>>58018079Because at the time, if Ash won a league tournament (not the E4 + Champion, mind you, JUST the tournament,) then the show would have to end, so decreed the executives from the very beginning.
The sheer backlash from the loss is the only reason he was allowed to get his pity win with Alola (a literal who backwater boonie league that's even less impressive than the Orange Islands, literal goddamned filler) and then when there was outrage over THAT being a disappointed first "real" league win, they let him jump to being the world's strongest trainer by suddenly being able to beat Leon.
