TheNewGuy
Well-Known Member
Ash beats Paul using his current strategies?
What I mean is, Paul has been presented for the most part like the "bad guy" with his constant rudeness and mistreatment of Pokemon like Chimchar. There's no doubt he's the antagonist and that's fine. However, Paul's strategies are, by the anime's standards, excellent. The way he uses Electabuzz's protect, set-up moves, and switches; to be honest, he's one of the few anime characters who could do decently in the IRL competitive metagame!
This is bad, though, because of the way Paul has been presented. It's almost as if the show is saying that his strategies are bad, and that his craftiness shouldn't be as rewarding as it is. I don't like the idea that Ash will beat Paul without there being a mutual learning between the two of them, ie, Paul maybe treats his mons a little better and Ash becomes a smarter trainer because of battling a calibre of opponent that he has rarely, if ever, faced.
You could certainly make the argument that the only bigger test for him was Brandon (who has also easily beaten Paul); I'd take Paul over any of the people Ash lost to in the leagues, though Paul might struggle with Drake from the Orange league.
Right now (though he's been getting a little better as of late), Ash is decisively outclassed tactically by Paul. I think the best course of action for the writers would be for Ash to improve and tactically surprise Paul. He's done it before, but those have been fortunate, context-sensitive situations (like heating the rocks to beat Gary). Paul's strats are reliable and work in most any situation.
What I'm trying to say, and I'm rambling a bit, is that it'd be hugely disappointing if Ash, rather than learning from Paul's superior intelligence, tanked through him in his usual plucky, tactless way.
The best indicator of this would be to see if Ash's Grotle or Torterra can beat Honchkrow. If Ash brings Groterra in on Honchkrow because of the "rivalry" and wins, that just rewards blind faith and idiocy. If Ash is smart enough to at least switch to one of his other options (Pikachu or, with Ice Punch, Buizel) and wins then, we'll have seen development.
Of course that happening is not proof either way but it's an indication, like I said. Ash could switch Grotle out and still win with blind offense, which would be total DEM and a very, very disappointing end to by far the best rivalry in the show's history.
What I mean is, Paul has been presented for the most part like the "bad guy" with his constant rudeness and mistreatment of Pokemon like Chimchar. There's no doubt he's the antagonist and that's fine. However, Paul's strategies are, by the anime's standards, excellent. The way he uses Electabuzz's protect, set-up moves, and switches; to be honest, he's one of the few anime characters who could do decently in the IRL competitive metagame!
This is bad, though, because of the way Paul has been presented. It's almost as if the show is saying that his strategies are bad, and that his craftiness shouldn't be as rewarding as it is. I don't like the idea that Ash will beat Paul without there being a mutual learning between the two of them, ie, Paul maybe treats his mons a little better and Ash becomes a smarter trainer because of battling a calibre of opponent that he has rarely, if ever, faced.
You could certainly make the argument that the only bigger test for him was Brandon (who has also easily beaten Paul); I'd take Paul over any of the people Ash lost to in the leagues, though Paul might struggle with Drake from the Orange league.
Right now (though he's been getting a little better as of late), Ash is decisively outclassed tactically by Paul. I think the best course of action for the writers would be for Ash to improve and tactically surprise Paul. He's done it before, but those have been fortunate, context-sensitive situations (like heating the rocks to beat Gary). Paul's strats are reliable and work in most any situation.
What I'm trying to say, and I'm rambling a bit, is that it'd be hugely disappointing if Ash, rather than learning from Paul's superior intelligence, tanked through him in his usual plucky, tactless way.
The best indicator of this would be to see if Ash's Grotle or Torterra can beat Honchkrow. If Ash brings Groterra in on Honchkrow because of the "rivalry" and wins, that just rewards blind faith and idiocy. If Ash is smart enough to at least switch to one of his other options (Pikachu or, with Ice Punch, Buizel) and wins then, we'll have seen development.
Of course that happening is not proof either way but it's an indication, like I said. Ash could switch Grotle out and still win with blind offense, which would be total DEM and a very, very disappointing end to by far the best rivalry in the show's history.