Meganium

memento mori

she/her
Houston, TX
Seen February 1st, 2023
Posted February 1st, 2023
Well, he did invent the PokeDex, and he has his own radio show in Goldenrod. That doesn't mean he's "the best professor out there". In my view, I consider all professors in all generations in the same level.

curiousnathan

Male
Australia
Seen October 18th, 2020
Posted October 5th, 2020
7,753 posts
13.6 Years
I don't think I find Professor Oak to be 'the best' professor out of all the five regions. But I do beleive that others; including the the other professors regard him highly because of his development of the original PokeDex. But I have sort of noticed how some proffessors focus on certain aspects of pokemon, rather than focussing on every aspect of pokemon. Take Professor Rowan as an example; if I can recall, he seemed more interested in the evolution of pokemon than anything else.

Draci.Kun

Hungry Like the Wolf<3

Female
North of South Carolina. :3
Seen February 10th, 2011
Posted January 22nd, 2011
35 posts
12.4 Years
Elm is ruled out for me. He seems a little ditsy to me. Same with Juniper. I say either Oak or Rowan. Oak /was/ the pioneer, but Rowan seems to take his job VERY seriously (not that Oak doesn't, but Oak is a bit more lighthearted)

...but Birch wins cause he's voiced by Dan Green in the anime, and Dan Green can do anything. -slapped- Nah, just kidding. I don't really have an opinion about Birch. He's kind of in the middle for me.
Male
Seen December 9th, 2012
Posted January 17th, 2011
43 posts
12.4 Years
I don't think you can say that someone is definitively "the best" at doing something like studying Pokemon. As an example, Issac Newton discovered gravity, Albert Einstein discovered relativity. Which one wins at physics? There's not really any way to tell for sure.

It does make sense that Professor Oak would be the best known, however. His Pokedex is the kind of thing that would attract a lot of attention and receive a lot of publicity, while Professor Rowan could make a dozen breakthroughs in understanding how and why Pokemon evolve and still not be as well known. These kinds of breakthroughs might revolutionize Pokemology, but no one who isn't, themselves, a professor will be able to understand that.

On the other hand, if Professor Rowan discovered how to synthesize Moon Stones or something similar, he'd probably be skyrocketed into fame, because now he's got something to show off to the press.

Incidentally, can I ask why being serious makes you a better Professor? Why does it matter whether you do your job with a smile or a straight face?

bobandbill

one more time

Male
A cape
Seen 3 Hours Ago
Posted 3 Days Ago
16,785 posts
15.2 Years
I'll reserve judgment on th 5th gen one until I know what she says in english. XD But certainly Oak ranks the highest for me, maybe not as the smartest (Rowan is not bad either and it's hard to judge on that) but the most likable for me, and the most reputable.

But those two rank higher than Birch (who gets chased by a Poochyena, or in Emerald, a Zigzagoon) or Elm (Mr 'Durr where do pokemon eggs come from ^^'), imo. =p

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Her

Age 29
Seen 3 Hours Ago
Posted 6 Days Ago
It seems to me that Oak is generally the most knowledgeable on Pokémon situations and what to do, but I'm biased towards first gen so I don't know. But Oak did create the Pokédex after all, so he's got to have some technical genius in him at least.

Kenshin5

Wanderer

Male
Oklahoma
Seen September 18th, 2013
Posted March 25th, 2013
4,391 posts
14.8 Years
There is no greater Professor, since all of them have different fields of study you really can't weigh their accomplishments against each other. Yes Oak may have more accolades, achievements and so on, but you got to look how long he and Rowan have been doing this. He looks old enough to be Elm, Birch, and Juniper dad, so he has had many more years to experiment with things in his said field then they have. Gary is obviously the best professor though. Cause he is GARY *insert explicative here* OAK!!!!

Brian - 0089 1621 6313 - White

Female
Earth
Seen May 28th, 2016
Posted April 11th, 2016
892 posts
14.6 Years
He's the authority on Pokemon so yeah, pretty sure he is.
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Age 27
Male
On the Internet
Seen October 27th, 2013
Posted March 3rd, 2012
454 posts
13.8 Years
firstly, he invented the pokedex, like what the platinumDude said. And im sure he was like a super awesome pokemon trainer when he was young.
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jasonresno

[fight through it]

Age 33
Male
Illinois
Seen February 13th, 2019
Posted November 12th, 2018
1,663 posts
18.3 Years
Professor Oak is like the Model T. It set a precedent for future Professors to innovate and flesh out what he began. He's the original but others are doing it better now.

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Amore

Seen 7 Hours Ago
Posted 4 Days Ago
5,237 posts
13.7 Years
I sort of rank Prof. Rowan and Prof. Elm second...but part of that's personality - Prof. Rowan instructs you to challenge Dialga / Palkia...he's also kinda stern, and I generally aren't that fond of him. Prof. Elm is kinda funny, but not in a good way, as he's a bit unreliable (losing the pokémon, wtf? Although Silver is a ninja...he got to the pokémon league without badges, Kanto without a ticket...etc.)

WriteThemWrong

LetMeHearYourPokemon's___ Voice

Age 31
Male
Tucson
Seen September 22nd, 2011
Posted June 19th, 2011
1,130 posts
14.3 Years
i definitely think oak is the first authority on anything pokemon. he is definitely the top authority on kanto pokemon but overall i would say he is also the top authority. but of course there are other researchers that specialize in their own field of pokemonology.
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Cherrim

Age 34
she / her
Toronto
Seen 6 Hours Ago
Posted 6 Days Ago
33,049 posts
20.4 Years
I think Oak was essentially the "first" Professor to be really widely known for something. He invented the Pokédex which vastly helped the research of ALL the other professors (once they roped an innocent kid into filling it for them) and for that, he's esteemed and his colleagues hold him in high regard.

That and he and whichever prof was in gen 3 (I forget pretty much all of them, tbh xD) are earlier in the timeline so they've been at the researching business longer than everyone else, probably. Factor in his age and it's not a far stretch to call him one of the smartest, but they all seem to have different specialties so I don't think it's quite fair to say he's the smartest despite everything.


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I don't believe Professor Oak to be the smartest one. I've seen him as more of one of the most highly respected or highly regarded professors. Inventing the Pokedex is a huge accomplishment in the Pokemon world that has spread to every region that we know of. So that alone already makes him a very important figure. Then off of that he's known to keep and study a variety of Pokemon at his research lab so we know he's very knowledgeable in the field that he studies.

If you look at it from a consumer standpoint it could also be that the people behind Pokemon want a recognizable knowledgeable character in the franchise that people can associate with being a prominent Pokemon professor.

Wasn't Elm the one who was fairly.... dumb?
I don't think he was dumb as much as he was eccentric and a little too passionate about his work and besting Professor Oak.

Andrew McKenzie

Supporting Pokemon Since 1999

Age 32
They/Them
Ireland
Seen August 28th, 2020
Posted August 27th, 2020
356 posts
16.3 Years
He's more world renown, but most likely not THE smartest of them all.

Each of the professors is known to study different subjects on top of the normal general Pokemon stuff.

For instance, Elm is known to study Pokemon Breeding, specifically creditted with the discovery of Pokemon Eggs, even though Mr. Pokemon found it first!
He's also quoted to be "the best when it comes to the research of Pokémon evolution" which means he and Rowan share an interest in a certain study.
He also isn't dumb, or generally un-smart, after all he is a professor.
He's just scatter brained, and absent minded.

Professor Birch is known to mainly study Wild Pokemon behaviour.
This is why he's mostly field studying.

Professor Rowan is known to study the mysteries of Pokemon Evolution.

Professor Juniper, we know little about thus far.

As for THE Professor Oak himself...
According to Elm, Oak concentrates on Pokémon and human relationships as a profession.

Also, an added note for Elm, he is known to have been Oak's top student at one point.

So yeah, none of them are the smartest or the dumbest.
Some professors know more on certain subjects than the others.
Even Oak himself admitted that another professor knew more on other subjects than himself.
Age 28
Male
Seen January 8th, 2022
Posted August 20th, 2016
477 posts
15.3 Years
well lets see:
Oak: thought there was 150 pokemon, wasn't smart enough to find johto and the 100 pokemon that live there, can't remember his grandson's name, can't tell the difference between male and female children

Elm: discovered pokemon eggs, steel and dark types, baby pokemon

Birch: go chased by a poochyana, so dumb he couldn't grab a pokeball from the bag that was like three steps away, can't tell the difference between male and female children

Rowan: trusts a 10 year old to be his assistant, can't tell the difference between male and female children

so I would saw it would have to be Elm is the smartest not Oak. in order it would go: Elm, Rowan, Oak, Birch. Birch is just a idiot. It's a miracle they let him be a professor
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bobandbill

one more time

Male
A cape
Seen 3 Hours Ago
Posted 3 Days Ago
16,785 posts
15.2 Years
Elm: discovered pokemon eggs, steel and dark types, baby pokemon
But... the games never said he discovered steel OR dark types - he had nothing to do with that. ._. Furthermore, he hadn't been the first to discover baby Pokemon - the egg came from the Day Care Centre to Mr Pokemon, he didn't breed them himself (and expressed much shock at the egg when presented to him because who knows where eggs come from!? -_- Ignoring the fact he has a son to boot...).

Oak not knowing the name of his grandson is more just a game mechanic too to allow you to name your rival along with yourself, which was dropped in later games like RSE and DPPt...and every professor asks about your gender as well because that is also a game mechanic, so that makes that point rather null and void too imo - why list that? =/

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Age 28
Male
Seen January 8th, 2022
Posted August 20th, 2016
477 posts
15.3 Years
But... the games never said he discovered steel OR dark types - he had nothing to do with that. ._. Furthermore, he hadn't been the first to discover baby Pokemon - the egg came from the Day Care Centre to Mr Pokemon, he didn't breed them himself (and expressed much shock at the egg when presented to him because who knows where eggs come from!? -_- Ignoring the fact he has a son to boot...).

Oak not knowing the name of his grandson is more just a game mechanic too to allow you to name your rival along with yourself, which was dropped in later games like RSE and DPPt...and every professor asks about your gender as well because that is also a game mechanic, so that makes that point rather null and void too imo - why list that? =/
huh. you know last time I checked the NPCs in GSC in newbark town say Elm discovered baby pokemon and eggs. and in jasmine's gym the gym guy said steel was a recently discovered type and as we all know unless a professor "discovers" it, it wasn't discovered.
And the thing with names could be different like "Oh this is Gary, my grandson, err what was that nickname you always called him?" or something like that
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