Norman (Japanese: センリ Senri) is the Gym Leader of Petalburg City's Gym, known officially as the Petalburg Gym. He is an expert of Normal-type Pokémon, and hands out the Balancebadge to trainers who defeat him.

In the anime

In the anime, he is the father of May and Max, and the husband of Caroline.

His Japanese voice actor is 小杉十郎太 Jūrōta Kosugi, his English voice actor is Dan Green, and his Brazilian voice actors are Élcio Sodré (AG003) and Mauro Eduardo (Advanced Challenge-present).

Very early in his Hoenn journey, Ash Ketchum arrived with May in Petalburg City in the hope of getting his first gym battle. Ash found the Petalburg Gym and met Max. May stopped him and allowed Ash to meet her parents, Caroline and Norman. Norman turned out to the real Petalburg City Gym Leader. Norman used his Pokémon, a Vigoroth, to save May's Torchic from Team Rocket.

Norman is a good friend of Professor Birch and was most likely to have been the person to send May to Littleroot Town to get her first Pokémon. As May did not initially like Pokémon, this seems to have created some distance between the two. Before Ash knew that Norman was May's father, he comments that it sounds like she knows the Petalburg Gym Leader pretty well, to which she replies, "No, I just wish I did" and becomes subdued.

Sometime later, May had to deal with some angry fans who were conned by Team Rocket.

The day after that, May and Max tried to figure out why Norman and Caroline are getting all worked up as Ash Ketchum tries to save Norman's three Pokémon from Team Rocket. It all turned out that Norman had Nurse Joy build a firework launcher to make fireworks in a form of a Beautifly in anniversary of their own wedding day.

Soon it was time for Ash Ketchum's battle with Norman. Using his Grovyle, Pikachu, and Torkoal, Ash defeated Norman's Pokémon, much to Max's dismay. Max stole the Balance Badge and locked himself up in Norman's greenhouse. Norman was able to get Max under control and give Ash his Balance Badge.

A note about names: Senri, Norman's Japanese name, means "a long distance," while Haruka, May's Japanese name, means "far away."

Pokémon

This listing is of Norman's Pokémon in the Pokémon anime.

• Slaking
• Vigoroth
• Slakoth

In the games

Norman is also the player character's father in Ruby, Sapphire, and, Emerald no matter which gender is selected. The other gender choice (and therefore the rival) is the son/daughter of Professor Birch.

Although he is the first Gym Leader encountered, he refuses to battle until the player has at least four badges. Once he is beaten, he gives the player the Balancebadge.

Norman and his family are originally from Johto. He, as well as the player, have just moved to Hoenn so that he could take up the position of Gym Leader. People have come to describe him as someone who "lives for Pokémon."

Norman also provides special items scanned in via e-Reader to the player.

Pokémon

This listing is for Norman's Pokémon in the video games in which he has appeared.

Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire

Cutscene

• Level 7 Zigzagoon (loaned to Wally)

Gym battle

• Level 28 Slaking
• Level 30 Vigoroth
• Level 31 Slaking

Pokémon Emerald

Cutscene

• Level 7 Zigzagoon (loaned to Wally)

Gym battles

In the Pokémon Special manga

In Pokémon Special, Norman is the father of Ruby, and his wife is nameless. He is a man who believes in power and he is very skillful in battling. Because of that, he strongly disagreed with Ruby's obsession with contests. When Ruby reaches his 11th birthday, however, he decided that Ruby is old enough to make his decision and finally let him has his own way.

Physically, he is so strong that he can squeeze a phone receiver into pieces without an effort, and he won't hesitate to use this strength on his son when he deems necessary. However, he still cares for Ruby very much: He asked his wife to arrange their move to Hoenn on the date of Ruby's birthday so that he can tell him about his permission for Ruby to take part in contests in person. He also prepared a pair of special running shoes made by Devon Corporation for his birthday. Later, he also gave a Pokéblock holder to Ruby.

There are several hints from the series showing Norman had had unpleasant encounters with the Pokémon Association. The beginning of all could possibly be traced back to 7 years prior to the start of the Ruby/Sapphire Saga, where Norman failed his Gym Leader Test in Johto.

7 years ago, Norman was banned from taking the Gym Leader Test for several years, because of Ruby, who had fended off a Salamence. At that time, the Pokémon Association had Rayquaza locked up nearby. They were experimenting with an artificially made stone called the Emerald Orb. The Salamence broke into Rayquaza's containment area and set it free. As a result, Norman took the blame for his son, and became distant from his family to hunt down Rayquaza.

Norman died after Groudon and Kyogre left to their respective domains, supposedly one of the sacrifices of the battle. However, Norman was later revived under mysterious circumstances when Ruby released his Celebi.

Pokémon

This listing is for Norman's Pokémon in the Pokémon Special manga.

On hand

• Vigoroth
• Slaking
• Spinda
• Slakoth
• Slakoth

Released

• Flygon (Given to Wally)
• Rayquaza (Temporarily gained control of with the help of Wally; however, after Norman's apparent death, Rayquaza has flown away)

Trivia

Names

External links

• Senri's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)

Gym Leaders of the Hoenn region
Rustboro Gym Roxanne	Dewford Gym Brawly	Mauville Gym Wattson	Lavaridge Gym Flannery
Petalburg Gym Norman	Fortree Gym Winona	Mossdeep Gym Tate and Liza	Sootopolis Gym Wallace Juan