Ash's strongest rival

[benknightprime]

FOOLS Gary would destroy Paul

 

[MonkeyX]

paul was pretty much an anime version of silver from the games pauls drapion was a beast and lets not forget when ash beat gary his CHARIZARD beat BLASTOISE wich makes gary look sucky so i vote 4 paul

 

[WaterTrainer243]

Gary was good, but IMHO, even though I don't like the guy I think Paul was Ash's strongest rival so far. I mean, given the way he treated his pokemon and how he battles Ash, he had more wins against Ash than most of Ash's other rivals, even Gary! But if you ask me, Ash should've had his Charizard in a battle against Paul just to shut him up!

 

[Wavern64]

Guys guys... We can all agree his srongest rival is Bianca XD




JK, I think either Gladion, Paul, or Gary

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Ash's Strongest Rival
Alain

Ash's Greatest Rival
Paul

 

[SinnohEevee]

I don't like Paul, but he destroys Gary, only to lose to Alain.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Ash's Strongest Rival
Alain

Ash's Greatest Rival
Paul

Let me fix this for you.

Ash's Strongest Rival
Alain

Ash's Greatest Rival
Gary



Also, guys, should we even be posting here? This thread is 8 years old...

 

[keepitsimple]

If you're all going to necro an ancient thread at least do it to an interesting one

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Let me fix this for you.
Ash's Greatest Rival
Gary

I'd say Gary is probably Ash's coolest rival ever.But "Ash's greatest rival ever"?Gary barley made appearances,when he was still a trainer him and Ash only battled twice,Paul and Ash battled a total of 7 times (8 if you count the pokeringer contest).

He has a backstory involving his brother and the Pyramid King Brandon,had a storyline with his Chimchar,and just flat out had more appearances.Their rivalry was literally the best thing about the DP series imo,their philosophies constantly clashed in terms of catching,training,and battling.

Paul was always one step ahead of him,just like Gary was back in OS except Paul was consistently beating him before the league,Trip accomplished the same feat but when we put context into that Trip beat a nerfed version of Ash,DP Ash would run circles around him.

 

[Genaller]

Power Rankings:

1. Alain
2. Paul
3. Sawyer
4. Gary
5. Trip
6. Stephan
7. Morrison
8. Conway

Skill Rankings:

1. Paul
2. Sawyer
3. Conway
4. Alain
5. Trip
6. Gary
7. Stephan
8. Morrison

All of the above trainers have had a league battle with Ash and have also faced him at least once before the league (though it was in a tag battle for Conway).

 

[AdvancedGenGenesect]

I'd say Gary is probably Ash's coolest rival ever.But "Ash's greatest rival ever"?Gary barley made appearances,when he was still a trainer him and Ash only battled twice,Paul and Ash battled a total of 7 times (8 if you count the pokeringer contest).

He has a backstory involving his brother and the Pyramid King Brandon,had a storyline with his Chimchar,and just flat out had more appearances.Their rivalry was literally the best thing about the DP series imo,their philosophies constantly clashed in terms of catching,training,and battling.

Paul was always one step ahead of him,just like Gary was back in OS except Paul was consistently beating him before the league,Trip accomplished the same feat but when we put context into that Trip beat a nerfed version of Ash,DP Ash would run circles around him.

Ok yeah, I agree that Paul could be considered stronger that Gary but I would definitely not call him the greatest.

The first philosophy that we learn in the anime is the importance of the relationship between a pokemon and it's trainer, so after 6 seasons of it's importance some guy comes around and says he doesn't do it and rather treats his pokemon more like tools/assets rather than living things, you know he's bound to fail. No seriously anyone except a 6 year old could tell Paul would fail eventually, making him the most predictable when it comes to ash's rivals.

And beside his predictability problem, Paul accomplishes nothing outside the lore of DP. I mean he does make ash question his own crap, but practically that did nothing in the end cause Paul lost to Ash anyway. And then there's the fact that ash loses to him constantly. Sure it was fin the first time considering ash wasn't very suited when it came to sinnoh pokemon, but all the other times don't make sense. Ash was a very skilled trainer, he'd beaten the orange league, conquered the Battle Frontier and placed high in pokemon leagues, but some rookie like Paul got the better of him. It almost feels like ash was downgraded solely for Paul to beat him.

 

[mehmeh1]

Ok yeah, I agree that Paul could be considered stronger that Gary but I would definitely not call him the greatest.

The first philosophy that we learn in the anime is the importance of the relationship between a pokemon and it's trainer, so after 6 seasons of it's importance some guy comes around and says he doesn't do it and rather treats his pokemon more like tools/assets rather than living things, you know he's bound to fail. No seriously anyone except a 6 year old could tell Paul would fail eventually, making him the most predictable when it comes to ash's rivals.

And beside his predictability problem, Paul accomplishes nothing outside the lore of DP. I mean he does make ash question his own crap, but practically that did nothing in the end cause Paul lost to Ash anyway. And then there's the fact that ash loses to him constantly. Sure it was fin the first time considering ash wasn't very suited when it came to sinnoh pokemon, but all the other times don't make sense. Ash was a very skilled trainer, he'd beaten the orange league, conquered the Battle Frontier and placed high in pokemon leagues, but some rookie like Paul got the better of him. It almost feels like ash was downgraded solely for Paul to beat him.

pretty sure it was established later on in the series that paul had also already participated in other leagues (johto and hoenn IIRC)

 

[AdvancedGenGenesect]

pretty sure it was established later on in the series that paul had also already participated in other leagues (johto and hoenn IIRC)

Still, they should be on the same page when it comes to experiance in training, pauls philosophy shouldn't be a reason for him always beating ash, in the anime it doesn't work. No to mention that many pokemon would've left him or vise versa.

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Ok yeah, I agree that Paul could be considered stronger that Gary but I would definitely not call him the greatest.

The first philosophy that we learn in the anime is the importance of the relationship between a pokemon and it's trainer, so after 6 seasons of it's importance some guy comes around and says he doesn't do it and rather treats his pokemon more like tools/assets rather than living things, you know he's bound to fail. No seriously anyone except a 6 year old could tell Paul would fail eventually, making him the most predictable when it comes to ash's rivals.

And beside his predictability problem, Paul accomplishes nothing outside the lore of DP. I mean he does make ash question his own crap, but practically that did nothing in the end cause Paul lost to Ash anyway. And then there's the fact that ash loses to him constantly. Sure it was fin the first time considering ash wasn't very suited when it came to sinnoh pokemon, but all the other times don't make sense. Ash was a very skilled trainer, he'd beaten the orange league, conquered the Battle Frontier and placed high in pokemon leagues, but some rookie like Paul got the better of him. It almost feels like ash was downgraded solely for Paul to beat him.

https://forums.serebii.net/threads/does-the-paul-rivalry-send-a-wrong-message-to-kids.660939/

 

[keepitsimple]

Bruh you brought up the topic of "greatest rival" and only after someone counters your points, you're like "lol, wrong thread bro"

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Power Rankings:

1. Alain
GAP
GAP
2. Paul
3.Virgil
4.Tyson
5.Sawyer
6.Harrison
7.Gary (OS)
8.Cameron
9.Trevor
10.Barry
11.Trip
12.Morrison
13.Stephan
14.Tierno
15.Bianca
16.Ritchie

Skill Rankings:

1. Paul
GAP
GAP
2. Sawyer
3.Trip
4.Alain
5.Virgil
6.Tyson
7.Harrison
8.Barry
9.Gary (OS)
10.Stephan
11.Morrison
12.Tierno
13.Trevor
14.Ritchie
15.Cameron
16.Bianca

Bruh you brought up the topic of "greatest rival" and only after someone counters your points, you're like "lol, wrong thread bro"

Yeah I just didn't care anymore at that point,the person went on to talk about the philosophy of bonding between a trainer and pokemon and then say that Paul was predictable and was bound to fail in the end,the writers used this same formula with Gary and Trip.

Paul pretty much had Ash beat at the SL,but luckily for Ash Hax Blaze and Plot saved his a**.

 

[Genaller]

Anime Rival Trainer Tier List

- God Tier
Alain, Tobias

- Tier-0
Paul, Sawyer

- Tier-1
Virgil, Tyson, Dino, Gary, Harrison, Trip

- Tier-2
Cameron, Trevor, Stephan, Tierno, Barry, Jackson, Nando

- Tier-3
Morrison, Astrid, Katie, Conway, Clark, Macy, Titus

- Tier-4
Jeanette, Ritchie, Bianca, Dominick, Pete, Katharine

- Tier-5
Gilbert, Salvidor

- Tier-6
Mandi, Geraldo

The following criteria was used to determine Ash’s rivals:

1) They have a name.

2) They were a league competitor.

3) They had battled Ash at least once in the series.

 

[AdvancedGenGenesect]

Yeah I just didn't care anymore at that point,the person went on to talk about the philosophy of bonding between a trainer and pokemon and then say that Paul was predictable and was bound to fail in the end,the writers used this same formula with Gary and Trip.

Paul pretty much had Ash beat at the SL,but luckily for Ash Hax Blaze and Plot saved his a**.

I don't remember this Trip you speak of, but If I remember correctly, there was never a time Gary acted that harsh to any of his pokemon. Yes, he was a prick to OTHER PEOPLE but not to his Pokemon. And the fact that there's only one other rival that possibly is as predictable out of all ash's rivals, just furthers my point on.

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

I don't remember this Trip you speak of, but If I remember correctly, there was never a time Gary acted that harsh to any of his pokemon. Yes, he was a prick to OTHER PEOPLE but not to his Pokemon. And the fact that there's only one other rival that possibly is as predictable out of all ash's rivals, just furthers my point on.

So you don't like the way Paul treated Chimchar,his other pokemon were fine with Paul's system.I don't see what everything Paul did throughout DP as predictable at all,the guy wanted capture the strongest pokemon in the wild,scanned their moveset with his pokedex,then decide to either keep em or release em.After that he'd put them through rigorous training and then use them in battle,if Paul doesn't feel like they met his expectations he released them.

None of Ash's rivals before or after DP were doing what Paul was doing,he also had a reputation for being a smart competitive battler like switching during battles,using status moves,taking advantage of abilities,and planning ahead.

I find none of this predictable,the only reason you find it predictable is because he's looked as the bad guy and will eventually get what's coming to him.Well for one he isn't the main character and if he was he would have won a league already.If the guy came to the Unova region the same time as Ash he's easily winning the whole damn thing.

 

[Blaze Master X]

The Strongest Rival = Alain
The Smartest Rival = Paul