Josh silently accepted the man's handshake, a little intimidated by the Arcanine. As big as his Pyroar was, Arcanine were huge; he would have to reach upward with his blade to reach the targets on his foe's shield. It would cause making contact to become more difficult, but each blow he did manage would be a strong one. "Great to meet you too, Rufus," the Gym Leader greeted the fire-type calmly. "I've had Aslan here for a long time, too; not quite as long as you've known Rufus, but he was one of my first Pokémon." The feline sounded a proud roar to attempt to intimidate the playful-looking Arcanine.

The rules of the joust were simple. Each shield had five targets in a cross-shaped pattern: four in the corners and one in the center. The first to break four of the five won the joust. Falling off one's Pokémon would result in an instant loss. The winner would move on to the next round. The loser would be out of the tournament.

With pleasantries out of the way, the two faced each other, blade and shield in hand. At the sound of the bell, Josh spurred his Pyroar across the jousting strip, his eye on the bottom-right scoring target on Thomas' shield. He was ready to make a sudden shift of his weight near the point of impact, prompting the lion to swerve away from his foe's blade.

The fire-types dashed past each other, the clang of metallic contact producing sparks that made onlookers cheer for both Thomas and Josh. Both of them were great sports, which got the crowd amped up even more. The recoil from Thomas slamming his sword into Josh's shield made the young racer's arm twitch. What the former Avatar lacked in finesse he more than made up for in raw strength! The only thing that kept the scoring target intact was Aslan's swerve to make the hit be at an angle.

Josh's sword, on the other hand, connected squarely with the bottom right target he was aiming for. A piece of it caught Aslan's side, the lion letting out a loud purr that startled the Gym Leader. As the two assembled across from one another again, the match judge raised a single finger skyward, then pointed toward Josh. "Judges' call: one point, Leader Devlin." At the whistle, he bared his blade toward Thomas again, his eyes on the target in the shield's very center. In his mind, getting all the lower targets out of the way early was for the best; that way, he could downplay his height disadvantage as much as possible.

With both combatants aiming for the plates in the center of each others' shields, it looked like there would be an exchange of blows. Josh's finesse would see him easy points as long as he could land a solid strike. Both Pokémon possessed amazing speed, leaving the other with only a split second to deliver their attacks.

The Arcanine's charge was so powerful that Josh nearly dropped his sword after their blades clashed with each others' metallic boards. His left arm began to thump after just two parried strikes. A low rumble even left Aslan's mouth as the recoil caused his rider's heel to twist into the fire cat's flank. The match judge repeated his signal before announcing, "Judges' call: one point, Leader Devlin." He was up two to nothing, but his arm was giving out fast, and Thomas seemed to have way more in the tank. Could he survive?

For the third time in a row, Josh's aim with his sword was true, cleaving Thomas' shield target in two. Both of his arms were starting to hurt; he had put an unnecessary amount of force into his last swipe, evidenced by the flying sparks and the loud sound of ringing metal. He shook his sword arm as though he was attempting to restore circulation to it, but to no avail. "Judges' call: one point, Leader Devlin. Match point, Leader Devlin," was the judges' ruling.

If there was an opportunity for Thomas to come back from a deficit, though, this was it. Both of Josh's limbs ached from the repeated punishment they absorbed from the competitors' high speed charges, their closing speeds comparable with that of land-bound legendary Pokémon known for their extreme speed. Furthermore, he would really have to reach for the remaining two targets on top of the large shield Thomas defended himself with. Lacking the strength to stand in the saddle to get more reach, the Master of Faster stretched his right arm as much as he could, a look of distress on his face as he reached for the upper right panel of his opponent's shield.

To prepare for the difficult and distant strike, Josh also moved his hand down his sword's hilt, trying to get as much reach as he could even at the expense of power. His stance was shaky, too, mostly from his arms being in mild to moderate pain from the force of the clashes putting a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

He had a match to win, though.

Swords and shields clashed, this time both competitors' blades striking true. Unlike Josh, though, Thomas did not have a target to spare. The two exchanged places across the jousting strip, waiting for the judge's announcement. "Judges call: one point, each competitor. Leader Devlin wins the match, four to one."

With that, the Gym Leader sheathed his blade and guided Aslan to the center of the jousting strip. "Good match, Thomas," he said with a nod. "I may have to drop, though; gonna get my arm looked at. It doesn't feel too good."