Paul vs Brandon

Paul had come to Snowpoint City to take on the Snowpoint Gym. But Candice had just battled Ash.

"Can we have our battle tomorrow?" She asked Paul.

Paul agreed and walked away. Ash didn't bother talking to Paul this time because he knew he would receive a rude reply.

"Odds are Paul is here for the seventh badge."

"Oh, you know that trainer Ash?" Candice asked.

"Yes, his name's Paul and he's my rival." Ash said. "He's not very friendly though."

"Oh." Candice said.

That night Dawn and Brock decided to fill Zoey in about Paul.

"He's a trainer with a rude attitude and he trains his Pokemon in a abusive manner. In fact Ash's Chimchar once belonged to him."

"Wow Paul is the opposite of Ash." Zoey said.

"Yes and because of that Ash always ends up having a argument or fight with Paul whenever they meet." Brock said.

"I understand." Zoey nodded.

"Say where is Ash anyway?" Dawn asked.

"Oh he and Tomo went outside for a bit." Brock said. "I think they said Growlithe found something outside."

"I wonder what that could be?" Dawn questioned.

The something Growlithe found turned out to be another of the weird plates. This one was a whitish-blue color.

"How many of these plates have we found Ash?" Tomo asked.

Ash thought about it for a moment.

"Truthfully I have 15 of these plates now." Ash answered. "And who knows how many more there are now."

Suddenly there was a roaring noise.

"What was that?" Tomo asked.

"That's probably Paul training for the gym battle tomorrow." Ash said.

He picked up the plate and then he and Tomo went to see what the commotion was about.

Ash was right because Paul was training his Magmar and Electabuzz for his gym battle tomorrow. Electabuzz and Magmar were firing attacks at each other.

"See I told you." Ash said.

Just then Paul noticed Ash and Tomo.

"What do you want?" He asked them.

"We only wanted to know what was going on after hearing your Pokemon." Ash said. "And now that we know what's going on, we'll leave."

Paul said nothing and Ash and Tomo headed to the Pokemon Center.

As they entered the Pokemon Center, they met up with Zoey and the others.

"I take it Paul is training his Pokemon for the gym battle against Candice tomorrow?" Brock said.

"He is, and that's why Tomo and I decided to walk away before we hear any more rude things from Paul's mouth." Ash said.

"Rude?" Zoey asked.

"Paul has a rude and abusive personality." Dawn informed her.

Zoey wasn't happy to hear that.

"I hope Miss Senior mops the floor with that guy." She bitterly said.

*The next day...*

Paul was about to head to the gym, but then a car parked outside the Pokemon Center. It was his brother Reggie. He had come to Snowpoint City to give Paul one of his Pokemon and to watch his gym battle. The gang noticed Reggie once they stepped out of the Pokemon Center."

"Hey Reggie." They greeted him.

"Hey guys." Reggie greeted them back.

"Reggie is Paul's older brother." Dawn informed Zoey.

She found that hard to believe as Reggie was really polite while Paul was rude.

Suddenly there was a shaking noise and a shadow loomed over everyone. Then everyone saw a big pyramid in the sky.

"Hey, it's the Battle Pyramid." Ash said.

"You know what that is?" Reggie asked him.

"Yes I went there three times to battle it's Frontier Brain." Ash answered.

"What? You beat it's Frontier Brain." Paul said in disbelief.

"Yes." Ash nodded.

Brandon was driving the Battle Pyramid when Samuel told him there was a phone call from the Snowpoint Pokemon Center. It was from Ash.

"Hi Brandon, long time no see." Ash said.

"Well I'll be. How are you kid?" Brandon said.

Brandon was surprised and happy to see Ash again. While they had a conversation with each other, Brandon landed the Battle Pyramid outside the city. Obviously Ash wanted to see Brandon again so after he finished talking to Brandon on the phone, he and the others decided to go see him. Reggie and Paul wanted to see Brandon too, so Reggie gave the gang and Zoey a lift in his car.

Along the way Ash, Tomo and Brock told them all about the Battle Frontier he challenged in Kanto, all about the Frontier Brains and the Frontier symbols.

"Brandon was the hardest to beat because he owns three legendary Pokemon Regirock, Registeel and Regice." Ash said. "And that's why it took me three attempts to win the last Frontier symbol."

"I see." Dawn said.

"I was given the opportunity to become a Frontier Brain after that." Ash said. "But I asked for it to be put on hold until further notice. Because I wanted to continue my Pokemon journey and of course travel through this region. So I will be a Frontier Brain in the future when I want to be."

"I understand." Dawn said, knowing his feelings by now.

Just then Brock remembered all of Reggie's gym badges back at his house in Veilstone City.

"Reggie, I remember seeing your six Frontier symbols." He said.

"Yes, but I was never able to earn my final Frontier symbol." Reggie said.

"Didn't you make another attempt to beat Brandon?" Ash asked.

"No, because after I lost to Brandon I realized that I still had a lot to learn about Pokemon, so I stopped battling after that." Reggie said.

"I remember seeing the Kanto Frontier symbols, but I didn't see the Sinnoh Frontier symbols." Brock said.

"That's because I decided not to challenge the Sinnoh Battle Frontier after my loss to Brandon." Reggie said.

Soon everyone arrived at where the Battle Pyramid landed. Brandon and Samuel were standing outside. Reggie and the gang ran over to Brandon right away.

"Brandon, I'm surprised to see you here in Sinnoh." Ash said. "Are you by any chance here because of the legendary Pokemon Regigigas?"

"Oh, you know about that Pokemon young man?" Brandon asked.

"Yes, we met one before." Ash answered.

"Why am I not surprised you kids would beat me?" Brandon said. "Oh, by the way Ash, Brock there are two other Frontier Brains who wanted to accompany me to Sinnoh."

"I think I know who." Ash picked up on footsteps coming their way.

Anabel and Lucy then stepped out of the Battle Pyramid.

"Anabel." Ash said.

"Lucy." Brock said.

They ran over to Anabel and Lucy and hugged them.

"I can't believe you two are here." Ash told the women.

"We heard Brandon was going to come here for research, so we asked him if we could come along." Anabel said.

"Well it's great to see you again." Brock said.

Pikachu was happy to see Espeon again.

Dawn and Zoey noticed Ash and Brock hugging the girls.

"Those two are Anabel and Lucy." Tomo said. "They are Frontier Brains like Brandon. Anabel is Ash's girlfriend and Lucy is Brock's girlfriend."

"Oh, so that's them." Dawn said.

She remembered the boys telling her about Anabel and Lucy before.

"That's certainly a surprise." Reggie said.

Paul wasn't interested in the romantic sight and he walked over to Brandon.

"I wish to challenge you to a Pokemon battle right here and now." He said.

Brandon was surprised to hear that and so was everyone else.

Just then Candice appeared on the back of a Dodrio; she had seen the Battle Pyramid flying in the sky and she wanted to check it out. Brandon introduced himself to Candace and Candice introduced herself to Brandon. Another visitor appeared at the temple; a lady dressed in priestess clothing stepped out of a car.

"Why hello Maria." Brandon said.

"It is an honor to have you here Pyramid King." Maria said.

She was a guardian of a structure known as the Snowpoint Temple. The Snowpoint Temple is an ancient temple that stood in the mountains of Snowpoint City.

"I came to Sinnoh to investigate the Snowpoint Temple because it is connected to the legendary Pokemon Regigigas." Brandon said.

"I thought so." Ash said.

Brandon told Samuel to go with Maria to the Snowpoint Temple for now; he accepted Paul's challenge.

"But Paul, why do you want to challenge Brandon now?" Reggie asked.

"Because I want to do what you couldn't and that's that." Paul said.

What he meant was he wanted to defeat Brandon which is what Reggie failed to do.

"Can we watch?" Ash asked.

Brandon agreed to let them watch the battle.

Inside the pyramid Brandon and Paul took their places on the battlefield while Reggie, Zoey, Candice, Lucy, Anabel and the gang took their places in the seats. Brock volunteered to be the referee, but Paul declined the offer. Paul made the rules of the match being a full battle and substitutions were allowed. Ash understood Paul wanted to beat Brandon for Reggie's sake, but he also knew that Paul won't win the battle because he doesn't have the mind and heart to be one with his Pokemon.

Paul sent out his Magmar first to battle, while Brandon sent Regirock out first. Before the battle started Reggie revealed to everyone that Paul watched his battle with Brandon. At the time Reggie battled Brandon Paul had just started his Pokemon journey and was traveling through Sinnoh. But he went to Kanto to watch Reggie battle Brandon for his final Frontier symbol. No matter how hard Reggie and his Pokemon battled, Brandon's Regirock defeated all of them. Regirock didn't even get a single scratch during the battle. After the battle Brandon said that despite enjoying it, he didn't feel Reggie's true inner strength and battling style.

"So the reason Paul is so obsessed with power is because of what happened to Reggie." Brock said after the story ended.

"I do understand how Paul is feeling." Ash said. "But he is not going to win this battle. That's a guarantee."

Paul suddenly returned Magmar and sent out a Hariyama. Hariyama was a new addition to Paul's team.

"Paul must have switched his Pokemon because of the disadvantage Magmar has against Regirock." Brock said.

"Yes, but even using a Pokemon with a type advantage against Regirock won't be enough." Ash said. "I used my Gyarados against it and Regirock still won the battle."

"You're right." Brock agreed.

He recalled that battle.