I watched the episode where Ash meets up with Misty in Hoenn and it kinda made me realize that these regions tend to have some kind of anime-exclusisive nobility or royalty. I think Ash and his friends stumble across cults and in their innocent childish minds, they actually do meet some king or queen. In this case, they just met a cult who thinks Togepi is downright godlike when in reality, its just another Pokemon.