"Magmortar, use Flamethrower!" Paul made the opening move, choosing to test with Flamethrower.
Magmortar took a deep breath and then unleashed two massive fire columns from the flame launchers on its arms.
The entire area was filled with the aura of flames. The temperature inside the pyramid began to rise rapidly, and in less than a second, Misty and Serena were already sweating profusely.
This clearly showed how high the temperature was inside.
Ash flicked his arm, and a transparent barrier shielded them in front, isolating all the heat and bringing some relief to the uncomfortable girls.
Before they could thank Ash, the Flamethrower had already directly hit Regice!
Brandon surprisingly did not instruct Regice to make any move, allowing Magmortar's flames to pour down without hesitation onto the Divine Pillar's body.
"Facing a Fire Type Move without dodging or avoiding it? That's too disrespectful." Paul's expression darkened.
The opponent was serious by using the Divine Pillar against him, but by not avoiding his move, he felt belittled.
It's hard to imagine these two conflicting scenarios appearing in the same event—so Brandon wasn't actually looking down on Paul.
"You've misunderstood, I don't disregard you, young man, it's Regice... There's simply no need to dodge." As Brandon's words fell, Regice walked step by step out of the flames, unaffected.
"Regice, use Ice Beam!" Brandon waved his hand widely for Regice to counterattack.
At this moment, Regice continued to endure the baptism of Flamethrower, but it remained unaffected. Raising its arms, an eerie electric sound came from its mouth, "Regi—Ice—"
An ice-blue beam shot out from its ice-forged hands, carrying biting cold as it swept towards Magmortar!
The flames along the path froze instantly upon contact with the beam, transforming into countless tiny ice crystals scattered across the ground.
Flames... frozen?
Paul's pupils shrank suddenly, shouting at Magmortar without thinking, "Avoid it quickly!"
Magmortar desperately tried to move its feet, but the Ice Beam's speed was too fast.
It was so fast that it had no time to react.
"Crack—"
The ice-blue beam accurately hit Magmortar, and almost instantly, a thick layer of ice began spreading from Magmortar's feet, covering its entire body in the blink of an eye.
Magmortar remained in its Flamethrower position, along with the residual flames from its arm spray ports, frozen in a massive block of ice.
Its eyes widened, expression frozen at the moment of impact—a mix of disbelief and fear.
Clearly, Magmortar never imagined the opponent could freeze even the Flamethrower, leaving it no time to react before being directly frozen.
This scene stunned Paul. He thought the gap between them was significant but hadn't expected it to be so vast!
Fire versus Ice: using a Fire Type Move without causing noticeable damage to the opponent, visibly showing the Divine Pillar withstanding without any issues.
Yet, when the opponent countered with an Ice Type Move, Magmortar's Fire Type Move was directly frozen!
Flames frozen... Paul could hardly believe such a thing could happen without seeing it himself.
This incredible occurrence unfolded before his eyes, with Magmortar sidelined by a single Ice Type Move...
The gap between them was like an abyss.
Magmortar at this moment had lost its combat ability; Ice Type's negative attribute instantly defeated the Fire-type Pokemon... Haha, this joke isn't funny.
"Isn't this too exaggerated!" Misty covered her mouth, eyes filled with disbelief. "That's a Fire-type Magmortar! Isn't Fire supposed to restrain Ice? How could it be defeated in one move..."
"It's not just about attribute restraint," Brock's expression turned solemn too. "That Regice's level is incredibly high. With such an overwhelming power gap, attribute restraint doesn't hold any effect."
Misty then recalled, Ash had mentioned earlier, that Regice's level was—Champion Advanced!
While Paul's Magmortar at best was Junior Elite Level.
From Junior Elite Level to Champion Advanced, separated by a full five levels, and this is the distance between Elite and Champion!
Such a gap can't even be described as a 'chasm'; it's akin to the difference between heaven and earth.
Attribute restraint? In the face of absolute power, that restraint is like it doesn't exist.
Ash showed no change in expression, as everything was as he expected.
A Champion Advanced Legendary Pokemon being damaged by an Early Elite Stage Magmortar's Flamethrower would be strange indeed.
He wasn't joking earlier; even if Paul brought out all his Pokemon, the Divine Pillar could defeat them all within three seconds!
Champion Advanced Legendary Pokemon are so dominant; even amongst equals, it stands above the rest.
Paul took a deep breath, slowly retrieved the Pokeball to recall the frozen Magmortar.
He glanced at the Pokeball in his hand, silent for two seconds, then placed it back on his waist and drew another one.
"Electivire, prepare to fight." With a flash, Electivire appeared again.