Okay, so with having watched all of season 10 - Diamond & Pearl. I need to talk about Paul. Mind you, this will only be regarding this season and the first ep of Battle Dimension as I need to continue watching the rest of DP to have a full complete commentary on Paul and his entire arc, but mainly want to focus on his relationship with Chimchar.
First off, as I've stated before on my blog, the moment Paul appeared on screen, he was a character I instantly liked because I love characters who are assholes, closed off, but also have the competence and skill to back up their asshole "you're pathetic" behavior. However, despite his behavior towards Ash, one of the things I found interesting about Paul is that he is respectful to trainers who are powerful like Roark and Cynthia, giving courteoues bows. He was even respectful to Nurse Joy. So, it's not like he's incapable of being respectful.
Anyways, Paul is written to be the polar opposite of Ash. He catches Pokemon and immediately analyzes them to see just how strong they are and what moveset they know. If they are not up to his standards he will release them. And for many people this may instantly cause a dislike of his character because he seems callous and uncaring, only caring about strength and power. It's why Ash was always so angry when he sees his behavior. However, as a Pokemon player myself, particularly Pokemon Go, I can understand and respect this method because I too, always look at a Pokemon's IV and determine which I will keep and not based on those stats. Is it really so different from what some Pokemon players do? Though, mind you, there is something to be said about him not willing to work with Pokemon and releasing them right away. Yet, this is where his character is interesting, but also contradictory.
The biggest example is his Torterra. In one episode, Paul stated that he has had Torterra since it was a Turtwig. He has batted with Paul throughout the Kanto, Johto and Hoenn Leauge Confrences, but Paul wasn't able to win to become Champion in either of them. So, it's not like he simply catches a pokemon, they lose a match and he releases them. I think, Torterra is a big example of how he can keep a Pokemon long term and have them as a battle companion/partner. Like, I feel like he has confidence in his Torterra's battle abilities which is why in the season finale, when he was partnered up with Ash, in one of the matches, he told Ash to essentially stay out of his way when Ash wanted his Staravia to protect Paul's Torterra from a coming attack from one of their opponent's pokemon. And what happened? Torterra ended up KO-ing that pokemon, along with the one he had already KO'd. So, I think even if Paul would never admit it, Pokemon he has had long term aren't expendable like say those three Starly he captured in the earlier episodes of the season. There definitely seems to be a difference between long term pokemon partners vs recently captured/testing out Pokemon.
Okay, I know I wanted to talk about Chimchar, but just bare with me for a bit.
Next, I wanted to talk about Elekid. When Paul first appears, Elekid is one of the Pokemon he has had from the beginning of when he first appeared and he's kept it all throughout season 10. During his gym battle with Roark he actually tells Elekid, "Good job" before returning it to its pokeball. I was pretty surprised, but this little moment spoke volumes. And Paul also smirks when Elekid evolved into an Electabuzz in the middle of the tag battle with Ash. So, my point is that Paul isn't incapable of praise or keeping Pokemon long term. I think, he does show pride in his pokemon in his own way.
Now, having pointed out all this with his Torterra and at the time Elekid, this brings me to Chimchar.
To start off, I really liked the backstory of how Paul aquirred Chimchar - Chimchar being attacked and cornered by multiple Zangoose which caused it to unleash an amazing power. It's not surprising Paul wanted Chimchar to come with him after such a powerful display. As someone who loves strong pokemon, I understand that instant desire. But more importantly, it finally revealed and explained why Paul was always so harsh with Chimchar and the harsh and strict training regime he made Chimchar go through - Paul was trying to recreate the same situation that caused Chimchar to unleash that same amazing and powerful attack Paul witnessed that day. Paul says it himself Chimchar being in great danger is what activated its power. So, it's not like Paul was being specifically mean to Chimchar for no reason. It's what he thought was needed. And even Paul tells Ash that such a training regime is what Chimchar desired for itself. At least, on some level, anyway. Chimchar clearly had that desire to become strong as well and it's not like Paul's training regime was entirely fruitless. Chimchar did become stronger each time afterwards. Ash says it himself that each time he saw Chimchar, it was stronger.
Furthermore, I think, part of the reason why he was always so harsh with Chimchar and never had a nice thing to say even when Chimchar won in battles, I feel, is that it goes back to wanting to recreate that situation with those Zangoose. So, it's like Chimchar unleashed incredible power under great stress and pressure and that's what Paul is constantly recreating in the strict training, but also with his unkind and relentless attitude. Though yes, it was also likely frusteration, a lack of patience and flexibility in his training regime and the lack of seeing real progress.
Thus, in that decisive tag battle with Ash, the moment an opponent chose a Zangoose for battle we see Paul smirk because he was likely thinking this is the situation that is required to activate Chimchar's attack. Instead what happens is that Chimchar becomes frozen and at that point even covers his eyes. It was clear by this behavior that that poor Pokemon was traumatized by the experience. But for Paul, he doesn't see trauma. He sees patheticness and failure.
And as someone who has gone through trauma and suffers from an anxiety order, I really do understand Chimchar's reaction to seeing a Zangoose attacking him in battle. However, this is what exactly shows how young and inexperienced Paul is despite being a powerful and competent trainer in his own right. Paul is supposed to be like what, 10-12 years old at most? When you stop to really think about it, what child is going to know about, but really understand trauma and the emotional needs created because of that? For example, when I was 14 in high school; this is when my anxiety disorder started to develop; Logically, I knew what anxiety was, but I didn't understand it the way I do now as a 29 year old adult. Even my friend has told me that back during that time in high school and at that age, yeah, she wasn't equipped to understand an anxiety disorder and the struggles that entailed. Again, even me who was suffering from it, didn't fully comprehend it either the way I do now. Even still, many adults see certain behaviors and reactions due to trauma and still may not understand it. So, going back to Paul, once more, his young age and inexperince also shows just how much he still needs to learn and grow at this point in the anime and why, I think, he viewed Chimchar freezing against a Zangoose as a failure and weakness rather than what it actually was - fear and a trauma response. Thus, ultimately, it all culminating to Paul releasing Chimchar in the end.
Though, I know Ash was able to clock Chimchar's fear right away afterwards when wild Zangoose appeared, perhaps not a deeper trauma such as Chimchar crying over finally being praised and loved, but again this just shows how unyielding Paul was with his obsession to unleash Chimchar's power.
I know a lot of fans say, Paul was abusive to Chimchar and for sure a lot of the things he did is pretty abusive adjacent, but it didn't necessarily feel like abuse to me. I think, what I'm trying to say here is the difference between intent and impact. So, while Paul's treatment of Chimchar can definitely be categorized as abusive because he very much did emotionally hurt Chimchar and put it into dangerous situations and very much left it reeling at how much more positive, light, loving and friendly the atmosphere with Ash and everyone else was, he wasn't necessarily trying to actively cause harm or suffering in the manner that abusers would for control over an individual and to make them feel small and inferior. I'm not excusing Paul here or saying that he didn't do anything wrong, but he definitely wanted results and to draw out Chimchar's real power, but, of course, his training methods and attitude did cause a negative impact - trauma, fear, etc. So, again it's intent vs impact. And I think this can be clearly seen in the manner in how he kept Chimchar and his other Pokemon fed and in general, overall, good physical health.
Thus, Paul's same training regime was his fatal flaw. Yes, it did help Chimchar on some level to grow stronger, but it obviously wasn't producing the result he wanted either. And this is where he failed as a trainer to draw out Chimchar's power. Instead of thinking Chimchar was pathetic, he should have switched to another training method. Paul became so focused on that one goal of activating a powerful attack that he became absolutely rigid and unwilling to change his methods. And I think part of the reason that was was because his training method worked for all his other Pokemon so when it didn't for Chimchar, rather than changing and adapting the training and his own attitude he instead kept doing the same thing.
And there's no need to mention how he didn't even realize how he was further hurting Chimchar because of it either. It's clear Chimchar needed more praise and affection. Even a small, "good job," something, maybe could have been enough. Paul said it to Elekid against Roark so why not Chimchar? His other Pokemon clearly thrive under him, but that's also probably due to their own personalities. They seem a bit more stand offish and to keep to themselves, not as social and expressive as Chimchar, most likely, if Elekid's behavior is anything to gy by, where it acted friendly, but instead electrocuted Pikachu when Paul and Ash were partnered up.
With Paul calling Chimchar pathetic even when it won battles, it makes me wonder what was the point of that? What even was Paul's mindset here? Frusteration at the lack of Chimchar's true power still not being realized? His way of saying don't become complacent and celebrate what he views as mediocrity? Was he trying to create some form of drive in Chimchar to keep pushing past his limits to keep improving and not be satisfied with its current level? It's all pure speculation on my part, but I mean even if this was the case, obviously on Chimchar's end it all boils down to being - I'm not good enough for you. Which yeah, that is emotionally devastating for anyone. Especially for Chimchar who seems like the type of Pokemon who needs encouragement, approval and emotional reassurance - everything that Paul is just not good at giving, it's not his first instinct or thought to do at all which just makes everything with Chimchar worse.
It also just makes me wonder if Paul had just been a little bit different. If he had at least dropped in a single praise every now and then, not expressive and happy in the way Ash or his friends would be, of course, but showing at least satisfaction with each battle won, with progress in training and getting stronger even just a little, even if it wasn't that amazing power yet, if things between Paul and Chimchar could have been different? Because I'm just here like it was such a missed opportunity that Paul fumbled so very badly. I'm just very interested in the what if and could have been had Paul changed sooner before releasing Chimchar.
But either way, again, this is not to excuse any of Paul's actions or his treatment towards Chimchar, rather analyzing things from his perspective and seeing how his fatally flawed and unmoveable mindset and being unable to change and adapt his training methods at this point is what ultimately cost him being able to draw out the power of a powerful pokemon, when praise that he has been shown to give at least once to his Pokemon (e.g. Elekid) and shown to be able to keep Pokemon long term without giving up on them despite losses, could have potentially made all the difference in his relationship with Chimchar.
Since the beginning, while Paul's methods are harsh and can be viewed as callous, he still has traits that make him interesting - respectful to those who he at least deems as worthy, a strong and competent trainer who knows how to raise powerful pokemon, but also so rigid in his mindset and goal that he doesn't see beyond it to what needed changing to help Chimchar who was much more emotionally vulnerable as already was and who isn't like his other Pokemon.
All of this is why I am excited to see how Paul grows as a character and his overall arc as I continue watching the series.
