Original Title: Rival Battle! Three VS Three!!
Original Airdate: September 28, 2006
US Airdate: April 20, 2007 (special airing), June 6, 2007 (in sequence)
Ash has his first run-ins with Paul, an upstart trainer in Sinnoh who's a bit of a jerk. After fighting off Team Rocket again and finally meeting up with Dawn and Pikachu, Ash gets his first formal challenge in the Sinnoh region.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Characterization Marches On: Paul is much more vitriolic in his dismissiveness towards Ash in this episode, and even flashes an occasional Psychotic Smirk. Later episodes retain his condescension and Jerkassery, but make him go about it more stoically, and rarely addressing Ash by name.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Paul, who made a brief cameo in the last scene of the previous episode, is officially introduced here as Ash's new rival. His Chimchar also makes an appearance in his battle with Ash, but will not receive any real focus until its next appearance, though we do get a good glimpse of how poorly Paul treats it.
- In their first battle, Paul and Ash battle to a draw. Paul's Starly beats Ash's Starly, Aipom beats Chimchar, and Pikachu and Elekid faint at the same time. Ash tries to say that he should've lost because Pikachu went down first, even though the battle was judged a draw.
- Establishing Character Moment: You know how Paul mentioned he would not have bothered catching a Starly the way Ash caught his? Well, the Starly he used against Ash was the third one he had caught; he released the first two because they didn't know Aerial Ace when he caught them. And then, he releases his Starly after the battle, reasoning he can find a stronger Starly.
- Hate at First Sight: Ash and Paul’s first-time meeting. All Paul has to do is open his mouth and essentially call both Ash’s Starly, and his own two Starly he releases Pokémon “useless” for Ash to hate his guts immediately, and Paul doesn’t like Ash anymore than Ash likes him.
- Pet the Dog: Despite Paul's attitude, he does have the courtesy to thank Professor Rowan for the use of the field after his and Ash's Pokémon battle.
- Trash the Set: A variation: Ash's Advanced Generation outfit gets damaged in a battle with Team Rocket, right before he receives his Diamond & Pearl outfit.
- Villain Takes an Interest: In this scenario, Ash catches the attention of his new Sinnoh rival, Paul. At first, Paul is not impressed with Ash because he only has two Pokemon with him. However, when Ash talks about his missing Pikachu and how it knows Volt Tackle, and Paul sees the aftermath of Team Rocket's failed attempt to capture Pikachu, he becomes interested. Paul then follows and waits for Ash so they can have a fair 3v3 battle.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: In the episode's climax, Ash and Paul's first battle ended in a draw. Although Ash believed he lost due to Pikachu being the first to fall, it clearly indicated that the journey toward the Sinnoh League would not be easy.
