Professor Sakura

**Age**

 **Gender**

 **Eye Color**

 **Hair Color**

 **Hometown**

 **Region**

## In the Game

### **Role**

Professor Sakura is friends with the protagonist and kick-starts their journey into the Vereshad region. A travelling research student at one point, she has since settled down at the institute in Cadere Town to take over Professor Ilex's research. Since she has to stay at the lab, and the player is in need of work, Professor Sakura asks them to run small errands for the lab.

### **Personality**

Professor Sakura is often lost in thought and frequently goes off on rambling tangents about scientific or philosophical concepts she and her research team are studying. Overall, she is eager to share ideas with anyone who will listen, whether that be the player or the delivery man at the local Poké Mart. Her eager energy has built up in part because she is forced to stay at the lab. Previously, she was a travelling researcher, where she found the starter Pokémon Sejitsu, Boxeroo, and Psypole in three different regions. Sakura now attempts to live vicariously through the player's adventures across Vereshad, but this does little to mitigate her energetic attitude; Sakura wistfully brings up her desire to travel at every possible chance she gets when talking to the player.

### **Background**

Professor Sakura used to be a traveling research student. She explored a variety of different regions outside of Vereshad and eventually settled in Cadere Town when an opportunity to become the town's Professor arose. She visited Eva's hometown when she was a teenager, where she inspired the young girl to become a Pokémon trainer. She was always the top of her class through hard work and dedication. Professor Sakura became the youngest Professor in the region when she took the role at 16. Since then, she has worked hard to turn out new trainers from the area around Cadere Town and expand her own research. She developed a new technology to replace the Pokédex, but as of the start of the game, she has not yet finalized it.

## Relationships

Professor Sakura is not part of the friendship system, so her relationship with the protagonist is not influenced by the player's in-game dialogue choices.

### **Protagonist**

Professor Sakura became the town's Pokémon Professor before the start of the game. She watched the protagonist grow up over the last decade and wanted to see them become a Pokémon Trainer. Professor Sakura kept pushing the protagonist until they finally decided to start their journey. The two are close, mainly because Professor Sakura listens to the protagonist about their family problems and wants to see them grow as a person. Professor Sakura truly believes the protagonist can become a better trainer than their cousins, and she secretly hopes the protagonist will come back to help her in the lab after his journey.

### **Damien**

Professor Sakura watched Damien grow up over the last decade and wanted to see him become a Pokémon Trainer. The two were close because Damien would follow her around when she was conducting experiments. At first, she was annoyed that Damien would follow her everywhere while she was trying to work, but she eventually warmed up to him. Over time, she let her enthusiasm direct her in life due to watching Damien's energetic nature.

### **Eva**

Professor Sakura met Eva when she was a child, before Professor Sakura became the Professor of Cadere Town. She was appreciative of Eva's interest in her work, so she invited Eva to come to her when Eva was ready to become a Pokémon trainer. Professor Sakura sees a curious energy in Eva, and she wants to set it free and watch how far Eva can go in her Pokémon journey.

### **Mariana**

Professor Sakura knew Mariana prior to the start of the game. The two were never close because Mariana was able to succeed as a Pokémon trainer without Professor Sakura's help. They used to chat in Cadere Town before Mariana became the Champion, but after her achievement, they fell out of contact. Professor Sakura now mainly sees Mariana on the TV.

### **Martin**

Professor Sakura knew Martin prior to the start of the game. The two were never close because Martin was able to succeed as a Pokémon trainer without Professor Sakura's help. Martin used to avoid Professor Sakura since she would socialize with Mariana, but once he became a Gym Leader, they began to exchange information on Pokémon. Professor Sakura was happy to be able to help him with something, even if it was just sending letters.

### **Professor Ilex**

Professor Ilex was the original Professor of Cadere Town. Professor Sakura studied under him when she was a teenager. About ten years prior to the start of the game, Professor Ilex disappeared during a solar eclipse. After his disappearance, Professor Sakura was announced as the town's new Professor due to her relationship with him and her impressive field research from her travels. Since then, she has thrown away most of Professor Ilex's research, noting that it did not hold much scientific value.

## Pokédex Completion Rewards

Professor Sakura offers the player incentive to fill the Pokédex. Requirements and their corresponding rewards are listed below.

## Trivia

* Professor Sakura has a unique Cutesnoot named "Cherry".