@Blanked: I have no idea what you mean by "Resistance to Burns" because Raticate has no Resistances on its profile. What it DOES have is Guts, an abilitiy where it gets a boost to its physical attack power (In-game, by about 50%.) so long as it has a Status Condition. Most relevantly, being burned.
Surprisingly, speed isn't equalized. I'm also unsure why Raticate has Attack Reflection. Also not on the profile is what seems to be an unmentioned weakness.
| Red | It uses its whiskers to maintain its balance. It apparently slows down if they are cut off. |
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| Blue | |
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But anyway.... Assuming Raticate has all its abilities at once (Run Away, Guts, Hustle.), then.... I'm inclined to vote Natsu.
Oh sure, Guts means it'll hit harder. Hustle is even more attack at the cost of a lesser amount of accuracy. And using Focus Energy means it'll land critical blows more often. Swords Dance will boost its attack more. And Tail Whip can drop Natsu's durability.
Since Speed is unequalized, Scary Face dropping Natsu's speed can matter, & Quick Attack & Sucker Punch hitting before other attacks can let it get in surprise hits. Endeavor can let it drop Natsu's stamina down to its level if Raticate is lower, Super Fang halves how much Natsu has remaining....
And if it lands Hyper Fang or Bite, it might flinch Natsu, giving an opportunity cost to Natsu via temporary inability to move.
Assurance, Pursuit & Double Edge all range from often irrelevant to detrimental, such as via Double Edge's recoil. And I doubt he does, but if Natsu has END in this match, he has resistance to Darkness Manipulation, like Bite, Assurance, Pursuit, Sucker Punch, etc.
I could even see it using its moves in hit-&-run tactics, but that's speculation.
They even seem close in stamina! (Extremely large vs Extremely high.)
But what screws Raticate over?
1. In a game of hit-&-run, & maybe a challenge of combat intelligence, Natsu's enhanced smell & hearing let him compete with, if not outdo Raticate.
2. Raticate doesn't have range. Natsu does. AFAIK, it's not his style to focus on attacking from afar, as opposed to close combat, but he still has the option of attacking from afar if his fists fail him. And speaking of....
3. I'd be embarassed for Natsu if his fists failed him. Martial Arts/Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant user vs an angry super animal? I'm sorry Raticate, but Natsu is probably going to get in more hits than you do. Especially because....
4. Hustle. As hard as Raticate can hit with all the ways it can boost its damage, Natsu is not only fighting an opponent who ONLY has close combat & is arguably outskilled by him in that, but his opponent is fighting with an Accuracy penalty.
I'm iffy on this, but I'd be inclined to say Natsu, Medium-High Difficulty. For Raticate to overcome lower skill & accuracy penalty, it would have to be smart enough to capitalize on Quick Attack, Sucker Punch, getting lucky with Flinches, & actually landing Super Fang &/or Endeavour.
It'll probably hurt Natsu pretty bad IF it hits him, especially if Raticate gets up Swords Dance, Focus Energy or Guts trigger, & that's why it's a challenge, but Natsu is arguably smarter, matched in senses, better in combat skill, & has actual range. Even with his preference for close combat, he's bound to realize he 'ought to make some ranged attacks to win this fight.
Honestly, I could see myself voting another way, just because of Raticate's Durability Ignoring Endeavour, Super Fang, bonus hits with Quick Attack, Sucker Punch, & multiple ways of hitting like a truck could mean it could win in a damage race, but I'd need reason to believe it doesn't lose to Natsu's skill, range & Hustle's accuracy issues, even if it did gets its power-ups set-up/triggered.
