History Characters / PokemonTheSeriesPaul

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: The Technician to Ash's Performer with him making teams with strategies in mind, while Ash relies on {{indy ploy}}s and the PowerOfFriendship with his Pokémon. However, this is downplayed since he is far from inflexible in a fight and is able to anticipate and copy Ash's unpredictable behavior 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.

* TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler: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 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.]]

* CurbStompBattle: 10 of his Pokémon are victims of this trope, being easily defeated by Champion Cynthia's Garchomp and Pyramid King Brandon's Regi Trio.
* HighTurnoverRate: Paul's tendency to boot party members that don't live up to his standards means that he's released more Pokémon than most side characters have even owned. Even aside from those, he fields a ''ton'' of different Pokémon over various battles, to the point that he almost never uses the same team twice.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Ninjask is primary 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.
* ChekhovsGunman: It first appeared in a flashback centred around Chimchar. It finally reappears in a battle against the fully evolved Infernape.
* FlashStep: With Agility, it manages to move so quick, it is nearly impossible to see its movements.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: 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 Flare Drive, its movements drastically slow down, allowing Infernape to aim for Ninjask and defeat it with Mach Punch.

** The move Agility increases Ninjask speed even further.
* SuperSpeed: 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 to move so fast, it is almost impossible to hit it.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: 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.

* TheLeader: It used to lead a flock of Gligar prior to its capture. Its sudden capture led its flock to fall apart and fall into chaos, giving Ash's group a hard time to drive them out of the city.

* PlayingWithFire: 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.

%%* TechnicianVersusPerformer: The Technician to Ash's Performer.

[[folder:Elekid-->Electabuzz-->Electivire (Elekid-->Eleboo-->Elekible)]]

[[folder:Murkrow-->Honchkrow (Yamikarasu-->Donkarasu)]]

[[folder:Turtwig-->Grotle-->Torterra (Naetle-->Hayashigame-->Dodaitoise)]]

[[folder:Magmar-->Magmortar (Boober-->Booburn)]]

[[folder:Lairon-->Aggron (Kodora-->Bossgodora)]]

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 a good fight against Pikachu, but is ultimately defeated by Infernape.

* BreathWeapon: Its long range move is Flash Cannon, which it fires from its mouth.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: 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.

* ExtraOreDinary: Aggron is part Steel-type and knows the Steel-type moves Iron Defense, Metal Claw, Metal Sound and Flash Cannon. It's type advantage over Regice doesn't help, though.

* StatusBuff: 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. Even worse, it's the only move Lairon used during the battle.

* SuperScream: 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 it also stops their movements temporarily.

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 Paul's two Pokémon shown to use Counter Shield.

* FinishingMove: 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 hits Staraptor with Ice Beam anyway.

* EvilCounterpart: 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 ChekhovsGunman, as it escapes from Paul thanks to Gligar and ends up being defeated by the now-evolved Gliscor.
* KillItWithFire: After a long battle, Drapion is taken down by burn damage inflicted from Gliscor's Fire Fang.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: 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.

* PoisonousPerson: Drapion is primarily a Poison-type Pokémon and Paul uses its poison to great effects. 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.

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 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.

* AnIcePerson: Froslass is primarily an Ice-type Pokémon, knowing the Ice-type moves Hail, Ice Shard and Ice Beam and has the ability Snow Cloak to match. With Hail, she not only creates a snowstorm, 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.
* KamehameHadouken: Her Ice Shard is an energy ball of ice which she throws at the opponent. Much like Focus Blast, it takes some time to charge it, which causes her to lose against Pikachu.

* MovesetClone: 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 near perfectly replicates Steven's style of using Agility to approach foes. Coincidentally, Agility also mimics the speed increase induced by Mega Evolution.

* StatusAilment: It suffers from it when Ash's Gengar hits it with the nearly learned Will-O-Wisp, burning Metagross and weaken its offensive power. This causes Metagross to lose.

* SuperSpeed: It knows Agility to raise its speed and move very fast and make it capable to FlashStep.

[[Characters/PokemonTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]] ([[Characters.PokemonTheOriginalSeriesMistyAndBrock Misty and Brock]], [[Characters/PokemonTheOriginalSeriesMainCast Main Cast]]) | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire Ruby and Sapphire]] ([[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireMainCast Main Cast]]) | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl Diamond and Pearl]] ([[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearlMainCast Main Cast]], '''Paul''') | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite Black & White]] ([[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhiteMainCast Main Cast]]) | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXY XY]] ([[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXYMainCast Main Cast]]) | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon Sun & Moon]] ([[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoonMainCast Main Cast]]) | [[Characters/PokemonJourneysTheSeries Journeys]] ([[Characters/PokemonJourneysTheSeriesMainCast Main Cast]]) \\

-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/KiyotakaFurushima\\

A Pokémon that caught Paul's interest due to its abnormally powerful Blaze ability. After many failed attempts to draw out his potential, Paul's releases him after he failed him too many times. For more information see [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearlAshsPokemon the page for Ash's Pokémon]].

[-'''Series-wide:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesAshKetchum Ash Ketchum]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesPikachu Pikachu]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketTrio Team Rocket Trio]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketTriosPokemon Team Rocket Trio's Pokemon]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketOrganization Team Rocket Organization]]\\
'''Major Characters:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesMisty Misty]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBrock Brock]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesMay May]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDawn Dawn]] | '''Paul''' | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesIris Iris]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSerena Serena]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesLillie Lillie]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesGoh Goh]] \\
'''Original Series:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheOriginalSeriesAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto)]]\\
[[Characters/PokemonTheOriginalSeriesCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheOriginalSeriesGymLeaders Gym Leaders]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheOriginalSeriesOneShotCharacters One-shot Characters]]\\
'''Advanced Generation:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Hoenn)]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireGymLeadersAndFrontierBrains Gym Leaders and Frontier Brains]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireVillains Villains]]\\
'''Diamond and Pearl:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearlAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Sinnoh)]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearlCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearlGymLeaders Gym Leaders]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearlVillains Villains]]\\
'''Black and White:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhiteAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Unova)]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhiteCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhiteRivals Rivals]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhiteGymLeaders Gym Leaders]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhiteVillains Villains]]\\
'''XY:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXYAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Kalos)]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXYCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXYRivals Rivals]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXYGymLeaders Gym Leaders]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXYMegaEvolutionSpecials Mega Evolution Special]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesXYVillains Villains]]\\
'''Sun and Moon:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoonAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Alola)]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoonCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoonKahunasAndGuardianDeities Kahunas and Guardian Deities]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoonAetherFoundation Aether Foundation]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoonVillains Villains]]\\
'''Journeys:''' [[Characters/PokemonJourneysTheSeriesAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Journeys)]] | [[Characters/PokemonJourneysTheSeriesCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/PokemonJourneysTheSeriesGalar Galar]] | [[Characters/PokemonJourneysTheSeriesOneShotCharacters One-shot Characters]]\\
'''Horizons:''' [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesLeadCharacters Lead Characters]] | [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesPokemon Pokémon]] | [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesSupportingCast Supporting Cast]]\\
'''Movies:''' [[Characters/PokemonMovies Movies 1 to 19]] | [[Characters/PokemonIChooseYou I Choose You!]] | [[Characters/PokemonThePowerOfUs The Power of Us]] | [[Characters/PokemonSecretsOfTheJungle Secrets of the Jungle]]-]]]]]

* VirtueIsWeakness: 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 [[JerkassHasAPoint 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 even if he's never shown to outright leave it.

'''Movies:''' [[Characters/PokemonMovies Movies 1 to 19]] | [[Characters/PokemonIChooseYou I Choose You!]] ([[Characters/PokemonIChooseYouAshKetchum Ash Ketchum]]) | [[Characters/PokemonThePowerOfUs The Power of Us]] | [[Characters/PokemonSecretsOfTheJungle Secrets of the Jungle]]-]]]]]

* BadassCrew: {{Invoked|Trope}}; Paul's Pokémon ''have'' to be highly powerful, or else they'll get released. Befitting of Paul, his roster covers a wide range of types and battle styles for almost any situation. Also, in addition to their power, Paul becomes particularly good in the last quarter of the series at strategic teambuilding. Every member on his team knows exactly what their job is, and because of this, are all extremely effective at getting it done.

* SacrificialLamb: Aggron and Gastrodon are used as expendable Pokémon to uncover Ash's strategy during their league match.

* SacrificialLamb: Gastrodon and Aggron are used as expendable Pokémon to uncover Ash's strategy during their league match.

** 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. This results in Ash having three exhausted 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.

* BareFistedMonk: He knows the Fighting-type move Double Kick, which is super effective against Steel-type moves like Registeel. He doesn't even manages to take it down on ground with it.

* TheWorfEffect: 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.

'''Major Characters:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesMisty Misty]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBrock Brock]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesMay May]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDawn Dawn]] | '''Paul''' | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesIris Iris]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSerena Serena]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesGoh Goh]] \\

--> Paul: “And here I thought Ash was pathetic.”

* StealthPun: He puts his Pokémon through TrainingFromHell and abandons them when they don't live up to his expectations. In other words, the way he treats them is "a-Paul-ing."

* MakeMeWannaShout: 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 it also stops their movements temporarily.

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

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

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

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: He was more visibly sinister and prone to [[PsychoticSmirk psychotic smirks]] in his first appearance, but from his second and onward he was more [[TheStoic stoic]] in his jerkassery.

* ArchEnemy: 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. He's also the only one of Ash's rivals who challenges him philosophically, rather than just competitively.

* BloodKnight: 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 violent or aggressive, with even the kinder ones such as Torterra not being playful at all on the battlefield.

* PreFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Of Ash's story arc in ''Journeys''. He's the last obstacle in Ash's road to the Masters Eight, and a major test of whether or not Ash has what it takes to compete with the best of the best in the Pokémon world.]]

* MoralityPet: 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 even once, even after learning it had gone behind his back to help Ash's Grotle.

* RememberTheNewGuy: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. In "Top-Down Training!" it's revealed that he's been a trainer just as long as Ash and like him, he's traveled to Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn and competed in all their League Conferences before returning to Sinnoh to take on its league. Yet he's obviously nowhere to be seen in any of those episodes since he doesn't make his debut until ''Diamond and Pearl''. Granted, it was never stated that he went to those regions in the same order as Ash.

** He rudely insults Maylene after [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping]] her in battle, calling her the weakest Gym Leader he'd ever fought. Cruel as it was, though, Maylene herself admitted he was right -- she and her Pokémon were completely out of sync.

* AlmightyJanitor: [[spoiler: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.