"Okay, guys! Time to eat!" Davin announced. He laid out the bowls of Pokemon food to his six Pokemon and they happily ate as Davin sat in one of the table booths at the Pokemon Center. He was in Petalburg City—having gone through Rustboro and the Petalburg Woods—and he was ready to challenge Norman to a real gym battle.

He stared out the window as he began thinking. "Okay. Since Norman used a Vigoroth last time, that means he must be a Normal-type user. The battle will probably be 4-on-4, so I'd better plan on who I'll use." He turned to his Pokemon. "No doubt I'm using Luck to compare his power to Norman's Vigoroth, not to mention his Focus Punch will be super effective. Ros is pretty good at holding his own against any type of Pokemon, so he's in. Halo's Flying-type characteristics will make it easy for her to dodge attacks, and Ira's Screech and Aqua Jet combo could prove useful." he nodded. "That's how it'll be."

After his Pokemon had finished their meal, he went to the Petalburg Gym. He quickly opened the doors and shouted, "Norman! Guess who's back?"

To his surprise, Norman was standing at the far end of the battlefield with his arms folded. "Welcome back, Davin. Are you ready?"

"Totally! I've gotten a lot stronger since we last battled and I plan on taking you down and winning my fifth badge!" He went to his side of the field, first Poke ball in hand.

Norman grinned. "We'll just see about that."

The judge for the battle came to the side of the field. "The battle between the Gym Leader, Norman, and the challenger, Davin will now begin! Each trainer will use four Pokemon and only the challenger may substitute!" He crossed his flags. "Begin!"

Norman threw his first ball. "Spinda, let's go!" A Pokemon with long ears and swirl marks for eyes appeared on to the field. Finding the Pokemon a bit odd, Davin looked it up.

"Spinda, the Spot Panda Pokemon. It is distinguished by a pattern of spots that is always different on each Spinda. Its unsteady, tottering walk has the effect of fouling its foe's aim."

"Really? I'd better be careful." He threw the Poke ball in his hand. "Let's go, Halo!" The Beautifly appeared elegantly in a flash of white light.

"Ah, so your Wurmple has become a Beautifly. How nice." Norman commented. "All right, Spinda! Psybeam!" Its swirly eyes glowed light blue and multicolored beams shot out from them.

"Dodge it, Halo!" It flew higher to evade it. "Now, Aerial Ace!" It swooped down towards Spinda, but the spotted Pokemon oddly spun to its left to dodge.

Davin gasped as Norman called out, "Teeter Dance!" At that, Spinda's body became outlined in blue and it began dancing. To the boy's surprise, Halo's body was outlined in blue as well and it started to dance along with Spinda.

"Use Facade!" Spinda's body glowed with an orange aura and it tackled Halo, knocking it to the ground.

"Get up, Halo, and use Stun Spore!"

"Psybeam, go!" Spinda unleashed another Psychic move and knocked Halo unconscious.

"Beautifly is unable to battle! Spinda wins!"

Slightly worried, Davin recalled his butterfly Pokemon. "Talk about unexpected. I didn't think Halo would lose against it, but I guess I was wrong."

His next Poke ball was thrown. "Ira, you're next!" The piranha Pokemon entered the battle. "Since Carvanha are part Dark, Psybeam won't have any effect against it, meaning we only have to worry about Facade and Teeter Dance."

"Spinda, use Facade!" As expected, it came charging with energy around its body.

"Ira, use Aqua Jet!" The Carvanha coated itself in water and knocked Spinda into the air. "Follow that with Take Down!"

"Teeter Dance, now!" The same thing that happened to Halo was happening to Ira as it danced in mid-attack. "Facade!" Spinda pounded Ira into the ground with full force.

"Keep going, Ira! Screech!" Spinda pulled its ears down to block out the noise. "Take Down!" The spotted panda suffered another blow, causing it to become Norman's first Pokemon out.

"Spinda is unable to battle! Carvanha wins!"

"Great job, Ira!" Davin cheered.

"Carva!" It thanked him.

Norman returned Spinda. "You certainly have improved since our last battle." His second Poke ball was taken out. "Now, say hello to an old friend!"
The ball opened and Norman's Vigoroth bellowed out its battle cry.

Davin waved at it. "Hey, Vigoroth! Remember me? It's Davin!"

"Vigor, Vigoroth!" It waved back, smiling.

Norman chuckled. "I didn't literally mean say hello."

"I know." Davin said as he recalled Ira. He took out a new Poke ball. "I only wanted to say hi because it's the reason why I have this guy!" The ball flashed open and Luck came on to the field, bellowing his own battle cry. "Norman, meet Luck. After our last battle, I caught him at the Petalburg Woods as a Slakoth and raised him to see if I could raise a powerful Vigoroth like yours."

"Hmm, interesting..." He said, noting how bigger his Vigoroth was compared to Davin's. "Well, there's only way to see how strong it is. Vigoroth, Slash attack!" Vigoroth came at high speed with its claws at the ready to strike.

"Luck, use Focus Punch!" He pulled back his fist to strike, but Vigoroth proved to be too quick and slashed his body with its claws. "No way!"

"Looks like your Vigoroth lacks in speed compared to mine. Faint Attack!" Vigoroth vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Be careful, Luck! There's no telling where it'll pop out!" Luck shifted his eyes around the field, but was immediately greeted by Vigoroth with a punch from behind.

"Vigoroth, Facade!"

"Not happening! Luck, Focus Punch!" Both Vigoroth ran at each other; Norman's struck first due to speed advantage, but Luck jumped and hit it in the face with his fist.

"Now use Slack Off!" Before Vigoroth got up, Luck yawned to restore his energy.

Norman smirked. "Vigoroth, use Encore!" A shiny white orb formed in its hands and it threw it at Luck, causing his body to sparkle white.

"Like that did anything! Luck, Focus Punch!" But Davin's Vigoroth just yawned again.

Norman chuckled. "It's useless. When the opponent is hit with Encore, it can only use the move that was used last before it was affected by it. However, the effect wears off after a certain amount of time."

"That's not good." Davin said, worried.

"Vigoroth, use Slash!" It came at him and its claws raked his face.

Davin reacted quickly. "Return!" The Poke ball absorbed Luck and brought it back.

"Ira, come back out!" The Water/Dark type made another appearance. "Aqua Jet!" It slammed into Vigoroth's body, engulfed in water.

"Faint Attack!" It disappeared once more.

"Big mistake, Norman! Ira, use Screech!" The high-pitched wail was let out, causing Vigoroth to appear out of hiding and cover its ears.

"What?" Norman shouted.

"Take Down!" The Carvanha put all of its energy into its body and hit Vigoroth so hard that it hit the ceiling.

"Aqua Jet, one more time!" Water surrounded its body and just when Vigoroth was about to hit the ground, it charged into it, knocking it into the wall behind Norman. Vigoroth slid to the ground, unconscious.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle! Carvanha wins!"

Davin wore a smug grin. "How was that?"

Norman returned Vigoroth. "I've seen better, but not bad."

He sent out his next Pokemon, which was a Linoone. "Headbutt!" The Pokemon went running at the call.

"Use Take Down!" Ira overpowered Linoone and sent it flying backwards.

"Linoone, use Belly Drum!" It stood on its hind legs and began tapping its abdomen with its paws to increase its attack power and lower its health at the same time.

"Ira, Aqua Jet!" It rocketed itself towards the foe.

"Facade!" Linoone ran forward, having its strength increased.

Davin smirked. "Go around and hit it!"

Ira quickly passed Linoone from the Normal-type Pokemon's left and it swung around, striking it from behind. Due to its health being cut in half and Aqua Jet's power, Linoone fell into unconsciousness.

"Linoone is unable to battle! Carvanha wins!"

When Norman called back Linoone, Davin said, "Okay. With me going to different gyms, I know that your last Pokemon is your strongest, so go ahead and bring it on!"

Norman grinned. "As you wish!" He threw his last Poke ball and a big, brown-furred gorilla Pokemon was released. It pounded its chest, ready for battle.

"Whoa! What is that?" Davin said as he took out his Pokedex.

"Slaking, the Lazy Pokemon. Slaking is the evolved form of Vigoroth. Slaking spends all day lying down and lolling about. It eats grass growing within its reach, and if it eats it all, it reluctantly moves to another spot."

"This is Vigoroth's evolved form?" Davin said. "From what the Pokedex says, it sounds so lazy, it can't even put up a good fight."

"Don't be fooled." Norman warned. "It's true that Slaking can be lazy, but they're actually powerful Pokemon."

"I see..." Davin recalled Ira and tossed another ball. "Luck, let's go!" The sparks that had shined on its body were gone, indicating Encore was no longer in effect. "Luck, your opponent is what you're going to evolve into one day, so be sure to stay clear of its attacks."

"Vigor." It nodded.

"All right, Slaking, use Yawn!" It opened its mouth wide to release a large bubble.

"Dodge and use Focus Punch!" Luck jumped and aimed its fist at the large Pokemon.

"Use Counter!" Slaking's body glowed red; as soon as Luck landed a hit, it was knocked back with an invisible force, causing an instant knockout.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle! Slaking wins!"

"What?! But how?" Davin gasped.

"Counter is a move that sends back twice the damage of a physical move to the opponent," Norman explained. "Since Focus Punch is a high powered physical attack, it resulted in high powered damage for Vigoroth."

"Wow. Sounds dangerous..." He said as he called back Luck. "All right, Ira, you're back on!" The Carvanha was called out for the third time. "Use Screech!" The high-pitched scream was released, but Slaking just stood there as if it were nothing. "You've got to be kidding!"

"Being a lazy Pokemon does have its advantages." Norman stated. "Slaking, use Facade!" It threw its large body at Ira so hard, it knocked it into the wall behind Davin, knocking it out.

"Carvanha is unable to battle! Slaking wins!"

Davin recalled Ira. "Good job. Take a nice long rest."

He threw his last Poke ball. "Ros, I choose you!" The Mud Fish Pokemon made its appearance on the field. "Ros, it all depends on you. Don't let me down!"

"Slaking, Yawn!" The bubble was released and Ros fell asleep after it popped in his face.

"Good thing I planned ahead." He smirked. "Ros, use Sleep Talk!"

Though his eyes were shut, Ros fired a blast of water at Slaking, making it fall to the ground.

"It knows Sleep Talk?!" Norman said, shocked.

Davin laughed to himself. "Back in Rustboro, I figured I should come up with a new strategy for this gym. So I decided to teach Ros the move Sleep Talk so that it could still attack when it used Rest. But since Slaking knows Yawn, it makes it easier."

"Slaking, use Faint Attack!" Just like its predecessor, it disappeared and landed a punch from behind Ros.

"Sleep Talk!" This time, Ros shot out a stream of mud from its mouth at Slaking.

"Use Facade!" Slaking jumped and attempted to hit Ros from above, but Davin called for another Sleep Talk and Mud Shot caught it off guard, causing the gorilla to fall flat on its face.

Right then, Ros had woken up. "Cool! Ros, Water Gun!"

"Dodge and use Faint Attack!" Slaking did just that, but Davin was wise to Norman's plan. "Jump and use Mud Shot from behind!" Ros did as ordered and hit its mark when Slaking appeared.

"Water Gun!" Ros got behind Slaking and pushed it back to Norman's side with its attack.

Norman grunted. "Slaking, Facade!"

"Give it up, Norman! This battle's over!" After Davin said these words, Ros jumped high into the air and slammed down into the ground, causing shock waves to strike Slaking from below, causing huge damage. Davin gasped as Slaking fell on its back, knocked out.

"Slaking is unable to battle! Marshtomp wins! The victory goes to the challenger, Davin!"

"Yeah!" Davin cheered. He ran over and picked up the winner. "Ros, was that Earthquake you just used?"

"Mar Marsh." It smiled and nodded.

"You're just too awesome!" He said as he hugged it.

Norman told Slaking it did a great job before returning it to its Poke ball and walking to the challenger. "Congratulations, Davin. You certainly have grown stronger since we first met." He held in his hand a badge that resembled a barbell. "As a result, I give you this Balance Badge as proof of your victory here at the Petalburg Gym."

"Thank you, Norman." Davin took it gradually. "I promise I'll become the strongest trainer there is!"

Norman chuckled. "You do that."

Davin held the badge in his right hand with Ros in his left arm. "The Balance Badge is finally mine!"