>>50393994That's because Paul is the only trainer in this entire franchise that actually takes this shit seriously and actually serves as a legitimate foil to Ash's methodology and views on the world. He is, unironically, the best battler in the story. The only reason Ash won is because he was the better trainer, not the better battler. And even then it ties back into my argument of "Truly strong trainers only use a few very strong pokemon" with Infernape's Blaze Ability. Still, it was Ash that cultivated and awoke Infernape's true potential while Paul dismissed it as a weakling with no hope. Illustrating, again, that Ash is the superior trainer even if Paul is the better battler.
So Paul has a team of 6 pokemon actually developed over the series that he specifically selected and trained very hard to be elite while Ash is better at training and far more experienced with teambuilding and pushing his pokemon to go beyond their limits.
Meanwhile every other 'elite' trainer is pretty much only good for their one super duper ace.
