Paul
(Japanese: シンジ Shinji) is a rival of Ash in the anime from Tobari City in Sinnoh. He was first introduced in DP002. He is voiced by 小島清孝 Kiyotaka Furushima.
Shinji was first revealed to the fandom through a CoroCoro scan that showed him alongside Ash and Hikari. 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.
Several similarities have been noted between Shinji and another rival, Silver. For example, the pose used in Shinji'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.
In DP003, Shinji caught three Starly and immediately released two, keeping the one that had learned Aerial Ace, but later released that one as well despite it having defeated Ash's Starly.
Pokémon
This listing is of Shinji's Pokémon as of the most recent Japanese episode:
On hand
- Chimchar (Seiyū: 林原めぐみ Megumi Hayashibara)
- Elekid (Seiyū: 三宅健太 Kenta Miyake)
- Ursaring
- Murkrow
Released
- Starly ×3 (Seiyū: 三木眞一郎 Shin'ichirō Miki*)
- Stantler (Seiyū: 小西克幸 Katsuyuki Konishi)
- Azumarill (Seiyū: 川上とも子 Tomoko Kawakami) (Traded for Murkrow)
* No official credit was given for this character.
Badges obtained
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.