Everyone has been saying that the professor will be the young man, Kukui, who refers to you as "cousin" in the dialogue that is seen in the gameplay of the English trailers released earlier today. What I found odd was that he wasn't the person who presented the starter pokémon to the main protagonist; I am aware Kukui is present as this happens. Because his name is Kukui, people have instantly assumed that he is the professor of the region because he is named after the kukui nut tree that naturally appears in Hawaii.
There are a few things that don't seem to check out here. First off, he is not the person to present you the starter pokémon; almost every other game except Black 2 and White 2 have the professor give the starters to you in some way. Also, his first name is Kukui; all other professors in the main games have had last names related to trees, not their first. In the dialogue seen, it reveals only his first name, not his last and does not give him the prefix of "Professor".
Don't get me wrong, I still think he is the professor as it appears he is the first person to greet the protagonist and explain the world of Pokémon to him/her in the Japanese trailer as do all of the professors in the main games, he also greets the protagonist to the region (this may also imply the protagonist just moved to the region and is foreign to it), and he is wearing a killer lab coat under those massive pecs. It just bothers me that identity of the man who actually presents the starters is not given.
That's a lie. If you look in the Japanese trailer of the games, there is a splurge of dialogue seen in an English copy of the game that an American boy is playing. The dialogue is asking him what starter he will choose. This happens to appear to be right at the same time that mysterious old man released the starters from their balls in the English trailer, so I think it is safe to assume this is him talking. The only other person present besides the main protagonist is Kukui and it is not him in the dialogue because his name isn't the one shown in it; the name shown is Hala. So if the man's name is Hala, he is named after a tree; the tree also being widely grown in Hawaii.
This little bit of evidence shows that this old man can be just as much as a professor as Kukui. This leads me to believe that maybe there are multiple professors in the Alola region or maybe there is one per island, assuming that the region is based off of Hawaii as much as everyone thinks it will be. Maybe Kukui and Hala are related and only one of them is the professor. Who knows?
Also, it is common for friends to refer to each other as "cousin" in Hawaiian culture, so I think that the protagonist is not actually the cousin, just a good friend, of Kukui, but that possibility still exists.
To summarize, there is a possibility that Kukui and Hala (the old man releasing the starters in the English trailer) are both professors. Also, the there is a big chance that the main protagonist is not really the cousin of Kukui.
There are a few things that don't seem to check out here. First off, he is not the person to present you the starter pokémon; almost every other game except Black 2 and White 2 have the professor give the starters to you in some way. Also, his first name is Kukui; all other professors in the main games have had last names related to trees, not their first. In the dialogue seen, it reveals only his first name, not his last and does not give him the prefix of "Professor".
Don't get me wrong, I still think he is the professor as it appears he is the first person to greet the protagonist and explain the world of Pokémon to him/her in the Japanese trailer as do all of the professors in the main games, he also greets the protagonist to the region (this may also imply the protagonist just moved to the region and is foreign to it), and he is wearing a killer lab coat under those massive pecs. It just bothers me that identity of the man who actually presents the starters is not given.
That's a lie. If you look in the Japanese trailer of the games, there is a splurge of dialogue seen in an English copy of the game that an American boy is playing. The dialogue is asking him what starter he will choose. This happens to appear to be right at the same time that mysterious old man released the starters from their balls in the English trailer, so I think it is safe to assume this is him talking. The only other person present besides the main protagonist is Kukui and it is not him in the dialogue because his name isn't the one shown in it; the name shown is Hala. So if the man's name is Hala, he is named after a tree; the tree also being widely grown in Hawaii.
This little bit of evidence shows that this old man can be just as much as a professor as Kukui. This leads me to believe that maybe there are multiple professors in the Alola region or maybe there is one per island, assuming that the region is based off of Hawaii as much as everyone thinks it will be. Maybe Kukui and Hala are related and only one of them is the professor. Who knows?
Also, it is common for friends to refer to each other as "cousin" in Hawaiian culture, so I think that the protagonist is not actually the cousin, just a good friend, of Kukui, but that possibility still exists.
To summarize, there is a possibility that Kukui and Hala (the old man releasing the starters in the English trailer) are both professors. Also, the there is a big chance that the main protagonist is not really the cousin of Kukui.
