So close...

[farla]

I randomly clicked on a new OT story, The Original. I skim down and note the professor is called Yew.

Yew? I think. That's unusual. Wonderful.

Then I realize Professor Yew is basically a fancy version of Professor Pine. It's a coniferous tree name that can refer to a specific tree, a number of related tree species, or a number of families.

Why do you mock me, fanfiction gods?

Comments

[farla.livejournal.com]

As I recall, back in the early days it was explicitly stated that Ash and Oak's names came from the trees, because they were both strong trees. At some other point the Professor = Tree thing was stated. I honestly can't remember the particular details of that, though. I think it had to do with the strength metaphor.

While a guy named Oak isn't a pattern, and Oak and Elm could always be a coincidence...once we get to Birch, it's pretty solid. It's a bit like the towns being named after colors and the hometown being Pallet.