Theory: my guess is one of those master 8 is from the Scarlet/Violet region , is it a world wide championship if you think about it. Just my 2 cent input

I think the Gen 9 champion will be in the Masters 8 it could be perfect for foreshadowing the new region.

I feel the master's 8 will do its best to honour each regions. Ash from Kanto, Lance from Johto, Steven from Hoenn, Cynthia from Sinnoh, Iris from Unova, Diantha from Kalos, Kukui from Alola and Leon from Galar. The only one l see changing is Ash repping Alola and Lance repping the indigo league in general. Leaving 1 spot open

I would love to see Ash bring his strongest team, like Pikachu, Greninja, Charizard, Infernape, Sceptile and someone from Journeys like Lucario

These 8 characters are indeed the master 8 I wanna see a lot, especially Steven, Diantha, Cynthia and Ash. I'm not too sure about Paul now as I was because I heard on a channel about Ash meeting Paul in an episode of just for a battle for getting ready for masters 8, but it could've been an April fools joke, so I still hope maybe for Paul. The battle I hope for a lot is Diantha Vs Ash, Lance Vs Ash or Cynthia Vs Ash mostly before Ash goes up against Leon. It's getting me hyped a lot and I'm excited to see what happens especially if 1 or more of the hoped for characters aren't in the masters 8

Paul won't be in the Master's 8. Maybe Ash takes an L, (maybe against Cynthia) gets discouraged and Paul arrives to help reignite Ash's confidence, Ash faces Cynthia in a rematch either to get him into the Master's 8 or is his first opponent

There is nothing to worry that Ash will make it into the finals or not because almost every trailer showcases a battle between ash and Leon. So who ever may be in between Ash will definitely end up into the finals. And if he is defeated there then it is a very good feat being the second best trainer in the world......

Paul is not in Masters 8 as the summary of the new episode tells that he is going to help ash to train Dragonite with his Garchomp (as we saw in preview).

8. Ash

Imagine Cynthia beats Leon first and Ash’a dream is crushed because he wants to fight Leon because of his undefeated streak, it would be tough to see this happen cause of the build but would be cool if Ash lost to Cynthia I don’t think anyone could blame him

I'm kinda surprised we didn't get any confirmation of Steven or Diantha in the recent episodes, but oh well! That's definitely a solid list for the Masters 8, and the battles listed sound great too, Ash vs Paul is the only thing that'd make me not want Ash vs Raihan.

I think Tobias will never show up in the anime again, that was a character created for that league as an excuse to make ash to loose without hope!

As Good as an Trainer Paul is I don't see him as in champion level trainer I believe he will be the final battle for Ash to enter into the Master Class.

Paul will not be in Masters 8. He is strong, but he was never to that level. Also, Ash VS Paul in Masters 8 would never be as good narratively nor would it be as powerful as their one in the Sinnoh League Top 8. Their story and rivalry is done. It’s redundant to bring him back for Masters 8. It makes no sense for Paul to be in Masters 8.

Leon, Lance, Steven, Cynthia, Diantha, Gen 9 Champion, Ash and Iris.

That’s a great top eight!!! I was literally on Luap’s channel/thread saying the exact same thing bro lolol. Nice matchups!! Mmhmm

great predictions! 6/8 out of them being champions makes sense

We are all forgetting about one important character literally staring at us from the shadows. Hop! Leon's brother himself whom wants to overtake him.

1st round pairing prediction