Paul (Japanese: シンジ Shinji) is a rival of Ash in the anime 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 小島清孝 Kiyotaka Furushima in Japanese and Julián Rebolledo in English.

Paul always checks new captures with his Pokédex to learn what attacks they know. He strongly dislikes weak Pokémon and has a habit of releasing them if they do not meet up to his high expectations.

Paul feels that Ash is a weak trainer and can easily bring on Ash's anger by stating it. He appears to feel indifference to Brock and Dawn, showing that he didn't even know Dawn's name in A Gruff Act to Follow. However, Paul has shown respect for some characters, in particular Professor Rowan.

Pokémon

This listing is of Paul's Pokémon as of the most recent Japanese episode:

On hand

• Chimchar (Seiyū: 林原めぐみ Megumi Hayashibara)

Chimchar is Paul's Starter Pokémon. In battles against Ash, it lost to Aipom but won against Turtwig. It also played an important role in Paul's first Gym Battle.

Main article: Paul's Chimchar

• Elekid (Seiyū: 三宅健太 Kenta Miyake)

It is unknown when Paul obtained Elekid as it was already a part of his team in his first appearance. Elekid has been used in battle against Roark and Ash's Pikachu.

Main article: Paul's Elekid

• Ursaring

Paul caught Ursaring in Different Strokes for Different Blokes. Paul caught it with the help of his Chimchar and decided it was strong enough to keep.

Main article: Paul's Ursaring

• Murkrow

Murkrow was obtained sometime prior to Champion Cynthia Appears!. It battled against Cynthia's Garchomp, but lost.

Main article: Paul's Murkrow

• Torterra

Torterra was originally Paul's starter as a Turtwig. With it, Paul has travelled to Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, and competed in each of the championships staged there. It made it's first appearance in Champion Cynthia Appears!, where it lost in battle against Cynthia's Garchomp.

Main article: Paul's Torterra

Released

• Starly ×3 (Seiyū: 三木眞一郎 Shin'ichirō Miki*)

In DP003, Paul caught three Starly and immediately released two, keeping the one that had learned Aerial Ace. Paul's Starly defeated Ash's Starly in the first battle between Ash and Paul yet he still decided to release it after the battle.

• Stantler (Seiyū: 小西克幸 Katsuyuki Konishi)

While travelling in a forest in Different Strokes for Different Blokes, Paul battled a Stantler with his Chimchar and caught it. However, on checking it with his Pokédex he decided it was too weak for his team so he promptly released it.

• Azumarill (Seiyū: 川上とも子 Tomoko Kawakami)

Paul caught Azumarill for his battle with Roark in Shapes of Things to Come, attempting to use the type advantage over the Rock 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 off-screen during DP016.

Main article: Paul's Azumarill

* No official credit was given for this character.

Badges obtained

• Coalbadge

Trivia

• His Japanese name, Shinji, can be taken to be 信二, which literally means faithful second (son). He may be named for 宮崎慎二 Shinji Miyazaki, who is the composer of the music of the Pokémon anime. Paul appears to reference Pokémon Pearl as Dawn references Pokémon Diamond. This can also be applied to his Japanese name--the Japanese word for "pearl" is shinju (真珠), though there is no link to Dawn's Japanese name.
  The name Shinji is a reference to Shinji Miyazaki, while the name Paul is a reference to Paul Baron, a staff member at The Pokémon Company as well as the Pearl version, in contrast to Dawn representing the Diamond Version.
• File:SugimoriSilverSketch.jpg

  Sugimori's sketch of Silver
  Several similarities have been noted between Paul and another 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, down to the angle and position of the hands and feet.
• 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.
• 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 merely coincidence is unknown.
• Due to similar looks, there is speculation amongst some fans that Brandon is Paul's father or at least a relative of his. Again, it is unknown whether or not this is merely a coincidence.

External links

• Shinji's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
• Shinji's Pokémon on Pokeani (Japanese)

Template:Animestub

Paul's Pokémon
On hand:	Electivire	Gyarados	Garchomp	Metagross
At home:	Ursaring	Weavile	Honchkrow	Torterra	Ninjask	Gliscor
	Magmortar	Hariyama	Nidoking	Aggron	Gastrodon	Drapion
	Froslass
Released:	Starly (×3)	Stantler	Chimchar
Given away:	Azumarill