Wouldn't count on it. Birds are just big feathery asshole turd machines. And flight mechanics are way different from land travel, the kind of effort a bird's gotta put in after adding just a little bit of mass is basically ridiculous. That's why their bones are hollow, you know? They gotta save on weight.

...Also, if you don't have enough badges to show for yourself, other people's Pokémon tend to blow you off. Just one of those obnoxious video game things.