It wasn't a close match. Not at all. He had only managed to take one of his opponent's Pokemon out, and that was when three of his own Pokemon were out of commission. He grit his teeth as his last Pokemon, Electivire, fell to the ground, unable to withstand the force behind Regice's Ice Punch.

"You did better than last time," his opponent was saying, as the Regice was returned into its Pokeball. "You've been training hard, and you have better control of your emotions."

"Apparently it's still not enough," Paul grumbled, and returned his own Pokemon. "We still have a lot of work to do."

"Less haste, more speed, young lad."

"I don't have the time!" Paul said, and slung his backpack over his shoulder and made to leave. "There's no way I'll measure up at this rate."

"Measure up to who?" Brandon asked, as he walked across the battlefield to the young challenger. "Your brother? Or... Ash Ketchum?"

Paul didn't say anything, but paused.

"I watched your match in the Sinnoh League," the Pyramid King continued as he made his way in front of Paul. "I've gotta say, that was the most interesting match I'd seen in a long time. You and Ash have a lot of potential.

"Do you know why you lost to Ash?"

Paul seethed inwardly. Of all the things he had to ask-

"Because I wasn't strong enough. Isn't that right?"

"No. It's because Ash's goal is a far stronger incentive than yours. Don't you see? You're still hung up on the past. A lot less than before, as can be seen in the battle just now, but tell me, Paul - what is your reason to battle?"

Paul had been staring into Brandon's eyes the whole time, but cast them downwards then. He realised - he didn't know the answer to that question.

"You wanted to do what Reggie couldn't. While you have not defeated me, you have progressed further than he did in our battle. You have surpassed your brother. You're one step closer to defeating me. However, what will you do after that?"

"I'll keep training," Paul said. "I'll keep training, and find stronger opponents to defeat. I'll keep getting stronger-"

"You're missing the point, Paul." Brandon glanced back at the battlefield then. "What do you want to eventually accomplish? Ash expressed to me that he wants to be a Pokemon Master. He proved to me, on a similar battlefield, that he had the ability to do it. What about you? What do you want for yourself?"

"I-" The trainer bit his bottom lip in frustration. He knew that he didn't have an answer to that either. "Should it matter?"

Brandon thought for a moment. "No, I suppose it doesn't matter right now. You're still young, after all. There's lots of time to think about it. Ash just happens to be one step ahead of you in this respect. Tell you what, Paul," Brandon patted Paul roughly on the shoulder, causing the latter to almost fall over. "You should challenge the Kanto Battle Frontier. Defeat the other six frontier brains, see even more of the world, and the next time you face me, I hope that you can give me a better answer."

Paul considered. It was a good idea. He hadn't actually thought about the next step in his trainer journey. The Battle Frontier, being a tougher challenge than the usual leagues. It would be an opportunity to improve himself as a trainer and a test of his Pokemon's strengths. "I'll do it, Brandon."

"Good." Brandon ushered Paul out of the Snowpoint Gym. As the cold wind outdoors greeted them just inside of the entrance, Brandon turned to Paul. "I'll write a recommendation to Scott. He's the owner of the Battle Frontier, and he'll contact you some other details once your registration's confirmed."

"Thank you, Brandon."

"Don't mention it. It's our job, y'know, as your seniors, to hand out advice to the young ones that will surpass us someday." Brandon gave a short chuckle. "It's always interesting to watch you kids progress. Now, run along. I'll be waiting."