Professor Birch
| Professor Birch オダマキ博士 Dr. Odamaki | |
| File:Professor Birch.png Art from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald | |
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Littleroot Town |
| Region | Hoenn |
| Relatives | Brendan/May (as rival), unnamed wife, unnamed son (Emerald only) |
| Trainer class | Pokémon Professor |
| Generation | III |
| Games | Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald |
| Anime debut | Johto Photo Finish |
| English voice actor | Dan Green |
| Japanese voice actor | Fumihiko Tachiki |
Professor Birch (Japanese: オダマキ博士 Dr. Odamaki) is the resident Pokémon Professor of Littleroot Town and the Hoenn region. He specializes in Pokémon habitats and distribution.
Background information
Birch distributes Pokédexes and one of the three starter Pokémon of Hoenn: Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip, to aspiring Hoenn trainers in the Generation III games. In addition, after Trainers complete the Hoenn Pokédex in Pokémon Emerald, he will give them one of the three starter Pokémon of Johto: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile.
He is known to be more outgoing than the other Pokémon Professors, and oftentimes his research takes him outdoors. His field of study is primarily how Pokémon behave in the wild.
In the games
In the Generation III games, Professor Birch is the father of the rival character.
In the start of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, he must be rescued from a wild Poochyena. In the start of Pokémon Emerald, he must be rescued from a wild Zigzagoon. After saving him, he will give the protagonist of the games the starter Pokémon they used in the rescue.
He often works with his child to help observe and capture wild Pokémon. His wife worries about him, because he's always busy and rarely has time to come home.
Pokémon
This listing is of Professor Birch's Pokémon in the video games in which he has appeared.
These Pokémon are given to a Trainer at the beginning of their journey:
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As in Ruby and Sapphire, these Pokémon are given to a Trainer at the beginning of their journey:
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These Pokémon are given to a Trainer who has completed the Hoenn Pokédex:
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In the anime
Birch was first seen in a flashback of Harrison in Johto Photo Finish. His first actual appearance was in Get The Show On The Road when he gave May her Torchic. He later appeared in Dewford Town in both A Three Team Scheme! and Seeing is Believing!. Birch also appeared in A Six Pack Attack, when he was meeting Professor Oak. Later, Birch was seen in The Evolutionary War! at a vacation on A-B-C Islands. Over there, he and Ash and his friends cleared the mystery of the Clamperl evolution. Birch's most recent appearance was a short cameo in The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon; it is unknown if he will appear again since the main characters have left the Hoenn region.
His preferred mode of transport is a jeep that he drives recklessly.
Due to the relationship between characters in the games, it is widely speculated that Birch is the father of Brendan's anime counterpart. This character has made three short cameo appearances in the anime and has the starter Pokémon whose type weakens May's.
Pokémon
This is a listing of Professor Birch's Pokémon as of the most recent Japanese episode.
Befriended
| Debut | A Six Pack Attack |
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Poochyena was only briefly seen, while trying to rescue starter Pokémon from Team Rocket's grasp. Poochyena is good at hunting down people and Pokémon based on smell. However, its battle extent is not known.
Gives to new Trainers
| Debut | Get the Show on the Road |
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Treecko is a Pokémon that Professor Birch gives to new Trainers. The first Treecko appeared in Get the Show on the Road where it was one of the Pokémon that May could choose as her Starter Pokémon. It was not picked due to May picking Torchic.
Another one appears in A Six Pack Attack! along with the other starters where Max and May admire them. Suddenly Team Rocket capture them along with the other Hoenn and Kanto starters. Max finds them and makes Bulbasaur and Treecko use Tackle and Pound the bars away. It then helps send Team Rocket blasting off.
Treecko's only known move is Pound.
| Debut | Get the Show on the Road |
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Torchic is a Pokémon that Professor Birch gives to new Trainers. The first Torchic appeared in Get the Show on the Road where May picks it as her Starter Pokémon. Another one appears in A Six Pack Attack! along with the other starters where Max and May admire them. Suddenly Team Rocket capture them along with the other Hoenn and Kanto starters. Max finds them and makes Torchic and Charmander heat the cage with Ember until finally they are free. It then helps send Team Rocket blasting off.
Torchic's only known move is Ember.
| Debut | Get the Show on the Road |
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Mudkip is a Pokémon that Professor Birch gives to new Trainers. The first Mudkip appeared in Get the Show on the Road where Prof. Birch is under attack from a pack of Poochyena, he asks May to pick a Starter Pokémon to save him. She picks Mudkip, but has no battle experience and Mudkip fires a Water Gun at her. Prof. Birch commands it and it blast them off with another Water Gun. It then appeared later when May was choosing a starter, but she chose Torchic.
Another one appears in A Six Pack Attack! along with the other starters where Max and May admire them. Suddenly Team Rocket capture them along with the other Hoenn and Kanto starters. Max finds them and makes Mudkip and Squirtle to cool the bars with Water Gun which eventually frees them. It then helps send Team Rocket blasting off.
Mudkip's only known move is Water Gun.
Pokémon he gave away to Trainers
 Harrison's Blaziken |
May's Torchic |
At Professor Birch's Laboratory
Voice actors
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In the manga
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
In Pokémon Adventures, Professor Birch is the father of Sapphire, and supplies her with most of her Pokémon. He is good friends with Norman.
After Ruby rescued Birch from some wild Mightyena, Birch gave him a Mudkip.
Birch gave away most of his Pokémon to Sapphire and Ruby. His last Pokémon was a Treecko, that he lost in a flood caused by Kyogre. Wally has since rescued the Pokémon and began to raise it.
Pokémon
This listing is of Prof. Birch's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.
Given away
| Debut | VS. Mightyena |
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- Main article: Emerald's Sceptile
Treecko was originally going to be Emerald's Pokémon but before it can happen, a Kyogre's flood causes the gecko Pokémon to get washed away. He was lost and found by Wally. In the Emerald arc, Emerald is revealed to have owned him but this time, in his fully evolved form.
| Debut | VS. Mightyena |
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| Debut | VS. Mightyena |
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| Debut | VS. Crawdaunt I |
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| Debut | VS. Azumarill II |
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Pilo (Japanese: とろろ Tororo) was given to Sapphire.
Pilo's known moves are Razor Leaf, Magical Leaf, SolarBeam, and Aerial Ace, his ability is Chlorophyll and has a Calm nature.
In the Pokémon Ruby-Sapphire manga
Professor Birch appears in I Won't Let You Lead!! where he challenges Isamu Akai and his Pokémon to a Magikarp-catching duel and was able to easily win the contest, along with the other competitions he was involved in with Isamu.
Pokémon
On hand
| Debut | I Won't Let You Lead!! |
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Treecko was used in the last competition where it had a race with Clefairy. Even thought Clefairy was about to win, Treecko was able to get to the finish line as Clefairy got distracted by a noodle stand giving out a snack.
None of Treecko's moves are known.
Released
| Debut | I Won't Let You Lead!! |
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During the Magikarp-catching duel, Professor Birch was able to catch these thirty Magikarp. Afterwards, they are released back in the water.
In the TCG
This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Professor Birch or his Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
| Name | Type | Level | Rarity | Set | Set no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professor Birch | T | – |  |
EX Ruby & Sapphire | 89/109 |
| EX Emerald | 82/106 | ||||
| EX Power Keepers | 80/108 |
Trivia
- Birch is the only Pokémon Professor who has been known to have given away multiple starter Pokémon that has only given away members of one species in the anime.
Names
| Language | Name | Reference to |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | オダマキ博士 Dr. Odamaki | オダマキ Odamaki, Aquilegia. |
| English | Professor Birch | Birch tree, following the naming of Professor Oak and Professor Elm. |
| French | Professeur Séko | From Séquoia, French word for Sequoiadendron. |
| German | Professor Birk | Birke means Birch in German. |
| Spanish | Profesor Abedul | Abedul means Birch in Spanish. |
| Korean | 털보박사 Teolbo-baksa | "털보" is a Korean phrase that refers to exceptionally hairy people, particularly men. |
| Chinese | 小田卷博士 Dr. Xiǎotiánjuǎn | 小田卷 is from 小田巻 Odamaki. Literally "little field roll". |
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| See also: Pokémon Horizons characters | ||||||||||||||
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This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games. |
