"Then how is Ash supposed to deal with Regirock and Registeel?"
"That's going to be really tough."
At first, they hadn't thought much of it, but the moment Gary brought up Brandon's two Pokémon, May and Max started feeling genuinely worried for Ash.
"Don't worry about that. I don't think Brandon will use both of those Pokémon in the same battle," Scott said.
"Really?" May asked in surprise.
"Of course. Those two are Legendary Pokémon. In a Frontier battle, Brandon will use one of them at most—it's meant as a test for the challenger," Scott said.
"That's a relief. If it's just one, Ash should be able to handle it," Max said.
But hearing this, a hint of displeasure crossed Gary's face.
The observant Brock noticed and asked, "Gary, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?"
"It's nothing. I just want to battle Mr. Brandon at his full strength. If he only uses one Legendary Pokémon, it won't mean much," Gary said.
"Ah!"
"Gary, you...!"
May and Max both wanted Brandon to use fewer Legendary Pokémon, and here Gary was, hoping he'd use more.
Naturally, they had no idea that what Gary was really after was Master Rare Candy.
In Gary's estimation, Brandon's Regirock and Registeel should be Champion-level. If he battled Champion-level Pokémon, the Rare Candy rewarded by the mission would be Master-grade.
At the moment, Gary had five Champion-level Pokémon, but their growth had essentially stalled after reaching level 70. Even though Gary's Blastoise had Legend-tier potential, it was still only level 72.
In his battle against Lance, Lance's Dragonite had been level 75. By that calculation, it would take Gary another three years for Blastoise to catch up to Lance's Dragonite.
And obviously, Dragonite wasn't Lance's only Champion-level Pokémon. Even if his other Pokémon weren't quite as strong as Dragonite, they were all Champion-level too.
As for the World's Mightiest King, Leon—having held the throne for so many consecutive terms—Gary suspected that Leon's Charizard had already reached quasi-Legendary strength.
Gary only had ten Master Candies on hand, which wasn't nearly enough for his current team. However, if Blastoise's potential could be raised further, its leveling speed should improve considerably.
Unfortunately, he only had two God Crowns at present, and Gary had always been reluctant to use them. But now that his Pokémon's growth had hit a wall, Gary decided he would use one on Blastoise to raise its potential to the God tier. With the faster growth rate that came with it, gaining two levels in a single year shouldn't be a problem.
"You really are my grandson. It seems ordinary Trainers can't satisfy you anymore," Professor Oak said.
Professor Oak regularly looked after Gary's Pokémon, so he naturally knew their strength—superior to Ash's Pokémon in both level and power.
The key was Gary's main team. From Professor Oak's perspective, he could no longer gauge the true depths of their strength at all.
"Wait—you're Professor Oak's grandson?!" Scott exclaimed in shock.
"Yes. Didn't Gary tell you?" Professor Oak was equally taken aback. He hadn't expected Gary to be so low-key that he never mentioned his grandfather's identity to anyone.
After all, young people these days would parade even the slightest connection to someone important, bragging left and right about "my general grandfather" or "my district-chief father."
"No, this is the first I'm hearing of it," Scott said.
From the beginning, Scott had only known that Ash knew Gary. He'd invited Gary to challenge the Battle Frontier after watching him battle Agatha, without ever learning anything about his background.
"Haha, Gary has always kept a low profile," Professor Oak laughed.
"Yes, very low-key indeed."
Scott had to admit Gary was low-key when it came to fame and status—but in battle, he was anything but. He showed the Frontier Brains no mercy whatsoever, fighting all-out every time.
In truth, this wasn't what Gary wanted either. He would have liked to enjoy proper, unhurried Pokémon battles with the Frontier Brains, but he had to hurry to the Sinnoh region and didn't have time to waste.
If anyone was to blame, it was Tobias for putting so much pressure on him. It wasn't that Gary was afraid of Tobias, but the conditions of the missions issued by that damned system might come with certain restrictions, so Gary needed to set aside time to train his Pokémon.
After that, everyone dropped the topic of the Battle Pyramid, chatted about other things, and had dinner together.
Early the next morning.
Everyone gathered at the entrance of the Pokémon Center.
At around nine o'clock, two figures appeared at the intersection.
They were Ash and Brandon. The two had run into each other on Brandon's way back the previous night, so they'd returned together.
"I'm back!"
Ash greeted everyone cheerfully, but when he spotted Gary, he exclaimed in surprise, "Gary! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to challenge the Battle Pyramid, obviously," Gary said.
"No way... didn't you just get to the Battle Palace?" Ash asked, startled. He'd naturally heard about Gary's challenge progress from Scott.
"I move fast with my challenges—unlike a certain someone who insists on walking everywhere," Gary said.
Hearing that Gary was also here to challenge the Battle Pyramid, Brandon turned to look at him. He could see that Gary was brimming with confidence—one glance was enough to tell he was a very strong Trainer.
"Mr. Brandon, did you capture that Pokémon?" Scott stepped up and asked.
"Yes, I caught it."
"Then I'm really looking forward to today's battle."
Listening to the exchange between the two, everyone else grew curious about what Pokémon Brandon had captured—especially since it had taken him four or five days to catch it.
Of everyone present, only Scott and Brandon's apprentice knew what Pokémon it was.
Gary, of course, already knew: the Pokémon Brandon had captured was the Iceberg Pokémon, Regice.
This Regice would go on to become the first Legendary Pokémon ever defeated by Pikachu.
Gary glanced over at Ash's Pikachu.
[LV66 Pikachu / Champion]
Ash's Pikachu had been leveling remarkably fast. Level 66 was nothing to scoff at—more than enough to contend with Champion-level Pokémon.
If Brandon's Regice could be beaten by the current Pikachu, then its strength probably hadn't reached Champion level yet. Even if its level was higher than Pikachu's, it was likely only by a single level.
Afterward, everyone headed to the Pokémon Center, and Ash handed the four Pokémon he planned to use in today's battle over to Nurse Joy for treatment.
As for Brandon, he had already returned to the Battle Pyramid to prepare for the match. The Battle Pyramid was equipped with its own healing devices inside—its facilities were remarkably comprehensive.