>>50495638Pikachu makes the most narrative sense because they're constantly making points that Ash and Leon are the same damn type of person. They had a heart-to-heart after the Darkest Day where Leon admitted his genuine excitement that he has reasons to keep improving after he struggled against Eternatus, and Ash was eating that shit up. Having one's starter fight and best the other starter is the only logical outcome from a writing perspective.
Lucario also works from a shilling perspective because of how much they hype it up as Ash's new second most capable and attuned Pokemon, and GF, TPC and OLM wouldn't pass the opportunity to shill Lucario by giving it a massive win like Leon's Charizard.
