A 34-year-old man based in Iowa is suing Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for $341,000 because they will not acknowledge him as a Pokémon professor.
It sounds ridiculous, and it is, but not for the reasons you may think. Pokémon has an actual Pokémon Professor Program where you can apply to work Pokémon Play! events “working as assistants, judges, and ambassadors,” according to the website.
This is my first time hearing of the program, which also includes special perks like earning points to spend at “the exclusive Professor Store,” participating in competitions with exclusive prizes, and getting Professor-specific swag. But Iowa man Kyle Owens apparently failed a background check after acing the basic Pokémon Professor exam with a score of 100 percent, so he was never awarded the title. And now, he’s taking it to the courts to try and get a boatload of money.
Owens claims that he was denied the title because of an “old, low-level felony that was more than 10 years old.” At the time, this was a pending arrest warrant “for failing to appear in court on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct by engaging in fighting; possessing, repairing or selling an offensive weapon; and criminal mischief through damage to property,” according to Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Because of this, Pokémon Company International wrote to Owens in 2024 that his “application to the professor program has been denied after reviewing the results of your background check.” Owens argues in the suit that the charges do “not show guilty findings.”
The Professor Program website says that “the very best Pokémon Professors may even be invited to join us at Regionals, Internationals, and the World Championships,” so there are some genuinely cool advantages to being accepted. However, TPC does its diligence when it comes to investigating things like a potential criminal record.
“The Pokémon Professor program is not merely recreational,” Owens’ lawsuit says. “It functions as a structured certification and authorization system, granting official status, access to official event tools, the ability to host sanctioned card and video-game matches, listing in an event locator, and opportunities that generate business traffic, customer attendance, product sales, goodwill and commercial advantage.”
As of writing, the lawsuit is still awaiting an official response.
