>>42571808-Contests: filler
-Lyra/HGSS arc: filler
-Gible capture arc: could have been condensed
-Grand Festival: filler
I'll give you the Brandon, Hunter J, and Ash/Paul full battle stuff. But they rushed the ending of the league -- Ash and Paul's quarterfinals match spanned three episodes, and then his semifinal with Tobias was over in only one. We never saw the finals, or Tobias's Champion League challenge, or any of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier. DP, for the first time ever, made a point to introduce all four E4 members to Ash and co. throughout the series, turning them into recurring characters so that we would know who they were (especially when they challenged Cynthia to the title). It also was the first series to tell us that Pokémon League winners are granted the right to challenge the Elite Four of that region after the main tournament. It set up the perfect opportunity for Tobias (or Ash) to challenge the E4 after the league ended.
