Monotype The Griddler Vs. Crystal - Normal Monotype Playthrough

[The Griddler]

Welcome to my Monotype run of Pokémon Crystal! Yup, just Leaf Green wasn't enough. This time around, we're going to be doing a Monotype run, specifically of the Normal type. Why Normal? Well, for one, because the good people of the Discord suggested it. For two, it's because Johto has a wealth of interesting Normal types that I've never used before and am interested in trying out! (That's going to sound facetious as hell at the end of this first update, but trust me, it's all true.)

So, the rules:

1. I am only using Normal type Pokémon as soon as I'm able to catch one. So basically, the moment I run into a Pokémon after getting Pokeballs. Of course, dual type Pokémon are acceptable so long as one of their types is Normal.
2. Like my other challenge run, I'm going to refrain from using healing items in battle. I will use them outside of battle as they're needed, but I've found that I can become too reliant on heals in battle in the late game. It just makes it real easy to brute force your way through the end game. Particularly if you're loaded from not spending money on Pokeballs.
3. Since I'm going to be playing all the way to Red anyways, I'll take the time to defeat any Legendary I encounter, like my Leaf Green challenge. Just one more God to defy.
4. As always, I will allow myself a Utility Pokemon in the event that one is needed, but I would prefer having my full team on me whenever possible. My utility pokemon will not battle under any circumstancs.

So, let's get started.

Spoiler: Norma Jean is not my song

As before we will be selecting the female trainer cause that's how I roll.

Man, what a ****ing mood. Anyways,

Don't worry, I'm not going to make a dumb name like Yeetus again. I'm not always a tactless memelord.

Do YoU gEt It It'S bEcAuSe ThIs Is A nOrMaL tYpE rUn.

Okay. Most of the time I'm a tactless memelord. I'll admit it.

Mom. Mom. I'm a teenaged girl. I know how to use a phone. Aaaaaanyways. It's time to go and grab our first - placeholder - Pokemon, but uwu, what's this?

I mean, I'm staring at an edgy redhead that looks like he's-

THE **** YOU JUST TRY, *****!?

Oh he's gonna pay for that. He's so gonna pay for that. But first!

You know, playing back through this now, I think I kind of like Elm more than most other Professors. At the very least, more than Oak. He's not foisting his lifelong dream onto some kid, he's just asking you to look after one (1) Pokémon for him while he, like, takes notes. He's not sending you off on a bigass journey, that comes later. He just wants you to help with a paper he's doing. With that in mind it feels more like our character was something of an intern for him to begin with.

Also? I just find it neat that he has a healing machine a la a Pokémon Center in his lab. I don't know, I just get good vibes from that.

Aww, look at this happy snappy boy! I love him. I am desperately trying not to become too attached because he's going to be benched the second I catch something else. I haven't even given him a name for this exact purpose. With that in mind, let's go to Mr. Pokémon and pick up that obligatory early game package.

Totodile keeps me safe from any wild Pokémon, of which there are plenty. By the time we get to Mr. Pokémon he's pretty beefy.

I mean, that depends on what you're asking of me, Stranger.

Okay but how about no though? This is kind of what I was getting at with Elm Vs Oak. Oak has literally just set eyes on me and goes "yeah you seem legit" and then charges you to do all his work. Again. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too deeply into this monster collecting jrpg for children.

Right? Here I am discussing the work ethics and recruiting practices of fictional characters, we haven't even had any major battles yet, I'm dangerously short of applicable memes, I don't have any normal type pokemon for this normal type run, this LP is an unmitigated disaster!

It's horrible! What the hell am I even supposed to do? I can't just spend the entire post going through the prologue, that's stupid, I-

Wait, we're talking about two different things, aren't we?

Well, okay. Let's just make our way back, I guess. You know what that means...

Thought I forgot about you, *****?

Huh. That's a pretty strong statement given that the only waste I see right now is you.

Yeah. I get it. Shut the **** up and let's get on with it.

You see this Totodile? I'm not even planning on using it once I have other options. Let me show you what I can do with a bench sitter.

Wait hold on-

Oh no he won't be stopped.

That Chikorita is ****ing dead. Totodile killed it. With his rage. Holy **** he needs to be stopped.

I was prepared to be but now I'm just scared of the monster I've created.

As a kid playing Silver for the first time, I was super confused by this, I genuinely thought that his name was seriously meant to be ???

But enough about that loser for now, we're being summoned.

Aw **** it's the fuzz, cheese it, Totodile!

Oh wait nevermind this is about that other guy.

Yeah, him. That guy. Whose Pokémon I didn't murder.

N-no officer no not at all I didn't encourage my attack alligator to eviscerate anyone hahahahaha why would you even insinuate that

Oh, well... I got ???, does that help?

But seriously,

I thought I was being clever by saying his name is Jean, because it's a reference to a Michael Jackson song. only it's not. The name in the song is Billie Jean. I don't know who the **** Norma Jean is. But I bet they would've known that I was wrong.

I know, I really thought I was doing something cool. And dammit, I still haven't caught any Normal type Pokémon, should I just jump ahead some? I think I should jump ahead some.

Okay, okay. Fine. But I'm gonna save the footage of that until part two, or maybe as a part 1.5, I'm running out of time and space here. At this rate I'm going to be at 50+ images before even catching my first real Pokémon.

KING CRIMSON!

Okay, we're here at our first catch. Our first brave new recruit. I'm sure he won't betray Totodile or usurp his position in any way whatsoever!

Absolutely sure. Yup. Only good things to come for Totodile.

I can't stress how cathartic this single screen is.

Griffith becomes the only member of my team through entirely legitimate and not at all traitorous means. He's trustworthy like that. From there, my focus turns to getting him back up to Totodile's former level while searching for more Pokémon to add to my team. Speaking of:

I know, I know, I talked about exciting new Pokemon that I've never used before and my first two Pokemon are Rattata and Pidgey. I swear, I've never used their lines before and I'm genuinely curious to see how they'll shape up. We'll get to the more out-there entries later. Just... bear with me for now, alright?

Hey look, a musical reference that I actually got right this time! Now all I need to do is get Sinatra on equal footing with Griffith.

...which is easier said than done. I swear, I'm getting Bayonetta flashback and I don't like it. Thankfully, they don't last for long. Let me show you!

Yup. There he is. The meme child. I'm gonna duel him with Sinatra so we can see who the real top percentage Rattata is. (Full disclosure, Totodile is still here because I forgot to deposit him once I felt Griffith was safely leveled. I immediately went to put him away after I noticed that I had three in this image instead of two.)

Despite forgetting to heal before the fight, I'm confident that Sinatra will be able to pull through this.

Case in point!

With Sinatra's assertion of dominance out of the way, I make my way into the caves and start fumbling around in the dark in search of Dunsparce.

About two hours later I find out that I can't get Dunsparce yet. So.... yeah. So much for that. I guess there's really nothing left to do than go and get my first badge instead.

I have to say I'm actually kind of excited for this fight. It'll be interesting to take on these super common Pokemon with my own. Normally I'd be blowing through this with my starter or something similar.

First up is Sinatra versus Pidgey. Let's see what a Rattata can do!

Apparently what it can do is a 2hko. Colour me impressed.

But this right here is the match I'm most interested in. First of all, how the hell did he get a Pidgeotto that low level? Did he port it in from Yellow? Bah, whatever. What ensues is a battle of which bird can Gust at the other harder. Think Tacklemania, but windier and much closer.

Much closer. That Pidgeotto was no joke. I'll be eager to see how Griffith's own firepower improves once he evolves.

And with that we've gotten our first badge! Hopefully, it was worth the slog and unnecessarily long prologue. Tune in next time and we'll explore the depths (heights?) of Sprout Tower and just maybe find out what became of Totodile.

Spoiler: The Squad So Far

Griffith the Pidgey
Level: 12
Moves:
Tackle
Sand Attack
Gust

Sinatra the Rattata
Level: 11
Moves:
Tackle
Growl
Quick Attack

Gonna give my thoughts on Griffith and Sinatra simultaneously because they're basically the same... I really like using these Pokemon! I didn't think they would, but so far it's been very enjoyable and it's been an interesting exercise. Sure, I'm banking on stronger Normal Types in the future, but for the time being these two have really grown on me, and I might just take them all the way to the finish, regardless of how many better options there are.

EDIT: God I hate my tablet, post isn't done! Will wrap it up asap.

EDIT EDIT: Oh my god this was way longer and more time consuming than I had anticipated, but it's done! Crystal's smaller text boxes make it so I often need to take multiple screenies to get a full statement captured. I'm not sure if I'll make an update as lengthy as this again. Knowing how much Crystal takes, I may set up much shorter checkpoints for myself and update with smaller, shorter chunks of gameplay. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed!

 

[The Griddler]

As I noted on my Leaf Green run:

Posting here to let people know that this run isn't dead, I just sent my tablet in for repairs and forgot to transfer my save data onto my laptop. I'm hoping to update sometime next week.