>>56307438>>56307009If you must, you CAN take from Shudo's early drafts in that Pokemon League positions were constantly in peril if you lost too many matches, to the point where Gym Leaders were bribing trainers to throw matches or they'd lose their license and income.
If you want to go further, you could have entire towns like Shudo's original Pallet Town where a lot of people are poor because there's no real money to be made, and even the least-qualified Trainer who makes it to the Leagues is seen as a hero. Ash's dad is a deadbeat who swears he'll return when he makes it big, and it's been at least a decade since. Ash's mom assumes he's dead or worse, IIRC.
Kind of like coal towns, or small towns where hockey/football/baseball players are basically given carte blanche if they're scouted by the Major Leagues.
That said, there's a reason why Shudo's stuff just remained in his personal canon, and to be fair, there's a lot of time needed to become a League battler even if you're naturally talented or have been pumping your mons full of Rare Candy. I vaguely recall there being a support system for wandering kid trainers.
