Giovanni did not abandon his son

[Novia]

So many people interpret the Celebi event in HGSS as Giovanni abandoning his son, and thus his son hates him for it, but I’m writing this to prove otherwise.

If you actually pay attention to what they were saying, Silver is calling out his father for running away from everyone just because he lost to Red/Leaf in his Gym, even though he told Silver that he was the strongest Trainer. Silver was calling him ‘weak’ and ‘a coward’ for acting big in front of his subordinates, but was actually a weakling because he was running away from everyone. Giovanni then explained to him the need to know when one is defeated and retreat so that one can train further to become an even stronger Trainer. Silver, however, disagreed with Giovanni’s opinion, and decided that he will never subscribe to Giovanni’s view of ‘retreating into solitary training’ to reform ownself, and will become a strong Trainer by his own methods.

You might be thinking, “But isn’t Giovanni essentially abandoning Silver by going into his ‘solitary training’ and leaving him to fend for himself?”. However, we can see from the games that Pokémon Trainers are generally already independent and matured enough by 10 years old of age or younger, so leaving a boy of his age to go on his own Pokémon journey isn’t something that uncommon or considered abusive in the Pokémon World. If anything, you might as well call all fathers in the Pokémon world abusive because we almost never see any of the Pokémon protagonists’ fathers.

So, in regards to why Silver hates his father, it is clear from their conversation that Silver hates him because he thinks of him as weak, not for abandoning him. Being obsessed about strength, he hates anyone and anything that he considers weak. He also hates Team Rocket by extent because Team Rocket reminds him of his father, whom he considers weak.

 

[Greninjaman]

When you put it that way, it makes sense.

 

[RubySapphire]

Also if I was Giovanni and my own son was calling me weak I would be ashamed so it could just be that.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Weeeeeeeeellllllll…the overall argument is actually pretty good, since, with the exception of Norman, we never see a protagonist’s father.

But…where was Silver’s mother? Giovanni literally left his son to go off training…and his son didn’t have any Pokémon. Silver had to resort to stealing one of Elm’s Pokémon in order to become a Trainer.
In the case of every single protagonist, their remaining parent keeps an eye on the child until they get their first Pokémon, and usually works with the local Professor to make sure their kid gets a Pokémon when the time is right.

Giovanni abandoned his responsibilities to Silver by, at the very least, not making sure his son had a Pokémon partner by his side when he left.

If Silver’s mother was in the picture, you’d have a point, and I still think you do, to an extent, but we don’t even know for sure who Silver’s mother is (unless that got confirmed somewhere I am unaware of), and the most common guess is Ariana, the Rocket Executive. Ariana was a little busy at the Rocket Warehouse on the Sevii Islands, and/or also went into hiding after hearing that Giovanni disbanded Team Rocket.

 

[Novia]

Weeeeeeeeellllllll…the overall argument is actually pretty good, since, with the exception of Norman, we never see a protagonist’s father.

But…where was Silver’s mother? Giovanni literally left his son to go off training…and his son didn’t have any Pokémon. Silver had to resort to stealing one of Elm’s Pokémon in order to become a Trainer.
In the case of every single protagonist, their remaining parent keeps an eye on the child until they get their first Pokémon, and usually works with the local Professor to make sure their kid gets a Pokémon when the time is right.

Giovanni abandoned his responsibilities to Silver by, at the very least, not making sure his son had a Pokémon partner by his side when he left.

If Silver’s mother was in the picture, you’d have a point, and I still think you do, to an extent, but we don’t even know for sure who Silver’s mother is (unless that got confirmed somewhere I am unaware of), and the most common guess is Ariana, the Rocket Executive. Ariana was a little busy at the Rocket Warehouse on the Sevii Islands, and/or also went into hiding after hearing that Giovanni disbanded Team Rocket.

You got me at the part where you mentioned that Silver didn’t have any Pokémon. I was about to mention Giovanni giving a Sneasel to Silver as a gift when he was a kid, but I realised that that was only in the manga.

Well, but then again, it was Silver’s own decision to go on his own Pokémon journey, wasn’t it? He probably decided to start on a Pokémon journey in Johto after promising his father than he was going to be a strong man in his own right. There are plenty of humans in the Pokémon who aren’t Trainers, or don’t have Pokémon (such as Lillie, whom you’re repeatedly told is ‘not a Trainer’ and has no Pokemon (meant for battling that is, so Cosmog doesn’t count)), and in Lillie’s case, she’s been travelling around Alola all by herself, without her parents, just fine even without the need for a ‘battling Pokemon’. That means that in the Pokemon World, kids are fine travelling around the region independently and living without their parents or even a Pokémon, and that it’s the norm in the Pokémon world. So Giovanni not being in his son’s life while he was in his training is not really anything that unusual.

Yes, it’s a common theory that Ariana is his mother. She, along with the other 3 Rocket executives later tried to revive Team Rocket in Johto after the Sevii Islands warehouse incident. However, it’s not confirmed that she’s his mother, and I personally think his mother is probably already dead, since we never see her in the games.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

There are plenty of humans in the Pokémon who aren’t Trainers, or don’t have Pokémon (such as Lillie, whom you’re repeatedly told is ‘not a Trainer’ and has no Pokemon (meant for battling that is, so Cosmog doesn’t count)), and in Lillie’s case, she’s been travelling around Alola all by herself, without her parents, just fine even without the need for a ‘battling Pokemon’. That means that in the Pokemon World, kids are fine travelling around the region independently and living without their parents or even a Pokémon, and that it’s the norm in the Pokémon world. So Giovanni not being in his son’s life while he was in his training is not really anything that unusual.

So…this. This is an interesting point, but I think it’s unique to the “Mega Evolution” universe.

In the so-called “original” universe (RBY -> B2W2), it’s repeatedly and emphatically mentioned that going into tall grass without partner Pokémon is bad. In point of fact, that’s a major plot point to DPPt, where, in DP, you and Barry get savaged by Wild Starly at Lake Acuity, or when Barry is about to rush into the tall grass and is stopped by Rowan in Pt.

I don’t explicitly remember if going into the tall grass being dangerous is mentioned in the Johto games, but the events of Diamond/Pearl are believed to be immediately after the events of HGSS (note the video regarding the Red Gyarados at the beginning of the game).

Additionally, it’s a known fact that Cheren, Bianca, and Hilbert/Hilda did not leave their hometown before getting their partner Pokémon, since they make a big deal about taking their first steps togetger

Lillie is specifically stated to get around using Repels, but I think that’s the only known instance of someone without a Pokémon partner actually moving around without being attacked. Repels generally work by warding away Pokémon that are lower level than the first Pokémon in your party.
Important to note, most (if not all) of the time she actually went places, she had Nebby, who is a Pokémon. I don’t remember what level we get Solgaleo/Lunaala at in SuMo/USUM, but it’s pretty high, so, theoretically, the Repels work because Nebby is higher level than the local Wild Pokémon.

In either case, when HGSS came out, the prevailing fact was that people cannot enter tall grass without a partner Pokémon, so Giovanni, in leaving Silver without a partner Pokémon, did indeed abandon Silver.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Lillie is specifically stated to get around using Repels, but I think that’s the only known instance of someone without a Pokémon partner actually moving around without being attacked. Repels generally work by warding away Pokémon that are lower level than the first Pokémon in your party.
Important to note, most (if not all) of the time she actually went places, she had Nebby, who is a Pokémon. I don’t remember what level we get Solgaleo/Lunaala at in SuMo/USUM, but it’s pretty high, so, theoretically, the Repels work because Nebby is higher level than the local Wild Pokémon.

To add on to, and clarify, this, since, as you mentioned, Nebby isn’t a “battling Pokémon” the way a Repel works, it doesn’t matter if the Pokémon is meant for battling or not, just what level it is. So, theoretically, I could have a level 100 Magikarp with only Splash as the only Pokémon in my party. The Repel would still keep away all Pokémon below level 100, despite the Magikarp literally being unable to do any battling.

 

[Puddle]

I've never heard the theory about Ariana being Silver's mother before, but it makes so much sense. They look very alike!

If she is Silver's mother, I wonder if he bumped into her at Team Rocket's HQ in Mahogany Town, and if so, what happened? Presumably the two of them aren't on the best of terms. He might not even know who is mother is.

 

[Novia]

So…this. This is an interesting point, but I think it’s unique to the “Mega Evolution” universe.

In the so-called “original” universe (RBY -> B2W2), it’s repeatedly and emphatically mentioned that going into tall grass without partner Pokémon is bad. In point of fact, that’s a major plot point to DPPt, where, in DP, you and Barry get savaged by Wild Starly at Lake Acuity, or when Barry is about to rush into the tall grass and is stopped by Rowan in Pt.

I don’t explicitly remember if going into the tall grass being dangerous is mentioned in the Johto games, but the events of Diamond/Pearl are believed to be immediately after the events of HGSS (note the video regarding the Red Gyarados at the beginning of the game).

Additionally, it’s a known fact that Cheren, Bianca, and Hilbert/Hilda did not leave their hometown before getting their partner Pokémon, since they make a big deal about taking their first steps togetger

Lillie is specifically stated to get around using Repels, but I think that’s the only known instance of someone without a Pokémon partner actually moving around without being attacked. Repels generally work by warding away Pokémon that are lower level than the first Pokémon in your party.
Important to note, most (if not all) of the time she actually went places, she had Nebby, who is a Pokémon. I don’t remember what level we get Solgaleo/Lunaala at in SuMo/USUM, but it’s pretty high, so, theoretically, the Repels work because Nebby is higher level than the local Wild Pokémon.

In either case, when HGSS came out, the prevailing fact was that people cannot enter tall grass without a partner Pokémon, so Giovanni, in leaving Silver without a partner Pokémon, did indeed abandon Silver.

I’ve always thought that Nebby was level 5, because the other Cosmog you later catch on the game was also level 5. I think Nebby only grew to whatever level it was when it later evolved into Solgaleo/Lunala for story reasons (And even if we assume Nebby was already at level 50 or whatever level you caught Solgaleo/Lunala at, the why is it still a Cosmog and not evolved yet. Besides, if Nebby really was at a very high level, why doesn’t Lillie just use Nebby for battling instead of as a Pokémon to use for repelling off wild Pokémon?

I don’t think travelling without a Pokémon is unique to the ‘Mega Evolution’ universe, as I don’t see any relevance to why it would only apply for that universe.

Anyway, I can’t imagine anyone without a Pokémon being forever stuck in their hometowns due to being unable to leave without one. Cheren and Bianca are like in their teens already, and I can’t imagine them living in their hometown for the past 15 or so years without ever leaving even once. I’d imagine that perhaps some people in the Pokémon World who are not officially Trainers yet would at least do something to ensure they don’t get attacked by wild Pokémon when they go out, like in Lillie’s case where she just uses lots of Repels. So travelling around without a Pokémon isn’t really a problem.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

why is it still a Cosmog and not evolved yet.

For the same reason a lot of Fishermen have level 40+ Magikarp. Especially if Lillie isn't a Trainer, she has no idea how Pokemon evolve. Kukui wouldn't know about Cosmog's evolutions, either, since it's a Pokemon nobody has encountered before. Besides, this particular Cosmog had been experimented on by Lusamine, and that could explain why it hid its potential until the time was right. Either way, I think it far more likely to have been somewhere around level 50 when Lillie got it, and then it leveled up twice, under duress and evolved fully to Solgaleo or Lunaala than for it to jump from level 5 to level 53 almost instantaneously.

Besides, if Nebby really was at a very high level, why doesn’t Lillie just use Nebby for battling instead of as a Pokémon to use for repelling off wild Pokémon?

Because this is Cosmog's entire movepool:

Spoiler

Nothing useful for battling there, just like the level 100 Magikarp with nothing but Splash.

I don’t think travelling without a Pokémon is unique to the ‘Mega Evolution’ universe, as I don’t see any relevance to why it would only apply for that universe.

I'll give you this point. There is no particular reason why anything related to this point should be different between the "original" and "Mega Evolution" universes. I was merely pointing out how, prior to SuMo/USUM, there was pretty much a unifying message of "DON'T WALK IN THE TALL GRASS WITHOUT A POKEMON PARTNER!"
If Nebby is indeed high level, then that explains how Lillie can get around using Repels, even without having a "battling Pokemon."

Cheren and Bianca are like in their teens already, and I can’t imagine them living in their hometown for the past 15 or so years without ever leaving even once.

The game makes it pretty clear that Cheren, Bianca, and Hilbert/Hilda have not left their hometown for the first 15 years of their lives:

Bianca says if we're starting a journey, she wants us all to take our first step at the same time.

Hey, <player>! Let's all take our first step on Route 1 together!

Both emphasize that, not only is this their first journey, it is literally their first step out of Nuvema Town and onto Route 1.
Also, there's the whole subplot of Bianca's dad being extremely overprotective and not even wanting her to leave home.

I’d imagine that perhaps some people in the Pokémon World who are not officially Trainers yet would at least do something to ensure they don’t get attacked by wild Pokémon when they go out, like in Lillie’s case where she just uses lots of Repels. So travelling around without a Pokémon isn’t really a problem.

Sure. Traveling with someone else who has a Pokemon would do the trick, as implied by Rowan's dialogue in Platinum:

Hold it! You two don't seem to have any Pokémon between you?

The "Pokemon between you" implies that, even if only one of Barry and Dawn/Lucas had had a Pokemon, it would have been okay for them both to be in the tall grass. Going into the tall grass unaccompanied without a Pokemon is generally prohibited, for the protection of the Pokemon-less person. But, if someone accompanies you, and they have a Pokemon, you're fine...

Someone like your parents. Giovanni took that option away from Silver when he left, and Silver didn't have a mother to look out for him. Ergo, Giovanni pretty much stranded Silver unless Silver could find someone else to walk with when he needed to go out and, for example, get food.

 

[Novia]

When you put it that way, that actually means that the message of not walking into tall grass without a partner Pokémon applies in the Mega Evolution universe too, since Lillie technically has a partner Pokémon, just that she doesn’t use it for battling.

Well, but if you wanted to start on a Pokémon journey as a Trainer, or get a Pokémon from the local Lab, you don’t seem to really need your parents’ permission to do so. Silver could have gone to Pallet Town, which isn’t that far from Viridian City, and asked Professor Oak for a Pokémon, but for some reason and by some means, managed to make it all the way to Johto and decided to steal a Pokémon from Elm’s lab instead. That means that it doesn’t matter whether or not Giovanni was in his life, Silver could get his Pokémon from the Lab and start on a Pokémon journey anytime he wanted. And considering that he actually managed to make it all the way to Johto, it means that Silver had a means of travelling from Viridian City to Pallet Town without worrying about the wild Pokémon he might encounter enroute. (Edit: I checked the map of Kanto and just realised you don’t even have to walk into tall grass when traveling from Viridian City to Pallet Town, you can just jump over the ledges.)

Besides, if you need someone who has Pokémon to travel with you together into tall grass, it doesn’t have to be your parents. It could be anyone who owns Pokémon, meaning Silver doesn’t have to rely on Giovanni alone.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

If she is Silver's mother, I wonder if he bumped into her at Team Rocket's HQ in Mahogany Town, and if so, what happened? Presumably the two of them aren't on the best of terms. He might not even know who is mother is.

Ooooooooooh. This is an interesting point. Even if Silver doesn’t know who his mother is, she would know who he is…presumably.
As I recall it, Silver doesn’t end up getting too far into the base, since he’s quickly defeated by Lance, but still, would be interesting to speculate on this at some point.

When you put it that way, that actually means that the message of not walking into tall grass without a partner Pokémon applies in the Mega Evolution universe too, since Lillie technically has a partner Pokémon, just that she doesn’t use it for battling.

Correct. Also, it occurred to me after my previous post that, since Nebby knows Teleport, Nebby has to be at least level 23.
In either case, it’s a logical bet that Repels only keep the wild Pokémon away since Lillie has a higher level Pokémon with her. It’s also pretty clear that neither Lillie nor Gladeon left their mother’s home before stealing Nebby and Type:Null, respectively, so we can’t speculate about Repel’s effectiveness in the absence of having any Pokémon on hand.
As an interesting point, if this was done intentionally (i.e. having the Repels work for Lillie because of Nebby), then it was an excellent way of subtly hinting at Nebby’s true power. That’s entirely speculation, though.

Well, but if you wanted to start on a Pokémon journey as a Trainer, or get a Pokémon from the local Lab, you don’t seem to really need your parents’ permission to do so.

I…don’t think we’ve seen a single Pokémon game, aside from arguably Black and White, where a child got a Pokémon and left home without both the parent(s) knowing about it beforehand, and being consulted beforehand.
As I said, BW comes the closest, since Bianca’s dad was clearly not on board with her leaving home, but her mother was.

Silver could have gone to Pallet Town, which isn’t that far from Viridian City, and asked Professor Oak for a Pokémon, but for some reason and by some means, managed to make it all the way to Johto and decided to steal a Pokémon from Elm’s lab instead. That means that it doesn’t matter whether or not Giovanni was in his life, Silver could get his Pokémon from the Lab and start on a Pokémon journey anytime he wanted. And considering that he actually managed to make it all the way to Johto, it means that Silver had a means of travelling from Viridian City to Pallet Town without worrying about the wild Pokémon he might encounter enroute. (Edit: I checked the map of Kanto and just realised you don’t even have to walk into tall grass when traveling from Viridian City to Pallet Town, you can just jump over the ledges.)

I do like this argument quite a bit, but there are a couple of assumptions you’re making which may not be true.

1. That Giovanni and Silver lived in Viridian City.
Not all Gym Leaders live in the town where they’re the Gym Leader. Case in point, Norman, who lives in Littleroot Town, but is the Gym Leader in Petalburg.
Now, Norman, and Kabu tell us that, under most circumstances, you can at least expect Gym Leaders to live in the region that they’re a Leader in, since both moved from another region in order to become a Leader in Hoenn and Galar, respectively.
However, I would argue that this is not necessarily the case for Kanto and Johto, as it seems like they both share a League, which, incidentally, is just west of Viridian City.
Of course, I can only speculate on this, since we’ve never seen whether or not it is possible to get into the Pokémon League with some Kanto and some Johto badges for a total of 8 badges, but not having a full set of either.

In any case, we don’t really know where Giovanni lived, despite him being the Leader in Viridian City. After all, a “Legitimate Businessman,” such as Giovanni, wouldn’t necessarily want to live in the same town as his “Legitimate Business,” or, even if he did, there are a number of locations he could have lived.
Celadon City was the location of the first major Rocket Base we encountered, but there was a fully functioning Rocket Base in Mahogany Town, complete with office space for The Boss.

There’s also a theory, though this is considerably more speculative, that Giovanni was the original occupant of the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island, and he had the experiments that created Mewtwo happen in a secret laboratory in his own home. I’ll grant you that this theory has little to no support, and relies on the connection that Giovanni and Mewtwo have in the anime as a basis for assuming that Giovanni had something to do with Mewtwo’s creation in the “original universe” games. RBY, FRLG, GSC, and HGSS do not explicitly tell us anything about Giovanni funding Mewtwo’s creation, though USUM does, since Team RR Giovanni has a Mega Mewtwo as his ace Pokémon.

In favor of Giovanni living in Viridian City, though, is the scene in question, where Giovanni and Silver have their final conversation. That’s Route 22, which is between Viridian City and the Pokémon League. Makes sense, since Giovanni was heading to the Tohjo Falls for his solo-training, and that’s where Ethan/Lyra encounter him 3 years later.

Either way, when Giovanni leaves, Silver is stranded in the vicinity of the Viridian City/Route 22/Pokémon League area…so you’re right. Why didn’t he just go to Professor Oak and ask for a Pokémon?

2. The assumption that Oak would give Silver a Pokémon may not be correct.
In the games, it is a known fact that Giovanni is the Leader of Team Rocket. What is unknown is that he’s also the Gym Leader of Viridian City.
Case in point, the “Gym Guide” is extremely surprised when you talk to him after your Gym Battle with Giovanni.

Blow me away! Giovanni was the Gym Leader of Viridian?

note, he’s not surprised that Giovanni is the Leader of Team Rocket, just that Giovanni is the Gym Leader.
…now, we can talk about how that was even possible, but the salient point is that the Gym Guide knew who Giovanni was outside of him being the Viridian Gym Leader. The only other thing Giovanni was famous for was being the Leader of Team Rocket.
Even if that fact was concealed prior to the events of RBY/FRLG, it became obvious once the very public Rocket takeover of Silph Co. happened. Several witnesses, including the Silph President, would be able to ID Giovanni as being the Rocket Boss, and Red/Leaf outed Giovanni as Viridian Gym Leader.

Knowing that this guy is the son of the Rocket Boss, a team notorious for exploiting, stealing, and even killing Pokémon (Cubone’s mother in Lavender Town), would you give him a Pokémon? Probably not. Even if the son was claiming to hate his father. And I wouldn’t blame you, or Professor Oak. Silver’s attitude when he first becomes a Trainer is deplorable, and he shows a lot of the same traits as his father.

The question remains of why he’d go all the way to New Bark Town and steal a Pokémon from Elm’s Lab, instead of going to Pallet Town, and stealing a Pokémon from Oak’s Lab.
There are a few possibilities here.

1. Oak does claim to have had only Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle leftover at the beginning of Red and Blue (and I think FRLG, too), so by the time GSC and HGSS happen, Oak would only have one of those left, since Red and Blue took them. Alternatively, if we assume that GSC and HGSS take place in the universe of Yellow version (which, given Red’s team when you battle him, actually makes the most sense), then Oak had no Pokémon remaining, since he only had the one Eevee, which Blue took, and the temperamental Pikachu, which he gave Red.

2. Silver was looking for his father, and ended up in Johto. Silver ended up stranded on Route 22 after Giovanni left to go training at the Tohjo Falls. While he could have made it back to Viridian City without navigating tall grass, once he hopped the ledge, he’d never be able to make it across Route 22 again, without someone else escorting him.
It’s possible, then, that instead of going home, Silver decided to chase after his father. He went through the Pokémon League gate, and ended up on Route 26, which, when coming from the League Gate, is very possible to navigate without entering Tall Grass.
He made it to Route 27, and ran into some difficulties when there was mandatory tall grass, shortly before the entrance to Tohjo Falls. Silver tried to go through anyway, and was attacked. A trainer, or, more likely, the person in the house close to said tall grass, noticed this, and took Silver to the nearest town for medical attention. By that point on Route 27, the closest town is New Bark. So Silver ended up stuck there until he stole one of Elm’s Pokémon.

I admit, this is rather fanciful, but given Route geography, it actually does make a bit of sense.

Besides, if you need someone who has Pokémon to travel with you together into tall grass, it doesn’t have to be your parents. It could be anyone who owns Pokémon, meaning Silver doesn’t have to rely on Giovanni alone.

Correct, but who else did Silver have that he could reliably count on? Team Rocket was disbanded, his mother wasn’t in the picture, and Giovanni straight up left him. Yes, Silver could have found someone else, or just went with whomever happened to be going somewhere that he needed to go, but it was entirely up to Silver to find someone who could escort him. A responsible parent would not have left their child in that situation. They’d have either given their some a Pokémon, or setup an arrangement with a third party to be their kid’s guardian until the kid could get their own Pokémon.

Giovanni did neither of these things, and that, to my mind, counts as abandonment.

 

[Novia]

From what I remember, at the start of the games, you’re usually told by your mother that the professor is looking for you at his lab. It’s not really specified that your parent was the one who made an arrangement for you to pick up a Pokémon from the Professor, and I always thought that you had to make your own arrangements with the Professor, or the Professor automatically summons you to his lab and gives you a Pokémon once you reach a certain age. (Either that or you’re supposed to sign up with him beforehand, and then once he has the starters ready for you, he calls you to his lab)

Wait, but regardless of whether or not Giovanni and Silver lived in Viridian City, the last time Silver saw Giovanni was in Viridian City. He could have gone to Pallet Town after that to ask for, or just steal a starter Pokémon. And besides, just because everyone knows Giovanni as the Boss of Team Rocket, it doesn’t mean that Silver is as famous as his father. A parent being famous doesn’t automatically make their child famous too. I highly doubt many people know who Giovanni’s son is, let alone know that Silver is his son, considering that one of the Rocket scientists in the warehouse in FRLG wasn’t sure if the player was Giovanni’s kid or not, only later commenting that his kid has red hair. That means he has only heard a description of him, but doesn’t know who he is. And besides, if Silver was really as famous as you think he is, then why didn’t Elm, the policeman who went to Elm’s lab, and the boy whom Silver stole the Shuckle from recognise him? And yes, Giovanni is well-known in Johto too - in the Celebi event in HGSS, the opposite gender character mentions Giovanni disbanding Team Rocket 3 years ago.

I don’t think Silver chased after his father. The last thing he yelled was that he was going to be a strong man ‘all by himself’, and it doesn’t make sense for him to go after his father after saying that. And besides, you get to see for yourself that he ran in the opposite direction from his father after the event.

To be honest, I really don’t necessarily think that everyone in the Pokémon universe has or needs a Pokémon. I’d imagine that anyone who isn’t a Trainer yet or doesn’t want to be a Trainer would just avoid tall grass. Yes, for gameplay reasons there are plenty of unavoidable tall grass if you want to navigate around the region, but I’d imagine that in the actual Pokémon world itself, you can freely navigate the entire region without having to step into tall grass if you didn’t want to, and they have paths built for the non-Trainers to walk around them. So it wasn’t like Silver was going to be stranded in Viridian City forever, he could leave if he wanted to. And I personally imagine that you can catch your own Pokémon even when you don’t have any, as long as you have a Pokeball (just like in the Safari Zone), though you can’t do this in the games for gameplay reasons. So it wasn’t really a problem leaving Silver by himself, as he could go do whatever he wanted, catching himself a Pokémon and going on his own Pokémon journey.

To put it another way, it’s kind of like leaving your 18-year old son alone at home while you, the parent, go work overseas for a few years, knowing that your son is already independent and can manage his own life and make his own life decisions, earning money at his job and paying the bills etc. In the Pokémon world, 10-year olds are kind of treated like 18-year olds in our world, since they are already treated as independent and self-reliant enough to travel an entire region by themselves.