The bracket is pretty clear on who Ash is going to beat. Otherwise, they would have saved the surprise after first round.
Lance is honestly only a fan favorite in the first match. Had it been Ash vs Lance in Round 1, that would make perfect sense. But Round 2 is where Ash should face an even stronger opponent, and Lance ain't cutting it. Neither does Iris. She lost to Ash before and hasn't fought Ash again, thus Ash beating Iris again would be a slap in the face. At least making Cythnia sweat and get serious is a good enough achievement for Iris.
Not that interested in “what makes sense”. We’ve already kinda went over how that works out. Fans don’t create the “logical” way the show should go because it’s subjective.
This whole posts reeks of “okay well since it’s already on the trailer she can mildly get her scared but she better not beat her or get that close and the only reason why she’s allowed that is because it’s on the trailer and I can’t change it”.
Cynthia can get worried and pushed but still must win on paper to protect her image. And that would be annoying with any character.
The bracket could be incorrect and Cynthia could fight Leon, Diantha with Leon etc and so goes on. “Stronger trainers” is subjective based on your age when your played and mentality when played DPPt because Cynthia is not this untouchable trainer that only Ash can beat only because of his MC armor.
Any trainer in that tournament no matter what the lineup here can theoretically realistically take or mildly push her. We know she’s stronger than Lance and perhaps Steven but that’s it. Fresh meat is in this tournament and Lance could of gotten stronger. She’s not untouchable. At very least say she’s winning here because she has better strategies etc besides “well she’s better than Lance, Diantha and Iris”
No, that’s not how brackets work.
How that specific format works is Lt hat is being showed in the image work like this(here is an example of how it works):
1st round matchups
Left Side:
Leon vs Alain: Leon
Lance vs Diantha: Lance
Right Side:
Cynthia vs Iris: Cynthia
Steven vs Ash: Ash
Semifinals
Left Side:
Leon vs Lance: Leon
Right Side:
Cynthia vs Ash: Ash
Finals:
Leon vs Ash: Ash
Basically look at how the line connect
Notice how the only time Leon’s, Alain’s Lance’s, and Diantha’s line ever connects to Ash is in the finals.
When I say the left side or right side of the brackets it breaks down like this:
Left side: Leon, Alain, Lance, Diantha
Right Side: Cynthia, Iris, Steven, Ash
So the only characters that Leon can fight in the Semifinals is Lance or Diantha while the only characters that Ash can fight in the Semifinals is Cynthia and Iris.
Okay, gotcha I get it know. They’re implying that Ash is fighting who wins against Iris vs Cynthia and vice versa Leon’s match. Question though, why play that game? We know he’s fighting Steven and he’s “fighting” Cynthia based on that bracket. Involving Lance isn’t even a read herring at this point because they “exposed” he’s never battling him. Why include both that bracket as “proof” and Steven all in the same trailer why Paul is prepping him to fight Lance, Cynthia and Steven? And you can’t pull the excuse “well Ash doesn’t know” because by that logic Paul should have all of their aces.