Professor Oak

Professor Oak in Pokémon: FireRed and LeafGreen Versions.
Samuel Oak
Species	Human
Hair color	Gray
Eye color	Black
Age	50 (Gen II)
Relatives	Samson Oak (Cousin) Blue Oak (Grandson) Daisy Oak (Grandaughter)
Voiced by	Stan Hart (1998-2000) Ben Diskin (2018) Joe J. Thomas (2020)
Debut	Pokémon: Red/Green Versions

Professor Samuel Oak is the Pokémon Professor of the Kanto region who has been featured as a supporting or guest character in many games of the Pokémon series, starting with his appearances in Pokémon: Red, Green, Blue and Yellow Versions. He is the worldwide authority on Pokémon.

Background

Professor Oak was known as the Pokémon Professor, as he has studied Pokémon for most of his life. In his younger days, he was an incredibly skilled trainer, as suggested by his contemporary, Agatha. She went on to describe Oak as tough and handsome to boot. Over the years, his focus shifted, and his dream became making a complete guide on all the Pokémon in the world. This became the Pokédex, a handheld encyclopedia used by researchers to record information on Pokémon they encounter and capture. He himself learned under Professor Rowan, who was his senior in the field of Pokémon research. Oak went on to teach many other people for a while, including Professor Elm. As time went on, he was becoming elderly and as such, unable to realize his dream on his own.

Generation I

It was then, in Red/Green/Blue/Yellow/FireRed/LeafGreen, that he invited his grandson Blue, and his neighbor, Red, to his lab. He gave each one one of his remaining three Pokémon and a Pokédex. In Yellow, he had only one Pokémon available (an Eevee) that was claimed by Blue, and he had to give Red a wild Pikachu that he had just caught. In an all games, he left them with a single task: to fulfill his dream. His grandson Blue was eager to try; however, his heart was in the wrong place. While Oak wanted him to complete his Pokédex, Blue didn't treat his Pokémon as friends, and was therefore surpassed by Red. After Red defeated Blue to become the champion of the Pokémon League, Professor Oak congratulated Red on his victory over the Elite Four, and escorted him to the final room of the Indigo Plateau, where he recorded Red's team into the database of champions.

In FireRed and LeafGreen, he heard about sightings of many rare Pokémon species from other regions being sighted in Kanto. As he considered himself too old to look into it himself, he called Red and Blue over, and he upgraded their Pokédexes into National Pokédexes so that they could record data on more Pokémon.

In the alternate version of events seen in Let's Go!, Red and Blue had gone on their Pokémon: journey in the past and had to record their findings with pencil and paper. Chase/Elaine and Trace would be the first trainers from Pallet Town to receive a Pokédex. He offered two starter Pokémon for them, although Chase/Elaine ended up catching a Wild Pokémon (Pikachu or Eevee, depending on the version) under Oak's instruction that ended up being their starter Pokémon, while Trace chose from one of the offered starter Pokémon (one of which was Pikachu or Eeevee, again depending on the version). In those games, it was also possible to send Pokémon: to Professor Oak, in order to keep the storage Box from hitting capacity.

Generation II

Several years later, in Pokémon: Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver, he struck a deal with the Goldenrod City Radio station, giving him a radio show that was co-hosted by Mary. The show was prerecorded, so Oak would often go back to his laboratory to listen to it. He met Ethan/Lyra at the beginning of the new trainer's journey at the house of Mr. Pokémon, and gave them a Pokédex after seeing how well Ethan/Lyra treated their Pokémon, seeing great potential in the trainer.

In HeartGold/SoulSilver, Professor Oak also gave Ethan/Lyra the National Pokédex as a reward for defeating the Elite Four. After the trainer collected all eight of the Kanto badges in addition to the eight they already had from Johto, Professor Oak gave them permission to travel to Mt. Silver, and in HeartGold/SoulSilver he also gave them HM 08: Rock Climb so that he could access the mountain. Following Ethan/Lyra's defeat of Red, Professor Oak commended the trainer for their success and would allow them to choose between Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle as a reward. In addition, if Ethan/Lyra showed him both Groudon and Kyogre, Professor Oak would give him the Green Orb needed to confront Rayquaza.

Generation IV

Oak also made an appearance in Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions. He visited Sinnoh for the opening of the Pal Park in order to ensure that its system was running efficiently. Along the way, he stopped at Professor Rowan's lab to upgrade Lucas/Dawn's Pokédex into National Mode. He then met the same trainer at the Pal Park just as he was leaving. He proceeded to explain the concept of the Pal Park to them and also gave the trainer a Trainer Counter app for their Pokétech. Oak then remained at a house at Eterna City to continue his studies of Sinnoh's Pokémon and would analyze Lucas/Dawn's Pokédex if they visited, after giving them the Up-Grade item upon their first visit. In Platinum, he also reported the sightings of Kanto's legendary bird Pokémon in Sinnoh, at which point the player could find them roaming the region. In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Oak's role was largely the same as in Diamond and Pearl, except that he was checking on Ramanas Park instead of the Pal Park (the former replacing the latter in these versions), and he gave Lucas/Dawn a Chain Counter app instead of the Trainer Counter one.

In the fourth generation games, Professor Oak also played a role in the Shaymin event. After the player received a letter from Oak (which could only be received from a Nintendo event), Professor Oak brought the trainer to the stone tablet at the northern end of Route 221, as he believed only a trainer like Lucas/Dawn would have the experiences which needed to be projected into the stone tablet to unlock its secrets. The trainer succeeded in this, which caused the path across the sea to appear. This led tothe Flowery Paradise, where Shaymin could be caught.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Snap, Oak was given special permission to research the native species of Pokémon Island. To complete his “PKMN Report”, he needed photographs of the Pokémon in their native habitat. He created the Zero-One to deal with it's adverse conditions, but he needed someone younger to take on the task for him. He considered asking one of the skilled trainers he had encountered to take the photos, but he worried that they might be tempted to catch the Pokémon. So he enlisted the help of a wildlife photographer, Todd, to assist him and appraised the photographs that he took throughout the game.

In Hey You, Pikachu!, Professor Oak had developed a new portable computer called the PokéHelper, which allowed people to communicate with Pokémon. He distributed a prototype version to the game's main character to test it on his Pikachu. Oak occasionally communicated with the player throughout the game to dispense advice. Professor Oak, as he appeared in the anime, appeared in Pokémon Puzzle League. He invited Ash Ketchum to compete at the Puzzle Village. Ash could visit Professor Oak's Lab there in order to learn the rules of the game. The game version of Professor Oak also appeared in the main menu and several tutorial segments of Pokémon Puzzle Challenge. In Pokémon Channel, Professor Oak was the one who launched the titular Pokémon Channel project, and the player could save the game by tuning into the channel called Oak's Report. He has also been mentioned in Pokémon GO as a mentor of Professor Willow and eventually appeared in a trio of shorts where he and Willow worked together in investigating the mysteries of Meltan.

In Pokémon Masters EX, Professor Oak appeared with Mew as a playable sync pair. They could initially be unlocked by logging in during a limited time window (from February 14 to March 16, 2020), and they were later made freely available (upon completion of the PML Arc's second chapter) from August 2020 onwards. In his Sync Pair Story, it was shown that Oak had originally traveled to Pasio solely for the sake of his research and with the intention of using his Nidorino as his partner Pokémon. He ended up getting caught up in investigating reports of a potential mythical Pokémon in the area. Along the way, he was joined by Scottie/Bettie, Blaine, Blue and Agatha, with Agatha briefly engaging him in a battle. When they found Mew, they had a playful battle with it, and Oak saw that Mew wanted to join them. Oak accepted Mew, and then decided to take part in battling. He asked to join Scottie/Bettie's team, so that he could take part in the Pokémon Masters League as well. Within the Main Story, Professor Oak played a role in the Final Chapter of the Villain Arc, in which he gave Paulo advice when he was at his lowest point, while recalling how he supported Blue after he lost the Pokémon League championship. He then worked with Trinnia, Tricia and Trista to help protect the Pokémon Center from invading Team Rocket members. Professor Oak has also appeared in some Story Events. In "Threads of Strength", he was shown to regularly meet up with Lucas, Hop and Kris to give them lessons, and Cynthia came to them to ask for information about Red. Oak was also featured in the Neo Champion Event "Three Trainers, Three Minds", in which he set a Neo Champion Stadium challenge for Red, Blue and Leaf, in which they each had to work on teams with novice trainers in order to help them to improve, in hopes that the young trainers could feel encouraged rather than intimidated by working with the powerful trainers. Oak was ultimately satisfied with results and gave the Neo Champion title to each of the three trainers.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Professor Oak has made numerous appearances throughout the Pokémon anime, partially because of the show's main protagonist hailing from Pallet Town. In the anime, Ash's extra Pokémon are sent to him instead of to Bill. While shown as a dignified Pokémon researcher, he is also shown to be somewhat absent-minded and is also often used as comic relief. The anime gives him the first name of Samuel, which would not be established as canon to the video games until years later. One movie, Pokémon 4Ever, features him as a child being sent on a time-traveling adventure with Ash due to Celebi's abilities.
• Professor Oak also appeared in the live action musical Pokémon Live!, being featured in a song with Ash's mother. They are both captured by Giovanni but later rescued by Ash.
• He appears throughout the Pokémon Adventures manga, where he and Red start off at odds with each other due to Red breaking into Oak's lab and accidentally releasing all his Pokémon. However, as they recapture the Pokémon, they slowly befriend each other, which leads to Oak letting him keep Bulbasaur. He also competes in the Pokémon League tournament as a masked competitor and defeats Green, whom had stolen his Squirtle, but afterwards forfeits from the competition and lets her keep the Pokémon as well as the last Pokédex. Oak continues to appear as a supporting or guest character in the manga's later arcs.
• Professor Oak appears in the Pokémon Origins anime, where his role is largely similar to his role in the first generation games.
• Though he does not appear in the Pokémon Generations anime, one episode features Blue fighting the Elite Four, with Agatha talking about her history with Professor Oak.
• Professor Oak appeared near the end of the eighth episode of the Pokémon Evolutions anime, which was based on the Let's Go! games. Green was shown to be a Pokédex holder and reported to him after she failed to catch the final Pokémon, Mewtwo. Oak revealed that Elaine and Trace were also filling the Pokédex for him, so it was now complete with Elaine's capture of Mewtwo. He then received a phone call about a Pokémon made entirely of metal and informed the trainers that the Pokédex was no longer complete.

Trivia

• As all of the Pokémon professors are named after different types of trees, Oak is named after the oak tree due to its associations with being reliable because of its longevity. His Japanese name is the similar-sounding Ohkido, which simply refers to 'orchid'.
• His first name of Samuel was initially established in the anime, but it was not used in the games or otherwise confirmed to be part of game canon until it was finally mentioned in Sun and Moon, twenty years after his first appearance.
• It is said that only Pokémon League champions are allowed in the Hall of Fame area, so Oak's presence there in the first generation games implies that he was a champion at some point in his life. The idea was also teased in Let's Go!, when Lance initially joked that Oak was the champion who the player had to face, before revealing that it was actually Trace.
• In Red/Green/Blue, there is unused trainer data for a battle with Professor Oak. His roster includes Tauros, Exeggutor, Arcanine, Gyarados and one of the fully-evolved starter Pokémon (Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise). Notably, all of his Pokémon except for Tauros are Pokémon that also appear in Blue's roster.
• In the seventh generation Pokémon games (Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon), Oak himself does not appear, but his similar-looking cousin Samson Oak appears and mentions Samuel. It is revealed that Samson received his Kanto Pokédex from Samuel.
• Oak's selection of Pokémon in Pokémon Masters EX (a Nidorino) implies that the battle scene from the pre-title screen introduction of Red/Green/Blue was a battle between Oak and Agatha.
• A trophy of Professor Oak appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee.