If so, then I don't know what the world's coming to. *shakes head*
Exactly. I can picture how fangirls see him now. They might think that when it comes time for the tournament saga Paul (and other bit characters) will be the trainer to beat. I might go like this: Ash and Paul square off in some semi-final round in a long and close fight. Somewhere in there (or before the tournament even starts) we learn (if we haven't already) why Paul is bitter and mean in flashback mode. His brother might have something to do with his behavior somehow. Ash would defeat Paul and Paul would go through some kind of Break the Haughty moment, make peace with Ash, his friends, and maybe the Chimchar he abandoned and almost completely reform. Either that, or no one but Ash is willing to forgive him. He will get close to Ash and maybe he will go off to do soul searching or something. It sounds like someone's fanfiction.