Characters / Pokémon: The Series — Paul

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Series-wide: Ash Ketchum | Pikachu | Team Rocket Trio | Team Rocket Organization
The Original Series (Misty and Brock, Main Cast) | Ruby and Sapphire (Main Cast) | Diamond and Pearl (Main Cast, Paul) | Black & White (Main Cast) | XY (Main Cast) | Sun & Moon (Main Cast) | Journeys (Main Cast)
Others: Movie characters

Paul (Shinji)

Voiced in Japanese by: Kiyotaka Furushima
Voiced in English by: Julian Rebolledo
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Gerardo García (Diamond & Pearl Seasons 10, 11 and 13, and Journeys), Gabriel Ortiz, Eduardo Ramírez and Ricardo Bautista (Diamond & Pearl Season 12)
Voiced in European Spanish by: Pablo Sevilla
Voiced in European French by: Alessandro Bevilacqua (1st voice), Gauthier De Fauconval (2nd voice)
Voiced in Brazilian Portuguese by: Gabriel Noya
Voiced in Italian by: Massimo Di Benedetto (1st voice), Maurizio Merluzzo (2nd voice)

Ash's main rival in the Sinnoh region. Paul only cares about one thing: Becoming the best through sheer technical discipline. He only goes after Pokémon who have the best moves and abandons those who fail him, which is how Ash acquired Chimchar. In short, he doesn't care how his Pokémon feel, but only how they perform. Ash doesn't take too kindly to this.

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Tropes related to Paul

• The Ace:
  • Downplayed, as while he’s had many victories, he’s had a few losses. But by the Sinnoh League, Paul’s considered by many to be the one to beat (besides Tobias) in the League. In his matches before his battle with Ash, he defeated each of his opponents without losing a single one of his Pokémon, including in his battle with Barry.
  • Journeys takes it further. Out of all the trainers Ash faced up until that point, Paul has given Ash more of a challenge than most of his competition in the PWC tournament up until that point, while simultaneously training/preparing Ash and his Pokémon for the Masters 8, copying the Masters 8’s Pokemon and battle strategies almost flawlessly. Had Paul entered the tournament, he likely would’ve made it into the Masters 8 himself.
• Almighty Janitor: Despite choosing not to enter the World Coronation Series in Journeys, and being set to become a Gym Leader soon, his battle with Ash (a member of the Masters Eight) shows that he is potentially one of the strongest trainers in the world, continuously overwhelming Ash and his Pokémon in their three-on-three sparring match, and nearly winning.
• Always Someone Better: Paul is this to Ash, becoming a formidable wall he must overcome.
• Ambiguously Brown: He is notably more tan than his older brother Reggie who is pale. Likely due to his travels, though a flashback shows he was always tan even at the start of his journey, whilst his brother Reggie was still pale even when Reggie was a travelling Pokemon trainer. Indicating their skins tones are not affected by their travels.
• Ambiguously Related: With their thick bangs and strong eyebrows (and in Paul's case his Tsurime Eyes), both Paul and Reggie look suspiciously similar to Pyramid King Brandon, who had a big influence on the both of them in their Backstory. No relationship is confirmed, however.
• Arch-Enemy: Overcoming Paul was one of the most challenging tasks of Ash's career as a trainer and their rivalry was easily the most bitter one that Ash has ever had. Whereas previous and future rivalries were often minor bits of a region's story, Ash's rivalry with Paul was intrinsic to the entire run of Ash's Sinnoh adventures, with constant battles and interactions from the very start to the very end. He's also the only one of Ash's rivals who challenges him philosophically, rather than just competitively, challenging Ash on his reliance of the power of friendship and trust and indie ploys over sharp strategy and pure power.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He makes no effort to hide how much superior he thinks he is to everyone else. He may mostly be an overconfident Jerkass, but there's no denying that he's a good battler whose tactic thinking stands above that of most other trainers before and after him.
• Awesomeness by Analysis:
  • Paul was able to curb-stomp Ash in a full battle by building his team specifically to counter Ash's Sinnoh Pokémon.
  • During the Sinnoh League, he has his Pokémon use the Counter Shield technique that Ash developed.
  • He's still got it in Journeys. He's managed to raise a Gyarados, a Garchomp, and a Metagross that fight identically to three of the Champions Ash is set to face in the World Coronation Series, heavily implying he managed to raise them to such a high level in an extremely short frame of time (less than a year given the implied duration of the PWC's season in-universe) and fully expecting Ash to face the Champions ahead of time.
• Bad Boss: Paul doesn't treat his Pokémon kindly and puts them into a harsh training regiment without caring much about their well-being as long as they can bring out results. Particularly Chimchar is put under a lot of abuse, since Blaze can only be activated once Chimchar's stamina is at its limit. The rest of his Pokémon like him, though we only find out at the very end of the series.
• Badass Boast: "The challenge you always present to Trainers to find their own strength was something my brother wasn't able to do. But I'm not like my brother! My will gives me strength! And now, you'll see it firsthand!" Subverted when he immediately gets crushed in the ensuing battle by Brandon.
• The Bad Guy Wins: While not exactly a villain, Paul is Ash's most antagonistic rival by far, and his numerous victories against Ash usually invoke this. Even when Ash doesn't outright lose, his failures to prove his training philosophy's worth to Paul often result in a Downer Ending.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: His cruel treatment of his Pokémon is what makes him so despicable. It really says something about him that even the more unpleasant and antagonistic rivals, most notably Harley, Ursula, and Burgundy, show more affection and care to their Pokémon than he does to his own.
• Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: His debut makes him appear as a possible newbie trainer due to possessing a starter Pokémon (Chimchar), a Baby Pokémon (Elekid), and just like Ash catching a Starly. It isn't until after his battle against Cynthia it is fully confirmed that he actually has just as much experience as Ash having already traveled through Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn.
• Batman Gambit: Pulls off several at Lake Acuity.
  • He purposely allows his Torterra to miss its first Frenzy Plant, baiting Ash into using several close-range attacks with Gliscor while Torterra recharges. This allows Paul to trap its tail with Crunch and get off a point-blank hit with Giga Drain, badly damaging Gliscor while healing off most of the damage taken earlier. This is immediately followed up with another Batman Gambit as Ash switches to Staraptor, allowing Paul to nail it with a super effective Stone Edge.
  • He sends out his Honchkrow to battle Grotle, knowing that despite the type disadvantage, Ash will likely stay in with Grotle to avenge its loss to Honchkrow earlier in the series. He is correct, and Honchkrow defeats Grotle easily.
  • He throws Ash off guard by choosing Magmortar and Ursaring to battle Pikachu, knowing that Ash will take initiative and battle head-on. This turns out to be a ploy to activate their respective abilities in Flame Body and Guts, while also taking advantage of Pikachu's natural ability Static, completely overwhelming him.
• Boring, but Practical: What makes him so effective, really. He doesn't get caught up in fighting in a suboptimal way to prove something like other characters often do, he just uses generic utility, screens, and prediction to overwhelm his opponents as efficiently as possible. During his battle against Ash by Lake Acuity, Ash's Counter Shield doesn't do much compared to his use of Bulk Up and Light Screen. Similarly, his strategy against Ash in their Conference battle was to use Toxic Spikes to poison Ash's entire team and have an insanely durable Drapion ensure the Toxic has plenty of time to do its work, albeit Ash was able to remove it before his team was too worn down. Even when he finally faces Ash again in Journeys after a long absence, his strategies boil down to Coil, Keep Away, and Speed Boosting. And while Ash will often use a Pokemon with a bad type matchup and try to win on sheer willpower, if Paul does that, you can bet he has something up his sleeve that absolutely turns the matchup on its head and he switches it out if it doesn't work quickly.
• Breakout Character: Paul's popularity was enough that he was brought back for an appearence in Journeys, one of the very few anime-original characters to do so.
• Break the Haughty: His defeat against Brandon. It triggers his first step towards rethinking his ways. Part of this was learning Ash beat Brandon where he and his brother couldn't.
• Bring It: In the battle between Ash and Paul in the Sinnoh League Tournament. Electivire uses this to get Infernape to stand up, and Paul even calls Infernape pathetic. In the Japanese version, he just tells Infernape to stop disappointing him again and again.
• Broken Pedestal: He lost faith in his older brother's skills after seeing him lose to Brandon and subsequently give up on Pokémon training.
• Brutal Honesty: Unlike characters like Damian, Shamus or Gengar's trainer, Paul doesn't lie when he releases a Pokémon. In Chimchar's case, he blatantly tells it that he doesn't need it anymore. Because of this, his released Pokémon aren't given false hope of him returning to them.
• The Bus Came Back: After a long absence since Diamond and Pearl and a brief flashback cameo appearance in JN068, Paul makes a full physical return in Journeys in JN114.
• Catchphrase:
  • Whenever he sends out one of his Pokémon, he says "[Pokémon], battle standby." The English dub translates it as "[Pokémon], stand by for battle."
  • Another well-known catchphrase of his is "pathetic". In the Japanese version, he frequently says "tsukaenai na", which translates to "cannot use" or more fittingly, "useless". It's rather inconsistently translated between the original version and the dub, though; there are moments where Paul says it in Japanese but not in English, and vice versa. However, it's overall much more prominent in the dub.
• Character Development:
  • Paul starts off as arrogant, alienating, and cruel to the core. After losing to Brandon, while he’s still a fierce trainer with a cold demeanour, is more mature and nowhere near as hostile/antagonistic, if he can still be considered antagonistic at that point. By the time he finally loses to Ash at the Pokémon League, he is significantly kinder. Even before that climatic loss he briefly admits that Barry put up a good battle after defeating him, and thanks his Electivire for trying his best after losing to Infernape. He's still distant and stoic, but he's come a long way.
  • His physical reappearance in Journeys reveals that he was asked to become a Gym Leader, prompting him to learn more about Pokémon and their nature. This leads him to visit Professor Oak in Kanto to learn more while at the same time, Paul helps Ash prepare for the Masters Tournament by using Gyarados, Garchomp, and Metagross in their battle. The same three Pokémon that Lance, Cynthia, and Steven specialize with, respectively. Of course, Paul does not outright state his intention to help Ash, using Professor Oak as his excuse for visiting. The director for Journeys also noted that Paul had to be the one to return for this episode, with the reason why being shown in the episode - he can use any type of Pokemon at an extremely high level and copy the strategies of other trainers while still mixing in his own, making him the ultimate training partner.
• Characterization Marches On: He was more visibly sinister and prone to psychotic smirks in his first appearance, but from his second and onward he was more stoic (although still quite sinister) in his jerkassery. He also addresses Ash by name a lot more in his introduction than he did for the rest of the series, until his final appearances.
• Chekhov's Skill: Paul is an extremely strategic battler who uses a wide variety of tactics and Pokemon to suit his needs in battle. He can even copy and incorporate the techniques of other trainers as seen with Ash's Counter Shield in the Sinnoh League. In Journeys, he uses these skills again, but this time it's to help Ash train for the Masters Tournament, as Paul had chosen not to compete himself. Without even telling Ash his intentions, he uses the aces of Lance, Steven and Cynthia and copies their battling styles for each one to give Ash a chance to figure out how to overcome them. Ash manages to do so in 2/3 of the matches. When Goh questions whether the choice was a coincidence, Paul just smiles and leaves it unsaid.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • In the earlier episodes of the Sinnoh saga, this boy was not above commanding his Pokémon to attack Team Rocket while they were reciting their motto. He even managed to capture a Gliscor by having his Electabuzz and Weavile blast it while Ash and co. were trying to negotiate with it.
  • During his battle with Roark and his Cranidos, Paul does not hesitate to command Elekid to attack Cranidos' legs with Brick Break. No leg strength equals an inability to launch itself into strong Headbutt-based moved.
• The Comically Serious: For all his status as a Knight of Cerebus, Paul's seriousness is Played for Laughs quite a bit. His deadpan or annoyed reactions to Ash and his friends are frequently humorous in nature.
• Composite Character: Paul is a three-in-one composite of multiple characters from Pokémon's past.
  • Paul is a retread of Silver, The Rival from Pokémon Gold and Silver, a cruel Jerkass who craves powerful Pokémon. This plot includes The Rival disdaining a female Gym Leader for her weakness (Jasmine for Silver, Maylene for Paul) and a crushing defeat at the hands of a Champion that first set them on the right path (Lance for Silver, Cynthia for Paul). However, the lesson from Sinnoh's Champion didn't stick; Paul had to be crushed a second time by Pyramid King Brandon nearer the end of the series.
  • Paul reuses character concepts from Pokémon: The Original Series — like AJ from "The Path to the Pokémon League", Paul gives his Pokémon Training from Hell and Ash has to learn that (in general) this is okay, but also Damian from "Charmander – The Stray Pokémon", a Fire-type starter Pokémon suffers trauma at Paul's hands and ultimately joins Ash's team instead.
• Confusion Fu: What makes Paul a difficult opponent to deal with is his habit of constantly switching his Pokémon out, which makes it difficult for his opponents to deal with his various tactics. His Pokémon are trained to fulfill specific roles they are given and they can serve very different functions for his team. It is hard to prepare a team to counter Paul, since he often rotates his Pokémon, and each of his Pokémon has a completely different style, meaning that the opponent must have Pokémon capable of handling each style. However, it is shown twice that extreme brute force is perfectly capable of curb-stomping his team.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike previous rivalries, which were largely based off of petty grudges, Paul's conflict with Ash is extremely serious and personal, as he challenges Ash's very philosophy on training Pokemon through love and care. Also, unlike other arrogant Trainers who treated their Pokemon poorly, Paul has the skill to back his beliefs up. Ash is usually able to defeat these Trainers through battling creatively, but Paul can quickly adapt to almost anything Ash throws at him, which combined with his Pokemon's higher natural strength usually results in his victory.
  • Paul in particular contrasts to Ash's first rival, Gary. Gary, though a bit of a smug trainer, was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who's rivalry with Ash evolved into a friendship, genuinely cared for his Pokemon, and eventually followed in his grandfather's footsteps by becoming a researcher. Paul, on the other hand, abuses his Pokemon through Training from Hell, is really a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk (aside from a few Pet the Dog moments), and though he slowly starts to respect Ash, he doesn't grow much beyond that, until his final appearances. Their battles against Ash are also different; whereas Gary was sometimes caught off-guard by Ash's tactics, Paul was able to specifically counter them without hesitation.
  • Paul also contrasts to Damian, a previous character who had also abandoned one of Ash's Fire starter Pokémon. Paul differs from Damian in that his mindset is significantly more fleshed out — not only is it explained why Paul is so intensely demanding of Chimchar (unlike with Damian and Charmander), but Paul at least tried several times to make the Blaze strategy work. It's only when Chimchar failed too many times that he declared it unsuitable to him. Paul is also honest, (albeit brutally so) with the Pokémon he releases instead of abandoning them and filling them with false hope that he’ll return. Furthermore, Paul undergoes a great deal of Character Development across the series and grows to mutually respect Ash. Damian, due to being a Hate Sink and a One-Shot Character, does not.
• Crazy-Prepared: Particularly against Ash in the late stages of their rivalry.
  • He teaches his Torterra Stone Edge to deal with the Fire- and Flying-types on Ash's Sinnoh team, and furthermore teaches it to change the direction of the stones to prevent more agile Pokemon from dodging it.
  • He temporarily teaches his Electabuzz Light Screen to serve a more supportive role. With the extra defensive buff, Paul's Mighty Glacier Torterra becomes exceedingly hard to touch, as special attacks are halved in power while physical attacks are stopped cold with Stone Edge.
  • In the Sinnoh League, Paul has his Gastrodon use the Counter Shield technique coined by Ash, creating a large vortex of Muddy Water that makes it difficult to get in close. Ash sees a weak spot close to the ground and has Staraptor go after it, but Paul sees this coming and is able to trap it with Body Slam. Staraptor manages to escape Body Slam by banging the ground with Close Combat on Ash's orders, but Paul is still prepared for that and nails it with Ice Beam as it escapes.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • He got on the receiving side of it when he challenged Cynthia, whose Garchomp single-handedly defeated four of his Pokémon without breaking a sweat.
  • He lost again against Frontier Brain Brandon without defeating a single one of his Pokémon, which was the first step to Paul rethinking his ways.
  • His battle with Ash by Lake Acuity was heavily dominated by Paul. While Ash delivered a good effort, Paul only lost two of six Pokémon, while Ash lost completely, half of his team being beaten by Paul's Ursaring alone.
  • He's on the giving end during his fight with Barry in the Sinnoh League, where he defeats Barry's team without losing a single Pokémon. Downplayed, as both his Magmortar and Ursaring were close to fainting before Paul switched them out.
• A Day in the Limelight: Although he shows up fairly often throughout Sinnoh, "Shapes of Things to Come!" and "A Pyramiding Rage!" are unique in how they focus specifically on Paul, with even Ash largely taking a backseat to watch him battle. The former focuses on his Gym battle with Roark, while the latter expands on his past with Reggie and Brandon.
• Deadpan Snarker: Paul also had some more snarky and cynical moments. He was snarkier in the beginning of the series and becomes outright hateful later on, despite looking way more mature than the other characters.
• Death Glare: His default expression. He gives this to a lot of people he is annoyed with. It's intimidating enough to unnerve Goh when he meets up with him and Ash.
• Deconstruction:
  • His whole character is one of competitive players and possibly even players who view the game as only something to win instead of just having fun. All of his Kick the Dog moments are terrifyingly similar to how the more serious game players would treat their Pokémon. It's deconstructed as such that if you do the same things in the Pokémon world as if you are playing the games, you would actually suffer consequences, as the Pokémon are sentient beings and not a collection of pixels.
  • Paul's training methods deconstruct the concept of Level Grinding and Training from Hell. In the games, level grinding and pushing onward is perfectly natural and a common way to get stronger. But Paul trying to awaken Chimchar's Blaze by forcing it to constantly train and refusing to let it rest or heal puts its life in serious danger. This earns him the scorn of Ash, Cynthia, Brock and Nurse Joy, who have to personally heal or take Chimchar away from Paul to keep the poor thing from collapsing. No trainer or authority figure, especially a medically-licensed one, would ever tolerate that level of animal abuse that's excused as a type of training.
  • On the flipside, he also serves as a deconstruction toward Ash's reliance on The Power of Friendship and the Indy Ploy. Almost every time Ash tries to prove to Paul that a strong bond can overcome any matchup, he gets shown up hard. Ash has to significantly up his game and battle far more strategically to finally defeat him. Similarly, Ash's tendency to try and have thematic matches was often something Paul exploited to predict his team and use one of his own that countered it.
• Defeat Means Friendship:
  • Downplayed. In addition to complimenting Electivire for a well-fought battle after losing to Ash, he acknowledges that Ash's Infernape is strong, and the two see each other off on good terms, finally ending their bitter rivalry. They're not exactly friends on account of the immense personality clash, but they've come a long way from the borderline arch-enemies they were at first.
  • Played Straight during his return in Journeys. While Paul does still rib Ash a few times, he actually came to Oak’s lab to support Ash and prepare him from the Masters 8 tournament, and even catches up with him a little bit before their sparring match. Ash, for his part, shows no overt hostility towards his old archrival.
• Deliberate Injury Gambit: Paul's most commonly used tactic in battle. Torterra, Drapion, and Electivire have all been trained to bait their opponents into attacking up close, so they can trap them in place and respond with an even bigger counterattack. Ursaring and Magmortar's abilities also operate off of a similar mindset — Ursaring's Guts gives it a massive power boost from otherwise crippling status effects, while Magmortar stands firm against physical attacks so it can cripple opponents with Flame Body.
• Didn't See That Coming: Paul did not expect the sheer strength of Infernape's Blaze.
• Disc-One Final Boss: After a long, grueling battle during the Lily of the Valley Conference, Ash finally brings him down... and then Tobias comes in with a team that Ash only gets to take down two members of.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Acts like a huge Jerkass to everyone just because his older brother failed to live up to the expectations Paul had of him after losing to Pyramid King Brandon.
• Enemy Mine: He's paired up with Ash in the Tag Battle tournament. In other instances they're often forced to fight on the same side even if they don't like it.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • While Paul dislikes Ash and his friends, his last appearance before the Sinnoh League, where he has Electabuzz use Protect to shield them from the falling debris of a Team Rocket mecha, shows that his dislike doesn't extend to outright murderous levels. Even in one of his earliest episodes, despite his disdain for Ash being perfectly clear, he still protects him and his friends from wild Pokémon.
  • Notably, he always uses a surprisingly-calm tone when speaking to Dawn, and he (somewhat) rationally and calmly explains his dislike of Ash to her before the Sinnoh League. This is in spite of her usual association with Ash's group and him being rather dismissive of her at first to the point of forgetting about her after two meetings.
  • In general, Paul is more or less respectful of his elders, such as Professor Rowan and Nurse Joy. He's even noticeably less resentful of Brock than Ash, willingly explaining his treatment of Chimchar when pressed by the former, and explaining his resentment of Reggie to Brock in a later episode.
  • While Paul is (or was) a Sore Loser only interested in winning, even he hates Volkner for just giving out badges without a battle.
  • Even Paul thinks Team Rocket is a trio of lowlifes. He might be a ruthless trainer when it comes to training and battling, but he’d never steal another person’s Pokémon in order to have the upper hand.
    Paul: And here I thought Ash was pathetic.
• Expy: Of Silver from GSC/HGSS, given that he's a Jerkass rival to the main character who only cares about his Pokémon's power rather than connecting to them but slowly comes to abandon the worst parts of their behaviors. They even have similar outfits and hair styles.
• Family Theme Naming: Shinji and Reiji in the Japanese version. "Shin" is a reading of 信, which is the kanji for "trust, confidence" (i.e., Paul is haughty and has immense confidence in his way of doing things) while "rei" is a reading of 礼, which means "courtesy, propriety" (Reggie is more polite and hospitable to everyone than Paul, who is polite mostly just to his superiors).
• Final-Exam Boss: Invoked by Paul in Journeys, as he joins Ash for one last training session before Ash enters the Masters Tournament and specifically uses Pokémon that are used by the opponents Ash will be facing in said tournament.
• Flat "What": Expresses shock and disbelief when he finds out Ash defeated the leader of the Frontier Brains, Brandon. Something that his brother failed to do, and was the catalyst for his present-day Jerkassery.
• Foil: To Ash. Both are seasoned trainers who aim To Be a Master, but their philosophies are completely different. Whereas Ash succeeds through teamwork and love, Paul thrives on cold calculations and sheer power. Ash first wins his Pokémon's hearts, then improves their skills. Paul does not bother with bonding and gets straight to intense training.
• Forgotten First Meeting: He once forgot who Dawn was, despite having met her twice before. To say Dawn reacted poorly would be an understatement.
• Friendship-Hating Antagonist: His most defining character trait. He hates and ridicules Ash for his adamant belief in The Power of Friendship, believing that only the strongest Pokémon are worth the effort of training and that bonding with his Pokémon would make them spoiled and weak. After a long journey, a crushing loss to Brandon, and finally a loss to Ash himself in the Sinnoh League, he gets better.
• Freudian Excuse: Paul Hero Worshipped his brother Reggie right up until he witnessed Reggie's crushing defeat at the hands of Pyramid King Brandon. Not only did it (and Reggie's subsequent abandonment of competitive training) knock Reggie off of Paul's Broken Pedestal, the sheer devastation of it likely had an influence on Paul's inclination to overwhelming force in the present day. Not only did Paul develop a grudge against his brother Reggie for how he handled the loss, confronting Brandon is notably the one time Paul has ever let his emotions get the better of him. As a matter of fact, it's also why he hates Ash so much — Ash talks about bringing out a Pokémon's inner strength much like Reggie does. He patches things up with his brother eventually.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: As pointed out by Brandon in their battle, Paul's bitterness over Reggie has left him stuck in the past and with little true understanding of his journey or his methods. This combined with a brutal Curb-Stomp Battle is what finally Breaks the Haughty and leads to Paul's change of heart.
• Good Is Not Nice: When Paul returns in Journeys, he returns to help Ash prepare for the Masters 8 Tournament, while still not shy on criticizing Ash.
• Good Taming, Evil Taming: In contrast to Ash, Paul is cold (if not abusive) to his own Pokémon. He captures them, using his PokéDex to measure their strengths and skill sets and either releasing them or giving them to somebody else if they fail to meet his expectations. He has even stated that developing an attachment to his Pokémon would make them weak. He becomes less so as the series progresses, but that does not stop him from being a dick.
• Hero of Another Story: He's clearly grown and achieved quite a bit offscreen, both before and after the events of Diamond & Pearl. He's known to have competed in all the first four regions' Pokémon Leagues, but other than that and his history with Brandon, not much is revealed about his past despite the heavy speculation it raises. His return in Journeys was also specifically written with this in mind. Writer Atsuhiro Tomioka believes the characters all continue to move on with their lives after parting ways with Ash, and included Paul's Gym Leader offer to answer what's become of him since Sinnoh.
• Hey, You!: Barely acknowledges Ash by name, particularly in the Japanese version. Throughout most of the show, he usually only acknowledges Ash by name whenever mentioning him to someone else. It’s implied the reason he barely acknowledges Ash’s name is because he projects Reggie in Ash’s position. Averted towards the end of the Sinnoh League, where he outwardly addresses Ash directly by name more often, after Dawn points out that Reggie and Ash, while they may be similar, are still two different people.
• Honor Thy Parent: In a broad sense—Paul shows respect for his elders in particular and anyone else above him on the social ladder, like battle referees or trainers who have defeated him (e.g., Professor Rowan or Cynthia). For those he considers beneath him, he can show anything from neutrality to contempt (e.g., Maylene). It's also probably reinforced his relationship with his brother Reggie, who had an implicit Promotion to Parent.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Beaten by his own former Pokémon, Chimchar, that he had mistreated. It personally took out half of his team in his final match with Ash and was the one to win the fight for Ash there.
• Hypocrite:
  • Paul tells Ash to his face that when a Pokémon loses, it's the trainer's fault for not training it correctly — Paul also blames his own Pokémon, like Azumarill and Chimchar, for their losses.
  • In the finals of the Tag Team Tournament, he maintains his belief that Chimchar and Ash are weak since Heracross was still briefly standing despite being hit point blank by a Flamethrower, and that it only fainted because Buizel collided with it when hit by Electabuzz's Thunder. While accurate, the exact same thing would apply for Paul and Electabuzz as Buizel was briefly still standing despite being hit point blank by a move it was weak too as well.
  • Paul is willing to place his own Pokémon on the field when they're type-disadvantaged (he sent the Fire-type Chimchar out to face Roark's Rock-type Pokémon), but criticizes Ash for his own tendency to do the same thing.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: Paul is still accurate when he points out Ash using Grotle against Candice's team is asking for trouble, hypocritical as it may be.
• I Was Just Passing Through: Despite his disdain for Ash, he actually stuck around to watch his gym battle with Roark, if only in hopes of seeing him lose.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Ash's most prominent rival after Gary who debuted in the tenth season.
• Ignored Epiphany: After being on the receiving end of a Curb-Stomp Battle against Cynthia, she told that he must care more by his Pokémon, but he refuses to take it to heart. Downplayed and Subverted after receiving a Curb-Stomp Battle from Brandon.
• Ineffectual Loner: He does not like socializing with others, instead focusing all of his energy on getting stronger. Even so, he has yet to become a Pokémon Master or defeat Brandon which are both of his goals. By Journeys, he's become much more open to others, going to Kanto to learn from Professor Oak as well as visiting Reggie at his home in Veilstone (something he was never shown doing in Diamond and Pearl). His new attitude has been rewarded with a Gym Leader offer.
• Irony: A fountain of it.
  • He tried to activate a Desperation Attack, then he faced both Barry and Ash using one.
  • His backstory involves his brother losing to Brandon and his Regis, with himself losing in time as well. Chimchar's evolution Infernape has the advantage against all three (Fighting beats Ice, Rock and Steel; with his Fire Type also countering Ice and Steel).
  • He tried to get Chimchar to activate his Blaze, to the point of abusing Chimchar, and dumps Chimchar to Ash after Chimchar becomes worn down and unable to battle, even going so far as to claiming that Chimchar is more suited to a weak trainer like Ash anyways. Come their final battle, and guess who defeats half his team — using the very same ability he'd tried and failed to exploit to boot?
  • Paul repeatedly gets the upper hand on Ash by baiting him into a false sense of security with his attacks. In the end, Ash defeats Paul by using his own trap against him: by doing so much damage to Infernape with a point-blank Thunder, he activates Infernape's Blaze ability.
  • Heavily downplayed as the occurrence itself provided a lot of value for Ash but still counts. In Journeys, Paul trains Ash by replicating the strategies of Lance, Cynthia and Steven by battling him with a Gyarados, Garchomp and Metagross respectively to prepare him for the Masters Eight Tournament. In the actual tournament, Ash never battles Lance.
• Irrational Hatred: Towards Ash. Throughout his first half of the series, he treats Ash with almost nothing but contempt. It’s eventually revealed that Paul’s disdain towards Ash is because he effectively reminds Paul so much of Reggie.
• Jack of All Stats: In keeping with his skill as a Trainer, he uses a well-balanced team of many different types. And despite having a preference for powerful Pokémon, he's not obsessed with power and he knows that brute force and type advantage alone are not enough to win. He uses various tactics and is quite flexible and quick to adapt.
• Jerkass: Paul's main characteristic. He's a cantankerous dick who abuses and releases his Pokémon who fail to reach up to his lofty expectations. Even after Character Development, he becomes only slightly less of a jerk, and does not become a good person until his final appearances where he starts being more respectful of his opponents and Ash, as well as showcasing much more kindness to his own Pokémon.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • The thing that Paul most often gets on Ash's case about is his blind reliance on The Power of Friendship, to the point where he actively chooses it over strategy or rational thought (far too often does Ash persist against blatantly outmatched odds solely because he believes in himself). A large part of Ash's development in Sinnoh is learning to balance his beliefs with Paul's.
  • Paul also eggs Ash on about training Chimchar to master its Blaze ability, which Ash refuses to do knowing the trauma associated with it. While Ash is just looking out for Chimchar's health, Paul's comments about Blaze aren't exactly unfounded either: as Chimchar goes completely berserk when the ability is activated, there's no way Ash will reach its full potential without getting that power under control. By the end of the series, Ash does essentially validate this belief by using a now-mastered Blaze to defeat Paul, albeit mastering it through The Power of Friendship rather than Paul's Training from Hell.
  • He rudely insults Maylene after curb-stomping her in battle, calling her the weakest Gym Leader he'd ever fought, which sent her into a deep depression. Cruel as it was, though, Maylene herself admitted she believes he was right — she and her Pokémon were completely out of sync.
  • Barry keeps praising Sunyshore gym as one of the best which Paul criticizes as undeserving. It's later revealed the Sunyshore Gym leader gave badges without any challenge of any sort. Ash effectively agrees with Paul by demanding a proper battle.
  • When he meets Ash at the Sinnoh League, Ash claims he'll be giving it all he's got in their battle. Paul states that everyone participating has gotten all 8 badges too, so going all out against him and the other trainers Ash is battling amounts next to nothing. Even Ash admitted that Paul was right.
  • During the Sinnoh League episodes, he also tells Barry that overestimating his abilities will only backfire on him. Paul is proven right when Barry gets curb-stomped HARD by Paul.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite having very limited redeeming traits as a person, Paul eventually does have a lighter side to him. He shows it especially later in the Diamond and Pearl Series. In Journeys, he meets up with Ash again for the sole purpose of helping him prepare for the Masters Tournament.
• Knight of Cerebus: Prior to Paul, many of the jerk trainers Ash had defeated in the past were swiftly beaten down. Paul is the first he's crossed who is highly competent. Also, despite his high standards and brutal training, one cannot deny that it has achieved results. Both his Ursaring and his Drapion flattened half of Ash's team in different battles and most of his other team members prove to be terrific forces that Ash's own team has to put in massive work in order to overcome.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Surrenders to Cynthia upon realizing that he just isn't capable of beating her.
• Lack of Empathy:
  • When he releases Pokémon, they look visibly upset and sad. Paul doesn't bat an eye.
  • A rare Played for Laughs example: DP046, Paul is approached by Ash, Dawn, and Brock, who are each looking for their lost friends. Each of them in turn asks Paul if he's seen the others and he tells each of them no in turn, which in the case of Dawn and Brock is a complete lie.
  • He interferes with a coordinated plan to help a heard of lost Gligar back to the wild simply because he wants to catch their powerful Gliscor leader. This puts the entire operation in jeopardy, leaving the lost Gligar aimlessly flying around without their leader, and Paul couldn't care less because he got what he wanted.
  • Paul enters the Hearthome City Battle Tournament — a tag-team event — with complete disregard for the other trainers, being there explicitly to subject his own Pokémon to his dangerous, brutal training, and gets mad when Ash intervenes to protect Paul's Pokémon from the danger he puts them in. In one battle, Paul orders his Torterra unleash a Hyper Beam that recklessly damages Ash's Staravia as well as the enemy.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Him getting curb-stomped by Brandon in one episode counts. Him learning that Ash had defeated Brandon counts.
  • Ash is ultimately able to defeat him using Infernape, the Pokémon Paul released for supposedly being weak. To make it even better, Infernape defeats his Electivire by using its ability of Blaze, which Paul tried and failed to get it to master.
• Mirror Character: Despite their polar opposite philosophies on training, Ash and Paul are described as "two sides of the same coin," having always had the same dream but taking wildly different paths to achieve it. To wit:
  • Both are veteran Trainers who had traveled through all the same regions (Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn by that point), trying and failing to win each of their respective Pokemon Leagues.
  • Both strictly believe that victory should be earned. They're equally disgusted that Volkner would just hand out badges for free out of pure disinterest.
  • Paul himself also points out a few different times that Ash's way of training isn't all that different from his own; similar to Paul at the Tag Battle tournament, Ash enters the Wallace Cup to train his Buizel despite not being interested in Contests, and practices by having his Pokemon launch a flurry of attacks at each other, which is what Paul had been doing to Chimchar before releasing it. Ash tries to deny it, but the similarities are hard not to notice.
  • The later episodes especially highlight how their influence and respect for each other has grown, even willingly adopting the other's battling style into their own. In their final battle, they both use each other's trademark strategies for themselves: Paul trains both Gastrodon and Electivire to use Counter Shield, while Ash deliberately baits Paul into knocking Infernape to critical health, allowing it to activate Blaze.
• Never My Fault:
  • Perhaps one of Paul's biggest flaws is that for as skilled a battler as he clearly is, he's near-instantaneous to judge Pokémon who don't meet his standards as weak and blame them, instead of taking responsibility as a trainer and facing that there are different ways to become strong and his own methods failing to bring out a Pokémon's potential isn't an issue with them. This is one of the main aspects of his Character Development and what Ash and Chimchar-Infernape seek to prove.
  • In a late battle of the Tag Team Tournament, Paul's Torterra single-handedly defeats Holly's Farfetch'd with Hyper Beam, but also singes Ash's Staravia in the process. When Ash calls him out on this, Paul merely retorts that Staravia was too slow.
  • Another example combined with hypocrisy: Paul states in DP081 that when Pokémon lose a battle, it’s the trainer’s fault. He claims this after (A) releasing his Azumarill after it lost at Roark's Gym on the grounds that Azumarill was unimprovably weak and (B) telling his Chimchar that it ought to be ashamed after it was knocked out by Cynthia's Garchomp.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: At Lake Acuity. Part of the reason he beats Ash so soundly is that he's completely focused on the battle from beginning to end, not allowing himself any distractions by either gloating or responding to Ash's comments.
• No-Sell:
  • Ash's out-of-the-box strategies that generally give him the edge in battles barely work on Paul if they even faze him. In their second battle, one of Ash's old tricks, using a Dig attack's hole against the user, backfires hard on him when Paul counters the strategy. Even the Counter Shield, Ash's signature strategy in Sinnoh, not only barely gave him some advantage, but Paul learned it and used it against Ash in the league. Soon after, he flat-out copied Ash and Infernape's tactics to rid of Toxic Spikes, using it to stop Ash's Gliscor.
  • This remains true even in Journeys; when Ash attempts to catch Paul off guard with his newly improvised "Dragonite Meteor" attack, Paul completely overpowers it with Garchomp's Dragon Claw, leading to Dragonite's defeat.
• Not So Similar: However, while Ash takes his Pokemon's wishes into account, and always considers their wellbeing during training, Paul does not. Ash also would never cross the line between Tough Love and abuse that Paul has.
• Not So Stoic:
  • During his battle with Brandon. Also shows annoyance whenever he sees Ash.
  • When Ash asked him if he wanted to watch his battle with Roark, Paul actually laughs.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: His return in JN114 reveals that he received an offer to become a Gym Leader by the events of Journeys.
• Opposing Combat Philosophies: One of the many things he clashes with Ash over is their opposing philosophies on how to battle. While Ash values all his Pokémon as individuals and will go against his better judgment to defend their pride, Paul is only concerned with results and is perfectly willing to make sacrifices if it still leads to a win. Also, while Ash's preferred battling style revolves around speed and evasion, Paul's preferred style relies more on traps and defense.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the Lake Acuity battle against Ash, he completely foregoes his usual taunts and mockery and instead is completely deadset on destroying Ash in their full battle. This is lampshaded by Brock who notes that, unlike other fights that Paul essentially treats as training sessions for his Pokémon, he is completely serious in this one.
• The Perfectionist: He has incredibly high standards for his Pokémon, to the point where he'll abandon those who don't live up to his expectations.
• Perpetual Frowner: He's almost always scowling.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Instead of callously releasing the Azumarill that failed to defeat Roark's Geodude he simply gifts it to an excited kid who thanks him for it, before saying that it is useless to him after the kid is gone.
  • Despite his harsh treatment towards Chimchar, he and Ursaring save him when Team Rocket attempts to steal him from Paul.
  • After he defeats Barry in the Sinnoh League, he commends him for the effort he put up instead of putting him down. This is a massive change from how he treated others who lost to him even Gym Leaders like Maylene.
  • He actually thanks and commends his Electivire for a well-fought battle instead of scolding it after its loss to Infernape.
• Psychotic Smirk: Every now and then, he smirks when he knows he has the upper hand. The first sign Paul is not a goody two-shoes like Ash.
• Purple Is Powerful: His hair and outfir are purple, and for all his many faults, he proves to be a very powerful trainer, handing Ash some of his most difficult battles in the series.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a scathing one to Ash as his Honchkrow is wiping the floor with Ash's newly evolved Grotle. Despite the overwhelming disadvantage brought about by Grotle's far heavier body, Ash insists that they can still win. Paul lets him know exactly what he thinks of that idea.
  Paul: A pathetic trainer and his equally pathetic Pokémon.
  Ash: What was that?!
  Paul: Alright, so where's that faith? If you really think you can with with faith alone, then you're no better than any lowlife loser trainer out there, because you have no idea how Grotle's changed!
  • Delivers another one to Maylene after defeating her. See Unsportsmanlike Gloating below.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The callous blue to Ash's warmhearted red of the "Diamond and Pearl" series.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: He stops mistreating his Pokémon after his loss to Brandon, but his jerkass attitude isn't completely gone — he still doesn't fully respect Ash and continues to criticize him, albeit less harshly than before in the Japanese version. It isn't until Ash beats him at the Sinnoh League that he completely comes around.
• The Rival: Ash's primary rival in Sinnoh and whom Ash held the most bitter rivalry with in the entire series by far. Their differing ideologies on raising Pokémon was the source of most of their antagonistic relationship, which escalated further after Paul released his Chimchar.
• Running Gag:
  • He has a habit of showing up in random places, usually to watch Ash doing various things behind his back. Perhaps the best-known example is the time he caught Ash on TV competing in the Wallace Cup, only to sourly ask "What does he think he's doing?"
  • A minor one, but twice he was in the midst of capturing a Pokémon, only to be interrupted by Ash & friends, allowing the Pokémon to escape. The first time it was a Fearow, the second it was a Drapion.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Downplayed. Paul doesn't leave, per se, but he turns his back on the tag battle he's entered with Ash and the Chimchar he sent into battle the instant it becomes clear he won't be getting Chimchar to activate its Blaze ability the way he wants it to.
• Second Episode Introduction: Makes his debut during the second episode of DP, "Two Degrees of Separation".
• Sibling Yin-Yang: His older brother Reggie is kind and cheerful, and treats his Pokémon very well.
• Single-Issue Wonk: Paul is obsessed with one thing and one thing only—becoming the strongest Pokémon trainer by putting his team through Training from Hell. Nothing else matters to him.
• Shadow Archetype: The Stoic, Social Darwinist to contrast Ash's expressive, All-Loving Hero. He's meant to represent what Ash would be if he only cared about his Pokémon's strength, and not them as individuals. That said, he's not all bad to his Pokémon and it is shown that he does care for those that meet his standards and they in return are loyal to him.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Paul is harsh, dresses in dark colors, and has Tsurime Eyes while his older brother is kinder, dresses in lighter colors, and has both fluffier hair and Tareme Eyes.
• Smile of Approval: Paul, after spending the entire series showing Ash nothing but his trademark Death Glare or the occasional Psychotic Smirk, finally gives him a genuine smile at the end of their Sinnoh League battle, symbolizing that their bitter rivalry has finally come to an end. The same thing happens in Journeys after they battle once again, and again once Ash displays the fruits of their training during his battle with Steven.
• The Social Darwinist: Only the best can be a part of his team. The rest get released.
• Sore Loser:
  • Sometimes when he loses, he would blame his Pokémon for everything.
  • Averted in the last few episodes of Diamond & Pearl. Much to the shock of fans, he takes his loss against Ash in the League rather well, complemented with Paul complimenting his Electivire for a well-fought battle.
• Stealth Mentor: During his return in Journeys, he gives Ash experience in battling three well-known Pokémon belonging to future opponents in the Masters Eight Tournament while seemingly maintaining his previously callous demeanor. Goh is the first to point out the coincidence at the end of their battle while Professor Oak seems to be the only one who knew of Paul's true intentions, keeping quiet and agreeing to Paul's claim to visit him to learn more about Pokémon through him.
• The Stoic: He rarely shows emotion, bar occasional bouts of frustration when he's under pressure. He's only ever completely lost his cool once, during his fight with Pyramid King Brandon.
• Strong and Skilled: Don't let his obsession with strength sell him short — Paul is arguably the most strategic battler ever shown in the anime. He thoroughly researches his opponents and employs strategies to target their physical and psychological weaknesses, and unlike most of Ash's opponents, he can quickly adapt to Ash's Outside-the-Box Tactics as he's roughly just as experienced as Ash. It's most on display in his full battle with Ash at Lake Acuity, where Paul pulls off numerous Batman Gambits to put Ash in a virtually unwinnable situation. Later on in the Sinnoh League, he purposely sets up two of his Pokemon as Sacrificial Lambs in order to lower Ash's guard, only to reveal he was in control the whole time.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Paul and Reggie have hair in two different shades of purple, similar messy hair styles, and the same strong eyebrows.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Paul has a habit of crushing opponents in battle, then throwing out insults about their skill as a trainer^note He may have picked this up as a child from watching Brandon do much the same to his brother Reggie. Both Cynthia and Brandon give him similar treatment during their battles with him.
• Technician Versus Performer: The Technician to Ash's Performer with him making teams with strategies in mind, while Ash relies on indy ploys and the Power of Friendship with his Pokémon. However, this is downplayed since he is far from inflexible in a fight and is able to anticipate and adapt to Ash's unpredictable tactics that would have stupified other opponents. This along with being humbled by his devastating loss to Brandon allowed Paul to crush Ash in their first full battle. In return, Ash had to strategize himself to defeat Paul in the Sinnoh League.
• Theme Naming: Paul (as Shinji) starts the trend in the Japanese version of major rivals sharing Added Alliterative Appeal with Gary (Shigeru). It would be picked up by Trip (Shooti) and Sawyer (Shouta) later.
• Took a Level in Badass: In Diamond and Pearl, Paul was a very powerful trainer by normal standards, but was shown to be completely outmatched by top-level trainers such as Cynthia and Brandon. By Journeys, Paul has not only received an offer to become a Gym Leader, but has grown powerful enough that he can still go toe-to-toe with Ash, who himself is now a Champion and a member of the Masters Eight.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Incredibly slowly, but it seems like he finally starts to understand his errors by the end of Diamond & Pearl. In Journeys, Paul has softened up so much that he thanks every Pokémon for their good work in battle, while also making amends with his former Pokemon Infernape for how he mistreated him during his Sinnoh journey. He even tells Electivire to go play with Ash's and Goh's Pokémon.
• Tough Love: For all his faults, Paul is not incapable of treating his Pokémon decently - they are seen relaxing in DP100, and Paul arranged for Torterra to be groomed. While he would probably bite off his tongue before he admitted to being affectionate, the small number of Pokémon he does keep in his team seem well-treated overall (Chimchar is noted to be an exceptional case), and their reaction to hearing about his loss in the Sinnoh League indicates that they are, in fact, loyal to him. Torterra appears to be the most loyal to him as well as receiving the most respect from Paul (most likely due to being his starter) because in one episode Torterra went to help Ash's Grotle out of empathy but when Paul discovered what happened, Torterra received no punishment suggesting that Torterra acts as an Honest Advisor to Paul because he (alongside Paul) witnessed Reggie's defeat at the Battle Pyramid, which in turn caused both of them to form Paul's ideology so that he doesn't follow in Reggie's footsteps.
• Training from Hell: Expects nothing but the best from his Pokémon. Any lower and they are released back into the wild. Chimchar got the worst of it, due to Paul's desire to harness the immense power of its Blaze ability.
• Tsurime Eyes: He has very sharply shaped eyes, showing that he is not a friendly fellow.
• The Unfettered: A chillingly accurate portrayal for a kid's show. While he is not incapable of showing respect for his elders, such as Professor Rowan, he is a ruthless and cruel Trainer who trains his Pokémon harshly, treats weak Pokémon and even other Trainers with utter contempt (like Maylene) and has released or given away no less than six Pokémon on screen for poor performance in battle and feels no remorse for his actions, seeing his actions as the only way to make an efficient team. He also shows little to no emotions apart from his ever present scowl (and occasionally a condescending smirk, usually for Ash), is quick and firm in his choices, sees nothing morally wrong in his abuse of both people and Pokémon, and has no qualms about using borderline illegal moves in battle (repeatedly attacking his own partner's Pokemon during a Tag Battle), and is by far one of Ash's most powerful rivals, serving almost as a living antithesis to his entire philosophy on Pokémon. Unlike his other rivals Gary and Trip, who were simply at odds with Ash over either petty grudges or just power shows, Paul is a full-blown antagonist who challenges Ash's beliefs in addition to his skills.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Following his humiliating battle with Cynthia, Paul was mocked by several onlookers, and Ash was quick to spring to Paul's defense. Paul showed zero gratitude toward Ash for this, treating him as coldly as ever in their next encounter.
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: After beating Gym Leader Maylene and getting the Cobble Badge, he proceeds to insult her:
  "You're the weakest Leader I've ever fought, and this lightweight Badge is just like you."
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In Reggie's flashback before Paul starts his battle against Brandon, Paul traveled from Sinnoh to Kanto after receiving his Turtwig because he wanted to see his brother win his final Battle Frontier Symbol. Paul and Turtwig were shown to have notably pleasant dispositions prior to witnessing Reggie's loss and watch Brandon call him out on his lack of true inner strength, though how different Paul is now compared to back then is still debatable.
• Victory by Endurance: He employs this strategy in both of his full battles against Ash:
  • In the Lake Acuity match, he switches out his Pokémon a lot in order to create unfavorable match-ups against Ash's Pokémon to defeat them while ensuring his team stays relatively healthy. This results in Ash's Chimchar being forced to face off against Paul's remaining five Pokémon. After Chimchar defeats Paul's Ursaring and evolves into Monferno, the exhausted Playful Pokémon was then defeated by Paul's Electabuzz, who is still at full health due to only being used to set up Light Screen.
  • In the battle at the Sinnoh League, Paul uses a completely new team, which forces Ash to switch out his Pokémon to find a Pokémon to counter them, but still taking much damage thanks to Paul anticipating Ash's moves and Paul's Toxic Spikes and Hail strategies. This results in Ash having three exhausted (including two poisoned) Pokémon against Paul's healthy Electivire, who is able to make short work of both Gliscor and Pikachu, with Infernape only barely being able to defeat it with Blaze.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Or in this case, Rival. During their first encounter in Sinnoh, Ash catches the attention of his new rival, Paul. At first, Paul is not impressed by Ash's limited collection of two Pokémon. However, when Ash mentions his missing Pikachu and its impressive Volt Tackle ability, and Paul witnesses the wreckage of Team Rocket's failed attempt to capture Pikachu, his interest is sparked. Paul decides to follow Ash and patiently waits for him to suggest a fair 3v3 battle. According to Brock, as Ash realizes that Paul is also a seasoned trainer and Paul witnesses him successfully using Blaze with the Chimchar that Paul had difficulty with, their shared interest intensifies. Additionally, Ash's ability to defeat the Frontier Brains' leader, Brandon, something that Paul's brother couldn't do and that contributed to Paul's current negative attitude, further fuels their mutual interest.
• Virtue Is Weakness: He grew to have this point of view after his older brother, Reggie, lost to Pyramid King Brandon and then retired from training, since Reggie had a preferrence for emotional and caring training with his Pokemon Paul viewed it as the reason he lost and set himself to train his team with harsh, tough and excruciating methods, which did work to make for strong mons and teams. He starts to move away from this point of view somewhat after Ash and Barry start earning his respect and after a crushing loss against Brandon when Paul tries to take on the Pyramid King himself (especially after discovering Ash's triumph over Brandon) even if he's never shown to outright leave it.
• Vocal Dissonance: To a degree. His voice makes him sound way older than he really is ^note it's never said exactly how old he is, but he's likely a young teenager at most.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: His obsession with strength and skill to match forces Ash to realize he can't keep battling like he usually does. The Lake Acuity battle especially marks a change for Ash, realizing he needs to train much harder to catch up and actually think things through before acting.
• The Worf Effect: Brandon effortlessly defeats Paul in a full battle, with the latter failing to knock out any of his opponent's Pokémon, which goes to show that Brandon's status as a Frontier Brain isn't just for show. At the same time, however, Paul's inability to maintain his composure also contributed to his loss.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Paul bows his head to Roark, his assistant, Cynthia, and Brandon in acknowledgement of their respective battles. Notably, prior to his Character Development, he would gloat and demean any opponent he didn't deem worthy.
  • Despite his disdain toward Ash, Paul seems to have a certain grudging respect for Pikachu's strength. Realizing that Pikachu could use Volt Tackle was the whole initial reason Paul took any interest in Ash at all, and Paul is visibly taken aback watching Pikachu battle Roark in DP016; Paul almost leaves the Gym entirely after being unimpressed with Ash's skills, but is stopped when Pikachu lets out an enormous Thunderbolt in determination, convincing him to stay until the battle was over.
  • By the time of the Sinnoh League, he finally recognizes Ash as such, allowing the two to end their rivalry on mutually respectful terms.
• You Have Failed Me: Releases Pokémon which he perceives as being weak or useless without a second thought, which is how Ash came across Chimchar. Paul only kept Chimchar around hoping to utilize its ability Blaze. When Chimchar was unable to summon it exactly when Paul wanted it, Paul released Chimchar. However, Paul does try to utilize their potential as much as possible, and if it still doesn't work out, then goodbye.

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Paul's Pokémon

Throughout Paul's several journeys, he has caught a large number of Pokémon, many of them being based on power, but he does use Pokémon who have more tricks in their pockets than just pure strength. While the majority of them are Jerkasses, they do like him as a trainer.

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In General

• Ambiguous Gender: With the exception of Froslass and Nidoking, who can only be one gender, and the confirmed male Gyarados and Garchomp, and the genderless Metagross, all the others have their genders unknown. Although, given their personalities, it can assumed that most of them tend to be male.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: When Reggie reports to Paul's Pokémon (namely Torterra, Honchkrow, Ursaring and Weavile) that he had lost the Sinnoh League, they're shown reacting with disappointment, proving that for all he puts them through, they do care about him. Reggie then remarks that the loss will just make him stronger still, and that they'll all battle again once Paul returns home, to which they joyously cheer.
• Badass Crew: Invoked; Paul's Pokémon have to be highly powerful, or else they'll get released. His roster covers a wide range of types and battle styles for almost any situation, and while they don't seem to have the same family-esque bond that Ash's Pokémon have, they work seamlessly together in battle. His Lake Acuity and Sinnoh League teams in particular almost act like pieces of a puzzle, each working together to dissect the opponent's strategy, wear them down, and finish them off.
• Blood Knight: As is common with Pokémon that resemble their trainers, this is the case for Paul's party. His Pokémon are all ruthless and efficient in battle and more than enjoy the harsh conditions and difficulties they're put through during training to win battles. It's notable in that all of Paul's mons seen thus far are a certain kind of mean-spirited or aggressive, with even the kinder ones such as Torterra not being playful at all on the battlefield.
• Character Focus: Played with. As Paul's treatment of his Pokémon is such a central focus of his character, his roster as a whole receives a good deal of focus throughout the series. Most notably, Electivire and Torterra have Hidden Depths touched on across multiple episodes, and others such as Ursaring and Honchkrow receive a few brief character moments as well, while most rivals rarely have more than one developed Pokémon (if even that much). However, Paul's large, constantly rotating team still means many of them go without any real characterization.
• High Turnover Rate: Paul's tendency to boot party members who don't live up to his standards means that he's released more Pokémon than most side characters have ever owned. Even aside from those, he fields a ton of different Pokémon over various battles, to the point that he rarely uses the same team twice.
• Jerkass: Most of them are nasty in nature and aren't very nice to others, even among themselves. There are a few exceptions, though.
• Lightning Bruiser: Paul definitely favors these, with Electivire, Ursaring, Honchkrow, and Drapion being both extremely strong and fast enough to deal with more agile opponents while also being very tough to take down. This is a trait he unknowingly shares with Ash.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: In the opening Together and its remix, Paul's team gets updated from time to time, starting from DP041 onwards, even though Ursaring has been caught since DP006.
• Signature Mon: Paul's seems to be a toss-up between Torterra and Electivire. The former is his starter and he treats it quite well by his standards, but the latter is seen with him more consistently throughout his appearances, shares more personality tendencies with him, and ends up being his final Pokémon in his Sinnoh League match against Ash.
• The Worf Effect: 10 of his Pokémon are victims of this trope, being easily defeated by Champion Cynthia's Garchomp and Pyramid King Brandon's Regi Trio to showcase their strength.
• You Have Failed Me: Those who don't manage to live up to Paul's high standards, they are released. Those who do have great potential, but aren't able to use it, are released when Paul has enough of them.

Currently owned Pokémon

Diamond & Pearl

Elekid-Electabuzz-Electivire (Elekid-Eleboo-Elekible)

Voiced in Japanese by: Kenta Miyake
Voiced in English by: Bill Rogers

The first Pokémon shown alongside Paul as well as his most prominent one. It is the Pokémon who represents his trainer the most: a total Jerkass, but extremely capable in battle. Elekid was present when Chimchar joined Paul and since the latter was released, they have developed a rivalry with each other, witnessing each other evolving at least once.

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• 11th-Hour Superpower: During the finale of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition, Elekid evolves into Electabuzz, which gives it enough power to win alongside with Ash's Chimchar against Dawn's Buizel and Conway's Heracross.
• Always Someone Better: Was this to Ash's Pikachu in Diamond and Pearl. Whatever Pikachu could do, Electivire could do better. Electivire always had the upper hand when they fought because of its ability to absorb Pikachu's electric attacks, and although they tied in their first battle, Pikachu notably went down first. At the end of the series, it proceeded to properly defeat Pikachu during the Lily of the Valley Conference.
• Barrier Warrior: Since its introduction, it is shown to know Protect, a move that protects it from any move. It also uses Light Screen during the Lake Acuity battle to support Paul's team, halving the damage inflicted on Paul's Pokémon for a short amount of time.
• Blood Knight: It becomes quite enthusiastic when in battle, and during the Sinnoh League tournament, it taunts Ash's Infernape to get back up and keep battling.
• Bring It: Electivire taunts its rival, Infernape, to get back up when the latter is down and about to be declared as knocked out.
• Double Knock Out: During their first battle, Elekid and Pikachu end up knocking each other out, which also ends the match in a draw. While Ash admits defeat since Pikachu fell down first, Paul does acknowledge it as a draw.
• The Dragon: As Paul's most prominent Pokémon, it serves this role for most of the series, being one of Paul's most capable and reliable Pokémon, and during the league, it is the last Pokémon on Paul's side.
• Elemental Punch: It knows Thunder Punch since its debut, a move that covers its fist in electricity. It's Fighting-type move Brick Break is portayed in a similar manner, as its arm gets covered in electric sparks, making it some kind of a sparking chop.
• Foil: Much like its Trainer is to Ash, Electivire is one to Infernape — they are the aces of their respective teams and represent the polar opposite ideals of their Trainers. While Infernape is a sweet, sensitive Nice Guy that requires Ash's love and patience to flourish, Electivire is an aggressive, brutish Jerkass that excels under Paul's harsh training. Back when they were both under Paul's command, Chimchar's miserable condition was noticeably contrasted with Elekid's smug arrogance, and they've both witnessed the other evolve at least once, representing the perfect matches they are for their Trainers.
• Hidden Depths: Electivire as an Electabuzz receives some fleshing out in the Veilstone City arc, when Ash encounters it without its Trainer for the first time. It's shown to have a more parental relationship with Reggie, even slightly fearing him when he scolds its Jerkass behavior, as well as a sense of honor when it helps out in the battle against Team Galactic. These depths allow it to bury the hatchet with Pikachu from that point onward, becoming more friendly rivals in contrast to their Trainers.
• Jack of All Trades: It is living proof that Paul is a competent trainer. Elekid/Electabuzz/Electivire can be used as a straight up battler with defensive moves or as a supporting member with offensive capabilities.
• Jerkass: The most prominent example of Paul's Pokémon. It outright antagonizes Ash's Pokémon for no reason other than for its own amusement. Even when Paul is not present.
• Lightning Bruiser: Electivire is shown to be one of Paul's more powerful and tougher Pokémon, and if its Motor Drive ability kicks in, its speed increases massively.
• No-Sell: Electivire's ability is Motor Drive, which makes it immune to Electric-type moves and instead increases its speed immensely.
• Pet the Dog: To symbolize that Paul is starting to soften up, Paul praises his Electivire for its hard work despite losing the battle and match against Ash's Infernape.
• Prehensile Tail: Electivire can capture its opponent with its tails, which allows it to perform a point blank Thunder. In Journeys, it is shown that it likes to play with its tails, and Pikachu and Goh's Grookey have great fun with them.
• Psycho Electro: Electivire is just as much of a Jerkass as Paul is; during the beginning of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition arc, it shocked Pikachu without provocation and laughed about it, and it often taunts its opponents (particularly Ash's Infernape).
• The Rival:
  • To Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape. They are introduced in the same episode and Elekid was already a jerk to Chimchar when he was still with Paul. They have become rivals once Chimchar was released and joined Ash's team. Chimchar witnesses Elekid's evolution, while Electabuzz witnesses Monferno's evolution. During the Lake Acuity battle, Electabuzz briefly fights Chimchar and is later switched back on the field to see that he has suddenly evolved into Monferno, which fires Electabuzz up. The climax of their rivalry is during the Lily of the Valley Conference where both of them are the final Pokémon of their respective sides.
  • It serves as one to Pikachu as well, often antagonizing Pikachu not unlike its own trainer would do to Ash. They ultimately settle their differences while battling Team Galactic together, after which it becomes a Friendly Rivalry.
• Rule of Symbolism: Elekid evolves the very next episode after Paul released Chimchar, right in front of both Chimchar and Ash. This symbolizes that it's a far better fit for Paul's style, as well as symbolizing its transition into The Ace of his team.
• Second Episode Introduction: Debuts during the second episode of DP, "Two Degrees of Separation", along with Paul.
• Shock and Awe: It is Paul's only known Electric-type Pokémon, and since its debut it knows Thunder and Thunder Punch.
• Signature Mon: Electivire is Paul's first revealed Pokemon and the one that best represents his personality and ideals. It's the final Pokemon that Paul uses in both his Full Battles with Ash, as well as being the only one from the Sinnoh League battle that Ash had previously faced. It's also the only one of Paul's Pokémon to return with him in Journeys, displaying that both of them have become friendlier.
• Spectacular Spinning: Like Gastrodon, Paul taught Electivire how to use Counter Shield. By spinning its Thunder, it can defend itself from the opponent while attacking.
• Status Effects: Elekid's ability is Static, which can paralyze the opponent when it makes contact with Elekid. The ability has been changed to Motor Drive once it became Electivire.
• Support Party Member: During the Lake Acuity battle, Electabuzz's main role is activating Light Screen to half the damage inflicted on Paul's team. It still is capable of battling the opponent by its own, though, but it doesn't get to fight for long until its fight with its rival, Monferno.
• Supporting Protagonist: A variation. Elekid/Electabuzz/Electivire is the very first of Paul's Pokémon introduced and is the one who gets the most screentime via its rivalry with former teammate Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape. However, Torterra is Paul's Starter Mon and is placed prominently in shots involving Paul's other Pokémon implying its authority over them.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Diamond & Pearl, Electivire has become less nasty towards Pikachu and Chimchar after spending sometime with Ash's group at Reggie's caretake. In Journeys, it and Paul have softened up so much that Paul tells it to go play with Ash's and Goh's Pokémon.
• The Worf Effect: Like all of Paul's Pokémon used against Pyramid King Brandon, the reliable Electabuzz is quickly defeated, showing how powerful Bradon's Pokémon are.
• Worthy Opponent: It is generally excited to battle Pikachu and Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape who are very strong opponents.

Ursaring (Ringuma)

Voiced in Japanese by: Unshō Ishizuka
Voiced in English by: Unshō Ishizuka

Ursaring is captured by Paul when it was chasing after Ash's group. Thanks to its immense brute strength, it has remained as one of Paul's most competent battlers.

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• Absurdly Sharp Claws: Using its claws, it shreds its opponents with its Normal-type move Slash.
• Battle Aura: When its Guts ability kicks in, it is covered in a red aura to show its activation.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Ursaring knows the Fighting-type moves Hammer Arm, Focus Blast and Bulk Up.
• Bears Are Bad News: Ursaring is a bear and it is always aggressive and angry since its debut.
• Breath Weapon: Like most Pokémon, it fires Hyper Beam from its mouth.
• The Brute: Ursaring is an absolute powerhouse and manages to defeat three of Ash's Pokémon during the Lake Acuity battle.
• Energy Weapon: It used to know Hyper Beam, a powerful beam attack fired from its mouth.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: When its Guts kicks in, its eyes glow in crimson red to show of how dangerous it is now.
• Hot-Blooded: Of the angry kind. Ursaring is rarely calm at all and is always angry for no particular reason. It also has the Guts ability to match its personality, which makes it even stronger, angrier and more hot-blooded once it suffers from status changes.
• Kamehame Hadouken: It knows the move Focus Blast. It concentrates its energy into a powerful energy ball and throws it at the opponent.
• Made of Iron: During its battle against Barry's Hitmonlee, it gets hits by many Fighting-type moves and is even burned by Hitmonlee's Blaze Kick. Not only does Ursaring not lose, it completely defeats Hitmonlee thanks to its Guts ability. And during the battle against Pyramid King Brandon, Ursaring took the most hits before being taken down.
• Non-Elemental: Ursaring is a Normal-type Pokémon and thus very flexible in a wide array of matches. Because of this, it's one of Paul's most used and consistent battlers.
• One-Man Army: Ursaring takes down half of Ash's team during their Lake Acuity battle.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Its eyes burn red when Guts is activated, which makes its already angry look even scarier.
• Sadist: Implied to be this. When we get to Chimchar's harsh training regiment under Paul, his other Pokémon are ordered to attack it while Chimchar has to defend itself. Notably, Ursaring is shown with a sadistic smirk on its face, which is one of the few times when it's not visibly pissed of.
• Status Buff:
  • It knows Bulk Up, a move that increases its attack and defensive power.
  • Guts is an ability that kicks in when Ursaring is inflicted with a status change, which doubles its power.
• Turn Red: When it suffers from status changes, Ursaring's Guts kicks in which doubles its attack power.
• Unstoppable Rage: It is already extremely angry from the get-go, but whenever its Guts ability kicks in, it gains burning crimson eyes and a visible aura that scream "be even more careful".
• The Worf Effect:
  • It has a tendency to lose to Chimchar every time they battle. Special mention goes to the episode "Chim-Charred!", where Ursaring is brutalizing the poor monkey until it activates its Unstoppable Rage Blaze ability, after which it manhandles Ursaring. Paul states that the Flame Wheel that took Ursaring out was the most powerful one he'd ever seen.
  • During the battle against Pyramid King Brandon, the very powerful Ursaring cannot take on Brandon's Regice and in the end, it is quickly finished off by Regirock while being paralyzed from Regice's Zap Cannon.

Weavile (Manyula)

Voiced in Japanese by: Chinami Nishimura
Voiced in English by: Bill Rogers

A Pokémon that journeyed with Paul through Hoenn, Johto and Kanto. It tends to lose a lot, yet it hasn't been released yet.

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• Absurdly Sharp Claws: It attacks the opponent with its claws by using the Steel-type move Metal Claw. It is the only close-range move it has.
• Breath Weapon: It breathes Blizzard from its mouth and fires Ice Beam with its mouth as well, making it mainly a Long-Range Fighter.
• Butt-Monkey: Weavile loses every battle it is in without defeating anyone. It is a miracle that Paul has not released it yet.
• Extra-ore-dinary: It knows the Steel-type move Metal Claw, which makes its claws as hard as metal and very sharp.
• Glass Cannon: One of the few of Paul's Pokémon to be this, since he prefers brute physical strength as a fighting style.
• An Ice Person: Weavile is primary an Ice-type Pokémon and is shown to use Blizzard, Ice Beam and Ice Shard. Paul uses it against Pokémon who are weak to Ice-type moves, but it never works for him.
• Informed Ability: It's implied to be one of Paul's strongest Pokemon, since he chose it to battle Cynthia. Its onscreen performance suggests otherwise.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Not explicitly confirmed, but logically, it must be the case. Paul is known to release Pokemon he deems weak; on top of that, Weavile has failed Paul in both of its onscreen battles, and in his first Full Battle against Ash, Weavile was one of only two of Paul's Pokemon to be knocked out (note that the other one, Ursaring, knocked out half of Ash's team before falling, whereas Weavile didn't knock out one). It must be the case that Weavile is doing good things for Paul off-screen if he hasn't released it yet.
• Signature Move: Its most prominent move is Blizzard, which is often the subject to The Worf Barrage.
• Status Buff: Weavile can sharply increase its attack power with Sword Dance. In the Lake Acuity battle, it doesn't really help, since it loses to Staraptor anyway.
• The Worf Barrage: Its Blizzard never defeats anyone and it doesn't seem to deal that much damage either. Which is rather accurate to the games, since Weavile's Special Attack stat is pretty awful.
• The Worf Effect: Despite Ice-type Pokémon having a huge advantage against Dragon/Ground-type Pokémon like Garchomp, Weavile gets curb-stomped like the others, showing off that Cynthia's Garchomp is beyond the level of ordinary ones. It also loses to Ash's Staraptor, despite its type advantage.

Murkrow-Honchkrow (Yamikarasu-Donkarasu)

Voiced in Japanese by: Shin-ichiro Miki
Voiced in English by: Bill Rogers

A Pokémon that has travelled with Paul through several regions. It is a reliable Pokémon that rarely fails him.

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• Breath Weapon: It fires Shadow Ball from its mouth.
• Casting a Shadow: It is part Dark-type and it knows the Dark-type move Night Slash; its wing glows purple and it strikes the opponent down with it.
• Creepy Crows: Murkrow and Honchkrow are crow-based Pokémon, who also happen to be Dark-type Pokémon. If Paul commands it to attack its own allies, it doesn't hesitate to do so.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Since the first opening of Diamond & Pearl that started airing in episode DP002, the viewers knew about Paul's Murkrow, but it didn't show up until DP040.
• The Reliable One: Although it lost to Cynthia's Garchomp and failed to win the PokéRinger competition against Ash's Staraptor, it hasn't lost any other battle it's participated in.
• The Rival:
  • During PokéRinger competition, Honchkrow serves as the rival to Staravia/Staraptor, due to the rivalry of their respective trainers. They end up competing against each other in the final round.
  • It serves as one to Grotle. Turtwig evolves during his battle against Honchkrow, but he loses because of his unexpected loss in mobility. During the Lake Acuity battle, Paul uses Grotle's resentment over Honchkrow to his advantage, preventing Ash from switching Grotle out to defeat it.
• Signature Attack: Its most powerful move is Sky Attack, which it uses in every battle it is in.
• Soul Power: It knows the Ghost-type move Shadow Ball, firing a dark energy ball from its mouth.

Turtwig-Grotle-Torterra (Naetle-Hayashigame-Dodaitoise)

As a Turtwig in a flashback

Voiced in Japanese by: Unshō Ishizuka
Voiced in English by: Billy Beach

Torterra is Paul's first Pokémon, as well as one of his strongest. He got it as his Starter Pokémon from Professor Rowan and it has been travelling with its trainer through four different regions. While it accepts Paul's harsh training regiment, Torterra does have a soft spot for Ash's Grotle.

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• The Ace: While never outright stated to be his strongest, Torterra is clearly the most trusted and respected Pokémon that Paul owns. Almost every opponent it's ever battled has been defeated with ease, the only exception being Cynthia's Garchomp, whose defeat of Torterra immediately causes Paul to forfeit knowing he stands no chance against her.
• Big Brother Mentor: In DP100, after witnessing Ash's Turtwig evolving into a Grotle and seeing him struggle with his gained weight and loss in mobility, Torterra sympathizes him, properly because they share the same evolution line, and it teaches Grotle how to battle as a Mighty Glacier...by almost beating the living crap out of Ash's Gliscor. From there on, Ash has to teach Grotle that new battle style by himself.
• Breath Weapon: Like most Pokémon, it fires Hyper Beam from its mouth as a long range attack.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Torterra wins the semi-final match of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition singlehandedly with no much difficulty while almost taking its tag partner (Ash's Staravia) out as well.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: During Paul's battle against Cynthia, it's his only Pokémon that manages to land an attack that actually gives her Garchomp pause in its Giga Drain. Unfortunately for Torterra, when it tries to follow up with Frenzy Plant Garchomp stops playing and crushes it too.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Aiding the Enemy!" gives some focus to its relationship with Paul and shows a compassionate side unique to Paul's otherwise brutal Pokémon roster. After seeing Ash's newly evolved Grotle struggle with its reduced speed, Torterra takes pity on its pre-evolution and goes behind its trainer's back to teach it how to rely on defense.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Torterra is part Ground-type and it knows the Rock-type move Stone Edge, throwing stone projectiles at the opponent which it can even control.
• Foil: Acts as a much more experienced one to Ash's Torterra. Paul's Torterra is a very powerful Pokémon that barely loses and is perfectly capable as a Mighty Glacier. Ash's Torterra on the other hand, while still a powerful Pokémon, loses every battle it is in once it reaches its final stage (except against Team Rocket) and struggles quite a bit at adapting to battling as a Mighty Glacier.
• Green Thumb: It is Paul's only known Grass-type Pokémon and is shown to know the most powerful Grass-type moves, Frenzy Plant and Leaf Storm. It also knows Giga Drain to suck the health out of the opponent to heal itself.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Torterra is actually one of Paul's kinder Pokémon, despite the grumpy and jerky image they all represent. It helps Ash's Grotle how to change to a new battle style and how to adapt his Mighty Glacier situation, all without Paul's permission.
• Life Drain: It uses the Grass-type move Giga Drain to drain the health out of the opponent to heal itself. Noticeable for being the only move that actually gives Cynthia's Garchomp any trouble.
• Man Bites Man: It knows the Dark-type move Crunch, which it uses to trap its opponent with its teeth while damaging them and suck their health with Giga Drain while still biting them.
• Mighty Glacier: Torterra barely moves in battles since its too heavy, but thanks to his high endurance, it takes hits from its opponent fairly easily until it is the perfect time to smash them with its powerful strength. One of the only times this worked against it was when it fought the Lightning Bruiser that is Cynthia's Garchomp, who, once she endured Torterra's Frenzy Plant, proceeded to close the distance faster than it could react and unleash a brutal counterattack that one-shotted it.
• Morality Pet: Paul once arranged for Torterra to be groomed, and in general it seems to be the only one of his Pokémon that he has even a slight amount of affection for, likely due to it also being his starter. Paul has never scolded or insulted Torterra once, even after learning it had gone behind his back to help Ash's Grotle.
• Sturdy and Steady Turtles: Torterra, as a turtle Pokemon, is powerful and tough but slow.
• Supporting Leader: Torterra is Paul's Starter Mon and is placed prominently in shots involving Paul's other Pokémon implying its authority over them. However, Elekid/Electabuzz/Electivire is the very first of Paul's Pokémon introduced and is the one who gets the most screentime via its rivalry with their former teammate Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape.
• Token Good Teammate: Torterra is the only one of Paul's Pokémon shown to be somewhat kindhearted, actually going against its Trainer's wishes to help Ash's team.
• Turtle Island: Torterra is a giant turtle with a garden on its back.
• Wise Old Turtle: It is Paul's oldest and calmest Pokémon, having complete understanding of how to battle as a Mighty Glacier. It teaches Ash's Grotle how to battle defensively, and is highly respected by everyone who's met it — whether it be Paul, Ash, his friends, his Pokémon, or even Cynthia.
• The Worf Barrage: Its most powerful move, Frenzy Plant, does barely anything to Cynthia's Garchomp, leading to it being open for a brutal counterattack.
• The Worf Effect: Despite being Paul's strongest Pokémon, it gets one-shotted by Cynthia's Garchomp just to show off how ridiculously powerful she is. This even applies retroactively, as Torterra never loses afterwards and wins its battles pretty easily, which makes Garchomp look even more impressive.

Ninjask (Tekkanin)

Voiced in Japanese by: N/A
Voiced in English by: Billy Beach

First introduced in a flashback, Ninjask was caught shortly before Chimchar's capture. In the present, it is used during the Lily of the Valley Conference against Ash's Gliscor and Infernape which used to be said Chimchar.

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• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Ninjask is primarily a Bug-type Pokémon and its size would freak out many people if it was real. It also knows the Bug-type move Fury Cutter, which becomes stronger with each hit.
• Chekhov's Gunman: It first appeared in a flashback centered around Chimchar. It finally reappears in a battle against the fully evolved Infernape.
• Flash Step: With Agility, it manages to move so quickly, that it is nearly impossible to see its movements.
• Flight: Being part Flying-type Pokémon, Ninjask is capable of flying. It is used in sky battles against other flying opponents like Ash's Gliscor. With its immense speed and the growing power of Fury Cutter, Ninjask is specialized to take the opponent down on the ground and poison them with Drapion's Toxic Spikes.
• Fragile Speedster: Ninjask is extremely fast and is capable of increasing its speed with Agility and Speed Boost, but it's a very frail Pokémon.
• Green Thumb: It knows the Grass-type move Giga Drain, which drains the health out of the opponent to heal itself.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: When Ninjask uses Giga Drain to heal itself, it has to circle around the opponent, but because of the damage it has taken from Infernape's underground Flare Blitz, its movements drastically slow down, allowing Infernape to aim for Ninjask and defeat it with Mach Punch.
• Life Drain: It uses Giga Drain by circling around the opponent to suck out their energy and heal itself with the stolen energy.
• Status Buff:
  • Its ability Speed Boost boosts its speed over time.
  • The move Agility increases Ninjask's speed even further.
• Super-Speed: While already very fast, it has Speed Boost as its ability which increases its speed over time. It even has Agility to make it even faster, making it move so fast, it is almost impossible to hit it with Ash needing to burn the entire field with an underground Flare Blitz to hit it.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Averted. Ninjask was briefly shown being caught in a flashback, and for most of the series, it was never alluded to again (knowing Paul, there was little way of knowing if he hadn't released it at some point). It finally reappears in the Sinnoh League, confirming that Paul still owns it.

Gliscor (Glion)

Voiced in Japanese by: Yuji Ueda
Voiced in English by: Marc Thompson

This Gliscor used to be the leader of a flock of Gligar that were flying wild in a city. Before Ash manages to convince it to lead its flock out of the city, Paul catches it which causes the flock to fall into chaos. It is used against Ash's Gligar which used to be a member of the flock as well and easily defeats the little guy, leading to its Heroic BSoD.

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• Big Creepy-Crawlies: It is not a Bug-type Pokémon, but it looks like a giant flying scorpion, and it even has the Bug-type move X-Scissor to match.
• Fauxshadow: The opening Together alludes that Paul's Gliscor would become the rival to Ash's Gliscor, but this is never developed beyond their first battle.
• Foil: Just like Torterra, even in its brief appearances it manages to act as one towards Ash's Gligar, a younger member of its species. Ash's Gligar is a meek, emotional Pokémon who struggles to learn to battle effectively, and although he becomes easily one of Ash's strongest team members, even as a Gliscor he never loses his charming and comical disposition. Paul's Gliscor, on the other hand, acts entirely competent from the start and maintains an unfazed and ruthless demeanor during battle.
• The Leader: It used to lead a flock of Gligar before its capture. Its sudden capture led its flock to fall apart into chaos, giving Ash's group a hard time to drive them out of the city.
• One-Hit Kill: It knows the OHKO move Guillotine, giving Ash's Gligar a crushing defeat that scarred it mentally.
• Power Pincers: Since Gliscor is partially based on scorpions, it has two big pincers.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After DP100, it is not seen again, unlike some of Paul's other Pokémon.

Magmar-Magmortar (Boober-Booburn)

Voiced in Japanese by: Yuji Ueda
Voiced in English by: Tom Wayland

A replacement for Chimchar, Magmar was used to deal with Maylene's Lucario, leading to the Gym Leader's Heroic BSoD. Unlike Chimchar, Magmar does manage to live up to Paul's standards and is shown to be even more effective as a Magmortar.

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• Bookend: The battle against Pyramid King Brandon starts with Magmar facing Regirock and ends with Magmar being defeated by Regirock.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Magmar replaces Chimchar as Paul's new Fire-type, and unlike Chimchar, it's able to live up to his standards. Notably, it succeeds at everything that Chimchar could never do under Paul's command: it tanks super effective moves with little difficulty, makes use of its ability, and displays the ruthless attitude in battle shared by most of his roster.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Magmortar knows the Rock-type move Rock Tomb, which it launches from its arm cannons. Paul uses it to lead his fast opponents into a trap.
• Elemental Punch: Magmar was shown to know Fire Punch, a move that covers its fist in flames.
• Made of Iron: It gets hit directly with Hydro Cannon from Barry's Empoleon. Hydro Cannon is one of the most powerful Water-type moves and is super effective against Magmortar, yet it doesn't get taken down.
• Playing with Fire: It is a Fire-type Pokémon, replacing Chimchar and the perfect counter against Maylene's Lucario. It is shown to know the Fire-type moves Fire Spin, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, and Will-o-Wisp.
• Poisonous Person: It knows the move Smog, which it uses like Smokescreen to blind the opponent and to poison them.
• Status Effects:
  • It has Flame Body as its ability, which can burn the opponent while making contact. Pikachu suffers from that.
  • Will-O-Wisp is a status move that burns the opponent. However, Magmar fails to use it against Brandon's Registeel due to flinching.
• The Worf Barrage: Its super effective Flamethrower doesn't do much against Brandon's Registeel to everyone's surprise.

Hariyama (Hariteyama)

Voiced in Japanese by: Unshō Ishizuka
Voiced in English by: Bill Rogers

One of the Pokémon used in the battle against Pyramid King Brandon. It fights and loses to Brandon's Regirock.

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• Bare-Fisted Monk: It is a Fighting-type Pokémon, thus it has a type advantage over the Rock-type Pokémon Regirock. It also knows the Fighting-type moves Arm Thrust and Force Palm, but it ultimately loses to Regirock.
• Blocking Stops All Damage: Was able to stop Regirock's Stone Edge barrage with its hands alone. An impressive feat considering that Paul's Electabuzz failed to do the same when it attempted to guard itself with Protect.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: It doesn't do too bad against Brandon's Regirock, but it loses quickly once it is put in close range, ironically enough.
• The Worf Barrage: It hits Regirock multiple times with the super effect Arm Thrust, yet it did barely any damage.
• The Worf Effect: It is actually quite strong, but despite its type advantage over Regirock, it loses, showing that more than type advantages is needed to defeat the Pyramid King.

Nidoking

Voiced in Japanesed by: Katsuyuki Konishi
Voided in English by: Katsuyuki Konishi

One of the Pokémon used in the battle against Pyramid King Brandon. He fights and loses to Brandon's Registeel.

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• Bare-Fisted Monk: He knows the Fighting-type move Double Kick, which is super effective against Steel-type moves like Registeel. He doesn't even manage to take it down to the ground with it.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: He actually puts a good fight against Brandon's Registeel at first, compared to his other team members, even landing hits on it but he still loses rather easily to the Legendary once it starts fighting better.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Since he is part Ground-type and knows the Ground-type move Earth Power, he has a type advantage over Registeel...which doesn't help at all.
• Poisonous Person: Dawn notes that Poison-type Pokémon like Nidoking are usually in disadvantage against Steel-type Pokémon, but since Nidoking is also part Ground-type, he actually has the advantage.
• Shock and Awe: He knows the Electric-type move Thunderbolt which he fires from his horn, but Registeel just shrugs it off while charging in with Iron Head and knocks Nidoking out.
• The Worf Barrage: His super effective Earth Power merely slows Registeel down and his Thunderbolt doesn't do any damage against Registeel at all.
• The Worf Effect: He has a type advantage over Registeel, and out of all six Pokémon, Nidoking performed the best, but even he was defeated very easily, which shows how powerful the Pyramid King's Pokémon are.

Lairon-Aggron (Kodora-Bossgodora)

Voiced in Japanese by: Kenta Miyake
Voiced in English by: Billy Beach

One of the Pokémon used in the battle against Pyramid King Brandon. As a Lairon, it fights and loses to Brandon's Regice. It reappears later as an Aggron in the Lily of the Valley Conference during the match against Ash. It puts up a good fight against Pikachu, but is ultimately defeated by Infernape.

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• Absurdly Sharp Claws: It knows Metal Claw; it slashes its opponent with its claws in close combat situations.
• Breath Weapon: Its long-range move is Flash Cannon, which it fires from its mouth.
• Chekhov's Gunman: It shows up once as a Lairon to get quickly demolished by Brandon, notably not getting a brief moment to hold its own like Paul's other Pokémon. It later returns as an Aggron to face Ash at the Sinnoh League, now strong enough to properly serve Paul's battle plan.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Out of all six Pokémon, Lairon gets the worst performance against Pyramid King Brandon; being frozen by Regice's Ice Beam and finished off by its Zap Cannon in a matter of seconds.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Averted; It knows the Normal-type move Double-Edge; the user smashes with its body full force at the opponent, but it receives recoil damage from that. However, since Aggron has Rock Head as its ability, it doesn't take damage from recoil moves.
• Designated Point Man: Aggron and Gastrodon are used as expendable Pokémon to uncover Ash's strategy during their league match. While it doesn't score any KO's on its own, it holds its own long enough against Pikachu and Infernape so that Paul can prepare a counterattack later.
• Extra-ore-dinary: Aggron is part Steel-type and knows the Steel-type moves Iron Defense, Metal Claw, Metal Sound, and Flash Cannon. Its type advantage over Regice doesn't help, though.
• No-Sell: Aggron has the ability Rock Head, which nullifies recoil damage from moves, allowing it to use Double-Edge without any risk.
• Status Buff: Lairon used Iron Defense to sharply raise its defensive power, a desperate move from Paul to stand a chance against Pyramid King Brandon. It didn't help at all since Regice uses a Special Move. Even worse, it's the only move Lairon used during the battle.
• Status Effects: Aggron knows Metal Sound which can decrease the (special) defense power of its opponent.
• Super-Scream: It makes a loud shriek when using Metal Sound, creating a soundwave with lots of air pressure, which not only weakens the opponent's (special) defense, but also stops their movements temporarily. Showcasing its strength, both Piplup and Meowth are affected by it even though they are up in the audience and nowhere near the battlefield.
• Took a Level in Badass: After its loss to Brandon, it evolved sometime before the Sinnoh League in which it was able to show off more of its strength against Ash's Pikachu and Infernape.
• The Worf Effect: While it has a type advantage over Regice, even trying to defend itself only makes things worse, causing Lairon to be defeated really quickly.

Gastrodon (Tritodon)

Voiced in Japanese by: N/A
Voiced in English by: Tom Wayland

An Eastern Gastrodon which is used as one of the two Pokémon to uncover Ash's strategy during their match in the Lily of the Valley Conference, battling Staraptor and Buizel, but fails to defeat either of them. It is one of Paul's two Pokémon shown to use Counter Shield.

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• Breath Weapon: It fires Ice Beam and Water Pulse out of its mouth, making it primarily a Long-Range Fighter.
• Designated Point Man: Gastrodon and Aggron are used as expendable Pokémon to uncover Ash's strategy during their league match. While it doesn't score any KO's on its own, it holds its own against Staraptor and Buizel long enough to make it easy for Drapion to counter them.
• Finishing Move: What Water Pulse is intended to be. When Gastrodon pins its opponent down with Body Slam, it fires Water Pulse directly into the air, planning to dodge the attack descending at an increased speed at the last second. It almost works, but Ash's Staraptor breaks free by using Close Combat on the ground. However, Paul had already predicted that maneuver and hit Staraptor with Ice Beam anyway.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Gastrodon freezes Buizel covered in Aqua Jet, but Paul doesn't know that Ash would improvise an Ice Aqua Jet, which leads to Gastrodon's defeat.
• An Ice Person: It knows the Ice-type move Ice Beam, which is super effective against Flying-type Pokémon like Staraptor. It bites it in the ass though, since Paul is not prepared for an improvised Ice Aqua Jet from Ash's Buizel.
• Making a Splash: Gastrodon is part Water-type and knows the Water-type moves Muddy Water and Water Pulse. With Muddy Water, it is capable of utilizing Counter Shield, while Water Pulse is used as a Finishing Move.
• Spectacular Spinning: Gastrodon uses Counter Shield with Muddy Water, spinning around on the ground to trap a flying opponent in the air with Muddy Water. If the opponent flies near the ground to avoid Counter Shield, it can be easily pinned down with Body Slam.

Drapion (Dorapion)

Voiced in Japanese by: Unshō Ishizuka
Voiced in English by: Unshō Ishizuka

A powerful Poison/Dark-type Pokémon used during the battle against Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference. It is another one of Paul's most competent Pokémon, defeating half of Ash's team with its traps and strength, taking out Buizel, Staraptor and Torterra. It is ultimately defeated by Ash's Gliscor.

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• Ambiguous Situation: Paul has had a few different encounters with Drapion prior to the Sinnoh League: he attempted to catch a wild one in DP081, but it escaped while he was distracted by Ash's Gligar, and Reggie owns a Drapion of his own as shown in a flashback. It's unclear whether this Drapion is one of those two, or a different one altogether.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Drapion is not a Bug-type Pokémon, but it looks like a giant, purple poisonous scorpion and it appropriately knows the Bug-type move Pin Missile.
• The Brute: A Pokémon who is designated to poison the opponent and make them suffer, and it has enough brute strength to take on powerful Pokémon like Ash's Torterra and Gliscor.
• Evil Counterpart: Drapion appears to be one to Ash's Gliscor. Both of them are used in the same league battle, both are purple scorpions yet neither of them are Bug-type Pokémon, but they do know Bug-type moves. Their moves are also similar; Drapion knows Cross Poison, Gliscor knows X-Scissor; Drapion knows Poison Fang, Gliscor knows Fire Fang; Drapion has the long-range barrage attack Pin Missile, Gliscor has the long-range barrage attack Stone Edge. If it's the same Drapion from DP081, it also serves as a Chekhov's Gunman, as it escapes from Paul thanks to Gligar and ends up being defeated by the now-evolved Gliscor.
• Kill It with Fire: After a long battle, Drapion is taken down by burn damage inflicted by Gliscor's Fire Fang.
• Man Bites Man: Subverted. It knows Poison Fang, a move that normally involves utilizing the user's teeth. But instead of biting the opponent with its teeth, Drapion transfers Poison Fang's power from its fangs to its claws while keeping the same effect.
• Macross Missile Massacre: When using Pin Missile, it fires lots of missiles towards the opponent. Ash's Buizel and Torterra are taken down by barrages of Pin Missile. It also serves as Drapion's long-range attack.
• No-Sell: It completely stops Buizel's Sonic Boom with a single strike from its tail, and later catches Torterra's Rock Climb with nothing but its bare claws, leaving them wide open for a counterattack.
• One-Man Army: Drapion takes down half of Ash's Pokémon during his league match with Paul.
• Poisonous Person: Drapion is primarily a Poison-type Pokémon and Paul uses its poison to great effect. Drapion lays out Toxic Spikes to poison any opponent touching the ground, and in close combat, it strikes down with Cross Poison and Poison Fang.
• Prehensile Tail: Drapion uses its tail to capture its opponents.
• Status Effects: Drapion is all about poisoning the opponent. By laying Toxic Spikes on the field, it almost guarantees to poison the opponent's entire team.
• Trap Master: Drapion can lay out Toxic Spikes on the field, which will poison any opposing Pokémon who touches the ground. It also tends to capture its opponents with its tail, slamming them to the ground to poison them with Toxic Spikes' effect and attacking them while still holding them with its tail.

Froslass (Yukimenoko)

Voiced in Japanese by: Satsuki Yukino
Voiced in English by: Bella Hudson

An Ice/Ghost-type Pokémon used during the match against Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference. It puts a tough fight against Pikachu, but she is nevertheless defeated by the electric mouse. She is only one of Paul's Pokémon to fight only one of Ash's Pokémon during the match.

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• Breath Weapon: She fires her Ice Beam from her mouth like many other Pokémon. She freezes Pikachu with it, but he breaks through the ice with his Volt Tackle and knocks her out.
• An Ice Person: Froslass is primarily an Ice-type Pokémon, knowing the Ice-type moves Hail, Ice Shard, and Ice Beam along with having the ability Snow Cloak to match. With Hail, she not only creates a snowstorm, but her Snow Cloak also activates, allowing her to disappear and reappear in battle, which makes it difficult to hit her while the opponent takes damage from Hail.
• Kamehame Hadouken: Her Ice Shard is an energy ball of ice that she throws at the opponent. Much like Focus Blast, it takes some time to charge it, which causes her to lose against Pikachu.
• Lady of War: An elegant female Pokémon, who has the graceful characteristics of a yuki onna and mercilessly freezes her opponent in ice.
• Power Floats: Froslass is capable of floating in mid-air, which adds to her ghostly appearance.
• The Smurfette Principle: She is the only known female Pokémon in Paul's possession.
• Soul Power: While part Ghost-type, Froslass is not shown to use Ghost-type moves. However, her Snow Cloak ability gives her the presence of a ghost, allowing her to disappear and reappear throughout the battle, which makes it harder to fight her, since attacks can go through her.
• Status Buff: What Snow Cloak does is increase her evasiveness in Hail. This is shown as her disappearing and reappearing in battle and being more or less intangible.
• Yōkai: Froslass is based on the yuki onna and she lives up to this trope. With her Snow Cloak ability, she can disappear and reappear during battle, giving her an elegant yet ghostly and mystical presence.

Journeys (Unmarked spoilers for all of them!)

Gyarados

A Pokémon introduced in Journeys. It is used for Ash's special preparation training for the Masters Eight Tournament and emulates Lance's Gyarados. Paul's Gyarados fights Ash's Lucario during their sparring match.

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• Breath Weapon: Like most Pokémon, he fires Hyper Beam from his mouth.
• David Versus Goliath: Gyarados is not only much larger than Ash's Lucario, his Water/Flying typing makes him resistant to all Fighting-type and Steel-type moves coming from Lucario. However, that's not enough to defeat the Aura Pokémon.
• Fauxshadow: Paul raised him to prepare Ash for a potential battle against Lance, but Lance is ultimately matched up with Diantha and eliminated in the first round. That said, his coiling strategy proved key in helping Ash overcome Cynthia's Milotic.
• An Ice Person: Gyarados knows the Ice-type move Ice Fang, which enlarges his fangs into long icy fangs. If he catches the opponent with his tail, Gyarados will make use of his tail and Ice Fang to mimic the effect of a meat grinder.
• Moveset Clone: As part of Paul's training, his moveset and abilities are designed to emulate Lance's Gyarados. Both his known moves (Ice Fang and Hyper Beam) are ones Lance has been shown using in the past, and his style of grinding his opponent with Ice Fang is identical to what Lance did in JN012. Also, like Lance (at least pre-Flanderization), Paul was readily prepared for Hyper Beam's recharge drawback, using Gyarados's Prehensile Tail to bait in opponents during his immobile state.
• Palette Swap: Despite being normal colored, Paul's Gyarados serves as the Palette Swap to Lance's Red Gyarados.
• Prehensile Tail: Gyarados catches his opponent with his tail, even when they try to attack him from behind. He uses that tail grip in combination with Ice Fang to grind the opponent with his fangs.
• Secondary Sexual Characteristics: The blue whiskers are proof that he's male.

Garchomp (Gaburias)

Voiced in Japanese by: N/A
Voiced in English by: Marc Thompson

A Pokémon introduced in Journeys. He is used for Ash's special preparation training for the Masters Eight Tournament and emulates Cynthia's Garchomp. Paul's Garchomp fights Ash's Dragonite during their sparring match.

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• Absurdly Sharp Claws: He knows Dragon Claw, which creates a green-colored energy claw that is quite powerful.
• The Ace: All three Pokémon Paul used against Ash in Pallet Town were pretty strong, but his Garchomp had wiped the floor against Ash’s Dragonite, without taking a scratch. Note that Ash’s Dragonite defeated Iris’s Haxorus, and would go on to defeat Leon’s Dragapult as well.
• Breath Weapon: Like all Dragon-type Pokémon, he launches Draco Meteor with his mouth.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Unlike Gyarados and Metagross, Garchomp dominates his fight and manages to defeat Ash's powerful Dragonite.
• Dishing Out Dirt: His secondary typing is Ground, and he knows the Rock-type move Stone Edge, which is super effective against Flying-types.
• Final Boss Preview: All three of Paul's new Pokémon are designed to invoke the Champions' aces that Ash will face in the Master 8, but his Garchomp emulates Cynthia's Garchomp, the most powerful of all three aces Ash may face and one with a clear, undefeated record in the series. Not surprisingly, Garchomp is the only Pokémon Ash is unable to defeat, making it clear that Cynthia will be his greatest obstacle to reach Leon in the finals.
• Moveset Clone: As part of Paul's training, his moveset and abilities are designed to emulate Cynthia's Garchomp. All of his known moves (Dragon Claw, Stone Edge, and Draco Meteor) are ones Cynthia has been shown using in the past, and Paul mirrors the relentless offensive style Cynthia uses in the Masters Tournament, rapidly barraging the opponent with an onslaught of powerful yet calculated attacks.
• No-Sell: Ash's improvised "Dragonite Meteor" attack is stopped cold by a single Dragon Claw from Garchomp, likely as a nod to Paul's old ability to turn Ash's tactics against him.
• Our Dragons Are Different: A flying, anthropomorphic landshark that is primarily a Dragon-type Pokémon and knows Dragon Claw and Draco Meteor. He is pitted against fellow Dragon-type Dragonite.
• Secondary Sexual Characteristics: The chip in his back fin is proof that he's male.
• Spear Counterpart: He is the male counterpart to Cynthia's female Garchomp.

Metagross

A Pokémon introduced in Journeys. It is used for Ash's special preparation training for the Masters Eight Tournament and emulates Steven Stone's Metagross. Paul's Metagross fights Ash's Gengar during their sparring match.

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• Extra-ore-dinary: Metagross is primarily a Steel-type and knows the powerful Steel-type move Meteor Mash.
• Mind over Matter: Metagross is secondarily a Psychic-type and knows the Psychic-type move Psychic.
• Moveset Clone: As part of Paul's training, its moveset and abilities are designed to emulate Steven's Metagross. All of its known moves (Agility, Psychic, and Meteor Mash) are ones Steven ends up using against Ash in the Masters Tournament, and Paul nearly perfectly replicates Steven's style of using Agility to approach foes. Coincidentally, Agility also mimics the speed increase induced by Mega Evolution.
• No Biological Sex: Metagross is a genderless Pokémon, making it Paul's only genderless Pokémon.
• Palette Swap: Despite being normal colored, Paul's Metagross serves as the Palette Swap to Steven's Shiny Metagross.
• Status Ailment: It suffers from it when Ash's Gengar hits it with the nearly learned Will-O-Wisp, burning Metagross and weakening its offensive power. This causes Metagross to lose.
• Status Buff: Agility is a move that sharply raises Metagross's speed.
• Super-Speed: It knows Agility to raise its speed and move very fast making it capable of Flash Step.
• Throwing the Fight: Implied in its battle against Gengar, where it could’ve easily dodged Gengar’s Will-O Wisp, like it did its Shadow Ball.

Formerly owned Pokémon

Starly (3x) (Mukkuru)

Paul's first two Starly

Paul's third Starly

Voiced in Japanesed by: Kiyotaka Furushima
Voided in English by: Sarah Natochenny

During Paul's debut, he catches three Starly at once, but releases two of them right away once he checked their movesets. The third one is used against Ash's newly captured Starly, but despite its victory, Paul releases it as well.

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• Always Someone Better: Two of the Starly were released right away after capturing, since they only knew Tackle and Sand-Attack, while the third at least knew Aerial Ace and Double Team. However, it didn't live up to Paul's standard and he could find a better Starly anyway.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Non-lethal example. They are released as soon as they are captured to demonstrate what kind of a trainer Paul is.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: All three are released before we knew anything about them.
• You Have Failed Me: The third Starly that has the luck to stay with Paul and manages to defeat Ash's Starly does not live up to Paul's standards and is released after the battle as well.

Chimchar (Hikozaru)

A Pokémon that caught Paul's interest due to his abnormally powerful Blaze ability. After many attempts to draw out his potential, Paul releases Chimchar after he failed him too many times. See here for more info.

Stantler (Odishishi)

Voiced in Japanese by: Katsuyuki Konishi
Voiced in English by: Katsuyuki Konishi

Another Pokémon caught and released right away.

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• We Hardly Knew Ye: It is only shown being captured and released.
• You Have Failed Me: Another extreme example, since it was released immediately after its capture, just because it only knew Tackle.

Azumarill (Marilli)

Voiced in Japanese by: Tomoko Kawakami
Voiced in English by: Kayzie Rogers

A Water-type Pokémon that was caught by Paul for the Gym Battle against the Rock-type specialist Roark. However, it easily loses to Roark's Geodude, prompting Paul to give it away to a young boy after the match ended.

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• Bunnies for Cuteness: Azumarill looks like an adorable egg-shaped bunny, but that is not the reason why Paul caught it, so no bonus points for being cute.
• Irony: Because of its type, Azumarill is used during the Rock-type Gym Battle to give Paul an advantage. Not only does it fail miserably, Paul wins the Gym Battle by using two Pokémon who have type disadvantages against Rock-type and/or Ground-type Pokémon.
• Making a Splash: It is a Water-type Pokémon and that is the whole reason why Paul even caught it. However, its Hydro Pump fails to inflict damage on Roark's Geodude and it gets defeated before it can even use Water Gun.
• The Worf Barrage: Hydro Pump is one of the most powerful Water-type moves, but Roark's Geodude easily blocks and attacks through it with Hidden Power alone.
• The Worf Effect: Despite its type advantage over Rock-type Pokémon, it loses to Geodude. Brock speculates that this is because Roark is that much of a skilled trainer, but Paul determines it's because Azumarill is unimprovably weak.
• You Have Failed Me: After Roark outmaneuvers him, Paul decides that the failure is Azumarill's and foists it onto a little boy while declaring it to be without potential.

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