>>38139440>Since when we explored Johto~Kalos as Red with Pikachu?Since when did Red, and without growing any older? The start of the short shows the save file with the player's name the generic "TRAINER", his face is obscured or out of focus in every shot despite multiple games and the Origins series treating him as a character, and Red starting with Bulbasaur contradicts Blue showing up later on in the very same series of shorts with a Blastoise.
The short used Red's design because he's the original and most iconic player character. It chose Pikachu as his main partner because it's the series mascot. It kept both consistent throughout the short to illustrate that it's one player's journey through all the games, having it be Red's design also conveys that they've been playing since the beginning. Don't be a brainlet.
The manga is a totally different canon, Red is only depicted as starting with Bulbasaur in old illustrations, before he became a character in his own right. What his actual starter was is intentionally ambiguous, that's also why Blue never has starters on his team in future appearances, it would suggest that the canon gen 1 starter is whichever is weak to Blue's.
