No hate on Iris but to be fair, considering how strong Leon was shown this episode, there must be someone just as strong for Ash to overcome if they want to convince us that he's ready to face Leon.Iris's interaction with Diantha and Cynthia was the best part of the episode
I don't think Iris will be treated badly, she will obviously lose to Cynthia but I see her putting up a good fight and not getting curbstomped
I absolutely love how Ash demolished Hop lol, thats how it should be and fits with Hop's current predicament being that he's yet to go on his journey
The remaining 10 minutes should have just been the champions interacting and talking and by the end of the episode we see Leon vs Alain start, end the episode off with Gigantamax Rillaboom
Ash already beat Iris. If the latter comes close to beating Cynthia, that would significantly lower the sakes for Ash making it a lot more difficult for one to believe Ash is ready to face Leon.
At least Mega Garchomp should be shown to be much stronger than Iris's team.