So why are all the pokemon professors named after trees?

[Never thirsty!]

Elm, Oak, Birch, haven't played diamond pearl or platinum I watched the first episode or 2 in the series Juniper forget the one in x but pretty sure it was a tree or else I wouldn't have thought “Come on guys another tree seriously?”

[goldenspines]

I googled this and I will share the results of what I found.

The same reason all saiyans are named after vegetables.

Theme naming is quite common in Japanese media, it makes it much easier to remember and come up with new names.

I think it's due to trees being known in folklore to be wise and all knowing, in a sense. Since a Pokemon Professor's basically the embodiment of those attributes, they named them after trees/plants. The trend started strongest with Oak, as oak trees are known as old and wise (exactly what Professor Oak is).

They're all secretly Ents.

Interestingly enough, people also have the theory that Ash will become a pokemon professor later in his life because of his name.

More reference about each pokemon professor and what they study: http://pokemon.wikia.com/wiki/Professor


And this: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Why-are-t ... 1092390498

For people who are just like you. =D

[faithb4sight]

Interestingly enough, people also have the theory that Ash will become a pokemon professor later in his life because of his name.

^ Woah.

[DaughterOfZion]

Like Goldy quoted/said, theme names are pretty popular in Japan. It's all over the Pokemon franchise as well, it isn't only the professors. Most cities in each region have theme names, ie Kanto's cities have a color theme: Cerulean City, Lavendar Town, Pallet town (Yeah pallet isn't a color but what do you put on a pallet? colors/paint). Most obvious are the game names in each generation following theme name conventions. Not all the themes are as obvious Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald but they're there if you look hard enough for them.

[LastLfan]

I like the whole ash professer theory. Most starting towns are also related to plants in some way such as newbark twinleaf and littleroot

[Nate]

Not all the themes are as obvious Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald but they're there if you look hard enough for them.

Except Sinnoh which has no common theme to the names!

[Laiseran]

It makes me wonder if anyone has made a Pokemon/LotR crossover? That would be cool to see.

[mdmrn]

I personally like the theory that they're all secretly Ents...

But interesting nonetheless.