You know how no matter how many times in previous games you beat the champion but they still always be there with no one self aware that you had beat them? Yeah that's what happens this time to the only difference is you're the one people are no longer self aware lost.
I do hope Gen 7 is a sign of things to come because there are actually a handful of battles in the story you can lose that don't result in a blackout, namely against Hau in malie city and Lusamine at aether, complete with optional dialogue for losing to them.
Title defense is almost perfect but it would have been the best thing ever that whenever you lose to a challenger. They remain in that room sitting on the throne and you have to take your title back.
I've got a quote that embodies you perfectly, but it's seventy-three posts long, has a few massive flowcharts, and lots of Xion-KMA to Me