Professors may be the most revered characters in the fictional world of Pokémon (apart from perhaps the Gym Leaders). In Pokémon Red and Blue, Professor Oak greets the player in a pixelated lab coat, and later provides trainers with their first battle partner; since then, each successive generation of games has introduced another professor to aid and guide trainers through their journeys. If you’ve ever played a Pokémon game, they are often the first people that you meet, apart from your in-game mom.
But you may not know that there are also real-world Pokémon professors – volunteers who help organise the game’s competitive communities around the world. Instead of lab coats, they can be seen at events wearing red Pikachu-mascot shirts labelled “staff”, paired with black trousers and shoes. I spoke with several of these profs at the 2026 Pokémon world championships in San Francisco, California.
Not only do they happily distribute their knowledge about Pokémon, but they also serve as vital staff at the tournament, working as referees and teachers, as well as event managers. The official Pokémon website describes the Pokémon Professor Program as a “global network of passionate and knowledgable fans” who volunteer their time to help run official Pokémon events. There were roughly 300 Pokémon professors present at the 2026 Pokémon world championships, according to a representative of the Pokémon Company International.
A professor’s responsibilities depend on the game they work with and their assigned role at the event. A Pokémon professor officiating a game such as Pokémon Unite might be hyper-focused on wrangling players and providing technical support, whereas a judge for a trading card game tournament might provide competitors with hands-on guidance as they navigate their first live competitive event. Gemma Byard, a head judge in charge of making the final call on any decisions or questions that arise, became a Pokémon professor after her son started competing in the trading card game.
She says that she and the other professors help ensure the integrity of the tournament, describing what goes into the day-to-day work at worlds – such as ensuring that event officials record the results of competitions correctly. We’re constantly looking out for anything that may be unsafe, or anybody that shouldn’t be in the venue. There’s a lot to think about on top of the rulings.” Professors often juggle multiple responsibilities on the competition floor and will travel across the world to staff an event such as the world championships.
When asked about how the Pokémon Company International compensates its professors, however, most people I spoke to declined to disclose details. One Pokémon professor said that the European professors are compensated with goodies, such as a special staff kit with merchandise, whereas the professors at regional tournaments in the US are paid wages; the same professor said that the Pokémon Company International helped with travel, room and board for the event. (When asked for an official statement explaining how Pokémon professors are paid, a representative from the Pokémon Company International declined to comment.) Evelyne de Groot travelled from the Netherlands to staff this year’s championships. Like the other Pokémon professors I spoke to, de Groot worked her way up to staffing worlds after organising local competitions in her home region.
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