The following contains minor spoilers for Pokémon Journeys Episode 122, "Overwhelming Victory".
Cynthia and her Garchomp form one of the most iconic pairings in all of Pokémon. The Sinnoh Champ is the most popular Regional Champion, and one of the strongest in both the anime and the games. Cynthia's Garchomp has been a destroyer of worlds since its anime introduction, where it clobbered four of Paul's Pokémon before he just gave up and forfeited his full battle challenge against Cynthia.
Since then, Garchomp has defeated every on-screen opponent it's ever had, except for one battle where it tied thanks to the time limit expiring. It even stood up to Landorus, Thundurus and Tornadus during Cynthia's time traveling with Ash during the "Unova Saga". Cynthia's Garchomp is powerful even for a Pseudo-Legendary -- and Pokémon Journeys may have subtly revealed how it got that way.
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As Ash and Cynthia separately prepped for their semifinal showdown in the Masters Eight of the World Coronation Series, Ash's Dragonite tackled him through a bush where he happened upon the Sinnoh Champion giving her Garchomp a massage. As Pokémon gamers well know, massaging is a feature in nearly every main series game as a way to make Pokémon friendlier toward their trainer - a suspiciously specific thing for Cynthia to be doing when Ash stumbled upon her. Granted, massaging a Pokémon doesn't have any in-battle benefits in the games, but the anime has always been pretty liberal with game logic. It's possible that massaging in the anime could be used to raise a Pokémon's affection like petting does in the later addition to the games, Pokémon-Amie and Pokémon Refresh.
Affection is a big deal in the main series games, as Pokémon who've had it maxed out gain a whole slew of OP abilities: higher critical hit ratios, increased evasiveness, surviving attacks that should've defeated them, and even curing themselves of status conditions. Cynthia's Garchomp is leagues above even others of its kind, and maxed-out affection would be a solid explanation for why it's so strong.
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Considering Episode 122 featured Cynthia massaging her Garchomp as well as the Dragon/Ghost-type Dragapult being defeated by a Hyper Beam, it's not like the series is overly concerned with game accuracy. So, it's certainly possible that massaging a Pokémon in the anime raises affection even though the same is not true for the games -- as affection and happiness are not the same things in the main series games.
Increased endurance would certainly help explain how Cynthia's Garchomp has won some of its battles. After all, it took a point-blank Dragon Pulse from Iris's Haxorus, and most Dragons become glass cannons when hit by another Dragon-type move. It even withstood a Blizzard from Paul's Weavile despite a double weakness to Ice-type moves. Admittedly, Cynthia's Garchomp hasn't seen that much screen time in a serious battle outside its victory over Haxorus and its dismantling of Paul's team. However, Journeys literally playing horror music over its entrance against Iris in the Masters Eight shows that Garchomp is the Pokémon equivalent of Leon - so powerful that it's almost pointless to show its battles because of course it will win.
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The bond between a Pokémon and its trainer has always played a major part in that Pokémon's success; look no further than Ash and Pikachu for proof. In addition to the possibility that Cynthia has maxed out Garchomp's affection via massages that she stated are their pre-battle ritual, she also revealed that Garchomp was her very first Pokémon -- which she hatched from an egg when she was a child.
Similar to Ash and his Lucario, there's a stronger bond when the trainer has cared for their Pokémon's egg. Cynthia has been partners with her Garchomp since it was a Gible, and she was younger than however old Ash is now. It might even take decades to raise a Pokémon's affection as high as her Garchomp's might be, considering Cynthia is probably older than people think and plans to retire soon.
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The strength of Cynthia's Garchomp would make a great deal of sense if it's really out there spamming critical hits and withstanding attacks that should've beaten it due to high affection for its trainer. Considering it's a longstanding mechanic from the games, Cynthia massaging her Garchomp before every battle seems more meaningful than Episode 122 of Journeys lets on.
However, as Ash and Cynthia's long-awaited battle gets closer and a Mega Garchomp vs Mega Lucario showdown seems likely, Garchomp's unbeatable reputation is about to take a serious hit as Ash chases his dream to battle Leon. The only upside to Cynthia's and Garchomp's inevitable defeat is that it might inspire the Sinnoh Champion to stick around a little longer.