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. He also has a habit of scolding his Pokémon for losing to opponents he feels they could have beaten, and this was a recurring trait when he owned Chimchar. He also scolded his Honchkrow when it lost to Ash's newly evolved Staraptor in DP118. As a person, he is very callous and even at times brutal, especially in battle; and as a result, he 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 disagrees with his brother for 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. When Reggie was a roaming Pokemon trainer, he lost to Brandon as revealed in DP128. Reggie's loss to Brandon is what caused Paul to be so adamant about strength in battle. In DP128, he challenged Brandon to a full battle in hopes that he'd be able to do what his brother never could. However, Paul lost to Brandon without being able to knockout a single one of his Pokémon.
At the beginning it was assumed that Paul was a trainer just starting out. However this was proven false in Top-Down Training where he revealed that he had already traveled through Kanto, Johto and Hoenn, participating in their respective Leagues before returning to Sinnoh. In DP128, it was revealed that Kanto was the very first region he traveled through.
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 criticizing Paul's training methods and then he uses similar methods, such as entering the Wallace Cup, despite Ash's motivations being clearly different than Paul's.
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:
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.
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.
It can be assumed, if not confirmed, that Paul also has complete sets of badges from Kanto, Johto and Hoenn, as he has entered all three of their league conferences.
Pokémon League
Paul has competed (off-screen) in the following Pokémon League competitions:
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. 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.
File:SugimoriSilverSketch.jpgSugimori's sketch of SilverSeveral 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.
Ash has battled Paul five times. The first one happened in When Pokémon Worlds Collide!, which resulted in a draw. Three episodes later, they had another duel, which Ash lost. After seventy-five more episodes, they have a rematch in Chim - Charred!, which resulted in a tie. They have another battle in Aiding the Enemy, which Ash lost. They compete against each other in a PokéRinger competition in DP118, where Ash claimed his first victory. Altogether, Paul has beaten Ash twice, lost once, and ended in two draws. They will have their first full battle in DP131 and DP132.
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 Ash's main rival, Gary:
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