Brandon (anime)

Pyramid King Brandon (Japanese: ピラミッドキング ジンダイ Pyramid King Jindai) is the Frontier Brain and chief of the 's Battle Pyramid. Brandon is the strongest of all the Frontier Brains, and a major recurring character during the final phase of . In , he becomes an important part of and Paul's storyline.
==In animation==
===History===
====Pre-series====
As a veteran Frontier Brain, Brandon faced several s. In one of these battles, he faced and won against a Trainer named Reggie; this battle convinced the latter to retire from battling and become a Pokémon Breeder. Reggie's brother Paul was also influenced by this battle, becoming the primary reason for his obsession with strength.
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His identity was shrouded in mystery for most of the Battle Frontier saga. Unlike the other Frontier Brains, his silhouette was not shown on its own during the opening and was only seen in the center of the group shot. s only found out the location of the Battle Pyramid after they had collected the other six Symbols. This suggests that Brandon ranked higher than the rest of the Frontier Brains in , although in the video games and , this position belongs to Anabel. When finally got his sixth Frontier Symbol in Second Time's the Charm!, he learned that the Battle Pyramid was located near Pewter City.
Brandon's first with Ash occurred in Battling the Enemy Within!. At the time, however, Ash was possessed by an ancient king of the Pyramid who battled Brandon's with Ash's Sceptile. Sceptile was defeated, Ash regained control of his body, and the Pyramid was moved to an area near Indigo Plateau. After the victory against the spirit that possessed Ash, Brandon reveals that Ash actually lost due to his own immaturity.
During the time he was away, Brandon started researching several ruins in search of a Legendary Pokémon. In one of these ruins, he eventually meets up with Ash again, who asks him for a new opportunity to battle, for their first official, and second overall battle. In Overjoyed!, Ash's Torkoal squared off against Brandon's . However, Torkoal was, like Sceptile, defeated by Brandon's Legendary Pokémon. Again, after yet another victory over Ash, Brandon leaves him a new lesson before pursuing his goal.
Finally, in Gathering the Gang of Four and Pace - The Final Frontier!, Scott reveals the last location of the Battle Pyramid to Ash; it's also revealed that Brandon was just finding what he was looking for. At the same time, Ash goes on a journey with his Pokémon to understand the lessons Brandon taught him. At the end of the day, Ash and met up with Brandon in a forest. Both decide that it is time to start the final battle between them. Brandon and Ash fought in a 4 vs. 4 battle. Brandon's defeated Ash's Charizard in the first round, but was then defeated by Ash's Bulbasaur after a tough battle. Then, Brandon's squared off against Ash's Squirtle, where Squirtle was able to beat Ninjask with a . 
In the next round, Squirtle was defeated by Brandon's , which in turn drew with Bulbasaur. With both competitors left to their last Pokémon, Ash used while Brandon unveiled yet another Pokémon from his Legendary collection: this time, a . Despite the odds, however, Pikachu managed to hold his own against the legendary giant and came out victorious. This victory placed Ash in the Frontier Battle Hall of Fame, and a position as Frontier Brain, but Ash refused. Before leaving, Brandon wished Ash good luck and said he would like to return to battle with him again.
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Brandon reappeared in Pikachu's flashback in Pika and Goliath! when Ash remembers his past with Pikachu.
Brandon appeared again in person in A Pyramiding Rage!, where he wanted to research the Snowpoint Temple. While meeting up with Ash and , he was challenged to a Full Battle by Paul. During the battle, Reggie remembered how Brandon's words marked him, and how much they may have affected his brother. Despite using a team with a type advantage, Paul lost the match easily due to him losing control of his emotions. Upon winning, Brandon questioned Paul about his emotions and motivations to battle. Brandon later mentioned that they would battle again when Paul was ready, and agreed with Reggie's suggestion of a Full Battle between Ash and Paul.
In Pillars of Friendship!, Brandon traveled with Ash and his friends to the temple of . Along the way he discovered that the temple was under attack, but despite his efforts, Brandon tried and failed to stop Pokémon Hunter J from disturbing Regigigas in the Snowpoint Temple. Because of her actions, the Colossal Pokémon went on a rampage, but it eventually calmed down when Brandon saved it from being turned into a statue by J. In the end, Brandon decided to stay at the Snowpoint Temple, not only to rebuild it, but also to allow , , and to become the new pillars that would protect Regigigas.
In Battling a Thaw in Relations!, Paul announced that he would return to Snowpoint Temple to re-challenge Brandon. The outcome of the battle is unknown.
===Character===
When Brandon first appeared in Battling the Enemy Within!, his personality was shown to be similar to his game counterpart; being highly interested in exploring ruins and discovering as many mysteries as possible, seen as he was searching for in his debut. However, different from his game counterpart, Brandon doesn't seem to appreciate foolishness from others, such as harshly scolding and for almost getting them all killed by a giant boulder (one of the ruin's traps) because of their arrival. Nonetheless, Brandon seems to able to forgive rather quickly, as he followed his scolding by explaining to Ash and his friends about the ruins.
Brandon also presents himself as extremely serious and reserved, but despite his serious attitude, Brandon's willing to help others in need, such as when Brandon offered to battle the King of Pokélantis, who had possessed Ash's body, in exchange for the boy's freedom if he managed to win, even offering to hand the King his Pokémon if he lost. Also, despite being known for his harsh attitude, Brandon truly believes in the bond between and Pokémon, shown during his battle against Paul, telling him that despite the young Trainer being talented, his harsh training methods would never allow Paul to defeat him. He also doesn't believe in brute strength, informing Reggie during their battle that despite enjoying their battle, Reggie was only relying on his Pokémon's brute strength, disregarding any sort of strategies, and believed that true power came from "inner strength".
===Pokémon===
This listing is of Brandon's known in :
=====On hand=====
=====Befriended=====
===Voice actors===
==In the manga==
===Ash & Pikachu===
Brandon appeared in a fantasy along with the other Frontier Brains in Off To The Battle Frontier!!.
==Trivia==
* Brandon tends to yell "Nooo!!" (Japanese: 喝！！ Katsu!!) when he disapproves of something in .
* Whenever Brandon sends out a Pokémon in the English dub, he first calls out the Pokémon's name and then shouts, "I need your assistance!"
* Brandon is the first in the to have officially and trained a Legendary Pokémon.
* In the dub of , Brandon's translated name was changed from Baldo to Mariano.
==Names==
Language 	Name 	Origin
Japanese 	ジンダイ Jindai 	From 神代杉 Jindai-Sugi, buried under volcanic ashes.
English 	Brandon 	From brave
French 	Bayar 	From bravoure, bravery
German 	Brian 	From Bravour, bravery
Italian 	Baldo 	From baldo, bold
Spanish 	Valente 	From valentía, courage
Korean 	기선 Giseon 	From 용기 yonggi (courage) and 선 seon (ancient)
Chinese ()	神代 Shéndài 	From his Japanese name. Literally means age of the gods.
Vietnamese	Jindai 	Transliteration of his Japanese name.
==Related articles==
* Brandon
Category:Animation characters
Category:Frontier Brains
Category:Trainers with Legendary Pokémon
de:Brian#Im Anime
es:Brandon/Valente
it:Baldo (serie animata)
zh:神代（动画）