Who Is Paying For All The Pokemon Gyms?
It takes a lot to keep a Pokemon Gym up and running. Even the most modest gym in a little podunk town like Pewter City or Dewford Town must have some serious overheads. Public facilities require maintenance and utilities like water and electricity, as well as a staff that needs to be paid. Some gyms have also gone through expensive remodeling, either to better match the personality of a new leader or when its leader changed types, like Olivine Gym in the Johto Region. At the very least, someone is paying for all those fancy gym badges we’ve been collecting all these years, but who? It’s time to dive into everyone’s favorite topic: Pokemon economics.
It’s safe to assume that most Pokemon Gym Leaders take home a fairly meager salary. For some, leading a Pokemon Gym seems like more of a side hustle than a full-time job. This is especially true of the Unova City Gym Leaders, who spend their days working on restaurants and libraries, owning mountain companies (or whatever it is Clay does), and being mayor. Even if the leaders are only earning minimum wage, most gyms have at least a few other trainers they employ as well as, let’s assume, janitors, administrators, and groundskeepers. This is all after the initial construction costs, which in some cases, like the elaborately designed Opelucid Gym, most have been extravagant. So who’s paying for all of this?
In real life, at least in the hyper-capitalistic USA, stadiums and arenas are paid for by public sources. Construction of new sports venues is subsidized by the government, meaning your taxes pay for them. It may be the same in the Pokemon world, but we know very little about the governments of the Pokemon regions. The only evidence that governance even exists is the
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