>>51482865They've put the anime into a catch-22.
If Ash loses, then the winner is some rando "best trainer evarr bcause tha riters say i am xxddddd" from some region nobody cares about using a mechanic that only exists in that region and will never be mentioned ever again, and any future "best trainer ever" characters will either ignore his existence or will have to beat him off-screen.
If Ash wins, then that officially, as per the franchise's shit writing, makes him the best trainer to ever exist ever, and it's pretty likely to be the catalyst to retire Ash as the main character and replace him with someone new (or Gou/Go) for the next gen's anime.
Either one of those, or they pull a Deus Ex Machina and the fight gets interrupted by someone/something showing up, and the series ends with Ash going "oh wowie wow, sorry we can't do our rematch this year, I need to come back and fight you again!"
...and they never fight again.
Personally I want Ash to win and I want them to retire him, it'd be interesting if the anime got a huge shakedown like that, though it'd be pretty risky.
