>>57997217 (OP)The formula would have to be in the direction of being gym focused.
You start out as a whatever, maybe, and accumulate followers to your style or creed for battling. As you gain fame and power, you can challenge for mastery of a gym in the region, moving up badge numbers as you overtake rivals. You could sabotage or otherwise fuck with others to get ahead. There's maybe a couple progressions from leader, that can start cutting into whatever your chosen specializations are. You could become a lab, champion, ect to have greater influence on the region, perform research to globally influence certain things like discovering a new type, to work towards some kind of first among equals status compared to everyone else.