>>36938456The reason why I don't think "Leaf" is the same character as the unnamed female trainer is this.
>unnamed female trainer is created for Red/Green and ultimately not used>design is reused for manga but the character in the games is not used and forgotten about for yearsNow, we don't know exactly what was going through the heads of the devs, so one of a few things happens (or a combination)
1. FRLG development begins, and the design for the female trainer is brought back and iterated upon until it's redesigned into "Leaf"
2. FRLG development begins, and it's remembered that a female trainer was once intended to be in Red/Green, and in tribute to that, an original female character is created, "Leaf"
3. FRLG development begins, and since having a female character is now standard, one has to be created, so they created "Leaf"
So, unless #1 is the truth, the unused concept for a female protagonist is not the same character as "Leaf". It's completely possible that the two were intended to be one in the same, but I find it more likely that "Leaf" was just created for the game without the intention of specifically evoking the unused concept from around a decade previously.
So that's why I don't consider the unnamed female trainer concept and "Leaf" to be one and the same. I know this is getting really fucking autistic, but I just wanted to explain in detail why I'd think this way.
