I’d hate to tell you, anonymous, but the sad thing is that any form of deviance to the social norm is often met with resistance of one kind or another. Although in my opinion, you have the right idea in treating your pokémon as equals (they are, after all, fantastic beings from whom we humans can learn quite a lot), the problem is that our society is so ingrained in a trainers’ culture that we often forget that our relationship with pokémon isn’t all about collecting them and having them battle for us. Rather, the whole point of training is to bond with our pokémon friends and to experience the world with them, rather than by using them.
Still, humans have the unfortunate tendency to think in terms of speciesism. Some of us believe the human race are the dominant species, so therefore, to those people, pokémon are beneath us. To place ourselves as equals to pokémon would be to revoke our humanity. It’s an archaic system, honestly—one that I’ve always found quite odd, considering how many of our cultures revere legendary pokémon.
In any case, I say all of this to explain why people may discriminate or harass you. The above certainly isn’t the only reason. (Thanks to the “morph” fandom—that is to say, the internet subculture centered around humanized pokémon, such as half-human/half-meowth creatures, for example—some people believe the act of seeing oneself as a true equal to a pokémon implies something about the human’s private life.) But it’s a major reason, besides the fact that people just don’t like things that are different from them.
The important thing is … ignore them unless they actually physically harass you. You may be able to educate a few people, but unless you want to escalate a situation, it’s best to choose your battles in a metaphorical sense. Otherwise, sometimes, it’s either not worth it or not possible to force others to agree with you. People will likely still discriminate against you, despite your best efforts. I don’t mean to depress you, of course. It’s just that humanity is a little bit complicated like that.
Rest assured, though, that you’re not alone in maintaining such a philosophy. There are plenty of people in the world who view themselves as equals to their pokémon, many of whom aren’t even from Alola. For example, most fighting-type and psychic-type specialists in each of the gym circuits and Elite Four rosters take this view, and this philosophy seems to be prevalent among native Johtonians and Sinnohans. If you need someone to talk to, simply seek one of these people out, and they would be more than eager to support you.
Best of luck, anonymous. Stay strong, and know that you’re not alone.
The Pokédex According to Bill 