Great, good luck!
I think that turn 1 Brigette is what allows most decks (including this one) to set up consistently. I understand that your more than likely going to start with a Magnemite or Dialga GX, but if you don't play Brigette, your chances for finding the other pieces of this deck such as Remoraid are a lot lower. Also, in the rare scenario of starting with a Tapu Lele GX, if you don't have access to Brigette than you will definitely lose as you have no way to set up. What two cards would you suggest if you do remove Brigette? They have to be something of great value in order to justify replacing Brigette and there is nothing that I can think of that I would play over Brigette.
It wasn't until I did some play-testing that I realised how much this deck does rely on Brigette. I originally found I often opted for a Sycamore over a Brigette if given a choice as I already had the pieces of the puzzle I needed. After removing Brigette I realised that a lot of the time I could have really done with the extra benched Pokemon so I would agree with you there.
The one thing I have found with this deck though, is that a 1/1 Octillery/Zoroark line really doesn't seem to add to the consistency of the deck, it seems to cause more trouble than it is worth, especially with the 3 Sycamore, 3 Cynthia and 3 N as draw supporters. Maybe this is because you are only running one stage 2 line and all your other Pokemon are basics? Has anyone else found this? Or do you think the added ability draw is worth it?