The first episode of Pokémon Horizons, the rebooted version of the anime, has debuted in Japan, and the show's new Professor is already proving he's a notch above the rest.

Historically, Pokémon Professors tend to be academic-types that keep away from dangerous situations. Professor Birch from Ruby and Sapphire, for example, is being harassed by a low-level wild Poochyena when he's first met. That's mostly applied to the anime too, although Alola's Professor Kukui is one big exception, since he also had a whole secret identity as the Masked Royal, and acted as the first Champion of Alola's new Pokémon League. It was already clear from promotional materials that Professor Friede wasn't an average professor character, but he still managed to impress in his first appearance.

Pokémon Professor Friede's is a Daring Adventurer

In the premiere, Professor Friede and his airship crew are on the ground searching for Liko at her school. They're apparently already on the trail of the villains, and are looking to protect Liko from them. However, the villains, led by the mysterious Amethio, made with Liko first, and when Liko tried to run, she found herself in a dangerous situation. That's when Professor Friede and his Charizard appeared, engaging in the first real battle of the new series. Professor Friede's Charizard holds up impressively to Amethio's Ceruledge, and when Liko takes a plunge off the roof, Friede and Charizard are there in an instant to catch her. Friede doesn't need Charizard to look cool, though; back aboard the airship, Friede uses Pokémon's new mascot, Captain Pikachu in battle, and this new Pikachu is full of tricks that the villains just aren't quite able to handle. Friede is able to run them off, but the villain crew grabs Liko's Sprigatito on the way out.

While most professors have been shown to rely on the trainers working under them in such situations, Professor Friede certainly isn't afraid to get his hands dirty should the situation call for it. Friede is actually being very proactive here, making the first move to protect Liko even before she knows anyone is after her. Perhaps it's not much of a surprise that the only professor to be based out of an airship is also the one most attuned to adventuring, but it's still a radically new side of being a Pokémon Professor that his predecessors have never shown.

Fortunately, Professor Friede is looking to be a major character in the rebooted series, playing much more of a role than Professor Oak did in the original series, so fans can expect to see a lot more of him as the show continues. Pokémon Horizons is already filling out its cast pretty well, and one can only hope that Professor Friede will remain just as cool as his debut made him look.