In their previous charge, Alex had taken the initiative. Josh met that with a charge of his own, the two Pidgeot swerving out of the way of one another at the last moment. The challenger had overcorrected, his noodle whiffing and the Birdfather's striking true. Josh winced; even though their foam weapons were soft, the sheer speed the two birds reached made the impact hurt! He took his hand off Pazuzu's reins long enough to gently rub the impact point, trying to ease the pain away.

"You don't think I know that already, Alex?" Josh retorted in a taunting voice. "It takes keen eyesight to fly at hundreds of miles an hour. You should know this better than anyone else. We're riding buddies, and I know you have a need for speed in the sky, too." He knew that all too well from the day of their intense race back at the other Gym.

With a screech from his mount, the wannabe knight reined Pazuzu skyward. With the Gym Leader simply circling, it was clear he was waiting for Josh to make the first move. And move he did. While the use of Quick Attack was forbidden, he could still take advantage of his bird's nosebleed-inducing diving speed. Soaring to the limits of the Sanctuary's bounds, Pazuzu pointed his beak at Idun in a stoop so fast that it made Josh float against the top of the cocoon he was wrapped into.

Pazuzu squawked, the noodle slicing across him like a Kartana's Leaf Blade. The Birdfather had turned his Gym Leader friend's speed against him. His aerial combat needed work; if he was to wield a blade from the saddle, he needed to combine thrust with steering. His battle style turned himself and his mount into a living, often times supersonic, missile. As lethal as such a weapon was, more lethal was a slower missile that was heat-seeking.

The only thing stopping Josh was the g-forces that threatened to tear his own body apart if his turns were too sharp. "You don't think that's what I was going for?!" Josh shouted, Pazuzu pulling up from his stoop with power that squished the young man's thighs against the cocoon he sat in. While he did not go upside down like Alex did, he did ease off the gas enough to gain just enough maneuverability for a roll. With proper timing, he would be able to avoid Alex's counterattack.

That third and final strike left Josh gasping, striking him in a sensitive spot. Slumping in Pazuzu's saddle, the giant bird touched down near where the two combatants were before the match began. All he could do was catch his breath while Alex tried to teach the lesson of Fortree Gym. The lesson he received was one of defense. The young man's battle style was deadly and effective: it embraced the idiom that "the best defense is a good offense". To an extent, that was true.

Anyone with vision sharp enough to see through the Master of Faster's blitzkrieg, though, could use that speed against him. Josh's combat style was hard and fast. Against foes like Josh, the most effective combat method was the soft and flexible style, once taught at Dewford Gym many, many moons ago.

"For someone who relies on aerial ambush predators, those weren't words I expected to come from you," Josh quizzically responded as he slid down from Pazuzu's back. "I swear, though... combine my land jousting skill with your aerial prowess, and we would be a force even Rocket's Avatars would be quaking in their boots to face. That isn't a bad idea to work on, though. Next time we find ourselves out and about together, how about we work on that?" he proposed. With the number of times he went joyriding across Hoenn to relieve stress, it might happen sooner than later.

"I do plan on challenging your blindfolded course, as well," Josh managed with a slight smile, "but not until my community service hours are in. It was hard booking the time to come here to do this as is. Has challenger volume dropped here, too? Worthy gym challengers have been few and far between of late."

Still not done yet? It had only been what, eight months since Joah's restitution began? Could Alex not do the math? He was in on the email and should have been aware of just how harsh Josh's sentence was. "You know that 3,000 hours is a year and a half of working full-time, right? Plus I can't work my Gym and put in five eights a week doing Ranger tickets. I'll be glad to get that much; in the winter, there's probably going to be not enough tickets for everyone as is." Josh shrugged at the Birdfather's remarks about so-called witch's brews... though he had plans to use one of those brews to make Kokusho a truly frightening behemoth. One head: fire breath. One head: ice breath. One head: lightning breath.

It was a true terror to even think about.

"Alex, I've realized that as soon as I started scouting battles for the Elite Test. You know I'm closing in on that, right?" He let the rest of the fellow Leader's words brush off before the tenured Leader mentioned his lack of skill as a Pokémon combatant. "Then how about we fix that? Come out to Mauville Gym. Not to race me, but to battle me. Get that win rate up so the League doesn't get at your throat."

Josh wanted to forget about his restitution. It was going to feel so good once he had his full salary back. He would have poker money again. More importantly, he would be able to take care of all his Pokémon again without relying on his Gym stipend. For now, though, he needed to toughen up the Birdfather in the art of combat.

"As long as you need it to. As long as it takes to help you get your win rate back to where it should be. You helped me learn how to stay in the saddle in the air. Now it's my turn to teach you. Let me know when you have a gap in your schedule. I'll make it work. Meet me at Mauville Gym. We'll get your battle skills up to snuff."