Paul
- This article is about the character from the Diamond & Pearl series. For the English voice actor famously known as Ed Paul, see Ted Lewis.
| Paul シンジ Shinji | |
| [[File:File:ShinjiDP.png|{{{size}}}]] Paul | |
| Age | 11 (est. by Pokeani) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Eye color | Black |
| Hair color | Purple |
| Hometown | Veilstone City |
| Region | Sinnoh |
| Relatives | Reggie (brother) |
| Trainer class | Trainer |
| Anime debut | Two Degrees of Separation |
| English voice actor | Julián Rebolledo |
| Japanese voice actor | Kiyotaka Furushima |
Paul (Japanese: シンジ Shinji) is a rival of Ash in the anime. He is from Veilstone City in Sinnoh. He was first seen at the end of Two Degrees of Separation, though his full introduction was in When Pokémon Worlds Collide. He is voiced by 古島清孝 Kiyotaka Furushima in Japanese and Julián Rebolledo in English. Internationally, he is played by Diego Armando Nieves in Latin American Spanish and Gabriel Noya in the Brazilian dub.
Paul's only concern in his Pokémon is of their strength in battle. He strongly dislikes weak Pokémon and has a habit of releasing them if they do not meet his high expectations. To this effect, Paul always checks new captures with his Pokédex to learn what moves they know and trains the Pokémon he keeps harshly to make them strong. He feels that bonding with Pokémon would only turn them into slackers. As a person, Paul has been shown to have very little emotion other than an occasional rough smile.
Sometimes, he gives some of his Pokémon to his brother, Reggie, for temporary training and caretaking, as revealed in Lost Leader Strategy!. Paul also feels dislike for his brother after giving up on being a Pokémon trainer after failing to get the Brave Symbol. He feels his brother's approach and view on this to be wrong.
At the beginning it was assumed that Paul was a trainer just starting out. However this was proven untrue in Top-Down Training where he revealed that he had already traveled through Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn and participated in their respective leagues before coming back to Sinnoh.
Paul feels that Ash is a weak trainer and can easily bring on Ash's anger by stating it. Ash's very different attitude towards being friends with Pokémon also provides much fuel to their rivalry. Paul barely recognizes their rivalry and Ash as a trainer and ignores Ash's speeches about loving his Pokémon. Ash on the other hand has a near hatred of Paul that flares up at Paul's indifference to his Pokémon. However Ash accepts that Paul is a strong trainer but considers himself on the same par as him.
Although Paul finds most of Ash's Pokémon weak, he has shown a particular interest in his Pikachu. Paul is also angered by how Ash contradicts himself by criticising Paul's training methods and then he uses similar methods, such as entering the Wallace Cup.
Paul appears to feel indifference to Dawn, showing that he didn't even know her name in A Gruff Act to Follow. Paul shows mild respect, as well as distaste towards Brock, probably because Brock supports Ash's view on Pokémon. Paul does show respect for his elders, such as Professor Rowan, Cynthia and Nurse Joy.
Pokémon
This listing is of Paul's Pokémon as of the most recent Japanese episode:
On hand
 → → Turtwig → Grotle → Torterra |
 Weavile | ||
 → Murkrow → Honchkrow |
 Gliscor |
 Magmar | |
As a result of Paul's selective team creation, his active team is composed of Pokémon that he deems to be powerful. While the captures of Ursaring and Gliscor were shown in Different Strokes for Different Blokes and Riding the Winds of Change! respectively, the rest were obtained off-screen.
Released
 Starly x3 |
 Stantler |
 Chimchar |
It is implied that Paul has caught and released many more Pokémon than has been shown on-screen. Two of the Starly caught in When Pokémon Worlds Collide and the Stantler caught in Different Strokes for Different Blokes were released as soon as he checked them on his Pokédex. The final Starly was kept due to its knowledge of Aerial Ace and used against Ash's Starly in their first battle. Despite Paul's Starly winning, Paul decided it was not up to his standards and so it was released after the battle.
Chimchar's capture was shown in a flashback in Glory Blaze. Paul releases it at the end of that episode. Ash then offers Chimchar a place on his team and it happily accepts.
Given away
 Azumarill |
Paul caught Azumarill for his battle with Roark in Shapes of Things to Come, attempting to use the type advantage over the Rock-type Pokémon. However, Roark's Geodude had little trouble in defeating the Water Pokémon. After such a loss, Paul gave Azumarill away to a little boy during A Gruff Act to Follow.
Status unknown
 Ninjask |
 Graveler |
Ninjask was caught shortly before Paul saw Chimchar, as shown in a flashback in Glory Blaze.
In one of Chimchar's flashbacks in Tears for Fears of its training with Paul, a Graveler was seen using Rock Throw on Chimchar while Paul was telling it to use its ability, Blaze. This might mean that Graveler belongs to Paul and is used for training Chimchar.
In Veilstone City, Reggie told Ash that Paul's "other Pokémon are here too". Whether it includes Ninjask or possibly Graveler is also unknown.
 →  Elekid → Electabuzz |
 Ursaring | |
As of DP100, Paul was shown to have Torterra, Weavile, Gliscor, Honchkrow, and Magmar on his team, while Ursaring and Electabuzz were unseen. It is unknown which of the two Paul has on hand, if he even does have either one of them at all.
Known badges obtained
Sinnoh League
Pokémon League
Paul has competed (off-screen) in the following Pokémon League competitions:
Pokémon competitions
- Sinnoh Double Battle Tournament (Champion - with Ash)
Trivia
- Paul was first revealed to the fandom through a CoroCoro scan that showed him alongside Ash and Dawn. However, his name and role was not revealed until the following week and so he received the fan name "Nugai", coined by Pie as a play on the phrase "new guy". The first scan showed him commanding a Chimchar.
- His Japanese name, Shinji, can be taken to be 信二, which literally means faithful second (son). This fits, as he has an older brother, Reggie. He may be named for 宮崎慎二 Shinji Miyazaki, who is the composer of the music of the Pokémon anime. The name Paul, meanwhile, is a reference to Paul Baron, a staff member at The Pokémon Company, as well as Pokémon Pearl, in contrast to Dawn referencing Pokémon Diamond. This can also be applied to his Japanese name— the Japanese word for "pearl" is shinju (真珠), though there is no such link for Dawn's Japanese name. There is, however, a link in Dawn's own rival, Kenny, whose Japanese name of ケンゴ Kengo is similar to the Japanese 金剛 kongo.
- Paul's Japanese name is Shinji and his brother Reggie's Japanese name (Reiji) contains "Rei". Shinji and Rei are both names of characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Several similarities have been noted between Paul and a game rival, Silver. Their personalities are especially similar. Another interesting similarity is that the pose used in Paul's stock art is the same as the pose in a picture of Silver drawn by Ken Sugimori, right down to the angle and position of the hands and feet. Paul has similar taste in Pokémon to the Silver portrayed in Pokémon Special. Both have an Ursaring. Both have also owned a Murkrow at one point, and assuming Paul caught his Weavile as a Sneasel, both have owned a Sneasel at one point.File:SugimoriSilverSketch.jpgSugimori's sketch of Silver
- All of the Pokémon that Paul has on his team except his Torterra, are part of an evolution family related to Generation II.
- Ursaring was introduced in Generation II.
- Honchkrow, Weavile and Gliscor are Generation IV Pokémon, but evolve from Generation II Pokémon (Murkrow, Sneasel and Gligar, respectively).
- Electabuzz and Magmar were introduced in Generation I, but evolve from Generation II Pokémon (Elekid and Magby, respectively).
- Paul's hometown is Veilstone City, which happens to be the home of the main headquarters of Team Galactic. Whether or not this is a coincidence is unknown.
- Also, Paul shares two Pokémon with the Team Galactic Boss, Cyrus: Honchkrow and Weavile.
- Paul is the only rival to have had two starter Pokémon in his team, but eventually releases one of them.
- Similar to Ash's previous rival Gary, whose starter was a Squirtle, which is based on a turtle, Paul's starter is also based on a turtle.
- Except for Ash's Buizel, most of Ash's on hand team is related to Paul and/or his Pokémon in some way:
- Ash's Pikachu had a rivalry with Electabuzz.
- Ash's Chimchar used to be owned by Paul.
- Ash's Grotle has an evolved counterpart that Paul currently uses. Grotle also evolved during a battle with Paul.
- Ash's Gliscor is a direct counterpart to Paul's and, as a Gligar, was part of the Gligar pack led by Paul's Gliscor.
- Staravia is an example of Ash's training differing from Paul's. Paul previously owned several Starly, but released them all.
- Ash and Paul have battled 4 times. Two of these times, their battle was a draw, but Paul beat Ash in their second battle using Chimchar against Turtwig. Paul and Ash battled a 4th time in DP100, where Paul won.
- Some of Paul's Pokémon are based off Pokémon owned by other rivals of Ash and his friends. There are also some traits he shares with some rivals, as well:
- Paul's Torterra is in a same fashion as Gary's Blastoise, as they are turtle-based starter Pokémon.
- Paul's Electabuzz is in the same evolution family as Gary's Electivire, as Electabuzz evolves into Electivire.
- Both Paul and Gary have a Magmar.
- Gary has a Fearow, which Paul tried to catch in A Maze-ing Race!, but kept getting interrupted by Ash and the gang.
- The belief that Chimchar was Paul's starter Pokémon in its first few episodes is much like the belief that Gary's Umbreon, as an Eevee, was Gary's starter.
- Paul often acts rudely to Ash, much like Gary did until the end of the Johto saga.
- Paul sometimes leaves his reserve Pokémon with his brother for training, much like Gary leaves his Pokémon at Professor Oak's Lab.
- Paul has owned two Pokémon that are voiced by Bill Rogers in the dub: Chimchar and Weavile.
External links
- Shinji's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
- Shinji's Pokémon on Pokeani (Japanese)
| Paul's Pokémon | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On hand: | |||||||
| At home: | |||||||
| Released: | |||||||
| Given away: | |||||||
