One of Josh's greatest strengths as a Gym Leader was his breadth of knowledge of Pokémon in regions he had studied the legendary Pokémon of. While his expertise was in Johtonian and Unovan myths, he had a very basic understanding of Kalosian, Sinnohite, Hoennian, and Kantonian myths as well. Hoenn was not his expertise though, and that hole in his knowledge would be his undoing, even in their practice battle.

Not only was Shedinja immune to most types of energy, the species had plenty of ways to evade those who could bypass that immunity, as was demonstrated by its use of SHADOW FORCE. "It's got to come back sometime, Bladestorm! Keep your eyes open and dive at it with your BRAVE BIRD!" Josh coached.

It would not take long for the Shedinja to reappear behind Resheph, seeing through her tremendous speed thanks to dual vision from the Material and Ethereal planes. Elinor's two Pokémon connected with a devastating one-two punch, though that DRAGON RUSH-fueled horn thrust had to have left a mark on the Electivire. The mist surrounding the ICE PUNCH hardened into solid ice, rendering the Dragonair frozen!

Bladestorm's gaze shifted toward Resheph as Elinor's tough-as-nails Electivire threw ICE PUNCH after ICE PUNCH at the helpless Dragonair, the prisoner only able to "watch" with her unconscious eyes stuck open from being encased in thick layers of ice. His first instinct was to try to shatter the ice with the air blades his AGILITY let him produce, but Josh knew better. "No, Bladestorm! Focus on your battle! Keep the Shedinja off its game!"

As much as it pained him, he obeyed his trainer's orders. As far as the battle went, Resheph was a lost cause. That ice was going to either melt or shatter at any moment, and that was when he would retire the Dragonair from the battle. It did not take long; the dragon energy surrounding Resheph gave out, sending the frozen serpent crashing to the ground. The ice vessel he was encased in partially shattered, exposing enough of the fallen creature's skin to be recalled into a Poké Ball.

Redoubling his efforts on the Shedinja before him, the Skarmory turned around the moment he saw the CONFUSE RAY's strobing lights, using his previously built-up speed to charge the spaces between his wing feathers with blades of AIR CUTTER. That alone wouldn't do it, though; he needed to bait Shedinja's PHANTOM FORCE with another reckless, high speed charge. And that was exactly what he did; he simply ignored the Dragonair that was shortly recalled, ready to pull out of the BRAVE BIRD dive the moment his foe disappeared. If all worked according to plan, he would get the slippery bug-type to dodge right into one of the Metal Menace's air blades.

Resheph had lost her battle, and Bladestorm had won his through trickery that made Josh feel he had learned something regardless of the battle's final outcome. This left the Skarmory and Electivire in a one-on-one showdown to determine the battle's winner. It would be a long and arduous battle. As long as the Metal Menace stayed high above the arena, Electivire could never land a single blow with the limited range its electric attacks had. Bladestorm, however, had AIR CUTTER as his only means of attacking from a safe distance, and a single miscalculation could put him within range of a match-ending counterattack.

Shortly after Elinor withdrew her Electivire, Josh waved for his partner to glide close enough for the Poké Ball's range to recall him. "I think we can call that one a draw," was Josh's first reply. "I had read about Shedinja before, but fighting one was a completely different experience. I felt helpless for a while. Resheph, though..." He let out a sigh; even with the rotund foe's ICE PUNCH, that still shouldn't have been enough to come out on top alone. The Electivire should have a much harder time making contact with Josh's Pokémon, whether it be Resheph or Bladestorm. Either one should have been more than nimble enough to evade their foe's relatively slow punches. "Was my focus on the wrong battle?" he asked, barking up the wrong tree. He genuinely did not see the egregious mistake that had cost him victory in their practice battle.

Josh nodded back. If there was one thing he had been good at, as a trainer, racer, or anything else he did, ht was a quick study. He grew increasingly perplexed as the Councilwoman's evaluation of the practice battle continued. It seemed his raw battle skills were as sharp as ever, and had grown a lot since they had met. Being able to not only see through Shedinja's WONDER GUARD, but to also bait it into running into a second Flying-type attack, was a sign Josh had the knowledge and the skill to be a truly great Gym Leader.

Elinor's point was perhaps the greatest divide in the entire community of battle professionals: the use of verbal commands. "So you think the very use of verbal commands made the difference between a victory and a draw?" It was a harsh thought. She wasn't wrong, either; while verbal commands were great to give a Pokémon exact orders, such orders would give an opponent in better sync with their Pokémon time to react to the command and counter it. "The subtleties of battling professionals are beyond what I ever conceived them to be. You've opened my eyes to how far out of touch I am with modern professional battles. And Gym Leaders are supposed to be paragons among professionals. Some Gym Leader I am."

Josh was more than familiar with the concept of nonverbal commands. After all, controlling a Pokémon mount was done almost entirely through nonverbal communication! "So what you're saying is it's a tool in your toolbox, and only to be used when warranted," he replied dejectedly. Technically, Josh already had a code word for one tactic. "You mean, something like when I told Blinky to joust when she did the big QUICK ATTACK chain the first time we squared off?" he asked with a pleading face.

Elinor was right in so many ways. Josh's life in Johto was orders of magnitude simpler and more sheltered than his brief life in Hoenn, and it showed with not only his battle, but with their previous battles, as well. He was an idealist, wanting to put a veil in between the negative aspects of everything around him, except his own. His very desire to see the world not as it was, but of its greatest potential, masked the flaws of the rest of the world behind the curtain that was his own.

Josh's battle strategy was effective, no doubt. He got to the position of Gym Leader for a reason: confounding speed was a highly effective, even frustrating, tactic to employ. Speed was a sharp blade and a sturdy shield in one. Like any tool, though, it had to be honed to be properly wielded. On the outside, he appeared to have shown mastery over that weapon. Deep down, though, Elinor, Callan Young , and Melody Miro had exposed flaws that only the very best trainers would be able to take note of. While he did not realize it, it was this very flaw that stopped his Johto Gym Challenge in its tracks.

Gym Leaders by their very nature were well-known trainers. Being a Hoennian Gym Leader put one in automatic celebrity status. It was a position Josh had no previous experience in, and it was showing like rust on a derelict sword. Before Josh could answer Elinor's question, he felt Saber violently shaking his Poké Ball around, trying to get Josh's attention, It was as though he had something to say to him. The Leader obliged by releasing the Manectric. "Yes, Saber? What is it?" he asked. The Manectric let out a pair of barks, followed by a whimper alongside a pleading face. He stepped toward Josh and nuzzled him, beckoning his trainer to embrace him.

While the two could not speak the same language, the communication couldn't have been more clear. The level of sync the two had went beyond perfection. They were almost soul linked. As evidence during their trip through the Cloud, the two would do anything for each other. If Josh were to die, Saber would quickly lose the will to live. While it wasn't that extreme anymore on the other side, the sync the two shared was so perfect that they knew what each other were thinking at almost all times. Saber would, of course, listen to verbal commands. But that didn't mean he needed them. He could battle without them.

In trainer education, there was so much emphasis placed on how to get Pokémon to trust their trainers. Not having that same level of trust in his Pokémon was holding them all back. It was without a doubt, a very unusual problem to have. It was a problem that surely Alexei Ivanov had to deal with at one point, and perhaps he would be able to teach him. That last comment perked Josh up.

Josh returned Saber's affection with a big hug and tears.

"...Elinor, I approached you because I needed help in turning my battle skills around," he began to answer, still crying. "I never expected an introspection like this. It hurts me to say this, but I think the issue might not be with raw battle prowess. I think it's a deeper problem. To be able to go through an entire battle without verbal commands requires incredible sync with your Pokémon." That level of sync was something only time and great effort could build. Effort needed to build an unbreakable, two-way bond of trust. He strove for perfection and could not stand his own mistakes. That was his fatal flaw not only as a combatant, but as a person.

"Sync on that level requires an exceptionally strong, mutual bond of trust between a trainer and their Pokémon. Most trainers struggle with getting their Pokémon to trust them. With all the racing i do, clearly that part of the bond is there. They're willing to run themselves ragged, pushing themselves the hardest at the very end of the race when they're already tired." His race with the Drift King, Matus Baran , with the help of ana fell , came to mind. That moment gave Josh and Twilight the sync needed to achieve Mega Evolution.

"It's so strange to experience the reverse, though." While not sobbing, tears were still sliding down the Gym Leader's cheeks. "I imagine it's not a problem you run into too often. The problem of a Pokémon trusting their trainer, but the trainer not giving that same level of trust back. I never trusted my Pokémon to go completely without commands because I thought they would make a mistake that would cost me the match. Clearly I'm just wrong." Saber let out another whimper and started crying himself. This was something he had been trying to tell Josh for years: to stop being so hard on himself and just trust him back.

The Councilwoman's words, as always, were extremely carefully picked. His years of taking on Johto's Gym Challenge, then Hoenn's Gym Challenge, then Hoenn's Gym Challenge again. They were some of the wisest words he had ever heard from any League official. Every time he got down in the dumps, Elinor was there to pull him from the ditch of despair. From the unforgettable day he first joined the Rangers to his battle experience with Hoenn's Elite Four, she was there for him.

Today was no different.

Elinor had told him, if a little between the lines, that he could not get past his fears without facing them. Truer words could not be spoken. He shook his head as Saber's eyes continued to bead, the electric Pokémon continuing to whimper and plead with him. "...I tell you what. After our third tussle, it's clear we're an even match. Once here, once at the old Racing Grounds, and once at the new."

He took a deep breath. "Once this crisis is over, we're having one last battle. Some place far away from town. You know just as well as I do that if we battle in a battle court in the city, we're going to level a whole neighborhood." Josh stumbled over his words for a while before shaking his head and continuing. "I want to battle you at your best. No pressure of a Gym badge. Just you and me, my best six Pokémon against your six. Singles, Doubles, doesn't matter to me. Mega Evolution, Z-Power, all fair game. And Elinor? No verbal commands. From either of us. We battle with the sync of our Pokémon alone. It's an offer you can't refuse, isn't it?"