Professor's assistant

A professor's assistant is a helper or scientist that works alongside a Pokémon Professor. These assistants often help the professors in either their research or performing small chores. They may specialize in many things from office work to field work as they work alongside the professor's field of study. These characters often provide information or help the player as they progress through the game.
They were originally called aides in Generations and , as well as in .
==In the core series games==
Many professor assistants are shown throughout the core series, first debuting in Generation I. In Generations I and II many of the professor's assistants appear throughout the game, providing the player with items and feed back on progress on their Pokédex on behalf of the professor. These assistants went without names and were simply just researchers who helped the professor. While these types of professors remained throughout the core series, starting in , many assistants became notable characters that the player will interact with more frequently.
===Kanto===
Professor Oak's aide travels all over Kanto, keeping tabs on how many Pokémon the has caught, and giving out item rewards if the player has caught a sufficient amount of Pokémon. This aide usually appears on the second floor of gates or in small buildings. The rewards are usually Key Items. In addition to the stationed aide, many other aides work in Professor Oak's Laboratory, helping Professor Oak with day-to-day tasks. There is one aide who appears three times in the Kanto region.
In , the aides are very similar to those in Generation I. They still keep tabs on how many Pokémon the has caught and give out rewards if the player have caught a sufficient amount of Pokémon. In Generation III, there is a total of five items that can be obtained from the aides.
====Items====
Games	Location 	Amount ofPokémon required	Reward	Reward
 	Pewter City near the exitto 	Boulder Badge 	 	Running Shoes
 	First floor of the gateon 	10 	 	
 	Outside Diglett's Cave on 	10 	 	Secret Technique:Light Up
 	First floor of the Pokémon Centeron	20 	 	Everstone
 	Second floor of the gateon 	30 	 	Itemfinder
 	Second floor of the gateon 	30 	 	Judge function
 	Second floor of the gateon 	40 	 	Amulet Coin
 	Second floor of the gateon 	40 	 	30× Ultra Ball
 	Second floor of the gateon 	50 	 	Exp. AllExp. Share
 	Second floor of the gateon 	50 	 	
===Johto===
There is only one aide helping out Professor Elm in the lab, and as a result of this, he and Elm are often very busy. The aide rarely goes out; when he does, it is for a very important reason. When the enters the lab for the first time and obtains a Pokémon from Professor Elm, the aide will give the player a Potion before the player leaves. After steals one of the Pokémon from the lab, he will also give the player five s. After the player reaches Violet City and defeats Falkner, Professor Elm will send his aide off to the Violet City Pokémon Center, where he will give the player the Mystery Egg that the professor received earlier from the player.
Professor Elm's aide also appears in ; however, rather than being in the Pokémon Center to give the player the Egg after Elm has inspected it, he is inside the Poké Mart.
====Pokémon====
=====Given away=====
============
===Hoenn===
The player's friendly rival, which is either or depending on who the player chooses to play as, will help assist their father, Professor Birch, who studies Pokémon habitats, in field work. They will encounter the player numerous times throughout their journey. At the beginning of the game they serve as a tutorial for the DexNav as well as being the player's first Trainer battle.
===Sinnoh===
In Generation IV, Professor Rowan's assistant will always be the character not chosen by the . That is, if the player chose , will be the assistant, and vice versa. They live in Sandgem Town with their little sister, grandfather, and father—who also works as an assistant of Professor Rowan. They are already the professor's assistant at the beginning of the game. They will also demonstrate to the player how to capture Pokémon by capturing a wild , before giving the player five s. On , the assistant will give the player a Pokétch app , and the Vs. Seeker. In Veilstone City, they have their Pokédex stolen by a , but gets it back with the help of the player, as well as Looker in Platinum. The assistant can be seen at different stages of the game, usually following Professor Rowan around. At the end of the game, they can always be found outside Professor Rowan's lab in Sandgem Town, usually giving out pieces of advice. If the player speaks to the assistant when it is their birthday on the Nintendo DS calendar, the assistant will ask if it is the player's birthday. In , the assistant can be battled in Sandgem Town after the player has beaten the game.
In addition, their father will also appear in various parts of the game. He will first be seen in , giving the player an Exp. Share if 35 or more Pokémon have been registered as seen in the Pokédex. He will also appear on , upgrading the Pokédex and allowing the player to view gender and form differences.
===Unova===
In , Bianca becomes Professor Juniper's assistant after beating Alder for the first time. In , she delivers the first partner Pokémon to the player on the professor's behalf.
===Kalos===
Dexio and Sina act as Professor Sycamore's two aides and play a pivotal role in the main plot. They are first met by the player in describing the properties of the type, later appearing across Kalos at various points rallying out useful information, occasionally giving out Pokédex upgrades in the process. In the gate to Lumiose City, Dexio tells the player about friendship and gives the player , while Sina leads you to Professor Sycamore's lab after entering the main city. During activity that involves Team Flare's nefarious schemes, the twosome appear to assist the player while disguised as the self-proclaimed defenders of Kalos beginning at the Kalos Power Plant. After the player has become , the duo are seen together in the parade Professor Sycamore made for the player and their friends.
===Alola===
After Lillie had escaped Aether Paradise with Nebby, Professor Kukui took her in as an aide and let her stay at the loft in the Pokémon Research Lab. Lillie helps Professor Kukui with a series of chores, such as cleaning and fixing up his lab coat. During this time, this has allowed Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet to conduct research on . She helps provide information on locations such as Pokémon Centers and items like the player's new Rotom Pokédex at the start of the game. Throughout the story, Lillie helps provides the player with items and sometimes a full healing of their party. By the end of , Lillie leaves Alola to help care for her sick mother, leaving her position as an assistant to Kukui (however, he says she's always welcome back at the lab). In , Lillie remains in Alola, continuing to help Professor Kukui at the Pokémon Research Lab, where she asks the player if she provide battle help at the Battle Tree.
Dexio and Sina also appear in Alola, researching 's presence in the region on 's behalf. In , they give the player a Zygarde Cube to gather Zygarde Cells and Cores in order to make their own Zygarde. In , the player instead obtains the Zygarde Cube after becoming and battling Dexio in the Aether Base Lab on . In all four games, Dexio will also give the player a Key Stone after defeating him in battle at Ancient Poni Path or Poni Plains after becoming Champion.
===Galar===
During the events of , Sonia is not only the granddaughter to Professor Magnolia but also her assistant. Throughout the game, Sonia meets up with the player character, learning more about Galar's past and history and its relations to Dynamax. She provides the player with useful information as well as numerous key items and objects that they will use along the way. Most notably the Pokémon Box Link and the Escape Rope.
After the player becomes and defeats Sordward and Shielbert, Sonia will appoint Hop as her assistant. In The Isle of Armor, after the player has evolved , Hop shows up at the Master Dojo to do some research on the Isle of Armor. Mustard tells the player that hates the taste of , so in order for it to unlock its Gigantamax potential, a special ingredient is needed to make it drink the Max Soup. He doesn't reveal what this ingredient is, though, and lets the player and Hop figure it out on their own. After failing to find a proper ingredient out of and nectars, Hop figures that the ingredient must be honey. He and the player travel to Honeycalm Island, where the player gets thrusted into a Max Raid Battle against a Dynamax . After defeating it, the player will obtain a comb of Max Honey, which is the missing ingredient.
===Hisui===
In the and their friend, or (whoever isn't chosen as the player), are assistants to Professor Laventon. As part of the Galaxy Expedition Team's Survey Corp, they are asked to research Hisui's vast ecosystem and Pokémon, helping to create the region's very first Pokédex through a series of research tasks. After the player has fallen from the Space-time rift, Professor Laventon will lead them to the Galaxy Team once they have shown their skill in being able to catch Pokémon. Rei or Akari were appointed as assistants to Laventon before the events of the game and show up occasionally throughout the story, telling the player about Pokémon battles, space-time distortions and helpful items they may use such as evolution stones. After quelling a Noble Pokémon, both the player and their friend will group up with Professor Laventon at the Wallflower in Jubilife Village, discussing the progress they have made, and the player's background and memory.
==In spin-off games==
===Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness===
Chobin is Dr. Kaminko's assistant and takes great pride in being so. He is the only character in the games to have the of Kaminko Aide (Japanese: カミンコの助手 Kaminko's Assistant).
===Pokémon Masters EX===
Multiple characters provide Professor Bellis with work and research during the PML Arc, the Villain Arc, and the Mysterious Stones Chapter. also helps research the ruins on Pasio.
Multiple characters are also based on their incarnations from the core series, and thus take the role that they have had in those games. These characters include:
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
 and take mention of their positions as Professors' aides. However, they seem to currently not take up this position.
===New Pokémon Snap===
In New Pokémon Snap, Rita takes the position as Professor Mirror's lab assistant.
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
Professors' assistants make recurring appearances in Pokémon the Series. The first ones seen were Professor Ivy's assistants Hope, Faith, and Charity. After the events of Poké Ball Peril, decided to stay behind and become Ivy's assistant as well. However, in A Tent Situation, it was revealed that Brock stopped working for her under unknown circumstances.
In A Rivalry Revival, Tracey Sketchit asked if he could be his laboratory assistant. He agreed and has been working at the lab ever since. His job duties range from feeding the Pokémon to sweeping up around the lab.
Professor Birch has an assistant by the name of . He will often look after his laboratory when ever Birch studies outdoors.
In Destiny Deoxys, Professor Lund works with an assistant named Yuko at his laboratory in LaRousse City.
Professor Rowan has multiple assistants at his lab, the most prominent one being Yuzo. He acted as a counselor during the Pokémon Summer Academy along with the other assistants.
Like the other Pokémon Professors, Professor Juniper also has her own set of assistants.
 works with two assistants, Sophie and Cosette. The protagonist of the Mega Evolution Specials, Alain, is a main assistant of the professor. He goes off separate ways with him after allying with Lysandre, believing that he can protect the professor's reputation. After the Team Flare crisis, Alain became Sycamore's assistant again.
Professor Cerise has two assistants, Chrysa and Ren. From Legend? Go! Friends? Go! to This Could be the Start of Something Big!, and Goh served as his research fellows, before they left the laboratory and their role was taken over by Chloe.
===Pokémon Origins===
Professor Oak's aides first appeared in File 1: Red. One also appeared in File 4: Charizard.
===Pokémon Evolutions===
The Eclipse focuses on Lillie.
Professor Oak's aides appeared in The Discovery.
==In the manga==
===Pokémon Adventures===
's sister Daisy Oak served as 's assistant starting from the . took over as Professor Oak's assistant at the end of the .
Professor Elm has two assistants. The first, Joey, met at the start of his journey. The second delivered an to Gold.
Professor Rowan has two assistants. The first is 's father Mr. Berlitz, who accompanied Rowan to the Canalave City academic conference. The other is Roseanne, who looked after Rowan's research lab when he was away. was also given the tools such as a Pokémon and Pokédex to help assist Rown in his research. In the fourteenth chapter, is also revealed to be an assistant for Professor Rowan.
Dexio and Sina appear as Professor Sycamore's assistants in the twelfth chapter. They reappear in Alola as part of the fourteenth chapter. At the end of the X and Y chapter, also becomes an assistant to Professor Sycamore, help his studies as Dexio and Sina were in Alola.
Like their core series counterparts, Lillie works as Professor Kukui's assistant in exchange for allowing her to live with him and Professor Burnet after Lillie's escape from Aether Paradise.
Professor Magnolia has three assistants, including Henry Sword, Casey Shield, and Marvin. Sonia appears similarly to how she does in the core series games, where she is tasked to research Galar's history and the Darkest Day.
==Trivia==
* is the only protagonist introduced in the original series of to have never worked as a Professor's assistant.
==Related articles==
*
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