After a quick heal at the Pokemon Center, Davin entered the doors of the Petalburg gym. The inside of it looked like a dojo with a battlefield in the center.

"Wow, what a place!" Davin said. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

Right then, the door on the far side of the gym slid open and a man with dark blue hair and a red jacket entered the room. "Why, hello there. I take it you're here for a gym battle?"

Davin nodded. "Yeah. My name is Davin, and if the gym leader's not too busy I'd like to have a battle with him."

The man smiled as he stepped on to the battlefield. "I'd be happy to battle you, Davin. I'm Norman, the Petalburg Gym leader."

Davin gasped. "I should've guessed." He went to his side of the field. "So what are the rules of this gym?"

"This will be a 4-on-4 battle. The first side to lose all of their Pokemon loses and only you are allowed to substitute." Norman explained.

"Uh... but I only have two Pokemon..." Davin said, disappointed.

"Only two?" Norman said as if he wasn't surprised. "Well, that's okay. Most of the trainers that come here have less than the standard amount. So how about we battle 4-on-2 and see if you can beat my Pokemon that way?"

"Sounds good!" Davin nodded.

Norman took out a Poke ball and threw it. "Okay, Vigoroth! Come on out!" A white ape with a violent look on its face appeared on the field.

"Vigoroth, the Wild Monkey Pokemon." said the Pokedex. "Its blood boils with energy, making it unable to keep still. It runs through fields and mountains all day to calm itself because it won't sleep at night if it doesn't."

"It looks powerful." The boy commented. He took out a Poke ball. "Let's go, Ros!"

The Mudkip appeared on the field. When it saw Vigoroth wildly stomping on the field, it took two steps back in fear. "Don't be afraid, Ros. Just do your best!"

"Vigoroth, use Slash!" Its claws glowed white and it rapidly scratched Ros, causing damage.

"Ros, are you okay?" It stood up, feeling shaky. "Use Mud-Slap!"

"Faint Attack!" Vigoroth dashed out of sight and quickly ambushed Ros with a tackle from behind. "Now, Slash once more!" Ros took a single, sharp scratch to the face and fainted.

"Return, Ros!" The Pokemon was quickly absorbed off of the field by its Poke ball. "At least you tried."

"You'll have to do better than that to defeat my Vigoroth." Norman commented.

Davin held his next Poke ball in his hand. "Well, let's see what you can do. Halo, you're up!" His newest Pokemon appeared on the field. "All right, Halo, use Poison Sting!" Purple darts shot from its mouth.

"Take the hit, Vigoroth!" It did as its trainer commanded and the poison darts stabbed it, causing it to become poisoned.

"What? Why would you do that?" Davin asked, completely surprised.

"You'll see." Norman said, slyly. "Vigoroth, Facade!" The savage ape's body glowed in an orange, sparkly aura and it slammed into Halo, full force, resulting in a one hit knockout.

A speechless Davin listened to Norman's words. "As you just saw, Facade is a move that increases in power when a status ailment is inflicted on the user. Since Vigoroth was poisoned by your Wurmple's Poison sting, it resulted in your defeat."

Davin held Halo in his arms. "I never expected the first gym to be this powerful. I, for one, certainly got a big shock."

"Well, don't worry, Davin. I'm sure you'll get stronger as you gain some more experience." said the gym leader. "In fact, you should start by heading to Rustboro City. The gym leader, Roxanne, is at a lower level than I, so it'd be good to start there and work your way up."

"Rustboro City..." Davin thought. "Okay. That's where I'll go next!"

Norman smiled. "Great. Rustboro is just past the Petalburg Woods. Good luck."

"Thanks, Norman." Davin returned Halo to its ball. "And when I get strong enough, I'll come back and challenge you again!"

Norman nodded. "I look forward to that."

With that, Davin waved goodbye to Norman and headed for the town's Pokemon Center to heal before heading out.