That was kukuis field of research as a prof, people keep bringing up stuff like this when all the profs have there own fields and if gary was following oak then oak isnt a battle professor, when he was a trainer in his youth that was before he was a professor.I mean, Kukui was literally a professor, the Masked Royal and the final boss of the Alola League.. Gary competing in the PWC doesn't take away from his research in the slightest..