I'm really glad you decided to write this, because this is one of the things that most bothered me about Ruby/Sapphire as games. Then again, I suppose Ash's dad left to become a great trainer as well. Weird convention to have in these games, isn't it? Norman is a real scumbag, and I'll definitely be showing that when I write him in my story. Thanks for this.
Hope you get over your Made of Stone writer's block soon.