In retrospective, shouldnt Iris have been Ash Unova main rival rather than his female companion?
Not hatred towards Iris but I felt her role in the BW series was kinda dull compared with previous female companions like May and Dawn, which had their own goals that differed from MC path. If the writers planned to eventually make her win the Unova league, beat Alder and turn her into the next Unova champion, shouldnt her character have started her path to the top at the same time Ash arrived to Unova rather than after he left the region?
I think Iris beating Ash in the Unova league and eventually beating Alder to become Unova champion would have made more sense than Cameron or Virgil beating Ash only to be forgotten later. Since Bianca never fought Ash during the league, Iris would have become the first major female rival to beat Ash in a regional league.
Instead of evolving Axew into Haxorus outside BW series, it should have evolved through it and during Ash final match against Iris in a similar way Cameron Riolu did.
Do you think the writers feared male fans would hate the idea of Ash losing another league against a dark skinned female character or simply couldnt figure out a better option than Iris as Ash Unova female companion back then?