Ash the Dragon Specialist

The Pyramid

"What is that?" Celeste asked, stunned as a flying pyramid landed riight outside of Snowpoint. "And... is that Paul?"

Ash squinted his eyes at the running figure. "Yeah, that's Paul. Why is he running towards the pyramid? Since when do pyramids fly?"

"Since they belong to a Battle Frontier," a familiar voice answered from behind them. Ash and Celeste turned around with a smile, happy to see Reggie again. Quite peculiar that each borther gets very different reactions from the pair. "Hello Ash, Celeste, good to see you again."

"Hi Reggie," Celeste giggled.

Ash nudged her before flashing Reggie his Sunflora smile. "Hello, what's this Battle Frontier you mentioned?"

"I'm surprised you do not know about them Ash," Reggie raised an eyebrow. "The Battle Frontier is spread across the Kanto region and is owned and operated by Scott. It is an specialized league similar to the Idigo League, but much harder and only opened to those to have won a Pokemon Conference. The Trainers who earn a Symbol from each of the seven Frontier Brains are entered into the Battle Frontier Hall of Fame and can become Frontier Brains with their own battle facilities, if they so choose. Even if the offer is turned down, the possibility to accept it remains open indefinitely."

"Kanto had something like that?" Celeste sounded surprised.

Even Ash looked shocked by the information Reggie had shared. "First time I've heard about it. You know about it because..."

"Because I participated in it," Reggie sighed ruefully. "I won six of the seven symbols... but the Pyramid King Brandon defeated me. My brother had come to visit me and saw it happen. I think that me deciding to become a Pokemon Breeder afterwards affected him more than he knows. He became hellbent on become strong since."

Celeste raised an eyebrow at that. "Did you stop being a Gym Trainer because of Brandon? Because you lost?"

"No, I stopped because Brandon was right, I held no true passion for battles," Reggie shrugged. "I won a lot of battles, I was good... but I prefer taking care of pokemon and tending to them."

"Then, Paul should realize that. Especially, if you've told him. If he still remains unwilling to listen, that's on him not you," Ash tried to cheer him up.

Reggie smiled at the two, wishing that his brother could be more like them. "Thank you. Would you like to join me? I am following Paul and I am sure he is going to challenge Brandon for a battle."

Celeste and Ash nodded their heads and followed Reggie towards the flying pyramid. Just as Reggie had said, they had come just in time to hear Brandon accept Paul's challenge. Paul looked quite disgrunted when Brandon had invited the trio to observe the battle, after catching up with Reggie.

"That's a beautiful Altaria," Brandon commented, as he guided them inside. Eyes lingering on the preening Nephele. "Shiny pokemon are rare, specially when it comes to dragons. They tend to be preyed upon stronger and evolved dragons."

Ash smiled fondly, patting Nephele who purred under his trainer's touch. "I've had Ele since she was a young Swablu. I saved her from dragon poachers." That got a startled look from both brothers, as Brandon nodded with a grim expression, having deduced something similar. "We've been partners since."

"I am glad you've found each other," Brandon hummed. "You better take a seat, I've got a battle challenge to respond to." Brandon smiled, as he guidied Paul towards the battlefield.

Paul sent one last look towards Ash and Nephele before following the Pyramid King. Celeste, Ash, Nephele, and Reggie sat on the bleachers, excited for the upcoming battle. Brandon's approach was anything but lenient; his opening move was Regirock. On the opposite side, Paul selected Hariyama.