Greetings everybody, we have a new type review today! It’s the Normal-type reviews I promised to do a long time ago, so here’s the introduction before we start with the main meat. Once you are prepared, please continue with this article.
“Because of its wide variety, there’s many different faces in here. Say what you will about the type itself being boring when it comes to interaction with other types, but there’s something for just about everyone here. From cute to badass, from awesome to really stupid-looking, Normal has it all. Just don’t go looking for most of these to perform well, because the viability of many of these are just as all over the place as their appearance.” ~ System Error
Overview
The Normal-type is one of the most abundant types in Pokémon. Every Generation will introduce a sizable number of Normal-types, so it’s no wonder we have a lot of Normal-types, only being eclipsed by Water. Pokémon isn’t the only thing Normal-types have in abundance, as they also have the most moves associated with their type.
It seems that the Normal-type is quite widespread, for there are some early-game Normal-types, and some are found in the middle. In quite a few cases, there might be even late-game Normal-types, such as Rufflet.
Being widespread isn’t the only thing going for Normal-types, since they are also known for their variety. It’s difficult to accurately define the common characteristics among Normal-types, besides their type. One could make a case for them being based on animals, but we also have some Normal-types that are definitely not animals, such as the Porygon family and the Wigglytuff family.
Because of this, Normal-types are defined by two things: the lack of defining strengths and weaknesses, and how anything goes as far as what defines a Normal-type.
What the Normal-type is
When you hear “normal”, you would expect something ordinary or perhaps neutral. It’s considered non-elemental because of its neutral interaction with almost every types. Besides, Normal-types tend to have widespread elemental coverage to compensate their lack of element. It could be the default type if a Pokémon does not fit any existing types.
For example, Clefable and family were Normal-types, but when Fairy was introduced, they become Fairy-types, losing their Normal-types. The same case goes for Granbull and family. Even then, certain type conversions are likely to be a case-by-case basis since there are some more candidates that could have an extra type, but they ended up unchanged.
Even then, perhaps if more types are introduced in the future, a few more Pokémon could have a type change that allow them to properly deviate from their Normal-type, so perhaps a Digital-type could allow Porygon and family to be their own type, or maybe a Carnivore-type would be for the cat and dog Pokémon.
The idea of Normal as a beginner type is plausible. After all, it doesn’t have a lot of type interactions, so when a trainer begins, having a Normal-type means they could learn about the other types more easily, with their access to lots of other attacking types and lack of weaknesses. Their wide variety of moves would allow trainers to get right to the basics without the distraction of the complex type chart.
It’s reasonable to expect most people to start out with Normal-types, realistically, if they were to get the hang of training. Even young trainers like the Youngster mainly used Normal-types. That does not mean the player starts with Normal-types, because the elemental triangle is more important than just getting the basics down, since the battles are mainly the about the elemental interactions.
The simplicity and diversity of the type are what defines the Normal-type, for they could not only be useful for beginners, but could find use for advanced trainers with their variety and unique uses.
Battling
Being that Normal-types are a “general” type, Normal-types do not have a specific battle style. There are various types of Pokémon that battle differently, so there is no dominant style among Normal-types.
To start, there are Physical attackers and Special attackers. As an example of the former, we have Kangaskhan, who has higher Attack and some useful Physical attacks. Its Mega Evolution is even more powerful in that regard. For the latter, Porygon-Z’s high Special Attack ensures that it is to be used as a Special attacker.
Offence isn’t the only thing going for the Normal-type. We have Normal-types with support, such as Smeargle’s access to every move or Blissey’s high Special Defence and HP. Castform’s unique weather-dependent feature and Kecleon’s type-changing abilities shouldn’t go unmentioned either.
The Normal-type do not have a lot of type interaction, since they are weak to only Fighting and is immune to Ghost. A Ghost immunity is special since it’s one of two types to take less damage from it. The Fighting weakness is problematic because it shares the weakness with four other types, though there are six types that resist/nullify it. Beyond that, the lack of resistances could be a problem because having them makes it easier for them to switch in, unless that Pokémon has sufficient defence to make up for it.
On the offensive front, their lack of super-effective coverage meant that it’s not always ideal to use Normal attacks. It does help that they have good moves associated with their type to make up for that (Extreme Speed, Return/Frustration, Hyper Voice and Boomburst), in addition to the wide neutral coverage. In an Inverse Battle, the lack of resists is useful for them, though it might make them overpowered.
Overall, Normal-types in battling are nothing special as a type, but when it comes to the Pokémon, the diversity is something that makes them pretty good. When it comes to combining with another type, the Normal-type proves its worth as a complimentary type because of the Normal STAB and Ghost immunity (with a Fighting disadvantage).
Opinion
In my opinion, the Normal-type is an alright type. It’s not my most favourite, nor is it my least favourite. There’s a lot to admire the Normal-type, such as the unique Pokémon with this type, as well as the varied designs that takes on a wide range of colours. There is something interesting and unique to say about each Pokémon family, because they are themed on something different. The collection of variety in design and behaviour is one of the strengths going for the Normal-type.
The thing is, when something is a Normal-type, it felt like they should perform similar in battling, based on their label. With a tendency to lump together anything within a category, as is the case for Normal-types, it might be expected for them to not be all that different. This is where the disadvantage of variety comes into play. Many trainers like to have a team with diverse types, so choosing a Normal-type isn’t easy with so many of them out there. Still, there is a Normal-type for every trainer.
The “neutral” factor might also be a deterrent for trainers because they might want diverse elements within their teams. Unlike the popular Fire, Water and Grass-types that are popular picks, the Normal-type is not necessarily a popular pick because its lack of element seem like it adds something “colourless” for the team.
For me, it seems like a letdown to know that a certain design is considered a Normal-type, because it seems like a Pokémon should be something other than a Normal-type. Some of the examples include Dunsparce and Audino. That’s nothing against the type itself, but the fact that some of the wilder designs are just Normal-type made it seem like wasted potential. I suppose if the design is too wild, then perhaps having a Normal-type would be a good thing, for its neutrality means that nothing could possibly describe their type succinctly.
Overall, Normal is simultaneously fascinating and dull.
That is all for the Introduction of the Normal-type. The journey through the Pokémon will be a long one indeed, for I will be going through every Normal-type out there, and yet there are more things to come, such as the Normal-type specialists.
Previously, I would normally comb through each Generation for every Pokémon, but this time, I will do things differently. Instead of that, I will go by alphabetical order based on the base Pokémon, meaning that the first Pokémon that we will be looking at are Aipom’s family and Arceus. When I said “base Pokémon”, I meant that the Pokémon is not only the first in line, they are also the first to be introduced. For example, Snorlax and Chansey are the base Pokémon instead of their pre-evolutions introduced later.
I will also include a move or two (usually one) for each Pokémon family based on what they learn, and the move that best suit them is chosen, if possible. Not only are moves included, each Normal-type will have selected TCG art and quotes by other Pokémon fans, so each Pokémon family review is sure to be substantial.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and the future articles as much as I have writing them.
Next Article: Aipom & Ambipom
