Goh and Ash in “The Climb to Be the Very Best!”

Now let's not get stuck in the weeds. See this is about how you want to battle Leon, right?

[nods in agreement] Bingo!

I get it. I get it alright. You know, trying to get a battle with Leon is not as easy as you'd think. Just to get into the World Coronation Series in the first place, you enter online and build up your ranking by having lots of Pokémon battles.

My ranking?

Your position compared to others, and based on battling records and statistics, the eight highest ranked trainers then form what's called the Master Class. At the end of the class match season, there's a tournament where trainers in the Master Class battle each other and the winner becomes Monarch.

So does that mean if I submit my entry, I can battle against Leon?

It doesn't work that way.

How come?

Based on whether an entered win or losses in Pokémon battles and looking at the content of battles, entrances get separated into four distinct classes. All recently entered trainers are put into Normal Class. Then, they battle other normal class trainers, and lift up their scores. And those ranked between 100 and 999 are Great Class and above that those ranked between 9 and 99 are Ultra Class.

Uhh...what about Leon?

Of course he's in Master Class, but not only that, he's number one! So Ash, for you to battle him, you have to start climbing the ranks to get up to Master Class. [Now you know why Ash cannot compete in the Galar League]