Sorry for double-posting, I have no idea how I missed the few other posts above green_typhlosion's most recent post. Normally I would wait for someone else to post, but I want to respond to a few of these cause they have interesting stuff, and I don't want to edit my post as no one would know I commented on the stuff. If a mod disagrees I apologize and please merge it with my above post.
Well, you know I couldn't pass this up!
Will continue when they release part 2!
It didn't just pass out, it also curled up "like a fetus" and shrank until it fitted inside a glasses case!? And this led to the Poke Ball using mass-to-energy technology how?
I do think in the game's lore there is only 8 Gyms at any time for Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, & Kalos. Of course, note that just because a region has 8 Gyms that doesn't mean two close by regions can't share a League as Kanto & Johto show by sharing the Indigo League (and the anime suggests a trainer wanting to enter Indigo League can use a mix of Kanto & Johto badges). Another interesting thing to note, Kanto and Johto Gym Leaders don't share a Type, so in the game world there is likely, for a region which restricts the number of Gyms to 8, that no Gym shares a Type (now this would look to even extend to Kanto & Johto, but Kanto did have a Fighting Gym before Sabrina took over with her Psychic Gym. So question becomes was the Fighting Dojo also a Gym at the same time as Chuck or was Chuck able to establish his Fighting Gym after they lost to the Sabrina and an unknown Johto Gym also closed down (Gyms can be the same Type as an Elite Four member, so the Johto Gym that closed down could have been either Dark (if League connected regions can't share a Type) or another Fighting (if League connected can share a Type).
Running a Gym seems to be intricately tied with also how a League runs. We got a view of how a League is formed in Alola, so let's start there. So, to start a League, seems like someone (or likely a group) who has a lot of influence and strength as a trainer wants to start one in a region which doesn't have one. The first thing to do seems to be going around and getting the various cities/towns trying to get support from the local communities and region government to do so while also looking and recruiting strong trainers to work for the League. A location to build the League Building is scouted and then, probably after a lot of discussion, built. By then the League should have at least an Elite Four ready, possibly even a designated preliminary Champion (though the original Kanto games and what went on in the Alola games may hint that a Champion isn't quite required until a trainer strong enough to defeat the Elite Four comes along). But after that things get fuzzy as seems like for Alola they may use the Island Challenge as a replacement for the Gym Challenge. So from here one it's speculation.
I would guess for most other regions, after establishing the League, they would then do a combination of scouting and making open calls for Gym Leaders. Rules seems to be as such: Only 8 slots are available (though a Gym can have multiple leaders & the leaders can use different Types but probably something you REALLY need to convince the League on), Only one in a City/Town, Can't share a Type with another Gym, Gym Leader has to be a strong trainer (likely there being a battle test to pass). While it's likely not a requirement, Gym Leaders also seem to be key figures in the Town/City they live in or at least become one when they become a Gym Leader so a Gym Leader would also have to be someone who can handle that kind of responsibility and pressure; to be a leader figure essentially. Also doesn't seem to matter whether the Gym Leader has another job/hobby, if anything it's possibly a benefit especially if that person owns a building (or at least has permission of one to use). Cause then after choosing a the 8 Leaders they need to build their Gyms and already the League costed money to make and Gyms, while one alone wouldn't cost as much as a League Building, all 8 together probably do (maybe even triple). If a Leader has a building already that makes things easier, all they would need to do is renovate the Gym as the Leader would like it, but if they don't they now need to buy or build a Gym. This brings in the major question of League funding: how does a Pokemon League fund itself? Who's flipping the bills and signing the (pay)checks? How supported are the Gyms? Are the Gyms expected to make money and provide a charitable service; do they have a choice or can only so many be a charitable service? If Gyms do earn money through business or donations does some of that money go to the League and; if so, how much?
Of course we may get of glimpse of this from Galar. Galar is a possible exception to some of the rules due to its culture being built on Pokemon battles. Galar has a Gym for each Type and it's during the yearly Champion Cup do they have the Gyms battle one another to decide which 8 are in the Major League (aka are the Gyms trainers need to defeat & collect a Badge from) and which are in the Minor League (which they don't really explain if that has any role, it just sounds like a fancy/nicer term of being benched). Also, the Gyms may more be "Clubs" than Gyms, cause as we've seen the places where Gyms battles are called "Stadiums" and Stadiums can be different Types as the version exclusive Gyms showed depending on whose in the Major League that year. No doubt some Gym Leaders may prefer specific Cities/Towns over others, though I imagine that discussion is all done after the Major League is decided. Though, that said, that should mean there's 8 Stadiums and in Sword & Shield one should not be in use due to Piers refusing to leave Spikemuth and wanting it as his Gym (much to Rose's annoyance, so much so he offered to build Piers a Stadium in a Power Spot of his choosing; likely the idea being whenever Piers is in the Major League he would get first dibs on that Stadium). So either there is/are extra Stadium(s) and we just don't see it/them or maybe some Gyms do share a Stadium and swap which Gym is in charge everyday (I think it's more likely the former considering how Rose was willing to build a brand new Stadium to get Piers to play ball). Also Gyms operate mostly individually, signing on new members and choosing who is their next Gym Leader with no interference from the League (while some past Gyms were family owned, since there can only be 8 Gyms the League has more say on who gets to be a Gym Leader, even approving hostile takeovers such as Sabrina defeating the Fighting Dojo for the right to be Saffron City Gym Leader and her Psychic Gym designated as the Gym). And with the Gym battles being in Stadiums we see they're televised which of course means marketing, merchandising, sponsors, and venders. It's clear Rose is the one with the checkbook. Galar is very upfront with all of that, though this could be also how other Leagues are run but done so more subtly.
From there it's up to the Gym Leader to maintain their Gym, once again who knows if they get any support from the League (or rather what bureaucracy they have to deal with in order to get their requests submitted; imagine a lot of paper work JUST enough to make it not feel worth it for small requests; then again maybe Gym Leaders are given additional benefits like tax breaks and special deals from construction & other businesses).
Anyway, to address some things to asked I didn't quite answer:
* Does Galar Minor League Give Out Badges? Nope. BUT that doesn't mean they don't have a logo (or multiple logos) ready to use if they do join a Major League one year. Remember Galar's Badges have a gimmick: they combine together inside a ring to form a giant Champion Cup logo "badge". If I were to guess how it works: Each Major League submits a logo they want to be on their Badges. The Champion Cup has designers place the logos around the gold plate, probably a few ways. The Gym Leaders are shown the plates and they all agree on one plate. Then comes cutting the borders and the designers get the Gym Leaders whos Badges touch to discuss how they want their Badge border to be like and if the others agree. If there's conflict, they may go back to chooing another plate and starting the process again. Finally when everyone is in agreement the design is finalized and the Badges are cut and sent out.
* Would Cheren had to choose a different Type had Lenora not quit? Considering Cheren became the giver of the Basic Badge, I think him becoming a Gym Leader likely happened because Lenora quit. I think there's a story there.
* Would the Swimmer be going around to other regions if Unova have more than one Water-type Gym? Well, yeah, even if Unova had a region's worth of Water-type Gym the guy isn't doing it to challenge a League but because he wants to battle strong Water-type trainers.
* Would Malon not opened his Gym if the Striaton Triplets didn't quit? Very likely. Whenver a Gym position opens the League probably posts what Types are available. With the Triplets quitting that put Grass, Fire, & Water back into the pool, and Marlon saw that as his opportunity.
* Would the Fighting Dojo have to set up in a new City/Town to be a Gym again? Yes, possibly. First, it depends on if League connected Regions must have different Gym Types or they can share a Gym Type. If they can't, tough luck, they gotta wait until Chuck quits. If they can, after a Gym Leader quits opening a position, they would have to set-up in another City/Town without a Gym and likely submit a request. If two connected regions are allowed to share and Kiyo ever comes back from his training, maybe they could move to Viridian City (or maybe already have); Remember, Blue was just holding the 8th Gym Leader position until the League could find a replacement.
* (Main) Anime having more Gyms: The main anime is trying to be more realistic thus the region is the size of a country. Hence the anime also having WAY more cities & towns and other locations not in the games. Also, since each region's League is a big tournament with dozens if not hundreds of trainers participating (and those are just the trainers who succeeded in getting all 8 Badges), it would be pretty ridiculous if there was still only 8 Gym Leaders. Hence, though Ash goes through the game's Gyms, other trainers including Ash's rivals are shown to have gone to completely different Gyms not in the game with unique looking Badges. Heck, in Unova, since B2W2 had new Gyms we got to see Cheren's, Roxie's and Marlon's Gym (and since Ash challenged Roxie as his 8th Gym Leader he technically got a unique set of Badges than ones which can be obtained in the games). In addition its likely there's Gyms which share Types cause two trainers won't use the same strategies and/or Pokemon.
Well, you know I couldn't pass this up!
1:51: 2 million years ago, huh. Ignoring that Omanyte is based on an Ammonite which are 419.2 - 358.9 Mya, Kabuto on a Trilobite which are 541 - 485.4 Mya (or a horseshoe crab which date back to 240 Mya) & Aerodactyl is based on a pterosaur which are 228 - 66 Mya. Want to know how far back 2 Mya is? That's pretty much when the first humans appeared and giant mammals such as the mammoth walked the Earth, very much far away from all current Fossil Pokemon.
1:57: It took academia until the 1700s to start studying Pokemon even though they've been around for millions of years? Did the Pokemon World not have a Renaissance? No philosophers in ancient Greece, China or anywhere else took a crack at observing the Pokemon around them? Also I see what you did there Satoshi Tajiri. :P
2:00: What do you mean by only 30 discovered? Even assuming you've counted an entire evolution line as one species, in Gen I there was 63 com mon families (not counting Starters, Legendaries, Fossils, Magnemite family, Voltorb family, Ditto, Porygon). Which were the 30 were "discovered" and why were the rest not?
2:14: German, Spain, & Italy, got it, let the speculation which one of those regions are next begin!
2:30: So just want to note that Japan has books and records about Yokai even before the first millennium, yet in the Pokemon World it took Japan till the late 1800s.
2:46: NO ONE EVER SAW A PIKACHU EVOLVE INTO A RAICHU BEFORE THAN?! And "new phase of discovery", please do not tell me that means no one knew Pokemon "evolved" before...
2:54: Oh, so when they said 30 they actually did mean 30 individual species. What, did Baron Tajirin not bother looking no further than outside of his neighborhood? EDIT (from 12:14): Oh, it was a development reference to how they thought they could only fit 30 Pokemon in a GB cart until Miyamoto gave them a new GB cart that could hold more data. I guess that's neat, still makes the Baron look shortsighted though. Like, when they say "discover" do they mean "recorded", because I can see that.
3:02: Pfft, "efforts of Professor Oak"; yeah, was real hard of him sending out two kids to explore the entire Kanto region (which conveniently had all species of Pokemon at that moment) while he sat back drinking tea waiting for the dex data to come in.
5:06: "The oceans haven't changed much since 2 million years". You can just imagine the seething of marine biologists from that rather incredibly stupid statement.
8:44 (Meowth/Why Able To Talk): So Tajiri had a scale of Pokemon intelligence where Meowth was the smartest. No doubt discarded, still curius where the first gen (and maybe 2nd gen, can't imagine lasting beyond that) fell on that chart and the reasoning for it. Also sounds like Tajiri put a lot of thought on said chart, so I'm also curious what he felt when it became clear the chart wasn't meant to be (or did he simply forget about it as time went on, knowing it was a dud so moved on without a second thought to it?).
9:12 (Mankey/Always Angry): Um, whatever happened to Grassland Pokemon being people-friendly and placid?
9:53 (Primeape/How the Poke Ball Was Invented): ... Wait, what? So the invention of the Poke Ball came about because Prof. Nishinomori was experimenting on a Primeape by giving it drugs (you know, for kids!), dopes it up too much, and this somehow caused it to curl up & shrink to fit inside a glasses case? What drugs was the Professor giving Primeape?! And how did this lead to the Poke Ball using mass-to-energy technology? I have a feeling this is maybe one tidbit that likely has been retcon.
10:23 (Hitmonchan/Unknown Habitat But Placed In Grasslands): Some top notch research there. "Um, we've never seen a Hitmonchan in their natural habitat before". "Eh, it's similar enough to Hitmonlee, just put it in the same habitat". But, if no one knows where they are, how was it discovered? Wouldn't where you discovered them be their habitat?
16:12 (Nidorina/Unable To Breed): AND here's the fact that has a lot of people talking. It wasn't a mistake, it was planned all along that Nidorina and Nidoqueen were unable to breed. Two questions: One, why? Like, was it supposed to be a reference to menopause? If it was, note Nidoran evolves at Level 16. Yes, I know, Level doesn't mean age, but still I feel like if they were going for this angle that Nidorina should evolve at a higher level. In Gen I there are plenty of basic stage Pokemon that evolving in their 30s and even 40s. Two, if this was supposed to be the case, WHY DO NEW NIDORINA AND NIDOQUEEN DEX ENTRIES MENTION OFFSPRING. Dex entries for Nidorina mentions offspring in Gold/HG/Y & Sword, and Nidoqueen mentions offspring in Silver/SS, all Hoenn games, DP/all Unova games/X, and Sword & Shield. Not to mention all the depictions of Nidoqueen & Nidoking with young Nidoran like a recent PokeToon. What, did ALL these Nidorina/Nidoqueen have offspring as a Nidoran then evolved as quickly as possible; they refuse to evolve until they have children and in the meanwhile keep a Moon Stone hidden nearby? That must be really awkward for any Nidorino/Nidoking partners, one moment their partner is half/less than a fifth their size, the next after laying some eggs they're as big as they are... WAIT, is this (also) a virginity metaphor? This is getting awkward, let's move on...
17:04 (Nidoran Male/Ladies Love Long Horns): So many innuendos... FOR KIDS!
18:25 (Exeggcute/Researchers Say They're The Same Seeds As Bulbasaur's Bulb): These same researchers are also all blind.
19:41 (Tangela/Resist Researcher Clippers To Discover Their Hidden Form): I've seen enough hentai to know where that was going...
21:06 (Lickitung/Significant Dex Number): Oh, wow, we've even gotten some "getting c*ap past the radar", lol!
21:38 (Scyther/Kills Prey): Also, this is still Woodland Pokemon, right? I thought they only ate nuts and berries (and were small)?
22:57 (Eevee/Unknown Habitat But Placed In Grasslands 2): Didn't they mention one of the habitat categories was unknown? These are two Pokemon now which habitat are unknown... but instead of placing Hitmonchan and Eevee there they just arbitrarily decided to classify them as Grassland!
24:45 (Onix/Height Goes By Length): Eh, for some Pokemon that are long. It's clear for other Pokemon (usually bipedal) height is referring feet to head while standing.
25:31 (Geodude/Geodude Fights): What dumba** kids are using Geodudes like they're snowballs? Are they trying to put each other in a coma... or dead?
27:26 (Machoke/Evolution Method Unknown): Okay, I get why they would want to hide how they evolve so that kids reading this manual would have to discover it on their own... but in order to get a Golem, Marchamp, Gengar, and Alakazam you need to trade so surely it's at least known they're evolutions and not a possibility. They could have just said "While (Pokemon) is an evolution of (Pokemon's prior evo), they don't evolve through training or special stones" and then maybe give vague hints how some were discovered to evolve like "One suddenly evolved when helping a friend/sibling/cousin/etc. do a task".
30:02 (Squirtle/Unknown Habitat But Placed In Water's-Edge): Okay, this is the last one I'll do this for.
33:05 (Blastoise/Originally Seperate From Squirtle Family): It would also explain why Blastoise dex entry didn't mention its most notable trait, its water cannons. But wait, these would mean they had Dex entries for Squritle's original final evo, so shouldn't that mean they had them for Blastoise and its original prevo? Gen I Dex entries mention the cannon, were those Blastoise original Dex entry or were those new ones made for it? Also, why keep the Ninetales entry mentioning "Blastoise" instead of switching it to Wartortle who still has the furry tail?
34:30 (Golduck/Swimming Speed): This isn't about Golduck but rather that "fastest swimmer chart". It shows Magikarp is the slowest and Dewgong is in the middle... and in the games Magikarp's Speed is 80 and Dewgong's is 70 (Golduck is 85). BTW, Seadra is just as fast as Golduck, Tentacruel's is 100, and the fastest Water-type is Starmie at 115.
1:57: It took academia until the 1700s to start studying Pokemon even though they've been around for millions of years? Did the Pokemon World not have a Renaissance? No philosophers in ancient Greece, China or anywhere else took a crack at observing the Pokemon around them? Also I see what you did there Satoshi Tajiri. :P
2:00: What do you mean by only 30 discovered? Even assuming you've counted an entire evolution line as one species, in Gen I there was 63 com mon families (not counting Starters, Legendaries, Fossils, Magnemite family, Voltorb family, Ditto, Porygon). Which were the 30 were "discovered" and why were the rest not?
2:14: German, Spain, & Italy, got it, let the speculation which one of those regions are next begin!
2:30: So just want to note that Japan has books and records about Yokai even before the first millennium, yet in the Pokemon World it took Japan till the late 1800s.
2:46: NO ONE EVER SAW A PIKACHU EVOLVE INTO A RAICHU BEFORE THAN?! And "new phase of discovery", please do not tell me that means no one knew Pokemon "evolved" before...
2:54: Oh, so when they said 30 they actually did mean 30 individual species. What, did Baron Tajirin not bother looking no further than outside of his neighborhood? EDIT (from 12:14): Oh, it was a development reference to how they thought they could only fit 30 Pokemon in a GB cart until Miyamoto gave them a new GB cart that could hold more data. I guess that's neat, still makes the Baron look shortsighted though. Like, when they say "discover" do they mean "recorded", because I can see that.
3:02: Pfft, "efforts of Professor Oak"; yeah, was real hard of him sending out two kids to explore the entire Kanto region (which conveniently had all species of Pokemon at that moment) while he sat back drinking tea waiting for the dex data to come in.
5:06: "The oceans haven't changed much since 2 million years". You can just imagine the seething of marine biologists from that rather incredibly stupid statement.
8:44 (Meowth/Why Able To Talk): So Tajiri had a scale of Pokemon intelligence where Meowth was the smartest. No doubt discarded, still curius where the first gen (and maybe 2nd gen, can't imagine lasting beyond that) fell on that chart and the reasoning for it. Also sounds like Tajiri put a lot of thought on said chart, so I'm also curious what he felt when it became clear the chart wasn't meant to be (or did he simply forget about it as time went on, knowing it was a dud so moved on without a second thought to it?).
9:12 (Mankey/Always Angry): Um, whatever happened to Grassland Pokemon being people-friendly and placid?
9:53 (Primeape/How the Poke Ball Was Invented): ... Wait, what? So the invention of the Poke Ball came about because Prof. Nishinomori was experimenting on a Primeape by giving it drugs (you know, for kids!), dopes it up too much, and this somehow caused it to curl up & shrink to fit inside a glasses case? What drugs was the Professor giving Primeape?! And how did this lead to the Poke Ball using mass-to-energy technology? I have a feeling this is maybe one tidbit that likely has been retcon.
10:23 (Hitmonchan/Unknown Habitat But Placed In Grasslands): Some top notch research there. "Um, we've never seen a Hitmonchan in their natural habitat before". "Eh, it's similar enough to Hitmonlee, just put it in the same habitat". But, if no one knows where they are, how was it discovered? Wouldn't where you discovered them be their habitat?
16:12 (Nidorina/Unable To Breed): AND here's the fact that has a lot of people talking. It wasn't a mistake, it was planned all along that Nidorina and Nidoqueen were unable to breed. Two questions: One, why? Like, was it supposed to be a reference to menopause? If it was, note Nidoran evolves at Level 16. Yes, I know, Level doesn't mean age, but still I feel like if they were going for this angle that Nidorina should evolve at a higher level. In Gen I there are plenty of basic stage Pokemon that evolving in their 30s and even 40s. Two, if this was supposed to be the case, WHY DO NEW NIDORINA AND NIDOQUEEN DEX ENTRIES MENTION OFFSPRING. Dex entries for Nidorina mentions offspring in Gold/HG/Y & Sword, and Nidoqueen mentions offspring in Silver/SS, all Hoenn games, DP/all Unova games/X, and Sword & Shield. Not to mention all the depictions of Nidoqueen & Nidoking with young Nidoran like a recent PokeToon. What, did ALL these Nidorina/Nidoqueen have offspring as a Nidoran then evolved as quickly as possible; they refuse to evolve until they have children and in the meanwhile keep a Moon Stone hidden nearby? That must be really awkward for any Nidorino/Nidoking partners, one moment their partner is half/less than a fifth their size, the next after laying some eggs they're as big as they are... WAIT, is this (also) a virginity metaphor? This is getting awkward, let's move on...
17:04 (Nidoran Male/Ladies Love Long Horns): So many innuendos... FOR KIDS!
18:25 (Exeggcute/Researchers Say They're The Same Seeds As Bulbasaur's Bulb): These same researchers are also all blind.
19:41 (Tangela/Resist Researcher Clippers To Discover Their Hidden Form): I've seen enough hentai to know where that was going...
21:06 (Lickitung/Significant Dex Number): Oh, wow, we've even gotten some "getting c*ap past the radar", lol!
21:38 (Scyther/Kills Prey): Also, this is still Woodland Pokemon, right? I thought they only ate nuts and berries (and were small)?
22:57 (Eevee/Unknown Habitat But Placed In Grasslands 2): Didn't they mention one of the habitat categories was unknown? These are two Pokemon now which habitat are unknown... but instead of placing Hitmonchan and Eevee there they just arbitrarily decided to classify them as Grassland!
24:45 (Onix/Height Goes By Length): Eh, for some Pokemon that are long. It's clear for other Pokemon (usually bipedal) height is referring feet to head while standing.
25:31 (Geodude/Geodude Fights): What dumba** kids are using Geodudes like they're snowballs? Are they trying to put each other in a coma... or dead?
27:26 (Machoke/Evolution Method Unknown): Okay, I get why they would want to hide how they evolve so that kids reading this manual would have to discover it on their own... but in order to get a Golem, Marchamp, Gengar, and Alakazam you need to trade so surely it's at least known they're evolutions and not a possibility. They could have just said "While (Pokemon) is an evolution of (Pokemon's prior evo), they don't evolve through training or special stones" and then maybe give vague hints how some were discovered to evolve like "One suddenly evolved when helping a friend/sibling/cousin/etc. do a task".
30:02 (Squirtle/Unknown Habitat But Placed In Water's-Edge): Okay, this is the last one I'll do this for.
33:05 (Blastoise/Originally Seperate From Squirtle Family): It would also explain why Blastoise dex entry didn't mention its most notable trait, its water cannons. But wait, these would mean they had Dex entries for Squritle's original final evo, so shouldn't that mean they had them for Blastoise and its original prevo? Gen I Dex entries mention the cannon, were those Blastoise original Dex entry or were those new ones made for it? Also, why keep the Ninetales entry mentioning "Blastoise" instead of switching it to Wartortle who still has the furry tail?
34:30 (Golduck/Swimming Speed): This isn't about Golduck but rather that "fastest swimmer chart". It shows Magikarp is the slowest and Dewgong is in the middle... and in the games Magikarp's Speed is 80 and Dewgong's is 70 (Golduck is 85). BTW, Seadra is just as fast as Golduck, Tentacruel's is 100, and the fastest Water-type is Starmie at 115.
Will continue when they release part 2!
It didn't just pass out, it also curled up "like a fetus" and shrank until it fitted inside a glasses case!? And this led to the Poke Ball using mass-to-energy technology how?
I do think in the game's lore there is only 8 Gyms at any time for Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, & Kalos. Of course, note that just because a region has 8 Gyms that doesn't mean two close by regions can't share a League as Kanto & Johto show by sharing the Indigo League (and the anime suggests a trainer wanting to enter Indigo League can use a mix of Kanto & Johto badges). Another interesting thing to note, Kanto and Johto Gym Leaders don't share a Type, so in the game world there is likely, for a region which restricts the number of Gyms to 8, that no Gym shares a Type (now this would look to even extend to Kanto & Johto, but Kanto did have a Fighting Gym before Sabrina took over with her Psychic Gym. So question becomes was the Fighting Dojo also a Gym at the same time as Chuck or was Chuck able to establish his Fighting Gym after they lost to the Sabrina and an unknown Johto Gym also closed down (Gyms can be the same Type as an Elite Four member, so the Johto Gym that closed down could have been either Dark (if League connected regions can't share a Type) or another Fighting (if League connected can share a Type).
Running a Gym seems to be intricately tied with also how a League runs. We got a view of how a League is formed in Alola, so let's start there. So, to start a League, seems like someone (or likely a group) who has a lot of influence and strength as a trainer wants to start one in a region which doesn't have one. The first thing to do seems to be going around and getting the various cities/towns trying to get support from the local communities and region government to do so while also looking and recruiting strong trainers to work for the League. A location to build the League Building is scouted and then, probably after a lot of discussion, built. By then the League should have at least an Elite Four ready, possibly even a designated preliminary Champion (though the original Kanto games and what went on in the Alola games may hint that a Champion isn't quite required until a trainer strong enough to defeat the Elite Four comes along). But after that things get fuzzy as seems like for Alola they may use the Island Challenge as a replacement for the Gym Challenge. So from here one it's speculation.
I would guess for most other regions, after establishing the League, they would then do a combination of scouting and making open calls for Gym Leaders. Rules seems to be as such: Only 8 slots are available (though a Gym can have multiple leaders & the leaders can use different Types but probably something you REALLY need to convince the League on), Only one in a City/Town, Can't share a Type with another Gym, Gym Leader has to be a strong trainer (likely there being a battle test to pass). While it's likely not a requirement, Gym Leaders also seem to be key figures in the Town/City they live in or at least become one when they become a Gym Leader so a Gym Leader would also have to be someone who can handle that kind of responsibility and pressure; to be a leader figure essentially. Also doesn't seem to matter whether the Gym Leader has another job/hobby, if anything it's possibly a benefit especially if that person owns a building (or at least has permission of one to use). Cause then after choosing a the 8 Leaders they need to build their Gyms and already the League costed money to make and Gyms, while one alone wouldn't cost as much as a League Building, all 8 together probably do (maybe even triple). If a Leader has a building already that makes things easier, all they would need to do is renovate the Gym as the Leader would like it, but if they don't they now need to buy or build a Gym. This brings in the major question of League funding: how does a Pokemon League fund itself? Who's flipping the bills and signing the (pay)checks? How supported are the Gyms? Are the Gyms expected to make money and provide a charitable service; do they have a choice or can only so many be a charitable service? If Gyms do earn money through business or donations does some of that money go to the League and; if so, how much?
Of course we may get of glimpse of this from Galar. Galar is a possible exception to some of the rules due to its culture being built on Pokemon battles. Galar has a Gym for each Type and it's during the yearly Champion Cup do they have the Gyms battle one another to decide which 8 are in the Major League (aka are the Gyms trainers need to defeat & collect a Badge from) and which are in the Minor League (which they don't really explain if that has any role, it just sounds like a fancy/nicer term of being benched). Also, the Gyms may more be "Clubs" than Gyms, cause as we've seen the places where Gyms battles are called "Stadiums" and Stadiums can be different Types as the version exclusive Gyms showed depending on whose in the Major League that year. No doubt some Gym Leaders may prefer specific Cities/Towns over others, though I imagine that discussion is all done after the Major League is decided. Though, that said, that should mean there's 8 Stadiums and in Sword & Shield one should not be in use due to Piers refusing to leave Spikemuth and wanting it as his Gym (much to Rose's annoyance, so much so he offered to build Piers a Stadium in a Power Spot of his choosing; likely the idea being whenever Piers is in the Major League he would get first dibs on that Stadium). So either there is/are extra Stadium(s) and we just don't see it/them or maybe some Gyms do share a Stadium and swap which Gym is in charge everyday (I think it's more likely the former considering how Rose was willing to build a brand new Stadium to get Piers to play ball). Also Gyms operate mostly individually, signing on new members and choosing who is their next Gym Leader with no interference from the League (while some past Gyms were family owned, since there can only be 8 Gyms the League has more say on who gets to be a Gym Leader, even approving hostile takeovers such as Sabrina defeating the Fighting Dojo for the right to be Saffron City Gym Leader and her Psychic Gym designated as the Gym). And with the Gym battles being in Stadiums we see they're televised which of course means marketing, merchandising, sponsors, and venders. It's clear Rose is the one with the checkbook. Galar is very upfront with all of that, though this could be also how other Leagues are run but done so more subtly.
From there it's up to the Gym Leader to maintain their Gym, once again who knows if they get any support from the League (or rather what bureaucracy they have to deal with in order to get their requests submitted; imagine a lot of paper work JUST enough to make it not feel worth it for small requests; then again maybe Gym Leaders are given additional benefits like tax breaks and special deals from construction & other businesses).
Anyway, to address some things to asked I didn't quite answer:
* Does Galar Minor League Give Out Badges? Nope. BUT that doesn't mean they don't have a logo (or multiple logos) ready to use if they do join a Major League one year. Remember Galar's Badges have a gimmick: they combine together inside a ring to form a giant Champion Cup logo "badge". If I were to guess how it works: Each Major League submits a logo they want to be on their Badges. The Champion Cup has designers place the logos around the gold plate, probably a few ways. The Gym Leaders are shown the plates and they all agree on one plate. Then comes cutting the borders and the designers get the Gym Leaders whos Badges touch to discuss how they want their Badge border to be like and if the others agree. If there's conflict, they may go back to chooing another plate and starting the process again. Finally when everyone is in agreement the design is finalized and the Badges are cut and sent out.
* Would Cheren had to choose a different Type had Lenora not quit? Considering Cheren became the giver of the Basic Badge, I think him becoming a Gym Leader likely happened because Lenora quit. I think there's a story there.
* Would the Swimmer be going around to other regions if Unova have more than one Water-type Gym? Well, yeah, even if Unova had a region's worth of Water-type Gym the guy isn't doing it to challenge a League but because he wants to battle strong Water-type trainers.
* Would Malon not opened his Gym if the Striaton Triplets didn't quit? Very likely. Whenver a Gym position opens the League probably posts what Types are available. With the Triplets quitting that put Grass, Fire, & Water back into the pool, and Marlon saw that as his opportunity.
* Would the Fighting Dojo have to set up in a new City/Town to be a Gym again? Yes, possibly. First, it depends on if League connected Regions must have different Gym Types or they can share a Gym Type. If they can't, tough luck, they gotta wait until Chuck quits. If they can, after a Gym Leader quits opening a position, they would have to set-up in another City/Town without a Gym and likely submit a request. If two connected regions are allowed to share and Kiyo ever comes back from his training, maybe they could move to Viridian City (or maybe already have); Remember, Blue was just holding the 8th Gym Leader position until the League could find a replacement.
* (Main) Anime having more Gyms: The main anime is trying to be more realistic thus the region is the size of a country. Hence the anime also having WAY more cities & towns and other locations not in the games. Also, since each region's League is a big tournament with dozens if not hundreds of trainers participating (and those are just the trainers who succeeded in getting all 8 Badges), it would be pretty ridiculous if there was still only 8 Gym Leaders. Hence, though Ash goes through the game's Gyms, other trainers including Ash's rivals are shown to have gone to completely different Gyms not in the game with unique looking Badges. Heck, in Unova, since B2W2 had new Gyms we got to see Cheren's, Roxie's and Marlon's Gym (and since Ash challenged Roxie as his 8th Gym Leader he technically got a unique set of Badges than ones which can be obtained in the games). In addition its likely there's Gyms which share Types cause two trainers won't use the same strategies and/or Pokemon.
