Panky..
Discord: Panky..#9281
It depends on how those 3 wins are executed. If they're done well with narrative pay-offs to past plot threads (Alain and Cynthia), as well as a decent set-up for the future with regards to the current one (Leon), then it's good story-telling. Just throwing those away for some cheap 'unpredictability' is not.Not really. Do you think it would be good story-telling with Ash winning 3 matches in a row? That is boring. If it was round-robin, Ash could become 2nd in his bracket. Win some, lose some. The important thing is you learned something from your losses. That is extra character development. Bad writing is not learning anything because you keep winning.
He's already lost more than enough, and learned from it all. There's no character development to be had from Ash from simple 'finale' losses, that would be just redundant and pointless. What he can learn from is experiencing new heights, and the recent episode is proof of that. In it, he finally took up the region's Champion status and not because he wants it but because the people want him to have it and are rooting for him.
If Ash loses in the M8, he won't learn anything new. He'll just go around doing the same loop as before. @Shadao has made a post about this part on which he can elaborate since I'm too sleepy to find his comment.