When you beat your rival at the League in the first Pokemon game, Oak tells him he's disappointed in him that he didn't treat his Pokemon with love and trust.
But then he says "without them, you'll never become a Pokemon champ again!"
As a kid, when Oak said that I thought he was TAKING AWAY YOUR RIVAL'S POKEMON for not treating them with love and trust, and that'd he'd never be Champion again cuz he wouldn't HAVE his Pokemon to help him. I was like "dang, Oak is HARDCORE"
Of course it turns out Oak was saying your rival wouldn't be champion again without the "trust and love" of his Pokemon, not his Pokemon themselves