!!!! Okay okay so I need some time to properly review the last chapter but boy, am i excited. Volkner has no I D E A what's coming for him, it's hilarious.
I do wonder though, if you don't mind me asking... Obviously some gym leaders and elite 4 members knew about Ingo's disappearance and they seem to be somewhat aware something is going on, but how big of a news was his disappearance exactly? Did it reach other regions? Was it more local? Do they know about Emmet? I would be very curious to know, if that's not something you could consider spoilers anyway!
It’s a great question! One I’ve spent a decent amount of time thinking about, and I tried to portray without outright saying it in the fic, but tbh glad to have an opportunity to explain my reasoning!
SO! Of the various high-position trainers in a region, the Champion is most likely to be known and recognized outside of their region. Of course, not even that is a sure-fire thing, as sometimes even within a region, a Champion might not be recognized (ex: I don’t think Cheren recognized Alder, although that could be attributed to his absence from the League).
Within the region, you’ll likely know the closest gym leader, if not the entire circuit depending and entire four depending on your goals with the your personal journey and how far you got. Then the Battle Facility heads - it varies widely. In the case of Sinnoh, the Battle Frontier is less known amongst the general public (they know like that it exists, but not much more than that) while all higher-teir trainers hope to be invited.
On the other hand, in Unova, the Battle Subway is EXTREMELY well known. Even people who don't live in Nimbasa City know about it. So when he went missing, then entire region knew about it and was on high alert.
However, in other regions, the general public do Not know anything about the battle subway, and thus nothing about Ingo. Maybe at one point on a slow news day, somebody reported on the myerious disappearance, but wasn't really like a call to action or anything, just one of those 'crazy news from Unova, besties' kind of deals.
Of our beloved characters, only Volkner can reliably identify him. For the Frontier Brains, he looks kind of familiar, and while they all have their own thoughts, it's probably only Palmer who remembers and has put together 'huh he sort of looks like someone familiar - wait he looks like one of the battle subway guys - oh shit didn't they say one went missing - OH SHIT could that be him?!'
And a little secret (not really just hasn't been brought up): Cynthia also recognizes Ingo. She's been to Unova before, she's fought on the Battle Subway before, and while it's been years since then, she does think 'huh, this guy looks kind of like that train guy!' But she's just silently waiting for more information to come to light. She probably also doesn't remember that one went missing.
