Fortitude is necessary, to last so long away from home. Though I've seen plenty thrive here even if we start disadvantaged.

Very well. I do not know if you've read the handbook already, but one detail it does not mention is that while Pokémon themselves are limited to two types, their movelists are not so constrained. Pratically every Pokémon can learn Normal-type attacks, at the very least. Thus, you might want to look up your starter's weaknesses and see if a Move Tutor can teach it attacks that will counter them.