Norman’s Team + Petalburg Gym Guide (Pokémon ORAS)

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Gym Leader Norman

Pokémon	Slaking Lv.28	Vigoroth Lv.28	Slaking Lv.30
Type	Normal	Normal	Normal
Ability	Truant	Vital Spirit	Truant
Held Item	None	None	None
Moves	Retaliate Yawn Feint Attack Encore	Encore Feint Attack Retaliate Fury Swipes	Retaliate Feint Attack Swagger Chip Away

The Petalburg City Gym is the fifth Gym in the Hoenn League. Norman, the Petalburg Gym Leader, specializes in Normal-type Pokémon.

Upon defeating Norman you’ll be rewarded with the Balance Badge and TM67 Retaliate.

For a quick refresher, here’s the only weakness of Normal-type Pokémon, and the type it’s immune to:

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Normal-type Matchups
Weaknesses	Resistances	Super Effective Against	Immune To
Fighting	–	–	Ghost

However, Normal-type Pokémon are not resistant to any type of attack, nor are their moves super effective against any type of Pokémon.

Prerequisites

Outside the Petalburg City Gym

While Petalburg City is the first city you can visit early in the game, you won’t be able to challenge the Gym when you first arrive. To challenge Norman you must first get through the first four gyms – so here’s the main prerequisite:

Obtain the fourth Gym Badge from Flannery, Lavaridge Town’s Gym Leader

Tip: Since this Gym Battle takes place almost immediately after the fourth Gym, you likely still have some healing items left in your bag. If not, consider stocking up at the city’s Poké Mart. Full Heals can be useful in this Gym, as Norman’s Pokémon can inflict Confusion and Sleep.

Petalburg Gym Puzzle Solution (Step-by-Step)

The Petalburg City Gym is much more straightforward and focused on battles than most Gyms.

This Gym contains several rooms, each with a single trainer ready to battle.

Before entering each room, there’s a room name that gives you a clue about the trainer’s strategy and what stat-boosting item they plan to use.

With every victory, you’ll unlock one or two doors to progress further.

After going through three consecutive rooms and defeating at least three trainers, you’ll unlock the final door. This door leads to the player’s father and Petalburg Gym Leader, Norman.

Tip: Although you can reach Norman by only battling three trainers, you can still battle the other trainers in the Gym for more EXP by going back and revisiting the previous rooms. This is especially useful when your team is underleveled.

The First Room

In the first room, you have a choice: go to the Speed Room on the left or the Accuracy Room on the right.

Both trainers have a Delcatty and will use a Battle Item (X Speed or X Accuracy) on the first turn, depending on the room you choose.

Speed Room	Item: X Speed
Ace Trainer Randall

Pokémon	Delcatty Lv.28
Type	Normal

Accuracy Room	Item: X Accuracy
Ace Trainer Mary

Pokémon	Delcatty Lv.28
Type	Normal

Inside the Petalburg City Gym

The Second Room

After defeating your first Gym trainer, two more doors unlock. All three possible trainers here will use a Linoone for this fight.

The Zero Reduction Room and Defense Room trainers will use Guard Spec and X Defense, respectively, on the first turn. The Recovery Room trainer will use a Super Potion when their Linoone’s HP gets too low.

If you’re in the Speed Room, you can either choose the door on the left for the Zero Reduction Room or the door on the right for the Defense Room.
If you’re in the Accuracy Room, you can either choose the door on the left for the Defense Room or the door on the right for the Recovery Room.

Zero Reduction Room	Item: Guard Spec
Ace Trainer Parker

Pokémon	Linoone Lv.28
Type	Normal

Defense Room	Item: X Defense
Ace Trainer Lori

Pokémon	Linoone Lv.28
Type	Normal

Recovery Room	Item: Super Potion
Ace Trainer George

Pokémon	Linoone Lv.28
Type	Normal

Two doors unlock after defeating the first trainer

The Third Room

After defeating your second Gym trainer, you may have one or two doors unlocked. If you chose the Defense Room, you’ll have two choices.

In the next room, trainers will both use a Zangoose. On the first turn, they will use an X Attack in the Strength Room or a Dire Hit in the One-Hit KO Room.

If you’re in the Zero Reduction Room, your only choice is to enter the Strength Room.
If you’re in the Defense Room, you can either choose the door on the left for the Strength Room or the door on the right for the One-Hit KO Room.
If you’re in the Recovery Room, your only choice is to enter the One-Hit KO Room.

Strength Room	Item: X Attack
Ace Trainer Jody

Pokémon	Zangoose Lv.28
Type	Normal

One-Hit KO Room	Item: Dire Hit
Ace Trainer Berke

Pokémon	Zangoose Lv.28
Type	Normal

Two more doors unlock after defeating the second trainer

After defeating your third Gym trainer, only a single door will be unlocked, regardless of which rooms you picked along the way.

Proceed through this door to reach Gym Leader Norman’s room.

Norman’s room is unlocked

Approaching Gym Leader Norman

Tips on Defeating Norman

Challenging Norman

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Gym Leader Norman

Pokémon	Slaking Lv.28	Vigoroth Lv.28	Slaking Lv.30
Type	Normal	Normal	Normal
Ability	Truant	Vital Spirit	Truant
Held Item	None	None	None
Moves	Retaliate Yawn Feint Attack Encore	Encore Feint Attack Retaliate Fury Swipes	Retaliate Feint Attack Swagger Chip Away

Here are some tips and strategies to help you win this fight:

Use Fighting-type Moves. All of Norman’s Pokémon are weak to Fighting-types, so moves like Machoke’s Revenge or Combusken’s Double Kick (if Torchic was your starter) can be very effective.
Utilize Ghost-types’ Immunity. Norman’s Pokémon deal no damage when using Normal-type moves on Ghost-type Pokémon such as Sableye. However, Sableye is the only available Ghost-type at this point in the game.
Watch Out for Slaking’s Truant Ability. Slaking has a unique ability, Truant, which causes it to skip every other turn. It sort of makes up for this with a very high Attack, HP, and Speed stats. So, be careful of Slaking’s powerful Retaliate and take advantage of the turns when it’s loafing around.
Use High Defense Pokémon that Resist Normal-type Moves. Lairon has double resistance to Normal-type moves, taking only a quarter of the damage. Since Norman’s team mainly uses Normal and Dark physical moves, high Defense Steel or Rock types can tank their attacks very effectively.
Be Cautious with Setup Moves. Using moves like Bulk Up or Hone Claws in an attempt to sweep Norman’s team may backfire due to Slaking and Vigoroth’s Encore and Slaking’s Swagger. Encore locks your Pokémon into repeating its last move for 3 turns. Swagger sharply boosts Attack, but confuses them, potentially causing damage to itself.

Pokémon Team Suggestions

If you’re looking for new teammates to add to your party to help you defeat Norman, you can consider catching the following Pokémon found on nearby Routes:

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Recommended Pokémon:

Pokémon	Machoke	Lairon	Sableye
Type	Fighting	Steel / Rock	Ghost / Dark
Location	Evolve Machop found on Route 112, Jagged Pass, or Fiery Path – 40%	Evolve Aron found on Granite Cave’s Basement – 30%	(AS) Granite Cave B2F – 20%

Rewards for Defeating Norman

Obtaining the Balance Badge

After defeating Norman you’ll be rewarded with the following:

P3,600
TM67 Retaliate
The Balance Badge –this allows you to use the HM03 Surf outside of battle. It also allows all Pokémon up to level 60 to obey you, including traded Pokémon.

BACK TO THE MAIN GAME Pokémon ORAS Full Strategy Guide

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StormSwampert

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Though he spends most of his time playing a wide variety of games, Pokémon has always been his favorite. When he’s not playing games or writing guides, you can find him watching anime and collecting trading cards.

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