Yeah, he's kind of a pain. However, you don't have to fight him right now as he doesn't block progression (is only needed for Fly and to challenge Gym 6). Suggestions:
1. Continue East through Limestone Cave for better grinding opportunities.
2. Water Pokémon: Backtrack West and South out of Aster Town and head to Cliffshore where you can get a Magikarp with Bounce (haggle the salesman down to 499), the Surf replacement (and possibly a Squirtle Egg) then Surf through Routes 7 and 8 (and a cave on the South side of 7). You could catch a Bidoof on Routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
3. Debug Mode: Either open the game via debug.bat or press Down Arrow + X on the Title Screen.