>>56342014Gen I was intended to have a female protagonist, though they only ever got as far as making an overworld sprite that was an edit of the male sprite with longer hair. But that Sugimori statement of Pokémon being "the story of a boy's summer" (少年のひと夏の物語) comes from 2010. My guess is they settled on the game having a coming of age theme with your rival being the other central character who is on their journey and who contrasts you. While there are female Trainers and bosses, it's notable that neither of your fathers are shown, rather you have a mother and he has a sister, both who exist as support back home. But other females from Gen I would be Copycat, Misty, Erika, Sabrina, Lorelei, Agatha, Picnicker, Ace Trainer, Beauty, Lass, and Channeler. It's still maybe 1/3 of what males get, but I think a lot of what does appear feels notable.
>>56342485Having watched Stand By Me a couple days ago, I realized Gotcha's opening scenes aren't simply just a vague reference with plausible deniability, but actual recreations almost at the level of tracing. I had figured Pokémon had deviated so far from it by that point that they wouldn't reference it so explicitly. But Stand By Me is a cultural icon in Japan, it's more popular there than probably anywhere else in the world.
