>>47451579Storyline wise Leon is shilled in a region that has
>No Battle Frontier>Extremely gullible sport fanatics of all kinds>The story being told from the point of view of two kids that idolize himThe league challenge is set up NOT to weed out the weak challengers, but ease them into a planned tour, with Milo explicitly being the weakest, yet the way the tournament is set up means that said weakest can beat the champion at any time (This is why you need an actual Elite 4, to filter out the shitters)
On top of that, Galar has little connection with other regions, and as seen in the DLC, even strong Galarian trainers get their offers for matches declined
Cynthia cares little for straight Pokemon Battles, yet, even she's willing to participate in the Pokemon world Tournament and is one of the strong trainers that went to the battle Tree, helmed by In-Canon The strongest Trainer in the franchise
Going by levels, all of Leon's Pokes max out at 80, whereas Challenge Mode Cynthia has a LV80 team + LV82 Garchomp, making her the 3rd strongest trainer level wise (After Red and Fully leveld-up Barry)