Ash has had many rivals over the course of the Pokémon anime, and it all started with the rude Gary Oak, but he's a gentleman compared to Paul. Many fans Gary's arrogant and smarmy behavior from the early days of the series, but Gary grew as a character and isn't like that at all in modern appearances. There's one rival of Ash's, however, whose worst was far darker than Gary ever dreamed of.
Whenever Ash enters a new region, it's not uncommon for him to pick up a new rival or two. Often they're based on rival characters from the games, (Gary is based on the first Pokémon games Champion Blue), but others are created just for the anime, specifically to contrast Ash. One such rival character from the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl anime is Paul, a trainer with a harsh training regime for his Pokémon and a cold heart towards those he doesn't consider strong enough. He dismisses Ash's ability, even though their first battle ended in a tie, and immediately releases one of his Pokémon that he felt didn't perform well enough.
Paul Is The Cruelest Of Ash's Pokémon Rivals
Simply releasing a Pokémon is, of course, not an inherently malicious act, but Paul dismisses his Starly for being "weak", and this isn't a one-off incident, either. When he battled alongside Ash in a tag-team tournament, he appears in possession of a Chimchar. Paul yells at and berates his Chimchar, attacking it repeatedly with his own Pokémon, apparently trying to trigger its Blaze ability to no avail. After the tournament, Paul releases the Chimchar and tells it to get lost. Ash, however, immediately recruits this Chimchar to his team, and after evolving into Infernape the little fire monkey would become one of Ash's strongest Pokémon ever.
Paul's original characterization is almost a satirical take on min-maxing players of the Pokémon games, unconcerned with individual Pokémon and only interested in raw power. It definitely makes a good contrast with Ash's friendship-driven training methods, and it certainly made him into a rival that fans couldn't wait to see lose. Interestingly, Paul does get some character growth over Diamond and Pearl, seeing how Ash is able to raise this Chimchar up to an Infernape and get it to activate its Blaze ability. Ash ultimately defeats Paul in the Sinnoh League tournament, solidly winning his respect. Paul even manages to grumble a "thank you" to his Pokémon after losing to Ash, something that Ash and others often do when their Pokémon faint. He shows up again in Journeys, where he tries to help Ash prepare for the Masters Eight tournament by using Pokémon similar to his future opponents.
Paul Was Cruel But He Also Got A Lot Of Character Development
Paul stands out not only as one of Ash's cruelest rivals ever but also as one who had the most character development, learning the error of his ways and eventually changing to be more like Ash. It's also a great message for the Pokémon anime to have, that even someone who does behave badly doesn't have to do so forever, and can learn from people like Ash and grow into a better person.
