Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Alolan Raticate, Celestial Storm, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Celestial Storm Part 13: Alolan Raticate GX

Bleeding Cool's journey through the Sun & Moon era of the Pokémon TCG continues. Now that our spotlight series has moved through the first seven sets of this block (Sun & Moon base, Guardians Rising, Burning Shadows, Crimson Invasion, Ultra Prism, Shining Legends, and Forbidden Light), now it's time to look at the next set from this era: Sun & Moon – Celestial Storm was released on August 3rd, 2018. This set has some interesting focuses including the expansion's mascot of the Dragon-type Rayquaza, the Hoenn Starters, and Kanto Pokémon. This set also continued the inclusion of Prism Star cards which could be pulled by lucky collectors in the reverse holo slot. Today, we continue our journey by moving to the Dark-type cards with a selection that includes regional variant versions of Kanto classics.

The Sun & Moon era introduced Alola, which saw the arrival of regional variations in Pokémon's typings and appearances. One of the many notable regional variants spotlighted during the Sun & Moon era is the Rattata line, which gets a strong feature in Celestial Storm.

Alolan Rattata is illustrated in a style that looks like a mixture of a colorful, expressive storybook and cardboard cutouts. Rattata as drawn here by Shhibuzah. is cute and timid despite the Dark-typing that the Alolan variation takes on. That cuteness is completely gone from the Alolan Raticate GX, of course, which shows the Pokémon in a dark and spooky setting lashing out at us. The setting could be the docks or could be a city area, and its darkness and spookiness makes it feel like you were unlucky enough to run into Raticate on a night stroll. 5ban Graphics, who are of course responsible for many Ultra Rare card art, provides this illustration.

Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon – Celestial Storm. To look back on this series, click the Celestial Storm tag below. Next time, this journey continues with the main set.

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