Professor Birch

Professor Birch is the Pokémon Professor of the Hoenn region in the anime, primarily appearing during the Advanced Generation series (the Hoenn saga).

Appearance: He's depicted as a tall, large (heavily built/chubby) man with fair skin, dark eyes, short and slightly wavy brown hair, a squarish face, and a beard. He typically wears a white lab coat over a navy blue T-shirt, khaki shorts with a black belt, and tan sandals, often carrying a brown bag for his research papers.

Personality and role: Unlike more lab-bound professors like Oak or Elm, Birch is very outgoing, active, and enthusiastic about field research—he loves studying Pokémon habitats and behaviors in the wild, which sometimes leads him into risky or distracting situations (like getting chased by wild Pokémon). He's friendly, approachable, kind, generous, and always willing to help aspiring trainers. In the anime, he famously gives May her starter Pokémon (Torchic), a Pokédex, and Poké Balls after she helps rescue him from a pack of Poochyena early in her journey. He's also shown as a bit eccentric, occasionally reckless (e.g., in driving or fieldwork), but overall jovial and supportive.

He serves as a mentor figure for new trainers in Hoenn and has connections to other characters like Professor Oak.