Professor Sycamore

Augustine Sycamore
Species	Human
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Gray
Base	Sycamore Pokémon Lab
Voiced by	Ben Lepley (2021)
Debut	Pokémon X/Y

Professor Augustine Sycamore is the Pokémon Professor of the Kalos region who was featured as a prominent supporting character in Pokémon X and Y. His research specialized in Pokémon evolution and more specifically in the phenomenon known as Mega Evolution.

Background

Sycamore previously studied under Professor Rowan in the Sinnoh region before becoming an established professor of his own in the Kalos region. His office was on the third floor of his Sycamore Pokémon Lab in Lumiose City. At one point, he went to the Tower of Mastery at Shalour City and attempted the trial to gain a Key Stone, but he failed it. Regardless, he dedicated himself to researching the mysteries of Mega Evolution. Like other Pokémon Professors, he passed on Pokédexes and Starter Pokémon to young trainers who would then help him with his research while setting off on their Pokémon journeys. Dexio and Sina were two of his prominent assistants, who had received their Pokédexes two years prior to X and Y. Sycamore was also a close colleague of Lysandre, who founded Lysandre Labs.

During the events of X/Y, the professor was bringing new trainers into the fold. Trevor and Tierno had received their respective Pokédex and starter Pokémon sometime before the start of the games, and the two of them were sent to pass on Pokédexes and starter Pokémon to three new trainers he had chosen: Calem/Serena, Serena/Calem and Shauna. Sycamore initially planned to choose only one trainer from a given town and chose Serena/Calem from Vaniville Town because one of their parents was a veteran trainer who he knew. But once he learned that Calem/Serena was new to the Kalos region, he decided to include them as well, because he felt that it would help the youth to adjust to their new home. The five young trainers came to meet Professor Sycamore at his laboratory. He was quickly impressed by Calem/Serena and challenged them to a Pokémon battle. After being defeated, he allowed the trainer (as well as Serena/Calem and Shauna) to pick an additional Pokémon to keep from a set of Kanto's starter Pokémon. He also gave them a Mega Stone that went along with their choice. Sycamore urged them to be the best trainers they could be and asked them to look into the mysteries of Mega Evolution.

Professor Sycamore could next be encountered at the monorail station in Coumarine City, where he was talking to Diantha. He was impressed to see that Calem/Serena had gained the Mega Ring and was able to use Mega Evolution now. He then mused about the mysteries of Mega Evolution, and Diantha theorized that it could be connected to the Legendary Pokémon of Kalos. He then gave the trainer HM02: Fly. He could later be found with Lysandre at the Lysandre Cafe in Lumiose City. There, he shared facts about Lysandre with Calem/Serena, including his noble heritage. He also acknowledged the unusual way in which Lysandre spoke about the world's beauty, and said that his way of looking at things was not always the truth.

Later in the game, Lysandre revealed himself as the leader of Team Flare and began activating the ultimate weapon, which would wipe out most of the world's life except for Team Flare. According to Dexio, Sycamore felt "pretty down" about the situation, but he was using his network of acquaintances to strike against Team Flare. This included sending Dexio and Sina into Lysandre Labs in search of AZ. Ultimately, Calem/Serena was able to defeat Lysandre and deactivate the ultimate weapon. Lysandre was not seen after his base collapsed, and his fate was left unknown.

With the Team Flare situation resolved, Professor Sycamore met up with Calem/Serena at Couriway Town. He apologized about what happened with Lysandre and regretted that he never tried to have a talk with him about setting his ego aside, so that he could truly lead the world to better heights. He then battled Calem/Serena again and was impressed by how strong they had grown. He then left after telling them that he had hidden a treasure in the town.

After Calem/Serena became champion of the Kalos region, a celebration was held to honor them in Lumiose City. At that ceremony, the professor awarded the trainer with the Honor of Kalos for their efforts in defeating Team Flare. He also witnessed AZ's appearance and his reunion with his Pokémon. Afterwards, the professor showed up at Lumiose Station and gave Calem/Serena a TMV Pass, which they could use to access Kiloude City. After Calem/Serena had defeated Serena/Calem at that city, Professor Sycamore could be found one more time at Kiloude City. There, he upgraded the Mega Ring and talked about his latest findings regarding Mega Evolution. This included telling Calem/Serena about Mega Stones that could appear during a certain time of the day.

Additionally, like other Pokémon Professors, Sycamore could be contacted through any PC or met at his lab to evaluate the player's progress in filling the Pokédex. He also gave out rewards for filling the Pokédex: an Oval Charm for filling the three regional Kalos Pokédexes and a Shiny Charm for completing the National Pokédex.

Pokémon Roster

In battle, Sycamore uses the Kanto starter Pokémon. For the first battle, they are in their original forms of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. For the second and final battle with him, they are in their final third forms of Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise.

He also had another set of the three Kanto starters, which he gave to the young trainers, and he also gave out the three Kalos starters (Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie) through Tierno.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Professor Sycamore appeared with Xerneas as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked by completing the "Give and Take" Legendary Event, which first ran in February 2021 and became permanently available when reclassified as a Legendary Adventure in January 2022. He was also shown using a Bulbasaur, which could be unlocked as an alternate partner for the professor by reaching Friendship Level 100 with him at the Trainer Lodge starting in August 2022.

In the "Give and Take" event, Sycamore enlisted the aid of Scottie/Bettie, Serena and Calem in investigating reports of Xerneas being spotted on Pasio. He also had suspicions that Lysandre was on the island and wanted to confront him, as he regretted not doing so in Kalos. They ultimately found Xerneas at the same time as Lysandre. Lysandre managed to overwhelm them by attacking the group with Yveltal, but Xerneas then chose to help Sycamore. Sycamore and Lysandre battled with their Legendary Pokémon, and they were evenly matched. This led Lysandre to reveal a weapon he planted on the island, but Sycamore had seen this coming and had Clemont and the others disarm his device. Lysandre ultimately chose to back down, as Sycamore had been chosen by Xerneas, and the professor was left hopeful that Lysandre could still change for the better. Sycamore later appeared in the Legendary Event "Howling Shield of Eternity", in which it was shown that he was working with Professor Bellis and forming a hypothesis on the connection between sync stones and Mega Evolution. He proceeded to speculate that Eternatus was seeking out sync stones in Pasio. He was also featured in the Story Event "Verdant Guardian", when he employed the help of Serena, Calem, Scottie/Bettie and other trainers to gather Zygarde cells that were scattered across the island. During the Main Story's Villain Arc, he made a brief appearance during the Sinnoh chapter, where he warned the others about the spread of Darkrai's power before passing out and being subjected to it himself. He was later featured in the Kalos arc, in which members of Team Flare suddenly launched attacks within Pasio. While Lysandre was suspected to be behind this, Sycamore doubted this as he felt that Lysandre would keep his word to watch over the people of Pasio instead of taking action. Sycamore sought out Lysandre with others and found Lysandre with his new Pokémon, Volcanion. The professor was left feeling assured that Lysandre was still keeping his word, although Looker and Diantha were concerned about him having such a powerful Pokémon.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Professor Sycamore made recurring appearances throughout the X/Y-based series. His primary Pokémon was a Garchomp, which he was researching due to its potential for Mega Evolution, which he was eventually able to obtain. He gave a starter Pokémon from Serena, and Ash and Clemont also ended up receiving the other starter Pokémon that originally came from home. He later made several cameo appearances during the Pokémon Journeys series, in which he was seen watching some battles of the Masters Eight Tournament alongside Mairin, and they were joined by Alain after his loss.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Professor Sycamore appeared as a supporting character during the X/Y arc.
• Sycamore made an appearance in the last episode of the Pokémon Generations anime, where he was present during the parade celebrating Calem's championship.
• In the Pokémon Evolutions anime series, Professor Sycamore made appearances in the third episode, which adapted the climax of Pokémon X. He was seen when Lysandre had a flashback to one of their conversations, and he was also seen at the end of the episode watching a Holo-Cast of one of Lysandre's speeches from his more optimistic days.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is Dr. Platane, after the French word for the plane tree. His English name of Sycamore comes from a North American species of plane trees, and his first name of Augustine may refer to the Augustine Henry, a type of cultivar that is within the same genus.
• Like most Pokémon Professors, he hosts the introductory segment at the beginning of the game.
• He is the first Pokémon Professor who can actually be battled.
• He was mentioned by Professor Cozmo in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. After completing the Delta Episode, Cozmo stated that he would pass his findings about Mega Evolution on to a dear friend of his in the Kalos region who was studying Mega Evolution. He mentioned that the two of them had researched the Meteorites at Meteor Falls together several years ago.
• A trophy of Professor Sycamore appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
• He was mentioned in Pokémon Go as a colleague of Professor Willow.