Paul doesn't seem to bad

S

SpecialAgentKato

New Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
87
Reaction score
0
When you look at some of the earlier trainers, Paul seems ok, there was that mayor, who couldn't be bothered training a bulbasaur to level 16, so he floated it into the sewers, next to him, Paul would be like a saint to his pokemon.
Another example would be if you look at how Ash got the strongest pokemon he ever had, Darius wasn't wanting to train a Charmander, so he left it out in the rain where he thought the flame on it's tail would go out.

All that Paul does when he doesn't want a Pokemon is release it, Chimchar cvould be caught by another trainer very soon after (and was anyway) and the ones that he released straight away didn't seem to be that bothered about being released. Paul just released them, they could be free or join another team, the other two trainers I mentioned, one tried to kill his Charmander, the other tried to make his bulbasaur so that it would be hard for it to get onto anyone else's team.
 
Last edited:
Finally, someone who thinks on the same lines I do.

Paul is a great trainer, and all he does is make sure his pokemon are strong.
I mean, if I was a pokemon trainer, I would be as strict as Paul.
Or other wise I'd end up like Ash. who is pretty weak for the experience he's had.

And that fact that the other two trainers did some pretty horrible stuff to their pokemon, Paul does not psychically hurt his pokemon. And shouldn't have as many haters then he does.
 
Last edited:
Another thing is Pokemon with strict trainers are happy. There was the guy in season 1, he ran a gym that didn't give out badges, and his main Pokemon was Sandshrew, Ash got annoyed that he was being strict and tried to start a mutiny in his gym but his Pokemon were happy with the way they were being treated.

Its sort of like that in real life, if you have a pet dog under control, it knows you are the boss, it is happier that it knows it's place. In a way, calling Paul cruel in the Anime would be like calling Ceasor (the dog whisperer) cruel in real life.
 
Last edited:
Electabuzz seems to be happy with Paul, fine. His training methods give his strong Pokémon more strength even if he isn't that friendly.

You can't excuse his treatment of Chimchar, though. Releasing what he doesn't want is hardly a problem - Rangers let Pokémon return to their natural habitats all the time. But Paul abused the hell out of Chimchar and then just abandoned it in the middle of a battle and made sure to emphasise how weak it was right up until he released it.

As for being scrict, there's a limit. Pokémon are living creatures and have much greater intelligence than the pets of our world. Ash's stance of being friends with Pokémon has constantly been depicted as the 'right' way up until now. Not only is he not weak, his Pokémon have often shown a willingness to fight for him beyond the normal breaking point, which has brought him to many important victories. I'm sure this will happen in his battle against Paul at the league tournament too.
 
Last edited:
Charmander's trainer's name is Damian. Sandshrew's trainer's name is A.J.

And there are also other trainers that have abandoned Pokemon that we've never even seen. Hell, Bulbasaur joined the team after protecting a place meant to help heal abandoned Pokemon. And the entire Squirtle Squad was abandoned as well.

The reason people are so uptight about Paul is because he's a recurring character and that makes him more memorable. They just need to realize he's not the worst their is. And that not everyone is friends with their Pokemon.
 
Last edited:
You haven't been around often Fabuvinny so you might of missed it, but recently Electabuzz has shown signs of respecting Ash in a way that makes me think he might not be as happy with Paul as he was prior to witnessing Ash protect Mukubird.

I pretty much expect Electabuzz to show more signs of restraint in the future, but also he will be the one who makes Paul realizes his errors.

Besides that, Paul is far from iredeemable. In fact, the recent Raichu episode where he watched Ash from the bushes makes me think he's already beginning to question his methods.
 
Paul should stay the way he is because once he starts "seeing the error of his ways" you know he's going to get boring. Most likely that'll happen toward the end of his run anyway, so it shouldn't happen this early on.

Paul is the first successful rival the writers have given Ash since Gary, all other characters like Richie, Casey and the league rivals have all pretty much failed as characters. While some had decent personalities they just weren't popular characters and were only around for a short time.

Turning Paul nice just makes him like the other boring rivals, what he is now is what makes him interesting. After so many characters in this show went sour after the writers tried to change their personalities, its best if he doesn't change at all, or at least not until his final eps.
 
Habunake said:
Besides that, Paul is far from iredeemable. In fact, the recent Raichu episode where he watched Ash from the bushes makes me think he's already beginning to question his methods.
Click to expand...

Or he probably went and told that electric trainer after the battle how weak he was.

I doubt Paul cares about Ash's methods, all he cares about is getting the job done.
 
You know, I'm beginning to see some sort of parallel between how Paul treats his Pokémon and how people here seem to treat the characters of the show. :p

We shouldn't really be pigeon-holing characters into catergories. Yes there are similarities between some characters but certain characters shouldn't be measured by other "yardstick" characters.

Every character is different. None are supposed to be carbon copies of others, and it really takes all kinds, which is why I tend to frown upon bashing characters that appear to be "boring", and yes, this includes Zoey.

Each character that's considered a "rival" is so because they want to attain the same goal as Ash but they have a different method of doing so. They have a gimmick that sets them apart.
 
THANK YOU PDL. Thank you.

I like paul for being a great character and a good rival. Though in personality terms, I love to hate the guy XD Just because he's such a jerk. I'm not partial to "loner" types, and his actions with chimchar sort of made me dislike him a lot more. He's a great character, but not someone I would count as "not all that bad" in terms of pokemon treatment. It's not about whether he tries to get them killed or not, it's more about treating the pokemon as living creatures and not tools for fighting, where you can just toss them away like used tissues, and not even care that the pokemon tried its best and probably will have it's confidence dashed D:
 
Why are loners always the antagonist or anti-hero in shows like this? It gives us a bad rap. Anyway when I first saw Paul I thought "Man, this guys in the wrong anime" I just don't like how he scarred Chimchar like that. Btw, the english dub made it look like Chimchar completely got over it's problems after the Zangoose fight. Not very realistic. I hope that Paul doesn't change to teach kids that there will always be mean people in the world.
 
He wasn't mean to the Pokemon that he kept on his team. Didn't Cynthia at one point compliment how he was raising his Torterra? It really was just Chimchar that got the tough training. Maybe it would have been nicer of him if he put his pokemon in teams of three.

But he still beats Damian for releasing Chimchar, he was honest, he didn't want it, he didn't say he would be back for it and leave it to die. And also, he tried to train it, Damian left charmander to die because he couldn't be bothered training it. And unlike the Mayor, he didn't put it somewhere like a sewer where nobody would get it, he left it where it could easily get onto another team.
 
Last edited:
Paul is just a regular trainer. Just because Ash only talks to hyper freaks who sleep with their Pokemon and spoon feed them and stuff doesn't make Paul cruel. He's the only logical one. After all, why keep more Pokemon to feed when they do nothing? And he's considerate, because unlike Ash, who captures Pokemon like random and dump on poor Oak, he only make his brother take care of a few Pokemon that may have a use later on.
 
Good point. If any old Pokemon came up to Paul and wanted him to catch it (Like how Ash made so many poke-friends) Paul would've scowled and told it to piss off. Paul uses his Pokemon as tools, rather than companions.
 
Paul uses his Pokemon as tools, rather than companions.
Click to expand...
Kind of like a Pokemon Ranger
Have you guys ever considered Shinji being a Pokemon Ranger?

As for the topic, I do think Shinji was nicer than he could've been when he released Hiko-chan.
 
Crystal Clair said:
Kind of like a Pokemon Ranger
Have you guys ever considered Shinji being a Pokemon Ranger?
Click to expand...

That's a very terrible comparison.

For one thing, it's alot of effort on the ranger's part to actually capture the Pokémon. While the Pokémon just stand there in the anime, they make an effort not to be captured in the games.

Secondly, rangers temporarily capture Pokémon to solve problems, such as a dousing a forest fire or moving some rocks. Paul only captures Pokémon and uses them just for his own gain. He doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but himself and his own wishes and desires.

Thirdly, rangers don't abuse the Pokémon that are under their care. They don't call them weak or useless.
 
PDL said:
That's a very terrible comparison.

For one thing, it's alot of effort on the ranger's part to actually capture the Pokémon. While the Pokémon just stand there in the anime, they make an effort not to be captured in the games.

Secondly, rangers temporarily capture Pokémon to solve problems, such as a dousing a forest fire or moving some rocks. Paul only captures Pokémon and uses them just for his own gain. He doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but himself and his own wishes and desires.

Thirdly, rangers don't abuse the Pokémon that are under their care. They don't call them weak or useless.
Click to expand...

And fourthly, Pokemon Rangers don't veiw their pokemon as tools either.

*Can say that as an honest Ranger Fanactic*

Well, on topic, while I don't really like Paul as a person, the one thing I do enjoy about him is that he excites my writer's muse. Weather good or bad, I love mysterious and shady charactors like him. He makes me daydream about all those possibilties about his past.
 
Paul deserves his bad reputation.

He is rather cruel to his pokemon. Sure some of his pokemon seem to take it but I have the feeling he has used and discarded many pokemon during the time he has been a trainer. His only concern is for himself winning, and he cares little for his pokemon.

In the most recent episode [the trade one], the Nurse Joy mentioned that trainers have to adjust to their pokemon, not just the other way around. Paul is making his pokemon adjust to his methods, not trying to find out how to best work with each pokemon. The way he went about trying to untap Chimchar's power might have worked on some of Paul's other pokemon but was the wrong method for Chimchar.

I don’t think Paul has truly gotten all he can out of the pokemon he does have, and has probably passed over or abandoned numerous potentially powerful pokemon because he was unwilling to change his methods and work with them.
 
Please note: The thread is from 18 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom