I'd say Alain because whereas people were already dissatisfied with BW, nobody expected the mess that would become the Kalos League.
Uh, the moment we saw that the Semifinals were getting underway in the third episode, people knew it was going to be crap.
People were pissed, I believe, but not to this degree. This is the most furious I've seen the fandom in a while.
Agreed. But I'm also getting this feeling that the people who are the most vocal about it, are just whiny 12-year-olds using an excuse that just isn't valid for them at all: "We've waited 20-years!!!" followed by more whining at the level of prepubescence..
Alain lol. The bitterness and despair is strong because, for the first time, people had hope. People had 'The narrative!'. But alas...
Yeah, I never got the narrative-part. Sure, Ash had never won against Alan. Normally, that would constitute for a "narrative"-win, hence why I argued that he was going to have to lose to Sawyer before the league at least once (which happened). However, considering Alan still had a part to play in the Team Flare-arc, one could easily say: "The narrative is getting stretched a bit, and the conclusion of their "rivalry" will happen there, instead of the league. Simple as that. And what do you know, Lysandre is holding Manon above Alan's head in order for him to do his bidding, or at least that seems like it.
The questions vague and premises that the viewer is highly critical of either battles. Personally I think there are other battles that were worse and had a more unfair outcome than either Cameron or Alain. As far as which is better as a plot point the loss to Cameron was more typical of the series. He was a standard friendly rival who just happened to be a fair bit better than Ash, with some quirky personality traits thrown as comic relief. Alain is a slightly unrealistic character given he seem to have entered the league as an afterthought and the win is inconsequential to him where as Ash and other trainers have worked for months to be there, and he's marred by his involvement in Team Flare. It's a consistent point now that Ash doesn't win the league - Why should he. It's never been cannon that he's anything more than a skilled but still average trainer. Think of it this way - He's been among the top 16, 8, 8, 4, 8 and now 2 of a competition of between 64 to over 500 or greater trainers all of whom had proved themselves by winning 8 badges in their region. That isn't insignificant even in the fictional cannon.
I honestly doubt that Cameron was a fair bit better. Sending out a Ferrothorn vs. a Fire-type and a Swanna vs. a Pikachu just doesn't agree with that. Yes, Ash used x4 weak pokémon against their weaknesses before, heck, even vs. Alan, but in those cases, their probably was a reason behind the madness (Gliscor had Fire Fang, Steel Wing and X-scissor vs. Snover, and Ash sent out Noivern before Alan sent out Weavile), but in Cameron's case, there wasn't. He just had a strong Hydreigon and a strong Riolu, which just happened to evolve at exactly the most convenient time imaginable.
I don't think the league was inconsequential for Alan. He wanted to fight Ash while he was at his most determined, and we all know that would be at the league. Furthermore, it doesn't matter that some trainers have worked months in order to get eight badges, and he seemed to do it in a lot less time. Heck, even Sawyer's badge quest took half as long as Ash's, and you don't see anybody berating him either. The point also being that it isn't as if Alan didn't train for months in order to become as strong as he is. We know what Alan was capable of for a while now, so the fact that he's able to get eight badges in what's probably record time, does not suspend the realm of believability.
And yes, Ash's achievements aren't insignificant, but try telling that to the hordes of prepubescent wailers that have now swamped this forum and are sending threats to the writers twitter accounts.. "ASH DIDN'T WIN!!!! TWENTY YEARSS!!!!" Ffs. Shut up. You weren't even born when he got Top16, because his Charizard didn't listen. Now he got Top2. >.>