toxic, as well as Super Fang for sharply cutting the health of bulky opponents.