Scientist (Trainer class)

A Scientist (Japanese: はぐれけんきゅういん Researcher Gone Astray in Generations I, II, and ; けんきゅういん Researcher in Generations III, V, VI, and ) is a type of Pokémon Trainer that first debuted in the Generation I games. They are men in lab coats and glasses, with the ones in as well as  holding  as well. They are often aligned with Team Rocket, as shown throughout the first three generations, and with Team Galactic, as shown in. In, female Scientists, who were depicted as women with dark hair and glasses wearing lab coats, were introduced.

They generally use inorganic or artificial Pokémon such as, , , and , but also Pokémon in Sinnoh- and Unova-based games. Scientists of the Sinnoh and Unova regions start the battle by using battle items such as X Attack or X Defense. In the Battle Maison in Generation VI, they only use, , and fossil Pokémon. In Generation VII, they keep their Pokémon in s. Scientists in the Battle Tree use teams with strategies revolving around.

In 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Scientists are known as Lab Men. In the English version of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Scientists are known as Researchers, while Scientists working for Cipher are called Cipher R&D (Japanese:  Shadow Researcher) in XD.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Scientists appearing outside of the have a sprite unique to themselves with clothes consisting of a tattered lab coat, unkempt hair, and black pants, while Scientists within the Battle Frontier use the Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum sprite, which has them wearing a normal-looking lab coat and white pants. This may be a reference to ; also, the only Scientists outside of the Battle Frontier in these games are either members of Team Rocket or inhabit a cave, so it may reference their lifestyles.

Pokémon X and Y

 * See also: List of Battle Maison Trainers/Scientist

Pokémon Sun and Moon

 * See also:
 * List of Battle Royal Dome Trainers/Scientist
 * List of Battle Tree Trainers/Scientist

In the main series
A Scientist appeared in Tag! We're It...! where he competed in the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. He was partnered with an and was one of 's and Paul's opponents. He ended up getting defeated.

A Scientist appeared in a flashback of Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu! (Part 1) before the Aura Sphere Riolu was taken away from 's henchmen.

A Scientist competed in the Pokémon Ping Pong Tournament with his in To Thine Own Pokémon Be True!. He was and 's first opponent, and wound up getting defeated.

Thaddeus, a researcher at the in Coming Back into the Cold!, had his appearance based on that of Scientists in.

Various Scientists appeared in The Tiny Caretaker!.

A group of Scientists appeared in The Power of Us.

In Pokémon Origins
Several Scientists appeared at the Silph Co. in File 3: Giovanni. Some first appeared in a couple of flashbacks when Silph Co.'s president's secretary told and  how Team Rocket was forcing them to experiment on  in order to complete the Master Ball. A group of Scientists was later freed from a locked room by Red, and one of them gave him a as a thanks for saving them.

In Pokémon Generations
Scientists working at the Weather Institute appeared in a flashback in The Cavern, in which they were taken hostage by Team Aqua during their invasion of the Institute. Scientists working at the Mossdeep Space Center also appeared in The Scoop.

In the How I Become a Pokémon Card manga
A Scientist appeared in Fossil + Pokémon = Aerodactyl!? of the How I Became a Pokémon Card manga where he was in his laboratory with a woman where they get into an argument with each other about discovering Pokémon. While the Scientist was tired, Team Rocket barged in and demand him to give them the Old Amber. The Scientist accidentally tripped on a table leg, causing the stuff to fall after crashing and the machine holding the Old Amber to rapidly regenerate into an. When Team Rocket went after Aerodactyl, the Scientist pulled out a Poké Ball and caught Aerodactyl.

In an attempt to get away from Team Rocket, the Scientist retreated on his. After stalling the villainous team with and, he encountered a waterfall and sent out  to cross the ocean nearby. Their getaway on the ocean was stalled after Team Rocket's appeared from underwater. With no other option, the Scientist sent out Aerodactyl and blasted away Team Rocket. This caused the tides to get out of control which knocked the Scientist into the river. Aerodactyl rode down and saved Scientist after seeing its own kind. After saving him, the Scientist waved Aerodactyl goodbye as it flew off with the other Aerodactyl. The Scientist returned to the lab after being saved.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
A Scientist appeared in Bombastic Bibarel & Heroic Hippopotas of the.

Two other Scientists appear in Dramatic Drapion & Crafty Kricketune I and the next chapter where they guard Lake Valor on behalf of Cyrus's orders.

A Scientist briefly appeared in Deprogramming Porygon-Z.

Trivia

 * Fennel heavily resembles the female Scientist of, even sharing the same overworld sprite.
 * Male Scientists were present in but couldn't be battled like the other games.
 * Female Scientists first appeared in as NPCs.

In other languages
Forscher Científico Scientifique Scienziato e Scienziata けんきゅういん 研究员