Professor Willow

Professor Willow ウィロー博士 Dr. Willow
Art from Pokémon GO
Age	Unknown
Birthday	July 21
Gender	Male
Eye color	Black
Hair color	Gray
Hometown	Unknown
Region	Unknown
Relatives	Unnamed mother, unnamed father
Generation	VI, VII, VIII, IX
Games	Pokémon GO
Animated series	Pokémon Horizons: The Series The Two Professors
Debut	HZ042 (Horizons; original Japanese only) Episode 1: A New Pokémon Has Been Discovered! (The Two Professors)
English voice actor	Robbie Daymond (The Two Professors)
Japanese voice actor	Nobuyuki Sakemoto (The Two Professors)

Professor Willow (Japanese: ウィロー博士 Dr. Willow) is a Pokémon Professor who appears in the Pokémon GO mobile game. Similar to Professor Birch, he specializes in Pokémon habitats and distribution. Unlike other Professors who directly give Trainers their first Pokémon, Professor Willow gives Trainers their first Poké Balls to capture their first Pokémon.

Background information

Professor Willow was an only child who learned his love of Pokémon and exploring from his parents. His mother researched Pokémon ecology and his father was fascinated by the outdoors. Before setting out on his own exploration, he worked in a lab studying Pokémon under Professor Oak, whom he still looks up to today.

In addition to Professor Oak in Kanto, Professor Sycamore in Kalos, Professor Magnolia in Galar, and Jacq in Paldea are also colleagues of his.

Despite his confident presentation, Professor Willow confesses to a shy side and values spending time alone outdoors for his research. He always wears his lab coat to help himself focus on his research. His dream is to explore uncharted lands and to examine and document new Pokémon species yet to be discovered in their natural habitat.

Upon discovery of many Meltan-disguised Ditto by his assistants at the conclusion of the Chikorita Community Day, Professor Willow contacted Professor Oak to discuss the matter. It was revealed during later Special Researches that Professor Willow has a Meltan as his Pokémon buddy.

While investigating Team GO Rocket take-overs, Professor Willow recovered some corrupted files from his computer, uncovering data about Team GO Rocket Leaders Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo. He later found out that Team GO Rocket Grunts were dropping Mysterious Components behind them when defeated at invaded PokéStops. With the help of his assistants, the three team leaders, he was able to build an early Rocket Radar prototype to locate the Team GO Rocket Leaders and later the Super Rocket Radar to locate Giovanni himself.

On June 5, 2022, during the second day of the Pokémon GO Fest 2022 event, Professor Willow suddenly disappeared, and in his stead appeared Rhi, of the GO Ultra Recon Squad. It was later revealed that Professor Willow had entered an Ultra Wormhole and ended up in Ultra Space. On August 27, 2022, Rhi and the player managed to rescue Professor Willow from Ultra Space in time for the Pokémon GO Fest 2022 Finale event, though his outfit was changed for a few months.

On November 5, 2022, following the Dratini Community Day Classic event, Professor Willow was contacted by Jacq when Trainers discovered a ?????? Coin from the Paldea region upon spinning a golden PokéStop. Jacq contacted Professor Willow again soon after to discuss the ecology of Gimmighoul. Gimmighoul's Chest Form was named by Jacq, while its Roaming Form was named by Professor Willow.

Transferring Pokémon

The player can transfer Pokémon to Professor Willow using the "Transfer" option on the status screen in exchange for one Candy for that Pokémon's evolutionary line. A Pokémon transferred to the Professor is permanently lost, equivalent to releasing a Pokémon in the core series games.

Assistants

Candela, Blanche, and Spark

Professor Willow has three assistants who each are head of a team that research Pokémon in different ways. They perform this research inside Gyms owned by their respective teams, with each team's mascot being one of the legendary birds. The leader of the teams will also appraise the Pokémon of trainers on their teams when asked to.

His assistants are:

• Spark, the leader of Team Instinct (Japanese: チーム・インスティンクト Team Instinct), who is researching Pokémon breeding. Team Instinct Trainers believe a Pokémon's intuition is linked to how they are hatched. Team Instinct is represented by Zapdos.
• Blanche, the leader of Team Mystic (Japanese: チーム・ミスティック Team Mystic), who is researching Pokémon Evolution. Team Mystic Trainers believe that by staying calm and analyzing every situation, they can't lose. Team Mystic is represented by Articuno.
• Candela, the leader of Team Valor (Japanese: チーム・ヴァーラー Team Valor), who is researching Pokémon strength. Team Valor Trainers believe that their Pokémon are the strongest because they train to naturally enhance a Pokémon's power in search of true strength. Team Valor is represented by Moltres.

Gallery

Artwork

Appearance from Pokémon GO between August 27th and November 30th, 2022

Quotes

Main article: Professor Willow/Quotes

In animation

の	This article is missing information on this character's Japanese voice actor. You can help by adding this information.

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Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Professor Willow in Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Professor Willow appeared in a bonus scene for HZ042, where he was seen contacting Friede to ask the Rising Volt Tacklers to investigate a sudden appearance of several Pikachu with caps similar to Captain Pikachu's. Soon after, the call was interrupted when one of them electrocuted him. This bonus scene was not dubbed into English.

Pokémon

Gimmighoul

Debut	HZ042

This Roaming Form Gimmighoul is Professor Willow's only known Pokémon. It appeared alongside him when he contacted Friede to ask for help.

None of Gimmighoul's moves are known.

The Two Professors

Professor Willow in The Two Professors

Professor Willow is a main character in The Two Professors, a series of three CGI-animated shorts.

In the TCG

TCG print of Professor Willow

Main article: Professor's Research (SWSH Promo 178)

On March 4, 2021, Niantic announced that they had reached an agreement with The Pokémon Trading Card Game and that Professor Willow would appear in the TCG starting summer 2021. Professor Willow's TCG card art and availability were revealed on June 15, 2021. Each card comes with a unique 16 digit code that can be redeemed in Pokémon GO from July 1, 2021, at 12:00 a.m. UTC to August 1, 2023, at 12:00 a.m. UTC to unlock a Special Research as well as a medal. A version without a code but with a Pokémon GO stamp was later included in the Pokémon GO V Battle Deck—Mewtwo vs. Melmetal.

In Stores

On November 19, 2019, an extension to the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo called Pokémon GO Lab was unveiled. This space includes a life-size statue of Professor Willow, as well as Pokémon GO-related merchandise and a real-time monitor displaying trainer names and team scores for the Pokémon GO Gym attached to the lab.

Voice actors

While Pokémon GO does not include vocal performances, in various promotional materials, he is voiced by Robbie Daymond in English. In the Japanese version of The Two Professors, he is voiced by Nobuyuki Sakemoto.

Language Voice actor Japanese 酒元信行 Nobuyuki Sakemoto (The Two Professors) English Robbie Daymond European Spanish Marc Zanni (The Two Professors) Pau López (Gimmighoul PV)

Trivia

• Willow was designed by Yusuke Kozaki.
• Professor Willow is the only Pokémon Professor to be named after a tree outside of the core series games.
• Professor Willow is the first Pokémon Professor in a spin-off game to have a colleague from the core series.
  • Aside from Friede, Professor Willow was the first Pokémon Professor to appear in Pokémon Horizons: The Series.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	ウィロー博士 Willow-hakase	From willow
English, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese	Professor Willow	Same as Japanese name
French	Professeur Willow Professeur Saule*	Same as Japanese name From saule (willow)
Spanish, Indonesian	Profesor Willow	Same as Japanese name
Korean	윌로우박사 Willow-baksa	Transcription of his Japanese name
Chinese (Mandarin)	維羅博士 / 维罗博士 Wéiluó-bóshì	Transcription of his Japanese name
Chinese (Cantonese)	維羅博士 Wàihlòh-boksih
Hindi	प्रोफ़ेसर विलो Professor Willow	Transcription of his English/Japanese name
Thai	ศาสตราจารย์วิลโลว์ Satsatrachan Willow	Transcription of his Japanese name
Turkish	Profesör Willow	Same as Japanese name
Russian	Профессор Уиллоу Professor Uillou	Transcription of his English name

Related articles

• The Two Professors

Non-player characters in Pokémon GO
Professor Willow • Blanche • Spark • Candela Team GO Rocket • Challengers • Rhi • Mateo

Pokémon Professors Oak (anime • Adventures • Pocket Monsters • Masters) • Elm • Birch • Rowan • Aurea Juniper • Cedric Juniper • Sycamore (anime • Masters) Kukui (anime • Masters) • Burnet (anime) • Samson • Mohn • Magnolia • Sonia (Masters) • Laventon • Sada • Turo Ivy • Cerise • Amaranth • Friede • Krane • P • Hastings • Berlitz • Holly • Tetra • Willow • Bellis • Mirror • Phorus • Fir • Neroli

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.