"Look, both of us have the same goal of winning the Sinnoh League someday, right? ...And of course we also wanna beat the Sinnoh League Champion, Cynthia, too. After you battled Cynthia, you told me to do whatever I want, to battle my own way, and you told me that's what you were gonna do too! Yeah, well, ever since that time I've been thinking more and more about what it really means to be strong. That means believing in the strength of my friends, and that's because I trust and love 'em! That's why I'm working so hard to make my Pokemon as strong as they can be...the way I know how. We both have the same goals, but the way we get 'em couldn't be more different!" -Ash to Paul
That quote is Ash in a nutshell. When it comes down to it, working and bonding with his Pokemon is more important than winning competitively. That quote is one of the only reasons that keeps me okay with Ash's character and not being awesome at battles now.