Paul
- This article is about the character from the Diamond & Pearl series. For the English voice actor credited 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!.
Personality and training
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:
On hand
 → → Turtwig → Grotle → Torterra | |
 →  Elekid → Electabuzz |
 → Murkrow → Honchkrow |
 → Magmar → Magmortar |
 Weavile |
 Ursaring | |
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 Template:Type2 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.
In Veilstone City, Reggie told Ash that Paul's "other Pokémon are here too" which may include his reserves.
 Gliscor |
 Lairon | ||||
 Hariyama |
 Nidoking | ||||
As seen in a preview of DP131, Ursaring, Lairon, Hariyama, Nidoking and Gliscor were unseen.
Known badges obtained
Sinnoh League
- Coal Badge (Shapes of Things to Come!)
- Cobble Badge (prior to Lost Leader Strategy!)
- Relic Badge (prior to Aiding the Enemy)
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:
Pokémon competitions
- Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition (Champion - with Ash) (Smells Like Team Spirit!)
- PokéRinger (Runner-up) (DP118)
Voice actors
- Japanese
- 古島清孝 Kiyotaka Furushima
- English
- Brazilian
- Portuguese
- Czech
- Zdeněk Hruška
- Spanish
- Diego Armando Nieves (Latin-American)
- Pablo Sevilla (Spain)
- Polish
- Artur Pontek
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. 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.
- 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
- 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.
- The majority of the Pokémon that Paul has on his team 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).
- 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:
- Paul's Torterra is similar to Gary's Blastoise, as in that 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 and a Nidoking.
- Paul often acts rudely to Ash, much like Gary did until the end of the Johto saga.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | シンジ Shinji | Possibly from 真珠 shinju (pearl) |
| English, French, German, Spanish | Paul | Possibly from pearl |
| Spanish | Polo | Spanish adaptation of Paul |
| Korean | 진철 Jincheol | |
| Chinese | 真司 Zhēnsī | From the name 真司 Shinji. |
External links
- Shinji's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
- Shinji's Pokémon on Pokeani (Japanese)
| Paul's Pokémon | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On hand: | |||||||
| At home: | |||||||
| Released: | |||||||
| Given away: | |||||||
