Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire/Dewford Town

Dewford is a small seaside town on a small island accessible only through two water routes. Before getting Surf, you can only go here by asking Mr. Briney to take you here on his boat. Just north of Dewford is ../Granite Cave/. This town doesn't have a Pokémart, so you'll want to stock up on items before you come here.

Despite the size of Dewford Town, there are a couple of things to do.

Dewford Hall
Dewford Hall is the center of Dewford Town's community. If someone says something "trendy" here, it quickly spreads around the rest of Hoenn. The player can influence what this trend is by talking to the boy outside the Hall. The trend affects where appears on ../Route 119/, so there is actual use in changing it. Additionally, if the player returns after collecting the Balance Badge from ../Petalburg Gym/, then a man inside will give them TM36.

Other Dewford Goodies
In the house nearest the dock, there is a man obsessed with fashion. Talking to him will result in the player gaining the, which increases the power of Normal type moves.

In between the southwest house and the Gym, there is a fisherman. Talking to him will result in the fisherman giving the player the, which allows them to fish from any water source in Hoenn, and find new Pokémon!

Dewford Gym

 * Gym Leader: Brawly
 * Badge: Knuckle Badge

When you enter this gym, it will be pitch black. As you beat more of the trainers in this gym, the illuminated area around you will expand.

This Gym's speciality is Fighting Pokémon. It's weak to Psychic and Flying moves, though some trainers have a Meditite to negate this weakness. Any Flying type or Psychic type would do. Ghost type's immunity to fighting moves may also serve you well, and you can pick up a just ahead in ../Granite Cave/. Avoid Normal, Rock and Dark types. If you have a, it would have learned the Flying move Peck before evolving; this move will be useful here. Surprisingly, both of Wurmple's final evolutions are effective here, as they are Bug type which resist fighting moves while they both learn Gust, a Flying Type move, at level 13, which is the ideal level to challenge this gym.

Brawly in Ruby and Sapphire
Most of the danger you'll face from Brawly is from one move: TM39. It raises the DEF and ATK stats of its user by one level, which, combined with his Pokémon's naturally high ATK stats and high-power physical moves (for example, Arm Thrust), can easily make it so that he OHKOs you. Luckily, like the rest of the gym, his Pokémon are weak to psychic and flying type moves, so catching Pokémon like, , or beforehand should make the battle easy.

Brawly in Emerald
In Emerald, Brawly gains a third Pokémon to his team in the form of. It's Fighting and Psychic type, so the best way to defeat it is with a Flying or Ghost type move.

Defeat Brawly and he'll award you with the Knuckle Badge, which makes any Pokémon up to level 30 obey you and lets you use HM05 outside of battle. You also get TM08, which is a great move to teach to physically oriented Pokémon such as Fighting and Flying types.

After the Gym
Once you're done with the gym, there's not much else to do but head out to ../Granite Cave/ to deliver the letter to Steven if you haven't done so. If you did, talk to Mr. Briney to go to your next destination: ../Slateport City/.

Items

 * - obtained from the Ace Trainer in the house directly north of the dock
 * - from the fisherman near the gym
 * TM36 - from a man inside Dewford Hall after you get five badges
 * - found on the eastmost rock close to the water outside Granite Cave (Hidden)
 * - at the very end of the sand path behind the cave (Hidden)
 * - in a northeast tile of the beach next to the water (Hidden)