>>55679492>GaryDoesn't battle for funsies any more, he's a researcher
>PaulHe's a gym leader. Presumably, battling with Ash has made him see the appeal of bringing out the strength in another rather than his own, hence why he trained Ash a bit before Masters 8.
>Nando, Shota, GladionBecause OLM are retarded
>Alan Brought back but jobbed to Leon's Zard to hype it up (Trevor experience a similar fate in XY)
>The rest Not actually a rival, a rando brought into the league to filter Ash so they didn't have to get rid of him since they hadn't yet defined what a Master was (Tobias) or they just don't matter in the grand scheme of things (which is most of them).
Ritchie, Tyson and Tobias only existed to prevent Ash from becoming a Champion, Harrison was just there to advertise Kecleon and Blaziken ahead of Gen 3's release and lets face it. Most of them are too casual to try and compete on a worldwide level, having started their journeys comparitively recently to Ash's.
Tierno, Trevor, Gladion, Trip and Nando for example all have hobbies, interests or desires outside of battling that they could turn into jobs or would leave them strapped for time so battling would hardly be their only prority.
