In the Pokémon anime -- more so than the games -- Regional Champions have always been the ultimate, unbeatable trainers. Now that the Masters Eight of the World Coronation Series in Pokémon Journeys has done away with the only non-Champion member in merciless fashion, all seven remaining competitors are Regional Champions. The downside of the admittedly epic notion of all seven competing in a tournament to crown the world’s top trainer is that six of them will have to lose at some point. Could it hurt the legacies of these iconic Champions to see most of them being defeated for the first time?
It wasn’t until Pokémon Journeys that a Regional Champion lost an on-screen battle -- or even had one of their Pokémon defeated -- when Lance and his Gyarados fell to Leon and his Charizard in the previous year’s World Coronation Series Finals. Since then, Iris was revealed to be Unova’s Champion and was defeated by Ash in the same episode. Ash, the Alola Champion, has lost several battles throughout the WCS – some in pretty embarrassing fashion. At the time of writing, only Leon and Alain have had their first-round battle in the Masters Eight and Ash’s old rival got completely dismantled by the Galar Champ in a blowout loss. Next up is Lance (Kanto/Johto) vs Diantha (Kalos), one of whom will be the first Champion officially eliminated from the WCS.
While it certainly helps that the Regional Champions in the Masters Eight are going to be eliminated exclusively by fellow Champions, Journeys is still poised to strip six of them of their invincibility in one fell swoop. In past sagas, Champions were entirely unstoppable as their Pokémon could go toe-to-toe with Legendaries and would utterly humiliate any trainer foolish enough to challenge them. The idea that Steven’s Mega Metagross could take a hit from Primal Kyogre and get back up but is now slated to be defeated by one of Ash’s Pokémon is… a lot. Admittedly Ash is about as OP as it gets these days, but that he’s going to defeat Steven, probably Cynthia, and maybe Leon is a big pill to swallow considering these Champions' histories.
Ash’s dream to battle Leon has been the driving force of the entire Journeys anime, so now that the Masters Eight is here and they’ve found themselves on opposite ends of the bracket, a Finals matchup between them is inevitable. That’s all well and good, but it also means we’re going to see Lance, Diantha, Cynthia, Iris and Steven all defeated on-screen.
Worse, two of them will have to be defeated by Ash Ketchum, who as recently as his Ultra Class battle against Drasna of the Kalos Elite Four forgot that Fairies are immune to Dragons – meaning he's still not entirely competent despite his Champion status. One would hope that trainers such as the various Regional Champions could easily handle an overachieving little kid using new Pokémon because losing to Ash can be fairly embarrassing sometimes.
Lance’s loss to Leon at the start of the Journeys anime was a good introduction to the idea that Champions aren’t invincible, but that they’ve all been brought to the Masters Eight just to lose is a big leap. Cynthia and Steven have the highest risk of their legacies being blemished by this tournament. They’re the second and third seeds, respectively, and they’ve been selected to lose to Ash, the eighth seed. The winner of Ash vs Steven faces the winner of Cynthia vs Iris – two yet-to-occur battles with very obvious outcomes. It's always disappointing to see someone lose a battle they should've won, a type of loss that should be beneath a trainer who's claimed the title of Champion.
At the end of the day, likely none of the Champions will consider their legacies and reputations tarnished by losing in the Masters Eight and that’s all that matters. While any of them would surely like to be crowned Monarch, they’re most likely in the World Coronation Series just to have some good battles. The Champions and their Pokémon are so strong it’s probably not often that they get to have an actual challenge, making the WCS the perfect opportunity for a good time if nothing else. At the time of writing, Leon is the only Champion who’s had a Masters Eight battle so far in this year’s tournament -- and he’s still waiting for a good battle.