Paul (Japanese: シンジ) Shinji) is a reccurring character from Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl. He is the younger brother of Reggie and he is Ash Ketchum's greatest rival in Sinnoh. His hometown is Veilstone City and he first appeared in Two Degrees of Separation!.
He was voiced by Kiyotaka Furushima in the Japanese dub, and by Julián Rebolledo in the English dub.
Appearance[]
Paul has mid-length purple hair that has one big strand hanging over the middle of his face, small dark eyes and he almost never smiles, except for the occasional smirk and a small chuckle whenever he deals with Ash Ketchum.
He wears a purple jacket with navy blue sleeves, a blue undershirt, dark purple pants and purple and navy sneakers with white soles.
Personality[]
Paul is perceived as a grumpy, cold, callous, cantankerous, abusive, grim, heartless, merciless, rude, mean, and rather arrogant Trainer, who has no interest in being friends with anybody (especially not his Pokémon) and simply sees his Pokémon as tools to win battles and often not caring if they are hurt. These actions of his was because due to Pyramid King Brandon who defeated Paul's older brother, Reggie.
He is often annoyed and exasperated by Ash Ketchum's actions, advice to treat his Pokémon nicely and tendency to act like a child to the point that Paul seems to barely see their rivalry. He dislikes Ash's philosophies such as friendship and trust because he believes that they are a sign of weakness, and he also dislikes training Pokémon hard to get stronger, preferring to only train ones that are naturally strong. Paul rarely shows any emotions, especially not positive ones, and this affects his dealings with his Pokémon, which can be very harsh. However, some occasions, he has been shown to lose his temper. One example was when he let his anger get out of control during his battle with Brandon when he wasn't able to beat Brandon's Pokémon.
Although Paul maintained a bitter rivalry with Ash for the duration of the Sinnoh series, his anger and hatred of Ash as a person (rather than as a Trainer) peaked at the end of the first season of the Diamond and Pearl series, where the two were forced to team up in the Hearthome City Tag Battle tournament. He treated Ash as a detriment rather than an ally, constantly telling him to stay out of his way and even having his Chimchar attack Ash's Turtwig at one point out of spite due to Paul’s selfishness, inability to work well with Ash as a team player and his overall bad attitude. When Paul released Chimchar and Ash subsequently caught it, he rudely told them that they deserved no better than each other: both were pathetic scum. After they won the tournament, Paul had no desire to keep the Soothe Bell prize due to his refusal to treat his Pokémon with basic decency. He gave it to Ash, but he violently threw it at Ash in a fit of anger rather than simply handing the bell over.
Despite his intense hatred and anger towards Ash, he does not necessarily wish harm on him, and helped him against Team Rocket multiple times even while he and Ash were enemies.
Paul knowingly abused his Pokémon both physically and emotionally, the prime example being Chimchar. He at one point had all of his Pokémon attack it at once in hopes of activating Blaze. He would constantly tell it that it was "worthless" and "pathetic", which left a strong negative impression on Chimchar.
While Gary Oak (Ash's previous major rival) and Trip (his next one) would directly insult Ash and call him immature names like "loser" or (in Trip's case) say he was "from the boonies", Paul would simply rudely say how poor of a Trainer Ash was. Instead of being a bully, he is only rude to Ash due to viewing him as an inferior Trainer, rather than as an inferior person like Gary and Trip. Despite this, his rivalry with Ash was overall much more bitter than Gary's and Trip's--whereas Gary and Trip simply didn't like Ash and enjoyed dissing him, Paul absolutely loathed Ash and, unlike with Trip, the feeling was mutual on Ash's part as Paul reminded Ash of Damian, the original trainer of his Charizard, a view that peaked after Paul ditched Chimchar.
Despite his seemingly cruel nature, Paul understands that he cannot treat everyone as horribly as he treats Ash, and can be polite whenever he wants to—especially towards authority figures like Cynthia, Nurse Joy, and Professor Rowan. He also can acknowledge his opponent if he considers them to be a worthy opponent as an example of this is Roark, who he was very impressed by and he also seems to think a lot of Reggie (Paul's older brother), despite once saying he had "a big mouth". After his defeat by Brandon, he obliged to the latter when he told him they'll have a rematch once he is able to control his emotions.
Paul's dislike of Ash stems-at least partially-from his disappointment in Reggie. Ash is known for treating his Pokémon as friends and equals, rather than as tools, much like Reggie does. Paul blames Reggie's philosophy as the reason he lost to Brandon, and thus he sees the same parallels in Ash. While he does not hold a grudge against Reggie for this because he is family, he does hold one against Ash. He also seems to enjoy seeing Ash getting angry, one example of which is when he chuckled and said to Ash, "Man, you get worked up". Paul's catchphrase of sorts is "You're pathetic." whom he tends to direct at Ash when he does or says something that Paul finds irritating or childish, and does not apologize for his actions, either.
Towards the end of the saga and especially after losing the battle to Ash in the Sinnoh League, Paul seems to reform somewhat and he is shown thanking his Electivire for a good battle- something that he had never done prior to the three-part final battle. Paul was also impressed by how Chimchar (Paul's former Pokémon) had become an Infernape and developed nicely after being in Ash's care and how well Ash had trained it and admitted as such after their final Sinnoh battle. Paul then decided to return to Snowpoint City to challenge Brandon again and he bids farewell to Ash, although on more friendly terms and he also seems sad when he sees Ash lose to Tobias.
Later, Paul decided to help Ash against the competitors in the Master Class when training his Pokémon by using Pokémon reflecting of his opponents (such as Gyarados of Lance, Garchomp of Cynthia and last Metagross of Steven Stone). As it turned out later, this help was also his attempt to learn more about the connection between Pokemon and trainers, since he was offered a job to become a Gym Leader. The interest in this activity also speaks of the redemption of his character.
Overview[]
Paul is Ash's main rival as a trainer. Both he and Ash hate each other at first, but Paul becomes much more respectful over time. He never lets anyone forget that they are rivals first and friends second.
Pokémon[]
On hand:
At home:
- Torterra
- Ursaring
- Honchkrow
- Weavile
- Gliscor
- Magmortar
- Hariyama
- Nidoking
- Aggron
- Gastrodon
- Drapion
- Ninjask
- Froslass
Trivia[]
- Paul's original name Shinji (Japanese: シンジ) is shared with Lake Verity.
- Paul was first revealed to the public through a CoroCoro Magazine scan that showed him alongside Ash and Dawn commanding a Chimchar. However, his name and role were not revealed until the following week, and so, he received the fan name "Nugai" (a pun derived from "new guy") during that time.
- Drew, Gary Oak, Paul, Trip and Sawyer (4 others of the main rivals) all have their Japanese names that start with シ "Shi" (or "Sh-"):
- Shigeru - Gary
- Shuu - Drew
- Shinji - Paul
- Shooti - Trip
- Shota - Sawyer
- Three of Ash's Pokémon have evolved while battling Paul: Turtwig into Grotle, Staravia into Staraptor, and Chimchar into Monferno. Both Turtwig and Staravia evolved while battling Paul's Honchkrow. Paul also witnessed Monferno's later evolution into Infernape.
- Paul is the first regular rival seen catching a Pokémon and receiving a Gym Badge on screen.
- Paul is also the first regular recurring character to battle the Champion.
- Paul is the only character to have participated in a Full Battle against Ash more than once.
- He has also battled Ash more times than any other rival.
- Paul is the only Pokémon Trainer to abandon one of Ash's Fire type Pokémon that has been seen more than once outside of flashbacks.
- If one does not count the Squallville PokéRinger, Paul has been defeated onscreen four times, with three of his Pokémon debuting each time.
- Paul owns a Pokémon of every type except for Fairy. He did have an Azumarill, at one point, which is part Fairy, however, Fairy types did not exist until Generation VI.
- In Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, Paul, like every Trainer who is part of the regular cast, owns at least one Pokémon that is part of a cross-generational evolution line that includes a member introduced in Generation IV.
- During the tenth season, Paul's catchphrase was "Stand by!" instead of "Stand by for battle!"
- In the English dub, Paul has a habit of referring to things he dislikes as "pathetic". No equivalent phrase exists in the Japanese version.
- This line only applies in the Diamond and Pearl series. In Journeys, Paul calls Ash "useless" while reminding him to be concerned about his Pokémon's well being.
- Paul is the first anime rival who is going to become a Gym Leader.
- According to Masaaki Iwane (one of the anime animators), Paul could be the next Viridian City Gym Leader.
- He's the only Sinnoh rival to make an appearance in Pokemon Journeys: The Series.
External links[]
- Paul on the Pokemon Wiki
- Paul at Bulbapedia
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 Heroes
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