Professor Oak
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Professor Samuel Oak is a human character appearing in all products of the Pokémon merchandise, from which all information appearing below has been derived. In Japanese, Professor Oak's name is Yukinari Ōkido-Hakase, a rough translation of which is "Professor Yukinari Orchid, PhD". He is a Pokémon researcher, generally considered to be the best of his kind. As such, his role in the Pokémon games, television series, films, etc, is that of mentor to young Pokémon Trainers, source of information and occasional plot device. Among other things, he is credited with inventing the Pokédex.
As a youth, Professor Oak (or Sammy, as he was called back then) was a Pokémon Trainer and he owned a Charmeleon. He met the legendary Pokémon Celebi while it was being pursued by hunters and through its time travelling powers was transported decades into the future for a short while.
Professor Oak later battled against Pokémon trainer Agatha for supremacy, but his trainer days came to an end when he decided he would much rather study Pokémon than train them. This seems to have annoyed Agatha greatly, even though that meant her rival was now out of the picture. It may be that Agatha, who went on to become one of the Elite Four in her old age, enjoyed her rivalry with Oak and preferred him to be a challenge for her rather than "go soft" and practice research. Or maybe she prefers to train her entire life than to retire.
Pokémon Professors |
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Samuel 'Sammy' Oak
In the present, Professor Oak is an elderly man, Although his age is in dispute (he has admitted he is in his 60s yet this does not work well with the story of the fourth Pokémon movie which would place him somewhere in his 50s) . His hair is light brown and gray. His usual attire is a white lab coat over a brown pair of trousers and a purple vest.
His personality is that of the classic absent-minded professor; a slightly eccentric and not always focused but very intelligent person.
Professor Oak lives and conducts his research from a large laboratory complex situated in Pallet Town, which is based on Yokohama, Japan. His duties include tending to the surplus Pokémon that trainers send him for safekeeping and getting local rookie trainers started by giving them their first Pokémon (a choice between Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander) and a Pokédex.
There is no information on Professor Oak's parents or children. His grandson, Gary Oak, is a wandering Pokémon Trainer and rival of Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of the Pokémon television series. His granddaughter, Daisy Oak, grooms Pokémon in her house in Pallet Town.
In Pokémon: The Electrical Adventures of Pikachu, a manga which does not follow strict continuity, his granddaughter is a teenager named May. Ash has a crush on her.
One of the many running gags among some fans is the observation that Professor Oak inevitably appears whenever Ash's mother is in an episode. Although this is usually easily chalked up to coincidence (they live in the same town after all), humorous allegations exist that the two are in some sort of romantic relationship that Ash is totally oblivious of.