Yo! How do the Pokémon rivals react when their rival decides they want to travel the world? Which, if any, want to go with?
Blue takes it as a personal challenge. You’re leaving so you can fill other regional dexes, right? Conquer the Leagues in other regions? You’re not getting away with it— he won’t want to travel alongside you, but he’s not above following you to the next region in another race to collect the badges first. It’s almost like you’re kids again.
While he won’t admit it, Silver panics a bit when you tell him you’re leaving; the rivalry you’ve shared while traversing Johto has been the strongest relationship he’s ever had, and you leaving the region sends him spiraling into flashbacks about his father. Silver can go two ways; either he completely vanishes first, not even saying goodbye, starting another journey of his own in the hopes of forgetting you— or he follows you to the next region and pretends it’s just coincidence.
Brendan is excited for you! He’s never left Hoenn, but he’s dreamed about it. But once that initial excitement washes over him, Brendan is quickly left with a sense of yearning; admittedly, he’s pretty attached to you, and will be sad you’re not next-door neighbors anymore. He’s too shy to outright ask you about it, but if you invite him to travel with you, he’ll drop everything he’s doing in a heartbeat.
May is similar in that she’s really excited, but she’ll also miss you terribly. She’s already pretty shy when meeting new people, so she’ll be sad that one of her closest friends isn’t always around, even though you promise you’ll come back. She’s a bit more comfortable staying at home, so all you’ve gotta do is call her every once in awhile as you travel— but again, if you invite her along, she wouldn’t say no.
Wally nearly bursts at the seams, asking if he can come with you wherever you’re going. You’ve been a huge positive force in his life, and he wants to continue impressing you with his growth— plus, he’s never traveled much because he was a sick child. Now that he’s conquered Hoenn, he’s desperate to keep traveling and live the life he nearly missed.
After everything that’s happened, Barry absolutely isn’t letting you go anywhere by yourself. You’re a magnet for danger, someone has to protect you— of course he’s not just saying that because he’ll miss you. Since the two of you have spent most of your lives together, Barry assumes he’s already part of your plans anyways, and once you announce your departure he immediately starts packing his bags. You’re not gonna say no to that face, are you?
Cheren isn’t too surprised; he’s always been good at reading you, and he could tell that you were getting restless in Unova after N’s departure. When you come to him quietly and say that you feel you need to leave for awhile, he takes it gracefully, just asking that you call him if you ever need anything, even if it’s just to talk. He’s never been good at showing his emotions, but he wants you to know he’s always there for you.
Bianca definitely cries. You’re important to her, and now you’re leaving the region— she bawls for awhile, while simultaneously assuring you that it’s fine, she’s fine, she just needs to let it out. While she’s just settling into her role as Pokémon Professor Assistant, she doesn’t want to up and leave Unova right now— but she’d appreciate it if you sent her videos of really cool things.
N understands you completely. He also felt the need to just leave after the things he’s done; sometimes people just need space to think and process and come to terms with everything. He’s going to be sad you’re not around, but he knows you’ll find your way back to each other eventually; in his eyes, the two of you are tied together by fate, and there’s nothing that can sever your connection.
Hugh is casual about it. You’ve always seemed destined for greater things, and you’ve seen all of Unova by now, so it makes sense you’d want to try somewhere else. His own journey was for a very specific reason, so he’s fine to stay here with his family— but once you’re actually gone, he gets lonelier than he thought he would, not having you next door. Call him every once in awhile, or send a few souvenirs back for him and his sister.
Honestly, Calem probably made the same choice; you both want to keep growing, and Kalos has slowly gotten stagnant now that the world is no longer at stake. Calem’s a meticulous planner, so he’s probably got his next journey lined up to the smallest details— and he quietly lets you know that he’s got room for you too, if you’d like to join him.
Serena also isn’t very surprised. You climbed to the top of the Kalos league with no problem— since you’re so involved with battling, it makes perfect sense that you’d like to just keep going. For her part, she’ll stay in Kalos and continue her own training— she wants to earn her place as your rival again, and your absence is the perfect time to start training.
Shauna is blindsided; she thought, now that Kalos is safe, everyone could just settle down and hang out like nothing ever happened. She’s sad that you’re not comfortable enough to just stay and do nothing, but she knows that she gets no say in your decision. If your next journey is just a casual one, no gym battles involved, she might ask to come with you; if you’re planning to fight another league, though, she doesn’t want to distract you from that goal.
Tierno takes life as it comes, and since your family is Rhyhorn racers, he kind of expected this eventually— you’ve already moved around a ton to keep up with your mother’s career, so it makes sense you’re not the type to stay in one place. He lets you know that he’ll support you all the way, no matter what you’re looking for in life.
Trevor might shyly ask if he can accompany you; he’s not very good at battling, but he wants to keep catching and collecting Pokémon across the entire world. You were strong enough to face down a living legend, so out of everyone he’s ever met, Trevor would trust you to protect him— of course, he promises he won’t try to cause problems anyways, but you know what curious people are like.
Hau didn’t really see it coming; he’d hoped that you would settle down with him in Alola, because island-hopping is already plenty of adventure. Still, he thinks he understands— you’re not even from this region to begin with, so it makes sense that you still feel like traveling until you can find a place you’re really comfortable. His home is always open, though, whenever you feel like coming back.
Gladion is another one who just understands. Sometimes you’re flooded with a need to just leave, and fighting that never turns out well. Since he set off on his own proper journey after the situation with his mother resolved, he knows full well that new travels can be very healing. Just make sure you’re back like you promised.
Hop both does and doesn’t get it. He did the Galar Gym Challenge because he wanted to catch up to his brother, but Galar has been his lifelong home, so it’s not like the traveling part was difficult; when you want to leave home, though, that’s beyond his understanding. Still, he knows that he doesn’t have to understand you in order to wish you well; if you ever need anything, let him know, because his new status as Professor-in-training gets him a lot of perks he’s willing to share.
Bede scoffs loudly, wondering why you even felt the need to tell him you were leaving— good riddance, you’re finally out of his hair, now he can actually be one of the strongest Galarian trainers. But then, while you’re gone, you notice that you get an awful lot of emails from him; showing off new Pokémon he’s raised, bragging about how successful he is as a gym leader, all sorts of things. He misses you and wants your attention— how is he supposed to finally best you if you’re not even here?
Marnie is another one who just rolls with things as they happen. She’s also settling into her role as gym leader, so she no longer feels the endless urge to just keep wandering through life— but it’s one she’ll never forget, so she understands when you say you’ve just gotta go somewhere else. You’ve proven that you can take care of yourself, so she’s not worried. She just hopes you find what you’re looking for.
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