There was a time when the Silph Company building was far and away the tallest building in Kanto. At eleven stories, twice the height of Celadon's Department Store, it offered an imposing and entrancing view of Saffron City, and as Silph's operations became more efficient extra office space was rented out in the building and the roof opened to the public as an observation deck.
Unfortunately for Silph Corporation and the innocence of Saffron City, Raticate possess the ability to gnaw through concrete. At noon on an otherwise ordinary Thursday many years ago, a group of masked men sent out a swarm of Raticate which surrounded the building, then chewed through its foundations from all angles and vanished into their pokeballs before the police could arrive.
The building's collapse killed hundreds, destroyed a city black and horrified all of Kanto. Increased security measures were enacted across the pokemon world, but to no avail; Raticate evolve from Rattata, which are simply too numerous to effectively control. The attack, far from prompting imprved security to make future such moves impossible, instead sparked a wave of copycats; Raticate have now replaced Electrode as the pokemon of choice for terrorist organizations. Moreover, the attack (for all the brave talk by the mayor and the CEO about hunting down those responsible) must be regarded as a total success: the Master Ball which had made Silph so divisive was quietly discontinued, and no more have been produced to this day.
