Scene 14
"Roxanne said that to get to Dewford, I have to talk to the old man in the cottage on the other side of the forest," Norman thought aloud.
As he walked through the forest, he thought about all of the people he had already met, and decided to add meeting lots of people to his list of things to do. He thought about Lawrence, and wondered why he went back to Littleroot. He thought about Gloria, and hoped that she could find time to challenge the League, too. He thought about Roxanne and Team Magma, and realized that what he was doing may be a lot more important than he originally thought.
Suddenly, he was out of the forest. In front of him stood a beach and a cottage.
Knock, knock, knock. No answer. Knock, knock, knock. No answer. "Hello?" Norman called inside. The door immediately burst open, and a man appeared behind it. He couldn't have been younger than 50, and looked very happy.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't answer the door sooner. My doorbell is broken," the old man said in his hasty, yet weak voice. "Heh heh."
"Doorbell?" Norman wondered. As far as he could tell, there were no doorbells from here to Rustboro.
"I'm Mr. Briney. You want to sail somewhere?" the man asked.
"Yes, Mr. Briney," Norman answered nervously. "I'd like to sail to Dewford. How much will that cost?"
"Oh, nothing young man. Trainers are free to sail at any time!" And so off they were.
The mist of Hoenn's great ocean sprayed on Norman's face as he leaned over the railing. Mr. Briney's wingull, Peeko, was flying overhead the ship, casting a small shadow on the deck. As Norman enjoyed the ride, he began to notice a large shadow moving over the deck, as well. Looking directly up, he saw what was creating it. It appeared to be a large bird pokemon, with triangular wings. Stranger than that, another, smaller one was flying behind it. Norman rushed to get out his pokedex to analyze them, but by the time he got it out, the flying creatures were gone.
Mr. Briney had been below deck, and had not seen the shadow.
"Should I tell Mr. Briney?" Norman thought. "No, I'll keep it a secret."
A few minutes later, they had arrived at Dewford. "Take this phone," Mr. Briney told Norman. "It has my number on it. Whenever you need a lift back to the mainland, call me. You can keep it if you want." Then Mr. Briney was gone.
The next challenge was at hand. There was the gym. Norman hoped he was ready.
Scene 15
Norman entered the gym. It was dark. Very dark. He stumbled along hoping to get to the leader soon.
Bump. No, that was a wall.
CLASH! Bong... Exercise equipment?
"Hey!" Uh-oh. A person. The lights flashed on, blinding Norman. Once regaining eyesight, Norman looked over his opponent. In front of him stood two impossibly buff blond men, with overly large mustaches.
"Ah-hah! A child!" The man on the left said. He was wearing a red wrestling outfit.
"We will crush you into little tiny ball!" said the second man. This one was wearing blue, to contrast with the red of his partner.
"I am Ham! This is my brother, Jam!" said the red guy. "We are filling in for gym leader!"
"Gym leader is taking care of wife! They are going to have child!" Jam finished Ham's thought.
"You ready to battle, child?" Ham asked, though it wasn't much of a question. He followed with a hardy laugh. "Take a bite of my Machop!"
"And my Meditite!" Jam exclaimed.
"Oh, a double battle." Norman realized. "Again! Ok then. Go, Cleffa and Flygon!"
The four pokemon stared menacingly at each other, before Ham commanded, "Machop, use Karate Chop on the Cleffa!"
"Meditite, follow with a Psychic attack!"
The team of fighting type pokemon quickly removed Cleffa from the battle. Pooch was sent in as a replacement. "Go in and Bite the Meditite!" Norman told Pooch. "Flygon, use Wing Attack on the Machop!"
Norman's duo did quick work of Machop and Meditite, but there was one more pokemon left. "Machoke, destroy their puny pokemon!" Ham yelled. A machoke appeared in the gym.
"No way," Norman breathed. "Pooch, Flygon, go for it!" The pokemon lunged for the Machoke, but were both blocked. The Machoke then sliced at Pooch, knocking it out.
It seemed to be a miniature battle of the titans, with Mackoke and Flygon staring each other down. No one spoke, because each trainer was waiting to see what the other would do.
Finally, Norman spoke. "Flygon, create a tornado with Wing Attack and trap Machoke in it!"
Then Ham. "Machoke, use Rock Throw on the tornado!" Machoke was confused, but did as told. It dodged the tornado, then threw a large rock at it, which then flew around within the tornado. As the rock flew through the air, the tornado got larger and larger, sucking the lightest thing in the area into it. That happened to be Flygon.
Struggling to remove itself from the cyclone, Flygon was practically crushed by the rock, and fainted.
"Yes! Me and my brother have won, child!" Ham exclaimed.
"Leave now! You are not worthy of our presence!" Jam continued.
So Norman sulked out of the gym. But just outside he realized that he was being just like Lawrence. Except he wasn't giving up! He needed a plan.
"Roxanne said that to get to Dewford, I have to talk to the old man in the cottage on the other side of the forest," Norman thought aloud.
As he walked through the forest, he thought about all of the people he had already met, and decided to add meeting lots of people to his list of things to do. He thought about Lawrence, and wondered why he went back to Littleroot. He thought about Gloria, and hoped that she could find time to challenge the League, too. He thought about Roxanne and Team Magma, and realized that what he was doing may be a lot more important than he originally thought.
Suddenly, he was out of the forest. In front of him stood a beach and a cottage.
Knock, knock, knock. No answer. Knock, knock, knock. No answer. "Hello?" Norman called inside. The door immediately burst open, and a man appeared behind it. He couldn't have been younger than 50, and looked very happy.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't answer the door sooner. My doorbell is broken," the old man said in his hasty, yet weak voice. "Heh heh."
"Doorbell?" Norman wondered. As far as he could tell, there were no doorbells from here to Rustboro.
"I'm Mr. Briney. You want to sail somewhere?" the man asked.
"Yes, Mr. Briney," Norman answered nervously. "I'd like to sail to Dewford. How much will that cost?"
"Oh, nothing young man. Trainers are free to sail at any time!" And so off they were.
The mist of Hoenn's great ocean sprayed on Norman's face as he leaned over the railing. Mr. Briney's wingull, Peeko, was flying overhead the ship, casting a small shadow on the deck. As Norman enjoyed the ride, he began to notice a large shadow moving over the deck, as well. Looking directly up, he saw what was creating it. It appeared to be a large bird pokemon, with triangular wings. Stranger than that, another, smaller one was flying behind it. Norman rushed to get out his pokedex to analyze them, but by the time he got it out, the flying creatures were gone.
Mr. Briney had been below deck, and had not seen the shadow.
"Should I tell Mr. Briney?" Norman thought. "No, I'll keep it a secret."
A few minutes later, they had arrived at Dewford. "Take this phone," Mr. Briney told Norman. "It has my number on it. Whenever you need a lift back to the mainland, call me. You can keep it if you want." Then Mr. Briney was gone.
The next challenge was at hand. There was the gym. Norman hoped he was ready.
Scene 15
Norman entered the gym. It was dark. Very dark. He stumbled along hoping to get to the leader soon.
Bump. No, that was a wall.
CLASH! Bong... Exercise equipment?
"Hey!" Uh-oh. A person. The lights flashed on, blinding Norman. Once regaining eyesight, Norman looked over his opponent. In front of him stood two impossibly buff blond men, with overly large mustaches.
"Ah-hah! A child!" The man on the left said. He was wearing a red wrestling outfit.
"We will crush you into little tiny ball!" said the second man. This one was wearing blue, to contrast with the red of his partner.
"I am Ham! This is my brother, Jam!" said the red guy. "We are filling in for gym leader!"
"Gym leader is taking care of wife! They are going to have child!" Jam finished Ham's thought.
"You ready to battle, child?" Ham asked, though it wasn't much of a question. He followed with a hardy laugh. "Take a bite of my Machop!"
"And my Meditite!" Jam exclaimed.
"Oh, a double battle." Norman realized. "Again! Ok then. Go, Cleffa and Flygon!"
The four pokemon stared menacingly at each other, before Ham commanded, "Machop, use Karate Chop on the Cleffa!"
"Meditite, follow with a Psychic attack!"
The team of fighting type pokemon quickly removed Cleffa from the battle. Pooch was sent in as a replacement. "Go in and Bite the Meditite!" Norman told Pooch. "Flygon, use Wing Attack on the Machop!"
Norman's duo did quick work of Machop and Meditite, but there was one more pokemon left. "Machoke, destroy their puny pokemon!" Ham yelled. A machoke appeared in the gym.
"No way," Norman breathed. "Pooch, Flygon, go for it!" The pokemon lunged for the Machoke, but were both blocked. The Machoke then sliced at Pooch, knocking it out.
It seemed to be a miniature battle of the titans, with Mackoke and Flygon staring each other down. No one spoke, because each trainer was waiting to see what the other would do.
Finally, Norman spoke. "Flygon, create a tornado with Wing Attack and trap Machoke in it!"
Then Ham. "Machoke, use Rock Throw on the tornado!" Machoke was confused, but did as told. It dodged the tornado, then threw a large rock at it, which then flew around within the tornado. As the rock flew through the air, the tornado got larger and larger, sucking the lightest thing in the area into it. That happened to be Flygon.
Struggling to remove itself from the cyclone, Flygon was practically crushed by the rock, and fainted.
"Yes! Me and my brother have won, child!" Ham exclaimed.
"Leave now! You are not worthy of our presence!" Jam continued.
So Norman sulked out of the gym. But just outside he realized that he was being just like Lawrence. Except he wasn't giving up! He needed a plan.