"Have you come, new challenger?" A deep voice echoed within the venue, drawing everyone's attention.
Before their eyes stood a middle-aged man dressed in mountain gear, with a serious demeanor and a calm expression, resembling a veteran Trainer.
This person was none other than the owner of the Battle Pyramid—Pharaoh Brandon!
"Hello, Mr. Brandon, I'm Paul from Veilstone City in the Sinnoh Region." Paul respectfully bowed to Brandon. When dealing with powerful Trainers, Paul always started with courtesy before engaging.
"Veilstone City... Paul... What is your relation to Leisi?" Brandon paused for a moment upon hearing Veilstone City, then recalled the young man who had left an impression on him.
"He's my brother." Paul didn't expect Brandon to remember his brother's name, indicating the impression his brother had left on Brandon.
"Brother, I see. No wonder there's some resemblance." Brandon nodded, revealing understanding, then asked, "How is your brother now?"
"He's now a Breeder, thanks to Mr. Brandon." Paul's words carried an imperceptible complaint, which Brandon still noticed.
"Do you think your brother shouldn't be a Breeder?"
"He was a very strong Trainer, but gave up the Trainer position to become a Breeder after a single failure." Paul didn't directly answer Brandon, but his words suggested that his brother shouldn't only be a Breeder.
"Trainer, Breeder, neither profession is superior. Your brother chose to be a Breeder simply because he felt the Breeder path suited him better, not due to the setback." Brandon understood Paul's thoughts.
Paul felt it was the battle between him and Leisi that made Leisi give up being a Trainer and turn to being a Breeder.
Bluntly speaking, he believed he dealt such a heavy blow to Leisi that it shattered his confidence as a Trainer—this was Paul's inner thought.
But that wasn't the truth. Brandon still remembered Leisi; though young, he wasn't someone with a fragile spirit.
One failure wouldn't make him abandon the Trainer profession. He simply followed Brandon's advice, realizing that being a Trainer wasn't suitable for him, and switched to being a Breeder.
Although being a Trainer is the mainstream profession in this world, Breeders aren't inferior and are even more popular due to their rarity.
The Breeder profession has a high threshold; without the corresponding Talent, becoming a Breeder is quite difficult.
Leisi being able to become a Breeder and walk down that path is enough to demonstrate his Talent in breeding.
So Brandon didn't consider Leisi abandoning being a Trainer to become a Breeder as a sign of weakness; he didn't waste his Talent.
Paul seemed to have some sort of filter about his brother, hence failing to see this point.
"Perhaps you're right, but it doesn't justify him not rising again after one failure. Even if he wants to become a Breeder, he should complete what he hadn't accomplished as a Trainer first. His choice, fundamentally, is an act of escape," Paul coldly retorted.
No matter what reason his brother had, it wasn't an excuse for not finishing Trainer duties before switching to being a Breeder.
Thus, Paul believed that victory was everything; if you lost, you had nothing.
No matter how much Leisi had tried to advise Paul, it had no effect.
Brandon sighed, realizing that mere words couldn't pull this young man from his obsession.
So, it had to be resolved through actual battle.
Just as Brandon was about to instruct a staff member to stand aside as the referee, he glimpsed Ash and others in the audience.
Instantly, his gaze was drawn.
"You are... Ash, right?"
Suddenly being called by Brandon, Ash paused for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, Mr. Brandon. I'm your opponent for the next match, currently here as a friend of Paul's, also with them."
Afraid Brandon might drive them away due to being the next opponent, Ash quickly found a reason to hold his ground.
"Opponent for the next match? I see, using the privilege of the Quartz Conference Champion to move up in the queue. I noticed your name wasn't among the top fifteen challengers today."
Brandon checked the battle lineup every morning; sometimes familiar challengers came again.
Typically, fifteen battles a day were the limit.
So Brandon only reviewed the top fifteen challengers' names, except when more came to challenge, making it unlikely to exceed fifteen challengers.
Ash's name wasn't on today's list, yet he said he was the next challenger, meaning Ash used the Quartz Conference Champion's privilege to cut in line.
Brandon felt indifferent about line-cutting, even welcoming it.
Daily challengers claimed they came for experience, to feel the atmosphere of battling strong Pokemon; frankly, they were—trash!
Even if you bundled all challengers within a day together, they wouldn't be his match.
After nearly a month here, he finally met a challenger capable of cutting in line: Paul, using runner-up privilege at the Quartz Conference, ranking fourth, as his information was recorded earlier, so Brandon knew Paul's challenge.
However, Brandon didn't know Paul was Leisi's brother.
And Ash's appearance was a complete surprise.
Looks like today he'd have two interesting battles.
"Let's begin, young man, show me how you compare to your brother." Brandon gestured to the staff.
The staff who had led Ash and the others took position as referee, announcing the battle rules: "Match rule is three-on-three, with the frontier brain unable to switch Pokemon, while challengers can swap freely. When three Pokemon lose fighting ability on one side, it's deemed a loss."
"My first Pokemon is him, go, Dusknoir." Brandon tossed a Pokeball, and with a flash, a large black-brown Pokemon appeared on the arena.
This Pokemon had no legs, with a ghost-like tail, one eye, large fists, and a broad physique.
This was the Final Evolution of Duskull, Dusknoir!
Also the Pokemon that had caused Ash considerable trouble at the Quartz Conference.
Ash glanced at Dusknoir's information—Mid-Elite Level, with all stats quite impressive.
If judging by Gym challenge difficulty, this Level of Pokemon would undoubtedly be top-tier in any Gym.
But in the Battle Frontier's strongest brain, it was a bit lacking.
After all, Brandon held a reputation comparable to Champion Trainer.
This Pokemon wasn't Brandon's main Pokemon, but could likely be ranked in the second team.
Paul, lacking Ash's Eye of Insight, could only judge roughly from the opponent's aura. After some thought, Paul then threw a Pokeball.
"Electivire!" Electivire entered the field!
Paul started with one of his two aces, Electivire, determined to gain momentum by winning the first round.
Compared to the Quartz Conference, Electivire's Level had also increased, reaching Mid-Elite Level.
The Level was similar to Dusknoir, with neither having attribute advantages, making it a test of the Trainers' skills.