Quote Originally Posted by The Operator View Post
I could think of a few.

~Someone misses ferry and has to wait for next one. (Rustboro, Dewford, Slateport, Lilycove, Mossdeep, Sootopoolis, Pacifidlog)
~Arguement and someone leaves temporarily (Jacob and Magnus aren't always gonna get along, as are Jon and te rest of his team.
~Forced to flee a fight from team Aqua and Magma, and accidentally gets seperated.
~Interns get given a bit of free time during their stay in a certain city.
I will think of others later if we need them. It would be easier to explain why they aren't with the group than why they suddenly have a rare Pokemon/item (quest reward)
The story depends on peoples reactions. It would be easy to say that a person received a gift from family or from there pen pal. Than to have someone miss out part of the journey. There is no way to predict whats gong to happen. Because these pokemon wouldnt just appear with the trainer after the sidequest, they would receive them from a messenger. Kinda like when its someones birthday, they get to pick a pokemon. The pokemon doesnt appear it is sent to them.