Paulo

Introduction

Paulo is one of the main rival characters in Pokemon Masters EX. He is notable for being the first Pokemon rival to have a negative character arc, turning on the player because he thinks it's what's best.

Personality and story

Paulo is initially friendly to the player. He insists upon fighting Team Break despite constantly losing battles. He loses to both Norman and Hapu, but insists he will become stronger and form his own team for the Pokemon Masters League tournament. Said team comes to include Wulfric and Wikstrom. Despite having a Gym Leader and Elite Four member on his team, he loses to the player. He forces a smile to cope with his loss, but eventually breaks down, not understanding how or why he lost. After this, he occasionally appeared in later chapters of the PML arc, but was otherwise unseen for a long while.
In the Villain Arc, Paulo frequently appears. He often helps the player take down the evil teams, though he seems to be going through something internally. Lillie asks him what's bothering him, to which he replies that he feels he's not strong enough and should change his approach. Lillie says that she is trying to get stronger as well and that the best way to gain strength is to form bonds and work with others. Paulo says that he understands, but thinks to himself that strategy won't work for him. Paulo finds himself marveling at the power of the evil teams, knowing their power came at a terrible price. He stops using his Rockruff as his partner, instead opting to use other more powerful Pokemon.
Eventually, it is revealed that Paulo was friends with a wild Dratini as a child. However, a Collector came across them and caught Dratini for himself, saying that he only caught it for its skin and the money it could get him. Paulo, not yet a trainer, couldn't do anything to stop him. This caused him to vow to never lose anything important to him ever again.
Some other things happen (honestly the entire villain arc is just a blur to me-) and he is eventually tricked into bringing Lear's Hoopa into the Team Plasma base. Ghetsis seemingly straight up MURDERS his Rockruff with Kyurem's glaciate. Ghetsis muses that perhaps Kyurem wiped Rockruff away completely, leaving no trace. Paulo, under the impression that his closest companion died due to his own lack of strength, snaps. His anger causes Hoopa to transform into its Unbound form. Paulo decides that he will become the "last evil," wiping out anyone who harms Pokemon or uses them for selfish purposes.
Paulo eventually convinces the remnants of Team Break to work for him, ordering them to attack the other evil teams. However, Hoopa is taken by Giovanni, causing Team Break to abandon him and work for the stronger Giovanni instead. Soon, Paulo learns that Rockruff is ailve- Hoopa used the last of its strength to teleport it away, though it did almost die before it was found. Paulo decides that he needs to atone for his actions and helps the player take down Giovanni and the rest of Team Rocket.
Yeah. Pokemon Masters gets wild.

Pokemon Used

Paulo's main partner Pokemon is his Rockruff turned Dusk Lycanroc. However, he also uses an Alakazam, Tyranitar, Gyarados, Hydreigon, and Metagross. He briefly controlled Hoopa.

My thoughts on Paulo

Paulo, objectively speaking- is kind of a mid character. He's cheesy, corny, kind of cringe- but that is the BEST kind of character to me. He has soul, which most of the "bad" rivals severely lack. Even if his character arc was kind of fumbled, it was something new for the franchise. Paulo walked so that Kieran could run.
His motivations are understandable. The whole "controlling Hoopa and trying to wipe out all the other evil teams" thing also makes sense, though it is kind of funny that this teenager is the one to dub himself as the "last evil" while doing so. Also, his hair is really fun to draw. I love Paulo.

Paulo Trivia

- Paulo has not appeared in a single event in the four+ years Pokemon Masters has been running. He is the only character with this achievement. They hate Paulo.
- Paulo has the longest gap of his debut and his debut as a playable character at 1468 days.
- Paulo's EX outfit is based off of Dusk Lycanroc, but it also coincidentally resembles Brendan a bit.