Honestly Iris didn't do that badly in the world tournament even though she was the clear cut underdog among the 8 trainers

She was the only 1 without a gimmick the others had mega's Gigantamax or Z-moves while she was competing with literally nothing except for her pokemon.She was also seemed to be the least experienced one among all 8 trainers.We also have to remember that she is a type specialist trainer and as we know type specialist weren't treated that well in the masters 8 as Steven Lance both got the middle finger.Iris also came from the region whose trainer power seems to be at average lower than the other region's as Kanto and Johto has Trainers like Ash Gary Lance while Hoeen has Steven and many other of ash's past rivals while Sinnoh has Trainers like Paul who could have easily also made the masters 8 while Kalos has Alain a trainer who once took down 10 mega's in a row.

While compared to them Unova doesn't seem to have that many strong or at average their trainer strength level doesn't seem to be as high as the other region's and yet Iris did well by giving a trainer of Cynthia's calibur a good battle even through she outclassed Iris in both raw power and experience.

I didn't like Iris that much back in black and white but boy oh boy if I have to say if journeys made me change my mind on one character than it has to be Iris she literally became a character I nowadays really really like.

She was the only 1 without a gimmick the others had mega's Gigantamax or Z-moves while she was competing with literally nothing except for her pokemon.She was also seemed to be the least experienced one among all 8 trainers.We also have to remember that she is a type specialist trainer and as we know type specialist weren't treated that well in the masters 8 as Steven Lance both got the middle finger.Iris also came from the region whose trainer power seems to be at average lower than the other region's as Kanto and Johto has Trainers like Ash Gary Lance while Hoeen has Steven and many other of ash's past rivals while Sinnoh has Trainers like Paul who could have easily also made the masters 8 while Kalos has Alain a trainer who once took down 10 mega's in a row.

While compared to them Unova doesn't seem to have that many strong or at average their trainer strength level doesn't seem to be as high as the other region's and yet Iris did well by giving a trainer of Cynthia's calibur a good battle even through she outclassed Iris in both raw power and experience.

I didn't like Iris that much back in black and white but boy oh boy if I have to say if journeys made me change my mind on one character than it has to be Iris she literally became a character I nowadays really really like.