December 29th: PM2019 007: The Houen Region, Site of Fierce Fights! The Battle Frontier Challenge!!

[Ignition]

Maybe Paul will appear in this episode? He said he was going to the battle frontier. Unless Paul is in another battle frontier.

Also i hope Ash uses any pokemon from Oak's lab, specially pokemon that can evolve. Would be cool so see him developing and evolving a pokemon, por example Bayleef.

I’d love if Paul came back. It’s been too long.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Imagine if Paul beat Brandon and became a Frontier Brain in Hoenn. That'd be something

Yeah, it would. It'd be a disgrace to the anime.

 

[Leonhart]

Maybe Paul will appear in this episode? He said he was going to the battle frontier. Unless Paul is in another battle frontier.

Also i hope Ash uses any pokemon from Oak's lab, specially pokemon that can evolve. Would be cool so see him developing and evolving a pokemon, por example Bayleef.

If Shinji were returning here, we'd probably know by now since that would be a huge deal. He only needed to defeat Jindai if I remember right, which he could've already done off-screen anyway.

 

[dman_dustin]

If Shinji were returning here, we'd probably know by now since that would be a huge deal. He only needed to defeat Jindai if I remember right, which he could've already done off-screen anyway.

Would they?

They didn't tell us Nagandel was coming back (until it was spoiled) and they left Torracat evolving until the actual episode aired.

So I don't honestly believe they'd actually tell us, since I have no idea of what would be regarded as important or not enough to tell us.

I think its more likely that Paul isn't coming back this episode in a full fledged appearance because we are in the Hoenn region if anything. Pretty sure Paul would only show up in a 4th generation Battle Frontier related episode. Thus I can't see why we would see Paul here. Referenced, sure, showing up? Not too sure on that.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

If there was a point where Ash bought a reserve back, this would be it lol.

 

[Agility]

If Paul is never seen again, it would still be too soon.

Uhhh, what. Paul was a fantastic rival, and a breath of fresh air in a world full of asinine, sugar sweet friendlies. I would enjoy him coming back greatly. Would redeem what a disappointment this series has been so far.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Uhhh, what. Paul was a fantastic rival, and a breath of fresh air in a world full of asinine, sugar sweet friendlies. I would enjoy him coming back greatly. Would redeem what a disappointment this series has been so far.

I've replied on your profile about how you're wrong about this.

 

[Red and Blue]

Seeing Paul again(whether here or a Sinnoh episode)would be a good chance to see how much he has changed his ways

 

[Almighty Zard]

the way this episode is structured so far, seems like a means to introduce Go to trainer battles and how he'll take to them.

 

[Agility]

I've replied on your profile about how you're wrong about this.

Paul was interesting because he broke the mold. He was a character that was hardline and sometimes pushed things too far. His actions might be morally ambiguous but that is damn well what made him so refreshing. You were happy when Chimchar succeeded. You were happy when Ash finally, finally defeated him. You can dislike his actions all you want, but I can't say it didn't make for a damn good story and a satisfying conclusion.

Much more than Trip or Trevor or whoever. They are all cut from the same cloth. Paul was not. And I would love to see more of it.

 

[Master Pikachu 11]

There has to be more to this episode if they went through the trouble to hide the title because if there isn’t then I don’t know what the point of hiding it for the sake of seeing another frontier battle. Also if Ash is just using Pikachu then this episode won’t be nearly as exciting to watch.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Paul was interesting because he broke the mold. He was a character that was hardline and sometimes pushed things too far. His actions might be morally ambiguous but that is damn well what made him so refreshing. You were happy when Chimchar succeeded. You were happy when Ash finally, finally defeated him. You can dislike his actions all you want, but I can't say it didn't make for a damn good story and a satisfying conclusion.

Much more than Trip or Trevor or whoever. They are all cut from the same cloth. Paul was not. And I would love to see more of it.

No, he wasn't. That's called abuse and he never apologized. I was not, and no, it didn't.

 

[Gaorasoage]

Paul was the only good rival but it would feel rushed

No, he wasn't. That's called abuse and he never apologized. I was not, and no, it didn't.

So you are that kind of fan/person yikes...

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Paul was the only good rival but it would feel rushed

So you are that kind of fan/person yikes...

This is basically the only thing I will actually fight about, but I am quite passionate in my hatred.

List of Ash's long-term rivals:

Gary, Nando, Paul, Stephan, Tierno, Alain, Kiawe, Gladion.

EDIT: Trip, Sawyer

People call Paul "a breath of fresh air after all those friendly rivals" when the truth is the vast majority of friendly rivals came AFTER Paul.

 

[CMButch]

Paul is one of the best rivals I have ever seen. I would rather see antagonistic rival that has some dark elements in it rather than happy-to go rivals that were presented in anime. Gary and Gladion are 2nd/3rd. Paul needs to make a appearance same with companions and Gary.Seeing how this goes and they missed on Ash's Bulbasaur. I don't think it will happen, sadly.

 

[mehmeh1]

This is basically the only thing I will actually fight about, but I am quite passionate in my hatred.

List of Ash's long-term rivals:

Gary, Nando, Paul, Stephan, Tierno, Alain, Kiawe, Gladion.

People call Paul "a breath of fresh air after all those friendly rivals" when the truth is the vast majority of friendly rivals came AFTER Paul.

Itp: wtf are Trip and Sawyer

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Itp: wtf are Trip and Sawyer

I knew I was forgetting some of them but break time at work was over.

 

[Agility]

You can hate him all you like. The borderline "abuse" is what made him different. You're not supposed to "like" Paul. He was an antagonist. Gary was a douche but parts of him were likeable. Silver wasn't in the anime. The only rival you listed that wasn't "friendly" is Gary, and he was irrelevant for a vast majority of the series.

Ash had a building progression with Paul. At the beginning he seemed insurmountable, but Ash finally beat him at the League and did it showing him Chimchar was worthy. It is excellent story writing, and Paul was a good character. He is supposed to inspire conflict about his methods.

Pokemon rarely shows gritty stuff. Abuse would happen in real world scenarios.

 

[Blue Saturday]

Ash had a building progression with Paul. At the beginning he seemed insurmountable, but Ash finally beat him at the League and did it showing him Chimchar was worthy. It is excellent story writing, and Paul was a good character. He is supposed to inspire conflict about his methods.

Pokemon rarely shows gritty stuff. Abuse would happen in real world scenarios.

Although I can acknowledge Shinji did his job as a rival in being the “anti-Satoshi” and brought strong stakes and drama to the show. I have to say on a character level it never did sit well with me that his abuse and nefarious behaviors were swept under the rug and his character kind of got retooled from being villainous to more anti-social later in the saga. The missteps in that regard were they backtracked on his toxic actions and tried to paint them as more morally gray later on with the stuff about Satoshi and him being two sides of the same coin which wasn’t consistent with his earlier portrayal. Actions like having his Elekid “wake up” Hikozaru with Thunder after it fainted from exhaustion during a training session were clearly not just “different training styles.”

Ultimately he was an immaculate rival and brought good battles and substance to the show but on a character level they seemed a bit inconsistent about him. They never really showed the growth of him becoming less cruel as a trainer unlike with someone like Vegeta from DBZ for example, which made his later characterization post the first full battle feel like more of a retcon nor did he face any retribution or show any regret or sorrow for his actions toward Hikozaru. But then again the anime seemed to mostly be still in its first early stages in regards to not having experience portraying characters in more of a gray light like with Alan or Guzma these days.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

You can hate him all you like. The borderline "abuse" is what made him different. You're not supposed to "like" Paul. He was an antagonist. Gary was a douche but parts of him were likeable. Silver wasn't in the anime. The only rival you listed that wasn't "friendly" is Gary, and he was irrelevant for a vast majority of the series.

Ash had a building progression with Paul. At the beginning he seemed insurmountable, but Ash finally beat him at the League and did it showing him Chimchar was worthy. It is excellent story writing, and Paul was a good character. He is supposed to inspire conflict about his methods.

Pokemon rarely shows gritty stuff. Abuse would happen in real world scenarios.

Ash didn't win, the writers let their pet win, and the most damning evidence of that is the 20 seconds Infernape stays completely down. The rivalry is a joke. Paul should be nowhere near as insurmountable as he is presented. He lost 6-0 to Brandon, but that defeat is IMMEDIATELY NEGATED by his next battle with Ash (Lake Acuity), which makes not a lick of sense considering Ash defeated Brandon.

It also made no sense for Ash to defend Paul after he abandoned his battle with Cynthia like a coward, especially considering he still had Chimchar and was abusing it at that point.

Abuse is what Paul did, and denying that is absolutely ridiculous. Ignoring a doctor's orders is inhumane, and like every other cruel thing Paul does, is just ignored for the rest of the series. The Hearthome Tag Tournament is where every single person should have stopped seeing Paul as anything but an abusive Trainer.

I KNOW I'm not supposed to like him. But I also know he deserves to face actual harsh consequences for his actions, not slaps on the wrist.

In literally any other region, his Pokemon would be weak from his working them past the point of exhaustion constantly or else they'd be disloyal and abandon him at the first opportunity. Sinnoh is literally the only region where Paul's methods are presented as at all acceptable, and it makes the entire rivalry a complete joke.

Spoiler: SWSH Spoilers

If he were to be in the Galar region, the League discovering his "different training methods" would certainly have them immediately kick him out of the Gym Challenge and quite likely take his Pokemon away.