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I get the gripe, but I guess until recently I've never thought about it all that much. Some cases it makes sense flavor-wise, like with Girafarig, who you can assume is a Normal giraffe with a Psychic butt. Others are a bit more of a stretch, but I think in most cases where it's a pure Normal that evolves into Normal/[something else], it retains its "normality" at its base but also gains another element, but not to the extent it becomes a Pure whatever-the-new-type is (see Bidoof to Bibarel, or Bunnelby to Diggersby).
I guess this logic could be carried over to justify the retconning of things like the Jigglypuff line, or since you mentioned Sawsbuck, it's an otherwise Normal deer which just so happens to have plantstuff growing on it. Also, if you ask what I think of Drampa, it's that it's getting on in years and that's why it's part Normal as opposed to some other type....Shaky conjecture, I admit, but does any of this help?
The Litleo and Helioptile lines being part Normal (secondary, no less!) is weird, though. I've got no defense for the reasoning behind it, flavor-wise. Oh, and more pure Flying-types would be nice, but if we're not gonna get that then at least make more based off the wind end of Flying and less so the bird end. I could almost make an argument to split Flying into Wind and Bird... almost. Seems too far into the series for there to be a point to that.
I wouldn't be entirely opposed to Flying being Wind tbh, not even a split. It makes it more of an element than an ability - because at the moment Flying sounds more like a flavour-specific levitate than it does a type.
Thinking about it some more, I think the issue with the Normal type itself is that what it is is so vague to the point of interpretation. Despite the notion it's a "Plain" type, there's also evidence to conclude it's an "omni-type", meaning it sacrifices specialization for the sake of versatility. And yeah, when you get Normal/X-types, that's when it starts to get a bit weird... and yet I could easily see a, say, Normal/Ghost-type happening if it was done right. Still, you have a point, some typings may just be how they are for mechanical purposes, or even just the heck of it.*
I guess there's no reason Drampa couldn't be pure Dragon, or Dragon/not-Normal, but I thought my reasoning was fun(ny). The only other justification I could think of would be that it's usually so gentle/docile that it doesn't get Dragon on anyone unless provoked, but then that's not a trait exclusive to any one type/combination of types...
I was gonna bring up Meloetta earlier, but I couldn't think of much except Relic Song being a special case that allows it to alter its secondary typing by supernatural means... which is fine and dandy for a legendary Psychic, but it doesn't really make sense of the Normal half.In short, what IS Normal, anyway?!
Not a bad point, but would there be any need to change anything but the name, then? The Rock weakness wouldn't make sense against anything but a bird, for example.
*Still bothers me a smidge that Mega Gyarados is Water/Dark-- not that it isn't cool, too, mind you-- but I guess if we're gonna bring Megas into the mix, then it's worth noting that Mega Evolutions bend the rules in general, so we get Aggron becoming pure Steel and, more topically, Lopunny getting a secondary Fighting-type. I guess it's hard to justify Normal/Fighting any way you slice it.
Maybe normal is supposed to represent just normal animals. How many normal types do you know aren't really plain in a way?Bewear being like the only exception because it's basically a stuffed animal fighter thing.
Well the thing is that Ekans was before they gave a crap about this (I really hate to whittle the discussion down to this), and I believe that Ekans/Arbok resemble more of a dark-type archetype than anything else. Would also like to note that snakes and cobras aren't really "normal." I could also specify a bit and refer to "normal mammals," which basically only leaves Ditto, Type: Null/Silvally, Arceus, Regigigas, Castform, Lickitung, Smeargle, Happiny, Kecleon, and the Porygons as exceptions as far as the pure types go.
With Type Null/Smeargle/Silvally/Arceus/Regigigas/Castform/Porygon, they were going with "absence of element." With Lickitung they were pretty high no matter how you slice it. With the Happiny line, they probably figured nothing else fit, although they didn't put a Fairy dual type which is questionable.
When we hit the dual-types I don't think much changes, because the oddities are Jigglypuff, Meloetta, and Helioptile. Jiggs is a basic ass balloon, Helioptile could have some routes as a "normal lizard," because while Ekans/Arbok are too hostile in their lore as Pokemon to really be a normal type, Helioptile isn't inherently hostile and salutes the sun. I'm at a loss for words as far as Meloetta is concerned, but any conjecture I come up with would be a stretch.
Ponyta's back is on fire, whereas Litleo and Pyroar are just lions with some strange colors. Sure they can breathe fire, but their back isn't literally on fire.
I prefer to think that Normal Pokémon are there to balance the Type chart by being neutral and having no types weak to it. If it didn't exist then Ghost would still be a bit overpowered and be in a similar situation like Dragon types were before the introduction of the Fairy type. Only Dark would resist Ghost attacks after Gen 6 and Pokémon like Mega Gengar would wreak havoc competively since nothing else could last very long in battle.