The fact that it has a narrative. Power scaling is a completely pointless “discussion” in any story in general. Because whatever needs to happen for the story will happen.
But...but...muh Alain! Who is totally the most important part of this tournament! He deserves so much more screen time and focus than the actual Champions!
You should read the visual novel. She plays such a major role throughout Heaven’s Feel in general. But Ufotable butchered it really badly in their adaptation unfortunately.
There are just as many people that love her as there are that hate her. And she consistently sparks dozens of arguments/debates about her character.
Hence controversial.
This is why Serena is not the most hated character by any means. She’s controversial. Huge difference.
Iris or Goh are the ones who truly have that title. But probably Goh since he’s current.
It’s not about popularity. It’s about his character arc and the narrative coming to a close. As others have mentioned, Sinnoh very much felt like the culmination of Ash’s journey up until that point. He had a smaller arc within each saga too.
Kanto: Self-discovery.
Orange Islands and Johto...
Actually waiting for the episode to come out. Using the evidence provided in the show proper to determine the relevance that Goh, Ash, and Cynthia all actually have in the episode. Taking into account that a thing called subplots exist and that characters can share episodes.
As opposed to...
Beating Kukui isn’t anywhere near the same thing as beating the Elite 4 and the regional Champion. Beating Iris doesn’t mean much either until we learn how exactly she actually became Champion. But her skill level is nowhere near the level of Lance/Cynthia/Steven, etc.
What Ash has done is won...
Riolu two-parter definitely shouldn’t be on this list...It involves Hunter J. And anything involving her feeds into the Team Galactic arc.
Doc Brock is important. The name should make that obvious. It relates to his doctor goal, which people already think there wasn’t enough buildup to that...
The biggest crime of the SM cameo is the blatant disregard of AG and DP references. Like you have Brock. There is no excuse to not have him and Ash talk about those adventures together too. Heck Misty was even in AG too anyway...
It’s not experience if you don’t actually finish the thing...That’s like me saying I have experience in basketball even if I quit practice halfway through all the time. Doesn’t work like that.
Iris was raised by a gym leader. She knows how the league gig works. And she was definitely always one...
These are two entirely different things. The gap between a beginner and an intermediate isn’t the same as the gap between a beginner and a champion...May never won a Grand Festival so she’s not the equivalent to an Olympic champion.
There are several different tournament based activities where...
Females: May>Dawn>Iris>Misty>Lana>Serena=Mallow=Lillie
Males:
Brock>Kiawe>Clemont>Cilan>Tracey. Haven’t seen enough of Goh to judge him yet.
People forget that Brock is actually a savage when he wants to be. He just doesn’t like battling. Don’t forget who Ash’s mentor was.
Apples and...