I'm well aware of Ash having 2 starters last time, but what bugs me is this:
A. Assuming Iris isn't doing the gym leader challenge and Ash does in fact have both Mijumaru and Pokabu in his party by the time he hits the first gym, and, B. Also assuming that he wasn't given both at the start by the Professor-- which wouldn't be too big of an assumption, seeing as Ash has NEVER been given one of the regular regional starters by any professor, instead receiving them from another person or catching them in the wild himself (as this case may turn out to be); then, C. How in the world did he manage to catch BOTH of those starters in the wild by the time he reaches the first gym?
Ash has never had more than one regional-specific starter in his party when he challenges that region's first gym leader; in fact, with the exception of Brock, he has always had one regional starter by that point in time, not counting Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charizard in his party when battling Falkner (incidentally, he somehow always manages to get the grass starter first, just noticed that). Regardless, unless Iris is a trainer, it looks like this time Ash might be breaking his starter-receiving pattern.
Although, if Iris is also collecting badges, just how long are the gym-by-gym arcs going to take if they both have to beat the leader.....? I really must stop analyzing these things in such great detail.....
A. Assuming Iris isn't doing the gym leader challenge and Ash does in fact have both Mijumaru and Pokabu in his party by the time he hits the first gym, and, B. Also assuming that he wasn't given both at the start by the Professor-- which wouldn't be too big of an assumption, seeing as Ash has NEVER been given one of the regular regional starters by any professor, instead receiving them from another person or catching them in the wild himself (as this case may turn out to be); then, C. How in the world did he manage to catch BOTH of those starters in the wild by the time he reaches the first gym?
Ash has never had more than one regional-specific starter in his party when he challenges that region's first gym leader; in fact, with the exception of Brock, he has always had one regional starter by that point in time, not counting Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charizard in his party when battling Falkner (incidentally, he somehow always manages to get the grass starter first, just noticed that). Regardless, unless Iris is a trainer, it looks like this time Ash might be breaking his starter-receiving pattern.
Although, if Iris is also collecting badges, just how long are the gym-by-gym arcs going to take if they both have to beat the leader.....? I really must stop analyzing these things in such great detail.....