Professor Oak is heading to Pokémon Masters, which should terrify everyone.

Professor Oak is heading to Pokémon Masters, which should terrify everyone.

Back in the day, Professor Oak was quite the young trainer and was even on track to take on the Kanto League, but then he fell into Pokémon research instead. No spoilers, but the plot of Pokémon Masters even has some of Oak’s back story on how he decided to enter into academia.

After decades of research and helping young trainers decide whether they were a boy or a girl, he’s decided to come out of retirement for one more go at the title.

That’s right: Professor Oak is coming to Pokémon Masters.

The announcement was made yesterday with a new trailer on the official Pokémon YouTube channel. “After all this time absorbed in my research, it’s time to relive the old days with some Pokémon battling,” says Oak as he walks dramatically out of his office wearing his signature lab coat.

We’re not told in the trailer just which Pokémon Professor Oak will pair with. There are a few possibilities, most notably the Kanto starter Pokémon. Charizard is likely to be reserved for Leon, the Galar Region champion, but that still leaves Venusaur and Blastoise available (there’s no way an old-timer like Oak would still have pre-evolution Pokémon).

Eevee would have been a good choice given Oak’s study of the multi-evolutionary Pokémon, but Eevee is already paired with Leaf in January’s update. Blue, Oak’s grandson, has Pidgeot so that Pokémon is also out.

There are a few other ‘Mons left to consider. Bulbapedia mentions that there’s a secret Professor Oak team in Pokémon Red & Blue’s code but was never implemented in the game. You have to hack the ROM in order to battle Oak, but if you do, he’ll come with whichever Kanto starter is not claimed by Red and Blue as well as a level 66 Tauros, a level 67 Exeggutor, a level 68 Arcanine, and a level 70 Gyarados.

Arcanine has already been claimed by Marley in Pokémon Masters, but the other three are still available. Professor Oak with an Exeggutor would be totally on brand.

Has Oak gone soft in his old age? Has he lost his edge? We’ll find out on Valentine’s Day when he arrives in Pokémon Masters.