Lychee
GCEA Version: Platinum
Trainer Name: Briar Clark
Link to stats: here
Word Count: 811
Entry: 7 Year Event, week 4- Favorite Trainer. The final theme is for you to highlight your favorite champion, elite four member, gym leader, or other established pokemon NPC.

Spoiler:
Journal. Winter. Late night, rainy.
Water, dark and ice types around outdoors.
Half moon behind the clouds. No wind. Athemiometer is reading green. Mood ring,blue.
At home tucked into my blanket, no need for supplies.

It's terrible weather out there tonight. The rain is freezing cold, but not cold enough to become snow. It's not a night to go out exploring in the mountains. Tonight, we had a family movie night instead. It was really sweet, all five or six of us in a big pile in front of the TV. Mum made pop-nuts and dad bought some lemonade from the Pokecentre. Even our pokemon are happy to just snuggle into a cushion indoors. Well, except for dads vulpix- we put her outdoors and she's having a ball frolicking in the rain. Something about the way she enjoys it makes me wonder if vulpix secretly do like the cold- even though they're fiery, they often live on freezing cold mountaintops. I heard a rumor that in Alola, vulpix are ice type entirely! I'm not sure if I should believe it. I didn't even think Alola had high enough mountains to have snow! It doesn't seem very logical.

My diary entry tonight isn't really about pokemon, it is about people. Watching the movie "Oaks Documentary: Part 1, Welcome to the World of Pokemon" made me think more about people. Specifically, Professors. The Pokemon Professors in each region of the world seem to be quite different, and I suppose in my region I would have to go see Professor Elm. I'm not really a fan of him, as he is a bit scatterbrained and hot-headed, and he seems to be mostly interested in eggs. I mean, eggs are interesting, I guess, but once he discovered that pokemon laid eggs, that was the end of it! Pokemon breeders have existed for a long time, and honestly I wonder why nobody discovered eggs before him. I suspect that he rudely barged his way into a pokemon nest and took an egg, which is something other Professors might not have done before. Elm has a wife and kids down south, and I suppose I could become a trainee under him... except that I don't really respect his work and I think it would be a little boring.
Professor Oak studies relationships between humans and pokemon, which makes him an excellent presenter in documentaries like the one we watched tonight. Somehow, I feel like he is charismatic but not actually very intelligent. He gives off that elderly kind of vibe that makes me think he might die soon. He's been around a very long time! I believe he has seen both legendaries AND cryptic pokemon, but he has decided to keep his mouth shut on information about them. Working with him would be something special, but I think he takes trainees in quite often, and I get the feeling he would send me out on a mission to learn about friendship or something stupid like that. Friendships are valuable, I don't need a Professor to teach me that lesson!
In other regions, I suppose there are Professors like Birch, who studies habitats (He might take an interest in my work that I've recorded while hiking!) and Professor Rowan, who studies evolution. While evolution and habitats are a core part of understanding pokemon both recorded and unrecorded, I can't help but feel like these Professors are missing the big picture. Ideally, all aspects of a pokemon need to be compiled into a holistic view, in order to truly understand a pokemons' nature, history, and potential.
There are some Professors who I hardly think should be called that at all, like Kukui, who mostly studies attacks, and Sycamore and Magnolia, who both study ways of powering up pokemon (Mega Evolution and Dynamax). What are they looking for? Yes, pokemon can gain power through different means, but what is the purpose of understanding that? Honestly, I think these Professors could easily be a front for some sort of government military research. It seems too similar to researching missiles or radiation, or how to build a better gun. Somewhat pointless and probably harmful in the long run.
The only Professor who I like the idea of working with is Professor Juniper from Unova. She seems to have a lot to say, and seems particularly interested in the origins of pokemon- as well as making sure to thoroughly research and question history, and not abuse the power of both pokemon and knowledge. She has made some amazing discoveries in her time, and she's not too old or likely to retire anytime soon. I would be a little bit worried that working for her might involve a lot of archaeological work, but I think it's something I could bear.
Unfortunately for me, Unova is a long way away.
My parents will probably push me to go work with Elm. Ugh.