Pyramid King Brandon

Pyramid King Brandon (Japanese: ピラミッドキング ジンダイ Pyramid King Jindai) is the Frontier Brain and chief of the 's Battle Pyramid. He is the only character in the games to have the Pyramid King (Japanese: ピラミッドキング Pyramid King).

In the games
Any Trainer arriving at the top of the Battle Pyramid just after Brandon must battle against him for the status of the Pyramid's conqueror.

Brandon appreciates the grand life of the explorer. He recalls the passion, danger, and desperation of his death-defying and life-affirming adventures. When defeated in battle, he'll praise the grandeur of the match and hand over the Brave Symbol.

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Brandon is revealed to have worked with TV Mauville to produce various television programs detailing the search for the Mythical Pokémon in the Kalos, Sinnoh, and Johto regions.


 * Initial battle
 * Before battle
 * "Young adventurer... Wouldn't you agree that explorations are the grandest of adventures? Your own wits! Your own strength! Your own Pokémon! And, above all, only your courage to lead you through unknown worlds..."
 * "Aah, yes, indeed this life is grand! Grand, it is! Eh? I'm Brandon. I'm the Pyramid King, which means I'm in charge here. Most people call me the chief! You coming here means you have that much confidence in yourself, am I right? Hahahah! This should be exciting! Now, then! Bring your courage to our battle!"


 * Being defeated
 * "That's it! You’ve done great! You've worked hard for this!"


 * If the player is defeated
 * "Hey! What's wrong with you! Let's see some effort! Get up!"


 * After being defeated
 * "Hahahah! Grand it was! Grand, yes, indeed! Well done! You've earned recognition! Your Frontier Pass, please!"
 * "Young explorer! I look forward to our next meeting! "


 * Rematch
 * Before battle
 * "...You've finally returned, young explorer... Your love for adventure seems to come deep from within your heart... Yes... You are exactly as I was in my own youth... ... ... ...Ah... The passionate! The dangerous! The desperate! Those days of death-defying, life-affirming adventures are back..."
 * "Now, then! I sense my courage is off the meter! Everything you have! I'm braced for it all!"


 * Being defeated
 * "That's it! You've done it! You kept working for this!"


 * If the player is defeated
 * "Hey! Don't give up now! Get up! Don't lose faith in yourself!"


 * After being defeated
 * "Hahahah! Remarkable! Yes, it's grand, indeed! Young explorer! You've bested me through and through! Here! I want you to have this!"
 * "Ah, yes! It just goes to show that I have much to learn still! May our paths cross again! Farewell for now, young explorer!"

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

 * TV Mauville
 * Volcanion special: Part One
 * "Oh! Get back! If it blows, it could send even huge mountains flying! It can change moisture into super-heated steam in an instant with its internal organs causing !"
 * "Stay alert at all times! Don't forget your courage sensor!"


 * Volcanion special: Part Two
 * "Get back! Look at those arm-like things growing out of its back! It uses those to suck in moisture and turn it into a thick fog! If we stay here, we'll be trapped in the fog!"
 * "Stay alert at all times! Don't forget your courage sensor!"


 * Volcanion special: Part Three
 * "Oh! Get back! An explosion from Volcanion can even change mountain ranges into plains! It's thought that ancient land masses were formed in that way."
 * "Stay alert at all times! Don't forget your courage sensor!"

His identity was shrouded in mystery for most of the Battle Frontier saga. Unlike the other Frontier Brains, his silhouette was not shown on its own during the opening and was only seen in the center of the group shot. s only found out the location of the Battle Pyramid after they had collected the other six Symbols. This suggests that Brandon ranked higher than the rest of the Frontier Brains in the anime, although in the video games and, this position belongs to. When finally got his sixth Frontier Symbol in Second Time's the Charm!, he learned that the Battle Pyramid was located near Pewter City.

His first with Brandon occurred in Battling the Enemy Within!. At the time, however, Ash was possessed by an ancient king of the Pyramid who battled Brandon's with Ash's Sceptile. Sceptile was defeated, although Ash eventually regained control of his body, and the Pyramid was moved to an area near Indigo Plateau.

For their first official, and second battle in Overjoyed!, Ash's Torkoal squared off against Brandon's. However, Torkoal was, like Sceptile, defeated by Brandon's Legendary Pokémon.

In Gathering the Gang of Four, Ash and met up with Brandon in a forest.

In Pace - The Final Frontier!, Brandon and Ash fought in a 4 vs. 4 battle. Brandon's defeated Ash's Charizard in the first round, but was then defeated by Ash's Bulbasaur. Then, Brandon's squared off against Ash's Squirtle, where Squirtle was able to beat Ninjask with a. In the next round, Squirtle was defeated by Brandon's, which in turn drew with Bulbasaur. With both competitors left to their last Pokémon, Ash used while Brandon unveiled yet another Pokémon from his Legendary collection: this time, a. Despite the odds, however, Pikachu managed to hold its own against the Legendary titan and came out victorious, becoming only the second Pokémon in the anime to have defeated a Legendary Pokémon, after Charizard.

Brandon reappeared in Pikachu's flashback in Pika and Goliath!.

Brandon appeared again in person in A Pyramiding Rage!, where he wanted to research the Snowpoint Temple. While meeting up with and, he was challenged to a Full Battle by Paul. Paul lost the match easily due to him losing control of his emotions. Brandon later mentioned that they would battle again when Paul was ready.

In Pillars of Friendship!, Brandon tried, and failed, to stop J|Pokémon Hunter J from disturbing in the Snowpoint Temple, and as a result, the Colossal Pokémon went on a rampage. It eventually calmed down when Brandon saved it from being turned into a statue by J. Brandon decided to stay at the Snowpoint Temple, not only to rebuild it, but also to allow, , and to become the new pillars that would protect Regigigas.

In Battling a Thaw in Relations!, Paul announced that he would return to Snowpoint Temple to re-challenge Brandon. The outcome of the battle has yet to be revealed.

Character
When Brandon first appeared in Battling the Enemy Within!, his personality was shown to be similar to his game counterpart; being highly interested in exploring ruins, and discovering as many mysteries as possible, seen as he was searching for Ho-Oh in his debut. However, different from his game counterpart, Brandon doesn't seem to appreciate foolishness from others, such as harshly scolding Ash and his friends for almost getting them all killed by a giant boulder (one of the ruin's traps) because of their arrival. Nonetheless, Brandon seems to able to forgive rather quickly, as he quickly followed his scolding by explaining to Ash and co. about the ruins, and Ho-Oh.

Brandon also presents himself as extremely serious and reserved, but despite his serious attitude, Brandon's willing to help others in need, such as when Brandon offered to battle the King of Pokélantis, who had possessed Ash's body, in exchange for the boy's freedom if he managed to win, even offering to hand the King his Pokémon if he lost. Also, despite being known for his harsh attitude, Brandon truly believes in the bond between Trainer and Pokémon, shown during his battle against Paul, telling him that despite the young Trainer being talented, his harsh training methods would never allow Paul to defeat him. He also doesn't believe in brute strength, informing Reggie during their battle, that despite enjoying their battle, Reggie was only relying on his Pokémon's brute strength, disregarding any sort of strategies, and believed that true power came from "inner strength".

Pokémon
This listing is of Brandon's known Pokémon in the anime:

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Brandon debuts in the. He is one of the seven Trainers hired by Scott to be a Frontier Brain at the. Brandon is first seen capturing the Legendary Pokémon, , and to be used at the Battle Pyramid. Later, he is seen watching the Battle Frontier's opening ceremony. The ceremony is interrupted by, who announces that he wishes to conquer the Battle Frontier. The press mistakenly report the incident as allowing an ordinary Trainer to take part in the Battle Frontier before it officially opens a week later. The Frontier Brains decide to use this assumption as free publicity and allow Emerald to challenge the Battle Frontier under the condition that he completes it before it officially opens.

Brandon is the third Frontier Brain Emerald challenges in his quest. After traversing multiple sets of floors, Emerald eventually manages to reach Brandon. Despite having three Legendary Pokémon, Brandon is defeated by Emerald's. Upon his defeat, Brandon awards Emerald the Brave Symbol. After Emerald thanks Brandon for the Symbol and heads down the stairs of the Battle Pyramid, he is interrupted by the other Frontier Brains. They reveal that someone attacked Noland earlier and stolen multiple rental Pokémon and they believe the culprit is Emerald.

Emerald reveals that he did not attack Noland and is actually after the Mythical Pokémon. The Frontier Brains find Emerald's explanation suspicious, but decide to follow him into Artisan Cave, where Jirachi is currently located at. Upon arriving, everyone is attacked by a horde of wild while Emerald continues inside to find Jirachi. After the Frontier Brains get past the Smeargle, they meet up with Emerald, who has managed to find Jirachi. Emerald attempts to capture Jirachi, but is attacked by Guile Hideout, the actual culprit who attacked Noland. When Jirachi runs off, Emerald attempts to pursue it, only to be attacked by the rental Pokémon Guile had stolen. Brandon, Lucy, Spenser, and Tucker all try to attack Guile to avenge Noland, but are easily defeated. Eventually, Jirachi escapes, forcing Guile to leave to continue his pursuit of it. Injured from the battle, everyone decides to return to the Battle Frontier. When they meet up with Scott again, he reveals that he was aware of Guile and Emerald's true mission the entire time. Scott states that he withheld the information from the Frontier Brains to help them get stronger as they still would have lost even if they had known of Guile beforehand.

After Emerald defeats Greta, Noland appears to everyone, revealing that he snuck out of the hospital because he couldn't stand lying in bed doing nothing. He asks Scott for the Jirachi Report so that he could translate it to find out where Jirachi will appear next. That night, Brandon comes in to assist Noland in deciphering the rest of the Jirachi Report. Together, they realize that Jirachi has a third eye, which must be looked at in order for Jirachi to grant someone's wish.

The next day, Brandon assists the other Frontier Brains in ushering people to the Battle Dome. During the tournament, Guile appears and manages to capture Jirachi. Guile uses the rental Pokémon to the attack innocent bystanders and heads to the to make his wish. Once he arrives at the Battle Tower, Guile uses Jirachi to wish for a gigantic made of seawater to flood the entire Battle Frontier. Brandon and the other Frontier Brains work together to get civilians to safety and fight off Guile's rental Pokémon while Emerald and the other Pokédex holders fight Guile. Eventually Emerald and the Pokédex holders manage to defeat Guile and destroy the gigantic Kyogre monster. The day after, an injured Brandon and the other Frontier Brains congratulate Emerald for the hard work he put into saving everyone.

In the, it is revealed that Brandon lent his Pokémon to , allowing the latter to awaken in hopes to use it to protect Sinnoh in times of a crisis. Palmer later released Regigigas back into the wild due to it being hard to control and its power not being needed yet.

In the, Brandon and the other Hoenn Frontier Brains battle and defeat the Admins of Neo Team Magma and Neo Team Aqua, who had interfered in the launch of a rocket that was made to stop the meteoroid threatening to destroy the world. Later, Brandon and the other Hoenn Frontier Brains are called to Sootopolis City to assist in stopping the meteoroid.

Trivia

 * Brandon tends to yell "Nooo!!" (Japanese: 喝！！ Katsu!!) when he disapproves of something in the anime.
 * Whenever Brandon sends out a Pokémon in the English dub of the, he first calls out the Pokémon's name and then shouts "I need your assistance!"
 * Brandon is the first Trainer in the anime to have officially and trained a Legendary Pokémon.
 * Both of the teams that he uses in are made up of the members of a Legendary trio found in the Generation III paired versions. Coincidentally, both trios can also be found in, but not in.
 * All the Pokémon Brandon uses in Emerald are used by Battle Chatelaine Dana during the Super Triple Battle in,.
 * Brandon is the only in-game character whose all known teams consist entirely of Legendary Pokémon.
 * In the of the, Brandon's translated name was changed from Baldo to Mariano.

Related articles

 * Images on the Bulbagarden Archives

Brian Valente Bayar Baldo ジンダイ 神代