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"Pokemon Journeys" and the gym system as a whole are just ways of getting the underprivileged and uneducated to entertain themselves and eventually grow up to be uneducated and continue the cycle, whereas the elite go to school, study, and invest in business/research/whatever.
It's the only way to explain the world's bizarre infrastructure and obsession with Pokemon, even at the expense of running day-to-day shit.