"Magmortar, use Flamethrower!" Paul opened the battle by using Flamethrower to test the waters.
Magmortar took a deep breath, then unleashed two massive pillars of fire from the flame-launching ports on its arms.
The entire arena was filled with the heat of the flames, and the temperature inside the pyramid began to skyrocket. In less than a second, fine beads of sweat had already appeared on the foreheads of Misty and Serena.
That alone showed just how high the temperature inside the arena had become.
Ash waved his arm, and a transparent barrier appeared before them, sealing out the heat and finally bringing some relief to the two women.
Before they could even thank Ash, the Flamethrower had already struck Regice head-on!
Brandon hadn't made Regice move at all; Magmortar's flames poured onto the Ice Titan without restraint.
"Not even dodging a Fire-type move? That's looking down on me a bit too much," Paul's expression darkened.
Using the Ice Titan meant the opponent was taking him seriously, but having it stand there without dodging his attack felt like an insult.
It was hard to imagine two such contradictory situations coexisting—yet the truth was, Brandon wasn't actually looking down on Paul.
"You've misunderstood. It's not that I'm looking down on you, young man; it's just that Regice... simply has no need to dodge." As Brandon finished speaking, Regice walked step-by-step out of the ring of fire, pushing right through the flames.
"Regice, use Ice Beam!" Brandon swept his arm forward, ordering Regice to counterattack. At this moment, Regice was still enduring the onslaught of the Flamethrower, yet it remained completely unaffected. Raising its hands, it emitted an eerie, synthesized cry: "Regi—ice—"
A beam of ice-blue light shot forth from its hands—formed entirely of ice—surging toward Magmortar with a bone-chilling aura!
The flames in its path froze the instant they touched the beam, shattering into countless tiny ice crystals that scattered across the ground.
Flames... frozen solid?
Paul's pupils contracted sharply; without a second thought, he shouted to Magmortar, "Dodge it!"
Magmortar tried desperately to move, but the Ice Beam was simply too fast.
It moved too quickly for him to react in time.
Crack—
The ice-blue beam struck Magmortar with pinpoint accuracy. Almost the instant of impact, a thick layer of ice began to spread upward from his feet, encasing his entire body in the blink of an eye.
Magmortar remained frozen inside a massive block of ice, still locked in the posture of unleashing his Flamethrower—even the flames that hadn't yet dissipated from the cannons on his arms were frozen in place.
His eyes were wide, his expression frozen at the moment of impact—a complex look blending disbelief and sheer terror.
Clearly, Magmortar had never imagined his opponent could freeze the very flames he was unleashing; he hadn't even had time to react before being frozen solid himself.
Paul was left dumbfounded by the scene. He had anticipated a significant gap in power between them, but he hadn't expected it to be this vast.
Fire-type against Ice-type: despite using a Fire-type move, Magmortar had failed to inflict any noticeable damage. On the surface, at least, the Legendary Ice Titan had shrugged off the attack without issue.
Yet, when the opponent countered with an Ice-type move, Magmortar's own flames were instantly frozen solid!
Flames... frozen. Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, Paul would never have believed such a thing possible. An utterly inconceivable scene unfolded right before their eyes: Magmortar had been taken down in a single hit by an Ice-type move...
The gap between the two was an unbridgeable chasm.
Magmortar was now completely incapacitated. An Ice-type move landing a one-hit KO on a Fire-type Pokémon despite the type disadvantage... Heh, that was no laughing matter.
"Th-that's just insane!" Misty covered her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"That's a Fire-type Magmortar! Isn't Fire supposed to be strong against Ice? How could it get one-shot like that?"
"It's not just about type advantages," Brock said, his expression turning grave.
"That Regice's level is simply too high. When faced with such an overwhelming disparity in raw power, type advantages don't matter at all."
It was then that Misty remembered what Ash had said earlier: that Regice was at the High Champion level!
Meanwhile, Paul's Magmortar was, at best, at the Early Elite Four level.
The gap between Early Elite Four and High Champion spanned five whole tiers—and that wasn't just any gap; it was the gulf separating the Elite Four from the Champion class!
This difference couldn't merely be called a "chasm"; it was a difference as vast as that between heaven and earth.
Type advantage? In the face of absolute power, that kind of advantage was practically non-existent.
Ash, however, remained impassive; it had all gone exactly as he expected.
If a Legendary Pokémon at the High Champion level could actually take damage from an Early Elite Four Magmortar's Flamethrower, that would be the truly strange thing.
He hadn't been joking earlier: if Paul had sent out all his Pokémon at once, Regice could have wiped them all out in three seconds flat!
A Legendary Pokémon at the High Champion level was simply that dominant; even among others of the same rank, it would stand head and shoulders above the rest.
Paul took a deep breath and slowly retrieved the Poké Ball to recall Magmortar from within the block of ice.
He glanced down at the ball in his hand, fell silent for a moment, then returned it to his belt and drew another one.
"Electivire, prepare for battle." With a flash of light, Electivire entered the fray. He had already expended nearly half his stamina in the previous battle and bore injuries from hits by Shadow Punch and Fire Punch, yet his fighting spirit remained undiminished; if anything, these wounds only fueled his intensity!
"Electivire, use Fire Punch!"
Paul knew that against the Ice-type Regice, Electivire's Electric-type moves would deal very limited damage.
Fortunately, as one of his ace Pokémon, Electivire possessed a diverse moveset—and Fire Punch was a move specifically chosen prepared specifically to counter Ice- and Grass-type Pokémon.
Blazing flames erupted from Electivire's fists; its entire body transformed into a streak of red-and-gold lightning as it charged toward Regice.
The Trick Room effect had faded, allowing Electivire's speed to return to normal.
Yet... the situation was actually worse than when Trick Room had been active.
"Regice, Ice Punch." Brandon's voice was as calm as still water.
A thick layer of ice coalesced around Regice's right fist. Just as Electivire closed the distance, Regice unleashed a devastating punch!
Bam!
Electivire's Fire Punch never even connected; Regice's Ice Punch had already slammed into its chest.
Under equal conditions, Electivire might have been slightly faster than the Ice Titan. However, given the vast disparity in their power levels, Regice was actually the faster of the two.
This was precisely why Trick Room might have been preferable; as it stood, Electivire was the one at a speed disadvantage.
The terrifying force of the Ice Punch sent Electivire's body flying backward.
Electivire traced an arc through the air before crashing heavily to the ground, skidding several meters before coming to a halt.
A thin layer of ice coated its chest, and sparks of electricity still flickered across its body, but the light had already faded from its eyes.
Electivire is unable to battle.
"Damn it..." Paul gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
His knuckles turned white from the strain; he had come to challenge Brandon with the sole intent of avenging his older brother.
Yet, after struggling mightily to defeat just one of Brandon's Pokémon, he had seen two of his own instantly taken out by Brandon's ace.
Now, only one Pokémon remained—Torterra, a choice that put him at a massive disadvantage against Regice's Ice-type moves, which dealt four times the usual damage.
Even so, he had no other options.
He had no choice but to press on with Torterra!
"Torterra, prepare for battle!" With a flash of light, Torterra entered the fray once more. It still bore the scars from its earlier battle with Dusknoir; neither its stamina nor its condition was optimal, yet there was no other choice—this was Paul's final and strongest Pokémon.
"Torterra, use Frenzy Plant!" Paul commanded Torterra to unleash its ultimate move right from the start.
He knew that against an opponent of Regice's level, any probing attacks would be futile; only by going all out could he hope to carve out a chance for victory.
Torterra let out a low, furious roar, causing the entire battlefield to shake violently.
Emerald light surged wildly from fissures in the ground as dozens of hardened vines—each as thick as a bowl—burst forth from the earth beneath Regice, coiling around the Legendary Pokémon like pythons.
"Regice, Ice Beam."
No sooner had Brandon spoken than Regice fired an icy-blue beam from the core in its chest.
Wherever the beam passed, the air froze solid, creating a path paved with ice crystals.
The moment the hardened vines made contact with the Ice Beam, they froze instantly; the emerald vines turned into ice sculptures before shattering with a loud crack-crack sound, disintegrating into a cloud of icy shards.
The Ice Beam pierced through the blockade of vines and struck Torterra with pinpoint accuracy!
BOOM—
Torterra's massive body was instantly engulfed by ice; it—along with the small tree growing on its back—was encased within a towering iceberg.
Torterra is unable to battle.
With that, all three of Paul's Pokémon had been defeated—and every single one of them had been instantly taken down by the Ice Titan.
Meanwhile, Brandon's Regice hadn't even broken a sweat.
The disparity between the two sides was starkly evident.
Although Paul had managed to defeat one of Brandon's Pokémon earlier, when faced with the full extent of Brandon's power, he was no different from any other challenger—unable to escape the fate of being instantly defeated.
For the first time, Paul truly understood the meaning of powerlessness. Was this the same feeling his older brother had experienced back then—giving it his absolute all, yet failing to so much as scratch the opponent?
"Torterra is unable to battle! Regice wins! Therefore, the victor is Mr. Brandon!" the referee announced the final result.
"Even after giving it his all, he still couldn't win?" Brock stated, his voice carrying a note of resignation.
Paul had performed admirably. Whether it was switching in the slower Torterra to counter Trick Room or deploying a Pokémon with a type advantage against Regice, his reactions had been top-tier.
Those two tactical decisions alone demonstrated a level of skill that placed him among the elite trainers.
Unfortunately, he was up against Brandon—a trainer of the highest level whose strength was truly formidable.
The moment Regice appeared, Paul's defeat had been all but sealed; the only surprise was just how crushing that defeat turned out to be.
"Ash... You'll win, right?" Serena asked, looking worried.
It was only natural for her to feel that way after witnessing Paul get utterly overwhelmed by Regice.
Back at the Indigo Plateau Conference, Paul had gone toe-to-toe with Ash—even if he had ultimately been shut out.
Yet, compared to the pressure Ash had exerted on Paul back then, the intensity of Brandon's dominance in this match was on a whole different level.
Rumor had it that Brandon possessed not just one of the Legendary Titans, but all three.
If just one—Regice—was this monstrously powerful, how could anyone possibly hope to defeat all three?
"I'll win," Ash said, standing up with confidence.
Even if he were facing three Pokémon of Champion-level Level, he would still win.
After all, upon arriving in Goldenrod City, his first move hadn't been to locate the Battle Pyramid; instead, he had immediately gathered his partners.
Without them, this battle might have been a struggle, but now—he was invincible. Ash walked onto the battlefield below.
Just then, Paul was recalling Torterra into its Poké Ball; he glanced at Ash but said nothing, simply brushing past him in silence.
"If you can't win this time, you can just win next time. You aren't the type to be defeated so easily, are you?" Ash's voice rang out from behind Paul.
Paul paused for a moment, then continued walking forward; eventually, he reached the front row of the spectator stands and sat down in a random seat.
He had originally intended to leave right away, but Ash's words made him want to see exactly how the battle between Ash and Brandon would unfold.
He had heard plenty about Ash's recent exploits lately—rumor had it that even Lorelei of the Elite Four had been defeated by him.
Clips of the battles were circulating everywhere online; they weren't just hearsay, but actual events that had truly taken place.
So... how would the showdown between Ash and Brandon go?
Could Ash manage to defeat Brandon's Legendary Titans?
"Is it your turn now, young man?" Brandon asked, his expression serious as he recalled Regice and crossed his arms over his chest.
"That's right, Mr. Brandon... Do you need to take your Pokémon to the Pokémon Center to heal them up?" Ash asked, rotating his wrists to warm up.
"No need. I don't intend to send out Dusclops for this match. To face you... I think sending them out is the best choice."
"I see... Then let's do it. Show me what you've got, Mr. Brandon—your three Legendary Titans!" Ash planted his feet firmly, drew a Poké Ball, and issued his challenge!
"My first Pokémon will be this one. Go, Registeel!" With a flash of light, a Pokémon that looked as though it were forged entirely from steel appeared on the field—the Steel Titan, Registeel!
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