Typing Review: An Overview of Normal Types for Raids in Pokemon Go

Back in Pokemon Let' s Go: Eevee, players were given a very special Eevee at the start of the game, and this thing was potentially broken.In particular, it had access to signature moves that covered Normal, Water, Electric, Fire, Psychic, Dark, Grass, Ice, and Fairy (do those types sound familiar?). This means that if Niantic specifically gave us access to Partner Eevee as a special variant, then it could be really interesting.... though these moves would have to be beyond the very limitations of the concept of broken to make Eevee good in any manner.

Gigantamax Meowth is just too funny to not include on this list, and is the primary reason that I genuinely hope that Dynamax/Gigantamax is eventually released in Pokemon Go. We need longcat/Gigantamax Meowth to make its way here, and it even has a once-and-former Signature Move in Payday. 

Smeargle has a signature move by the name of Sketch that allows it to copy virtually any move in the game in the main series. And while this has somewhat carried over in its ability to reflect Pokemon attack sets, imagine if we could outright Sketch any single move in any Fast/Charged combo in the game? Combine this with a Shadow boost, and Smeargle could be... really bad. But still, it's a fun concept!

Fun Fact: Slaking has access to Scratch and Giga Impact in the main series, one of the strongest Normal Type movesets in the entire game (for what that's worth). Given this moveset and a Shadow boost, a Shadow Slaking could actually end up fairly close to Shadow Mewtwo in terms of raw power.... but it would still have very limited utility due to Normal's signature lack of Super Effective damage output.

Regigigas has a signature move by the name of Crush Grip, but it also has access to Giga Impact, so it's not exactly hurting for a good Normal Type Charged Move. Maybe it would be best utilized as an absolutely broken Normal Type Fast Move? If that was the case, then Shadow Regigigas honestly would be a great early-game investment for its ability to slot into teams fighting everything save Steel, Rock, and Ghost Types. I mean, it can still do most of that now (if you get lucky with Hidden Power), but it would be nice to have a Normal type that actually does something situationally worthwhile in raids.

The one we've all been waiting for, the Deity Pokemon itself; Arceus. As we've said in many of these articles, Arceus is going to need an obscenely powerful Judgment to be good in the raid meta, but that's a big problem for anyone hoping to use a Normal Type Arceus in raids.

In the main series, Judgment changes types with Arceus, meaning it will probably do something similar in Pokemon Go. And if that's so, then why would you ever use a Normal Type Arceus when you could use an Arceus that reflects a Super Effective type? 

Sadly, I think that we all know the answer: Niantic will probably release each Arceus forme as its own thing, or make the forme change random/extremely expensive. Either way, it's very unlikely that a Normal Type Arceus will ever see raid utility.

Oh, and some may wonder why Slaking is one of the banner Pokemon for this article instead of Arceus. Well, we actually have a very good reason for this: Slaking is objectively funnier.

Hisuian Zoroark is very unlikely to make waves outside of maybe the Ghost meta, but it's very note-worthy here if only due to its typing. Ghost is arguably the absolute best type to pair with Normal, as these two types cover each other almost flawlessly. One of the biggest issues with Normal when paired with other types is that it adds a Fighting weakness, or removes a Fighting strength. When combined with Ghost, the Pokemon in question actually retains strengths to Ghost and Fighting alike. This leaves Dark as its sole weakness, and makes it a great defensive typing.

....of course these facts matter very little in Pokemon Go, so this entry is unlikely to ever matter in the PvE meta moving forward. Still, it is interesting, and Hisuian Zoroark has a great design!

At long last we get a chance to talk about Silvally, and... there's basically nothing to say. Go up and read the Arceus section, and all of those points apply here, only weaker. 

The new evolution of Ursaring, Blood Moon Ursaluna has a great design and a higher Attack stat... by 4 points. Well, hopefully we'll be able to evolve Shadow Ursaluna into this monster when it drops, giving us Shadow Bloodmoon Ursaluna right off the bat in a manner similar to how we were able to get Shadow Ursaluna as soon as it became available.

Dunsparce is an old fan-favorite underdog, and Dudunsparce has the potential to definitely be a Pokemon that we can get in Pokemon Go in the future! Honestly, the most interesting part of this Pokemon is the fact that it has two- and three-segment formes, with the three-segment variant only showing up about 1% of the time. Best of luck getting a good-IV three-segment!

Maushold is a fun case that's similar to Dudunsparce, as there's a 1% chance of getting a 4-family variant instead of the normal 3-variant. It should be fun to watch players go insane trying to get that 4th little mouse! Here's hoping that its evolution cost will be pretty low.

Terapagos is the cover-legendary for the Indigo Disk DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Its entire gimmick is focused on Terastallization, so it's hard to say exactly how it will be implemented in Pokemon Go. On top of that, it's fairly weak stat-wise, meaning it likely won't have utility in raids unless Terastallization and its unique Stellar Type materialize, and are genuinely outstanding. Needless to say, the odds are very much against this ever happening. It also has a Signature Move in Tera Starstorm (Earthbound vibes there), but the power of this move would have to be off the chart to salvage this poor turtle.

Audino is a rare Pokemon that gives a lot of Stardust when caught, and Mega Audino has the distinct honor of being the Mega Evolution with the lowest neutral DPS in the game, even falling behind notably weak Mega Evolutions like Mega Sableye and Mega Mawile. It'll be fun to see just how luke-warm the reception will be when it finally drops!