Highlights
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet features distinct and fleshed out teachers at the Academy, with unique personalities and side missions.
- Salvatore is the least interesting teacher, lacking standout qualities and offering frustrating language classes.
- Tyme and Dendra are standout teachers, with Tyme offering useful math classes and a compelling backstory, while Dendra is cheerful and goofy despite her tough exterior.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet immediately points you toward the three main storylines: Victory Road, Operation Starfall, and the Path Of Legends. However, if you have tunnel vision and only focus on those, you’ll be missing some of the most interesting characters in the game: the teachers!
It may look like they just teach tutorials so newer players can learn the game, but every single teacher at the Academy has a distinct personality as well as side missions that make them more fleshed out as characters. So let’s take a look at which of these teachers gets a nice shiny apple and which ones you’d hate to see after class.
Updated on October 13, 2023 by Gabrielle Castania: With the new DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sending trainers back to Paldea once again to take on the Teal Mask and Indigo Disc DLC content, we’re updating some of our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet content to be sure we’re covering everyone and everything.
8 Salvatore
Of all the teachers at the Academy, Salvatore is by far the least interesting. While he has a clean-cut look and an awesome Raichu pin, there’s nothing about him that stands out. Meeting him outside of class has you helping him heal a Pawmi and earn its trust, but as an adult Pokemon trainer, shouldn’t he already have some type of experience like that?
The kicker is his language classes. Most of the time it’s figuring out common phrases in real-life languages, but after his midterm, he brings out Pikachu. You then have to figure out its emotions by hearing its sound, watching its face, and reading the text associated with it. Only, Pikachu always looks and sounds happy, so you’re more than likely to get the question wrong. At best, Salvatore is uninteresting, and at worst, he’s frustrating.
7 Jacq
Jacq is the first teacher fans met and is also the one you’ll be spending the most time with since he invented the Pokedex app, teaches biology, and he’s also your homeroom teacher. That being said, he isn’t all that interesting. That’s not to say Jacq’s a bad character. He’s kind and loves his work, often getting lost in his research instead of meeting deadlines. Who can’t relate to that?
It’s just that there isn’t that much else to him. All of his extra side missions are tied to completing the Pokedex, but you were probably going to do that anyway. It helps point you in the right direction, but we never learn anything personal about him. He does give out some cool rewards for Pokedex progress, so remember to visit him every time you catch a bunch of Pokemon.
6 Tyme
Who knew a math teacher would be so interesting in a Pokemon game? The sister of the Ghost-type Gym Leader Ryme, Tyme is a former Gym Leader herself who specializes in Rock-type Pokemon. Her classes are probably the most useful in the game, teaching players how to add up damage calculations and take advantage of Poke Mart policies.
Tyme’s Gym Leader past carries into her story outside of class, where a student fan wants to know why she left. It serves as an interesting look into why celebrities eventually step out of the spotlight. Tyme is a rock-solid teacher who actually makes math in Pokemon fun.
5 Dendra
Dendra is the battle studies teacher, a position she deserves because her Fighting-type team is actually pretty tough. She has a scar on her face and is always seen in a black and gold tracksuit. Despite this tough, athletic exterior, Dendra is incredibly goofy.
Dendra is incredibly cheerful and wants to be the best at everything. When you interact with her at the Academy outside of class, she tries to become the best at making sandwiches because she made you one that was particularly gross. You also meet her during Tulip’s Gym challenge because she lost a battle (and a bet) to her. Dendra’s a lot of fun because she tackles every challenge head-on with a smile, even when she fails.
4 Miriam
Miriam may have the most generic design next to Salvatore. A cute nurse with pinkish hair? Pokemon definitely hasn’t done that before! But this is more than made up for by her character journey. While other teachers may have silly goals like learning how to make sandwiches, Miriam is completely relatable, becoming a health teacher and becoming the school nurse after not qualifying as a teacher in her application exam.
Despite teaching being her goal, she’s giving up because she’s already tried a bunch of times and failed. What’s the point? This is a feeling anyone who started playing Pokemon during the early generations can relate to. What are we doing with
our lives? Where do we belong? Helping Miriam get through this makes us think that maybe, we can get through it, too.
3 Hassel
Hassel is an emotional trainer who easily has the best pedigree among the staff at the Academy. He not only works as an art teacher but also as the strongest member of the Elite Four. While these are nice touches, Hassel is made most interesting by his rebellious past – he’s a descendant of a long line of Dragon-type trainers in a far-off region, but he ran away to be a musician.
He eventually made it to Paldea, where he fell in love with teaching and has stayed put ever since. In your interactions with Hassell outside of class, a Dragon Tamer will often enter school grounds to try and convince him to return to his family. Hassel eventually decides to stay because of the support and love he gets from his students, but his journey is a reminder of the importance of finding your own way in life.
2 Saguaro
First of all, look at this man. With a physique, scowl, and facial hair that rivals the likes of Drayden, Saguaro is easily the toughest-looking teacher at the Academy, which is why it’s so wonderful that he’s the home economics teacher – Saguaro’s journey comes from a place of acceptance.
However, he’s afraid to tell students that he prefers sweet food over spicy food because of his macho image. But once he does, they think it’s cool! It’s satisfying to see Saguaro be accepted for who he truly is. Another cool fun fact about him is that his Academy Ace Tournament team is entirely female, which is rare for a male trainer.
1 Raifort
One of the best things about Pokemon is the history hidden throughout the games, and a lot of that information can be found through Raifort, the history teacher, whose love for Paldea’s past is contagious and serves to get the player excited for their journey. She motivates us for the post-game search for the Four Treasures Of Ruin, too.
Her love of is matched by her incredible outfit that pays tribute to legendary Pokemon from across the series. Her depth of knowledge, optional quests, and excellent character design make for the best teacher in all of the Academy.
