Ash continues his four-on-four match against Brandon. Despite the shock of his Charizard having lost in the first round, Ash is still determined to win. He sends in Bulbasaur to battle Dusclops. It's another hard battle and Bulbasaur falls victim to the same Mean Look + Confuse Ray combo as Charizard, but thanks to perseverance and an early Leech Seed that slowly drains Dusclops throughout the round, Bulbasaur finally manages to beat it.
Brandon then calls on his second Pokémon, the super speedy Ninjask, so Ash substitutes with his Squirtle. Ninjask proves to be another difficult opponent, evading most of Squirtle's moves and blinding it with Sand-Attack. But Ash thinks quickly and has Squirtle fire a Hydro Pump wildly into the air, causing the water to rain back down on it and clean the sand out of its eyes. With its momentum regained, Ash has Squirtle finish Ninjask off with one final Skull Bash, bringing Ash into the lead. Brandon then calls on his third Pokémon, Solrock, who eventually defeats Squirtle with its Psychic attacks and a surprise super-effective Solar Beam.
Ash then brings Bulbasaur back in, but it's still tired from its battle with Dusclops. After trading a few attacks, one final collision of Solar Beam from both sides ends the round in a draw. With both sides down to their last Pokémon, Ash sends in Pikachu and Brandon calls on Regice, the Ice-type counterpart of Regirock and Registeel. This round proves to be the most difficult, as Regice's Ice-type moves freeze both the battlefield and Pikachu and it uses Rest to heal all of its damage. But with even more determination, Ash gets Pikachu to break free of the ice and it charges full strength at Regice, knocking it out with one final Volt Tackle.
Ash has won his final Battle Frontier Symbol and become master of the Battle Frontier. As a bonus prize, Scott (who reveals that he owns/runs the Battle Frontier) offers Ash a position as a Frontier Brain—though tempted by the offer, Ash politely declines it, wanting to continue on his journey.
Tropes
- Damage Over Time: Bulbasaur's Leech Seed.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: As confirmed in the next arc, Ash becomes the first person to defeat Brandon in battle.
- Put on a Bus: After Ash wins the Battle Frontier, Charizard, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle return to their homes.
- Also, this episode marks the last appearance of Scott in the series.
- Refusal of the Call: After finally beating the Battle Frontier, Scott offers Ash the chance to become a Frontier Brain—while he does seem tempted to take the job, he declines it because he wants to continue pursuing his dream of becoming the world's greatest Pokémon Master.
- You Will Not Evade Me: Dusclops traps Bulbasaur with Mean Look the same way it did to Charizard.
