>>50982358anon, look at this poster and tell me it's not a French flag and tell me it's not the three Leon is facing in the M8. this is literally to Leon's left as well. Ash becomes the Kalos rep in the final by proxy, given that he's also the 1st runner up of the Miare Conference. it was set up to build Ash up this way, and as a sort of apology for the bullshit after losing in the Kalos League.
as for Steven, losing to Ash after pinning him to the wall is the least insulting way to go out. this is the best compromise for the fujos. also having Ash fight with the most popular Champions (Steven, then Cynthia) makes the most sense marketing-wise.