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SPOILERS: Masters Eight Discussion/Speculation Thread

I like MimeytheKeeper’s prediction

If i had to have a different one then
Round 1/Quarterfinals
Ash vs Alain the revenge match
Steven vs Diantha the XYZ champion debate settled
Cynthia vs Iris battling her idol
Lance vs Leon the previous finals rematch

Round 2/semifinals
Ash vs Cynthia the destiny battle
Leon vs Steven “President” vs “King”

Round 3/Finals
Ash vs Leon the Promised Battle

Or for something less predictable lol

Round1
Ash vs Lance Kanto natives
Alain vs Diantha Kalos natives
Leon vs Iris still a little kid
Steven vs Cynthia the mature ones

Round 2
Ash vs Diantha the rematch we never thought would happen
Leon vs Cynthia who really is the strongest? 1v2

Round 3
Ash vs Cynthia

Or Leon lol the final battle

Idk but looking forward to these 8
If that were to actually happen that would be mad funny. Just throw everybody for a complete loopty-loop. Also I like the naming convention for the matches you got going on. Ash vs Cynthia "The Destiny Battle" made me go 'Hmm not bad.'
 
Ok personally I'd love to see Paul battle Ash again and seen how much he's grown both in character and in battling. But where's the Ash vs Alain fight for the other part of the fanbase? We shouldn't forget about them even if we don't really care about an Ash vs Alain fight.
When you say other fanbase do you mean the XY fanbase or the Ash fanbase?If it's XY then sure Ash could face Alain while Paul faces Cynthia instead.But if we're talking about the Ash fanbase in general then no. Not too long ago he won the so called Alola League and became the Alola League Champion,then after that he managed to defeat the so called Unova Champion Iris. Now he's got the chance to go to the finals and face Leon,more than likely that's gonna happen. The Ash fanbase can live without him getting his rematch with Alain,he isn't gonna be able to face Tobias again so this should be no different.Let's be honest here though the Ash fanbase has been spoiled rotten compared to the Paul fanbase.

Post DP Ash managed to finish top 2 of the Kalos League,become Alola League Champion and defeat the Unova Champion.All we know about Paul is he challenged the Pyramid King Brandon to a rematch at Snowpoint City after losing to Ash at the Sinnoh League.If Iris can get an off screen powerup why can't Paul? He was clearly stronger than Iris when BW was still airing.Him and Ash were both equals during DP.But yeah Ash got the chance to defeat Alain's MCX on more than one occasion and failed,let someone else try for a change.When Goku couldn't best Jiren in the Tournament of Power his rival Hit was given the chance to face Jiren as well.Having Paul come back after 10+ year absent from the series and then beat the guy that Ash never could would put him back on top of the food chain as far as toughest rivals go.
 
There's still no real confirmation who is battling who yet.
 
In B2W2, Steven's team was much less Steel-focused. For some reason he had Archeops and an Excadrill. He also had more Rock types than Steel types because he still had Aggron, but no Skarmory (or Claydol).

Excadrill is a steel type, while Claydol is not. And actually, in most instances, Steven has a team with more rock-type than steel-type Pokémon. This occurs because Steven doesn't just stick to steel type, but always used fossil Pokémon in his team, which tend to be rock type.
 
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Excadrill is a steel type, while Claydol is not. And actually, in most instances, Steven has a team with more rock-type than steel-type Pokémon. This occurs because Steven doesn't just stick to metallic type, but always used fossil Pokémon in his team, which tend to be rock type.
To put it simply, it could be said that Steven uses Pokémon whose types are based around minerals.
 
The only way I can see Ash battle Lance is if he does battle more than 3 people. Leon/Cynthia is obvious but Alan's inclusion and purposely hiding the AshGreninja form in the previous ep is suspicious. Even Japanese fans said it's very similar to Serena being left out-of the XY flashbacks and the opening not including her so her return would be a surprise.

They also already had Lucario's passing the torch moment with Greninja nodding after it powered up the Spirit Bomb so they're not going to repeat the same exact scenario again a second time.
 
I actually do think Ash will battle Lance in the Masters 8 simply because he, Cynthia, Raihan, and Leon have all been teased to battle Ash this series. I think a friendly match with Alain is more likely than the theory that he has a friendly spar with Lance
 
I actually do think Ash will battle Lance in the Masters 8 simply because he, Cynthia, Raihan, and Leon have all been teased to battle Ash this series. I think a friendly match with Alain is more likely than the theory that he has a friendly spar with Lance
Lance and Ash never interacting on screen in 2 years worth of time makes me doubt it. They didn't really build up anything between them or promise each other they would battle. Notice how Raihan took notice of Ash in the Opal episode setting up his interest in him
 
Lance and Ash never interacting on screen in 2 years worth of time makes me doubt it. They didn't really build up anything between them or promise each other they would battle. Notice how Raihan took notice of Ash in the Opal episode setting up his interest in him
We'll see. Right now though, Leon, Cynthia, and Lance make the most sense to me as champions that Ash would battle. Maybe I'm going to be wrong but I'll stick with this prediction
 
I would have thought Lance too, but that was before we knew the rest of the Masters 8. Even in that magazine Lance's VA says he wants a rematch with Leon but nothing about challenging Ash.

Unless Ash does battle more than 3 people he may be out. It's the same reason people don't think he'll battle Steven or Diantha because there's no build up for it and they never even got full eps this series.
 
Unless Ash does battle more than 3 people he may be out. It's the same reason people don't think he'll battle Steven or Diantha because there's no build up for it and they never even got full eps this series.
Even if it seems obvious who Ash should battle, there hasn't been much build up or foreshadowing for anyone, hence all the speculation.

I mean, Iris probably has the most "build up" given their promise to battle again, but there aren't many who would want to see that.
 
Even if it seems obvious who Ash should battle, there hasn't been much build up or foreshadowing for anyone, hence all the speculation.

I mean, Iris probably has the most "build up" given their promise to battle again, but there aren't many who would want to see that.
Yup and honestly the only person who Ash physically reacted to in the Masters 8 reveal was Iris which ties into your last point. If we're going off promises and what not, she's probably the likely one but because he's already fought her, we don't expect or want it. That's why talking about 'what is being built up to' is silly because Leon is the only one who has truly been built as an opponent. Even Cynthia isn't guaranteed (although very likely)
 
I would have thought Lance too, but that was before we knew the rest of the Masters 8. Even in that magazine Lance's VA says he wants a rematch with Leon but nothing about challenging Ash.

Unless Ash does battle more than 3 people he may be out. It's the same reason people don't think he'll battle Steven or Diantha because there's no build up for it and they never even got full eps this series.
Even after Cynthia was revealed, we had no reason to believe that Lance still didn't hold the #2 spot. I would have expected Cynthia being #3, but Lance being bumped down to #4, Cynthia taking his old rank, and Steven also being ranked above him were surprises.
 
Here's a "fun" idea that just ran through my mind. I present, the worst-case scenario bracket! Guaranteed to get viewers fuming:

Round 1:
Leon vs Cynthia - the title for undisputed, ultimate champion goes to Leon!
Lance vs Diantha - literally no one cares, Lance wins
Ash vs Steven - the "I remember you! Wallace who?" match
Iris vs Alain - the anime's true star defeats the returning rival

Round 2:
Leon vs Lance - a rematch no one asked for, except the animators who reuse tons of Gyarados vs Charizard footage
Iris vs Ash - another rematch, but they promised!
 
Here's a "fun" idea that just ran through my mind. I present, the worst-case scenario bracket! Guaranteed to get viewers fuming:
Not angry enough; to reach peak rage we need Ash to lose to Alain in round 1, then Iris beats him in round 2.

Edit: Though yours has the advantage of being less "intentional sabotage" and more "writing fumble".
 
My current predictions are:

Round 1:
Leon vs. Diantha or Leon vs. Iris
Cynthia vs. Iris or Cynthia vs Diantha
Ash vs. Lance
Alain vs. Steven

Round 2:
Leon vs. Alain
Ash vs. Cynthia

Round 3:
Ash vs. Leon
 
Not angry enough; to reach peak rage we need Ash to lose to Alain in round 1, then Iris beats him in round 2.

Edit: Though yours has the advantage of being less "intentional sabotage" and more "writing fumble".
But what if the finals ended up being Iris vs... someone? I'm honestly not sure if her beating Leon or Lance would be worse.

Edit: Actually, Lance beating Iris is probably the ultimate troll. Literally no pay off to anything, and Lance goes back to rank #1 where he was at the start of the series.
 
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Heck it, I have no unique ideas for a good Bracket so have a bad one!

Round 1:
Ash Vs. Steven
Iris Vs. Leon
Cynthia Vs. Alain
Diantha Vs. Lance

Round 2:
Ash Vs. Diantha
Leon Vs. Cynthia

Round 3
Ash Vs. Leon (Even in a bad Joke bracket I gotta do this one)

And there is the ultimate Bracket, one where ash fights literally none of the people anyone want's to see him fight other than Leon.
 
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