They offer advice, referee card games and manage players\u2019 tantrums \u2013 we caught up with some of the volunteer profs who keep the competitive game going at this year\u2019s world championships<\/p>\n
Professors may be the most revered characters in the fictional world of Pok\u00e9mon (apart from perhaps the Gym Leaders). In Pok\u00e9mon 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\u2019ve ever played a Pok\u00e9mon game, they are often the first people that you meet, apart from your in-game mom.<\/p>\n
But you may not know that there are also real-world Pok\u00e9mon professors \u2013 volunteers who help organise the game\u2019s competitive communities around the world. Instead of lab coats, they can be seen at events wearing red Pikachu-mascot shirts labelled \u201cstaff\u201d, paired with black trousers and shoes.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2de3aeccd3dce24225834d98fe6dcdf5c94ba54e\/998_441_2701_2161\/master\/2701.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2ec1ed13d3841f9cb14779a97584e39b\" "\\"Meet")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"