With Josh at Ao's reins and Vespa seemingly ready, the Gym Leader was ready to give her a crash course in controlling a flying mount. Thankfully, getting in the air wasn't too difficult; it was simply the paradox Pokémon lifting itself into the air through draconic energy and floating forward enough to gain lift underneath its crescent-shaped wings. The expulsion of energy may have pressured Vespa, but it wouldn't have lasted long. With them in the sky above Hoenn's south seas, Josh could begin.

"Think of your reins like a joystick for your Pokémon," he explained. "If you've ridden a land Pokémon before, all the rules of controlling one apply, but there's a new one for the third dimension. If you pull back on your Pokémon's reins, it will climb. Just be careful; because Roaring Moon glide on their wings rather than flap them for thrust like most dragons, climbing too quickly can cause you to stall." It was one of the reasons Garchomp were notoriously difficult to fly on; their minimum speed needed to maintain lift made it much like controlling an airplane. "If you hold the reins more slack, your Pokémon will descend. Think of pulling on the reins like changing the way your mount's head faces, and which way they look."

With a majestic cry in response to Josh's leg pressure and holding the reins taut, Ao climbed alongside Yueliang. Smaller flying Pokémon yielded to the two paradoxical dragons, the wind ruffling their feathered wings. It was like the Roaring Moon was both a bird and a dragon, their circular wing design perfectly encircling a rider from behind. In the Gym Leader's naive eyes, it was almost like the dragon species was meant for a rider to be alight it.

It seemed his joystick analogy had gotten through to Vespa; there were very few, if any, flight control issues he could see. "The Pokémon I'd like to search for when I get there is Dragonair," the Gym Leader loudly said to offset the wind, though shouting was not quite needed. "I ended up losing mine in the war. Even if I catch one... it will never replace Resheph. Nothing can."