Injuries happened in battles. After all, the barrier was like "soft armor": it filtered out much of the elemental attacks and impact, but some force still penetrated it, which the trainer and Pokémon had to withstand. Otherwise, injuries came from overtraining, leaving the body or energy chakras fatigued. That was the extent of the damage.
Compared with racing collisions, where all those protective measures could save a life but still leave someone disabled, battles really were far safer.
"You can't compare them like that..."
Shen Qi had to say a few words in racing's defense.
Battling had been the Pokémon world's eternal number-one competitive sport since ancient times. Its sound regulations and comprehensive safety measures were beyond question.
But racing had also been improving constantly in recent years. In the past three years, Class T Competitions hadn't caused a single serious injury, let alone killed a person or Pokémon.
Regular Races were somewhat worse, but there hadn't been a single fatal accident throughout the previous year, either.
"That's true enough." Gladion waved the grilled squid in his hand. "Go explain that to my mom, if you're so capable."
The accidental death of her husband, Professor Mohn, during field research had made Lusamine cherish her children twice, many times as much. Naturally, she wouldn't let them race.
After all Gladion's pleading, the only concession his mother had made was that he could enter recreational races at festivals. Every other competition was off-limits, and he wasn't allowed to use the family's connections for pre-race training.
With the president of the Aether Foundation laying down those terms, no racing driver in the Alola Region dared coach Gladion. Even moderately sized clubs in other regions dared not take him in, and smaller ones steered clear of him altogether.
As a result, Gladion had achieved