Education

[Roses Ablaze]

How do you think the education of pokemon trainers is handled?

I go with the theory that they either go through an intense education before they turn ten or they're homeschooled and are given tests regularly (Max being able to skip grades because he's really smart). I also have the theory that maybe some trainers are allowed to study on their own while they're traveling and take tests that are normally administered to homeschooled kids. Or maybe they really do just drop out at the age of 10 and get a GED later on.

 

[Barb]

I agree with your theory. After all, we saw Ash watching Pokémon training videos with Professor Oak before he left on his journey. I'd guess that a lot of kids are homeschooled, but a few do go to regular schools (like Pokémon Tech).

 

[Jukain]

This is what I would think think, too. Ash seems to be the only exception to this, because in the anime at least, he knew absolutely nothing about Pokemon, and they have to teach that. I'm not entirely sure what else he may know. I've said in another thread that I think it must be an option to continue education or not. I would personally not condone such an apparent lack of concern for education. Then again, I may underestimate how good of a teacher the world itself is.

 

[Barb]

People are often categorized as being 'book smart' [i.e., college-educated] or 'street smart' [i.e., real-life experience]. In the Pokémon world, I suppose it all depends on what your chosen career or goal is. For Ash, training is a priority; school is not. Gary, on the other hand, may go to a school like Pokémon Tech to do research.

 

[FabuVinny]

The only schools we have seen, in the games as well as anime, are focussed towards knowledge of Pokémon. Yet there must be other specialist schools, since they have human doctors, mechanics, etc.

They must learn the necessities before the age of 10. (Ash can read.) Then, the choice is yours. Most 10 year olds go on their Pokémon Adventure, where they learn the 'street knowledge'. From there they make their own decisions.

The trouble is, the emphasis is obviously on the Pokémon, and how popular could a plumber be?

 

[The Big Al]

I doubt Pokemon training is as easy as the anime, games, and manga make it. Actually, I think in the Pikachu Manga Misty told Ash that 90% of new trainers quit after the first month. So by the end of the summer recess, most kids are back in school while those few who could actually make it as trainers continue on their journeys.

 

[Kthleen]

The trouble is, the emphasis is obviously on the Pokémon, and how popular could a plumber be?

Although probably not very, 1. it has been shown that some people don't care for Pokémon and/or training thereof, 2. some people just aspire to be plumbers (and mechanics, human doctors, astronauts, trashmen, etc.) and 3. such jobs are needed, so maybe, somewhere, children are guided toward the societally important jobs instead.

My first thought (ok, second after "dropping out") was "intense education before 10." I wonder about this "trainer's leave" thing, though. I haven't read any Ono Pokémon comics besides Pikachu Shocks Back, and I'm not finding anything on a Google search, so I don't know how long they are or anything else beyond "a certain amount of time that trainers can be gone from school in order to train, before they have to go back." Perhaps some trainers may choose to go back home for school, or some can choose to study a bit and take some tests while on the road instead. It would be interesting if there are "trainer schools" like there are "trainer cabins": strategically placed schools that anyone on their journey can go to, provided they can supply documentation of grades and levels, health (needed/suggested immunizations), and other things needed for school. And if they exist, item balls can help reduce the load and let you keep everything with you at the same time!

 

[Jukain]

And the best part is, it seems pokemon can be specially trained to assist you in your chosen profession. Of course, certain pokemon will be better for certain things than others. There also seems to be a few people in the Pokemon World that don't have a pokemon at all. There's a great amount of possibilities.

 

[Kthleen]

• Being a pokemon trainer isn't acutally that common of a job, it's just what we see because the show focuses on a pokemon fanatic.

Actually, I think in the Pikachu Manga Misty told Ash that 90% of new trainers quit after the first month. So by the end of the summer recess, most kids are back in school while those few who could actually make it as trainers continue on their journeys.

There we go. Most kids can/will still go to school "normally," while the few that don't either get trainer's leave, drop out and choose trainer as a career (and the ability to drop out w/o parent consent would probably depend on age [one can't until one is, say, 14-16, perhaps even lower]), or study on the road.

I wonder how common it is. That also makes me wonder how many (if any) of them return their starters and how many trainers a starter Pokémon may go through, but that's a bit off-topic.

 

[Barb]

In the episode "The Evolutionary War" there is a classroom attached to the Pokémon Center on Island A. Nurse Joy is the teacher. It seems reasonable to assume that journeying trainers like Ash could take advantage of this provision in other cities as well.

 

[MattW]

I would assume that most kids receive a very general education from their parents or their community (the influence of community on social development in the Pokemon world seems similar to that of many Eastern society/cultures, where the community helps raise the children to a high degree, though maybe that's just my interpretation of the peaceful culture of these people). Mid-level mathematics (which would be up to or around the area of multiplication / division or very basic algebra) and writing (which would be mainly about proper form, no advanced vocabulary I'd guess) and other practical matters (culture class?) or basic knowledge (relevant history?) which would be of use to everyone whatever their profession; science and advanced history / math / writing wouldn't need to part of everyone's knowledge. The Pokemon world doesn't have the regulated life that we have, with taxes and bureaucracy and higher education to get a good job, so if the "curriculum" was taught at a third the general rate that, say, Japanese kids probably learn it, they could probably still mostly learn it over five or six years. People know people and overall there's a lot of knowledge out there, though, so that comparatively limited curriculum could be supplemented by seeking out a tradesman for an (informal, possibly) apprenticeship, or as has been mentioned, specialized places of learning such as Pokemon Tech. Usually when a person decides they want to do something they know where they'd go or what they'd do, and with personal liberty at the level it is, that's just what people are able to do (though often local influences may prompt them to choose ways of being productive that can be attained without traveling long distances, such as following in their parent's footsteps as a clerk or as a scientist; not everyone has wild dreams of fantastic and irregular doings).

 

[Barb]

My question is: how does one become a professor in the Pokémon world?

They obviously have higher education than most trainers, but some did spend parts of their childhood and/or adolescence training and journeying. Did they eventually end up in a university? I'm pretty sure I remember Professor Oak telling Ivy that he enjoyed reading a paper she'd written; where are these papers published? What type of scientific journals exist in the Pokémon world?

 

[The Dude]

My question is: how does one become a professor in the Pokémon world?

I'd bet that Professor Oak just declared himself a professor, and then invented the PokeDex. On the issue of education, I think that in the Pokemon world, there's probably no such thing as public education. Most kids are apparently street educated. The television show would have us believe that the only schools are private schools.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

That may be the magazines we see around in the games. You know, when you examine a bookshelf.

 

[Barb]

I'd bet that Professor Oak just declared himself a professor, and then invented the PokeDex.

I'd reverse the order and then it might sound acceptable. You can't really 'declare' yourself a professor of anything without having scientific knowledge in a particular area. If he invented the Pokédex, a university might have given him an honorary degree. Otherwise, I've always assumed that all professors have doctorate-level degrees.

That may be the magazines we see around in the games. You know, when you examine a bookshelf.

That's possible. There are scientific journals written specifically for the public (Discover, National Geographic, Scientific American), but I was referring to journals written by scientists for scientists (such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Mathematics, et al).

 

[Zhen Lin]

It's worth noting (as I have mentioned before), that all Professors in the original have the title -hakase, which suggests at least a doctorate. To be a professor though, one has to be a faculty member at the university.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

In the games, you're told you qualify to be a professor if you fill up a certain number on your dex. Maybe it's a short form of saying that the professor wants you to go into that field, but if so, it's not elaborated on.

 

[FabuVinny]

What about Gary, then?

He just decided after Johto that he would be a professor. And after a bit more journeying, he ended up on Seda Island where his Old Amber just happened to match the fossilised egg they had. He's certainly caught lots of Pokémon, but I don't think that that is what made him a professor.

Incidently, Professor Oak then buys him "a microscope, some rare collector's journals, books, and stuff like that."

 

[The Dude]

We all know how Prof. Ivy got her title. XD (see Pokemopolis)

 

[Jukain]

It is generally accepted that to be a pokemon professor, you must know a whole lot about pokemon. Far more than ordinary people might know. It is clearly a very scientific field, specifically a zoological-like field (Pokology? o.o). I'm not entirely sure if it's like the zoology on this planet, where you would have to know anatomy and all that. The dex even mentions Oddish having a scientific name (Oddium wanderus), which means there is some form of taxonomy. (It would be interesting to know how this classification system works, and I have some theories if you would like to hear them)

I still think there is an optional higher education system in place. Either that, or the pokemon professors became so after a lot of years doing fieldwork and studying pokemon until they could submit a paper of their findings that is unique. The question is who evaluates these papers. It would have to be a set of already established professors that have senority, which would normally be found at a university. It has been shown, however, that Professor Oak at least does lectures for pokemon schools and generally everyone praises him for being at the very top of the pokemon research field. Professor Elm studies pokemon evolution and with a little help discovered the secrets of the pokemon egg. Professor Birch likes to get to know pokemon on a personal level, going out into the field to observe them for himself. I'm not sure if we will ever truly know how one becomes a pokemon professor, but I imagine it is a very involved process. There are a lot of us here that could probably qualify with all we know of pokemon. I would like it myself, although I got tired of college level chemistry, and I don't even want to know what organic chemistry involves. Even my Invertebrates course made me a bit squeamish. (I was a Biological Science major) I probably don't know how to be objective enough anyway.