Paul vs Alan

[Lord Trollbias]

Alain has the strongest individual Pokemon in Zard X but Paul's team and strategy>>>
Bisharp is pretty good too but Paul has options to finish it as well if need be.
IMO if they battle, Paul will again use a Toxic Spikes based strategy to whittle down Alain's team while making sure to take as little losses as possible till its down to let's say 3v1 against poisoned Zard X and from there he holds on for the win. Hell as I stated earlier if he really wants to be a dick, he brings out Frosslass and as soon as Alain calls out Blast Burn, he tells her to use Destiny Bond gg.

 

[Red and Blue]

Cynthia is quite easily the most Powerful Champion we've seen on this show, so Paul not doing well vs her isn't something to put Alain on a higher pedestal. Both teams are powerful, but while Alain is more quick to take the heads on approach, Paul has shown he understands a strong defense is just as good as a strong offense. He show cased moves like Light Screen and Protect as well as use other status moves like Metal Sound, Bulk Up, Toxic Spikes, Swords Dance, and Haze. Heck, Paul even improvised on some of his Pokemon's attacks, like Magmortar's Rock Tomb and Gastrodon's Muddy Water, even taught his Torterra how to have Stone Edge home in on his opponent.

I doubt Paul would do any better against Diantha or Malva. Even if he had a mega.

 

[Janovy]

I doubt Paul would do any better against Diantha or Malva. Even if he had a mega.

He probably would because he uses his brain when fighting and doesn't just spam attacks. You know, like Alain.

 

[Red and Blue]

He probably would because he uses his brain when fighting and doesn't just spam attacks. You know, like Alain.

And? Sometimes raw strength is useful in taking down strong opponents. Paul's strategies are useless if his opponents have years of experience and more seasoned pokemon

 

[Joltik-Kid]

When Paul took on Cynthia and Brandon, he didn't come prepared for those matches like he usually does, he just out of the blue challenged them. In the case of Cynthia, he wanted to test his teams strength, in the case of Brandon, he was going to take on Candice but he wanted to beat Brandon to prove he was superior to his brother. If Torterra is to Paul as Pikachu is to Ash, then Greninja isn't taking down Garchomp because there is literally nothing to scale Mega Gardevoir to (which it didn't end up beating anyway). Paul had been through every region Ash had been through up to the Sinnoh point, that's a boat load of experience that everyone uses as to why Ash is curbstomping the Kalos League. All we know about Alain is he's stayed in one complacent area taking on Mega Evolution users.

 

[Almighty Zard]

given what we've seen of Alain's pokemon, Paul could probably take all of them down easily, Charizard is the only exception and it can mega evolve.

So the real question is can Paul take that down.

 

[Navin]

Hell as I stated earlier if he really wants to be a dick, he brings out Frosslass and as soon as Alain calls out Blast Burn, he tells her to use Destiny Bond gg.

Hmm, well Paul didn't train Froslass to use Destiny Bond even when he knew Ash would be using Pikachu and Infernape against him (the two biggest threats).

^ Obviously it was best for narrative reasons, but are we to assume that Paul knows Alain has a god-tier Charizard for this battle?

 

[Hunter Zolomon]

Paul would win in my opinion. Paul is a more strategic battler. I'm sure Paul would have a hard time taking down that Charizard, though. A lot of trainers would lol. Well, unless you're Tobias.

 

[Xenon Blue]

^ Obviously it was best for narrative reasons, but are we to assume that Paul knows Alain has a god-tier Charizard for this battle?

We can assume Paul will do his homework for this battle, as it isn't sudden like vs Brandon and will have time to look at Alain's history to see what kind of tactics counter him and his Charizard.

 

[Navin]

Paul is a better trainer. Alain might have greater firepower.

 

[Lord Trollbias]

Hmm, well Paul didn't train Froslass to use Destiny Bond even when he knew Ash would be using Pikachu and Infernape against him (the two biggest threats).

^ Obviously it was best for narrative reasons, but are we to assume that Paul knows Alain has a god-tier Charizard for this battle?

Tbf Paul had Electivire as Pikachu's checkmate and IMO he felt like Pikachu could actually be straight up beaten by Frosslass. This is just speculation but I feel had it been Infernape vs. Frosslass he'd have used it.
Plus since he has no personal connection to Alain he'd be more likely to use a mutual kill nice against his Zard X than against Infernape or Pikachu whom he personally wanted to beat "honorably" even to the point of goading Infernape to use Blaze rather than just having EVire spam Thunder on the prone monkey.
Though it's all speculation. He wouldn't need Destiny Bond. Toxic Spikes gg

 

[Navin]

Tbf Paul had Electivire as Pikachu's checkmate and IMO he felt like Pikachu could actually be straight up beaten by Frosslass. This is just speculation but I feel had it been Infernape vs. Frosslass he'd have used it.
Plus since he has no personal connection to Alain he'd be more likely to use a mutual kill nice against his Zard X than against Infernape or Pikachu whom he personally wanted to beat "honorably" even to the point of goading Infernape to use Blaze rather than just having EVire spam Thunder on the prone monkey.
Though it's all speculation. He wouldn't need Destiny Bond. Toxic Spikes gg

Weird thinking about Paul and "honor" but that is true I suppose. Could Destiny Bond be dodged, or Alain recalls Charizard before it hits?

Also if Infernape could get rid of Toxic Spikes by heating the battlefield, couldn't Charizard just nuke the **** out of it with Blast Burn?

 

[Xenon Blue]

Also if Infernape could get rid of Toxic Spikes by heating the battlefield, couldn't Charizard just nuke the **** out of it with Blast Burn?

I mean I guess it could get rid of the Toxic Spikes, but Alain isn't known to think outside the box like that, but rather is pretty straightforward when it comes to strategy and tactics. So he will basically be a puppet on Paul's hand. The question now becomes if Alain has enough brute strength to overpower a disadvantageous situation, and my take is no.

 

[Lord Trollbias]

Weird thinking about Paul and "honor" but that is true I suppose. Could Destiny Bond be dodged, or Alain recalls Charizard before it hits?

Also if Infernape could get rid of Toxic Spikes by heating the battlefield, couldn't Charizard just nuke the **** out of it with Blast Burn?

Nuking the battlefield still won't negate the Poison damage. From there its just a matter of wearing Zard down as well as stalling.

 

[Dragalge]

Alain has two Pokemon that have the ability to fly (Charizard and Unfezant) to avoid Toxic Spikes along with Metagross and Bisharp that can simply go on the field without being poisoned considering they're Steel typed Pokemon. While I agree that Paul could do potentially well against Alain, I personally don't think Toxic Spikes may be the best strategy to use against Alain's team.

 

[potat_lasaro]

Honestly, in a 1v1 Alain has the win due to Mega Charizard X having been shown to be on the same level as an Elite Four member.

But, if it was a full 6v6 battle Paul wins easily. He's better at using strategy with his Pokemon such as Rock Head Aggron or Toxic Spikes with Drapion. Also the way he uses Torterra to trick opponents into attacking close only to destroy them would also cause problems for Alain.

I could see Charizard taking down a good chunk of Paul's team, but the overall strategy he uses in battle would be too much for someone like Alain who relies on pure power and just constant attacking while Paul would probably allow him to tire himself out in accourdance to any other startegies he might imply and then it would be too late for Alain. Also, based on how the battle's going so far against Ash, he doesn't seem like the best when it comes to reacting on the fly and improvising since he was taken aback by Pikachu getting back up against Metagross.

 

[Alexander18]

Paul may have powerhouses but Alain would still win. Mega Charizard X is more powerful than Paul's pokemon put together in my opinion.

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Paul's Torterra: Overgrow increases any grass-type move's power whenever on the verge of fainting.
Paul's Electivire: Motor Drive increases its speed when hit by an electric-type move
Paul's Ursaring: Guts activates if affected by status conditions like burned,poisoned,paralyzed etc.
Paul's Magmortar: Flame Body burns opponent if contact is made from any multi-strike moves
Paul's Honchkrow: Super Luck Increases the critical hit ratio
Paul's Aggron: Rock Head prevents any recoil damage from occuring
Paul's Froslass: Snow Cloak activates whenever hail occurs allowing it to appear and disappear repeatedly
Paul's Ninjask: Speed Boost increases speed during a start of a battle or when a previous pokemon fainted

Alain would have his work cut out for him.

 

[Aegiscalibur]

Obviously because of the Mega Evolution,it raises its stats greatly.

Then most trainers with a mega would be Alain tier.

...So not really. Zard is portrayed as special because plot.

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Then most trainers with a mega would be Alain tier.

...So not really. Zard is portrayed as special because plot.

A lot of it also has to do with him having a very close bond with Charizard and putting it through a lot of training,his goal was always to become the strongest.