Contests? No PLEASE! If they would include em, I hope there is no unlockable in the end such as in RSE in the museum of art. I hated Contests so much that I used an AR just to get through em quick and see my Pokemon in the museum.
If your talking about gender specific in-game side-quests, I think it would be nice, but kinda unfair. After all different people like different things. BUT!!! Perhaps like this: A gender specific side-quest that can be unlocked and completed by the opposite gender via quest of some sort. Whatcha think?
Hoenn? In GSDS? No. Please, just no. I honestly enjoyed Hoenn a lot. I probably put in 250-300 hours there alone! But I can't say am not pissed at Nintendo for not making a Pokemon game with all the regions. Probably not for a handheld console, but for Wii. I would LOVE it if it would be on a handheld, and dont tell me anything about a space issue. They are using flash cards basically. Last I checked, a very long time ago, they got em up to 4 GB. So yea, memory wouldn't be a problem at all.
As for where to start in Kanto, I honestly didn't have any problems with starting in Saffron. Infact, it was kinda nice. It wouldn't be logical to start in Viridian or Pallet. One of the reasons is that guy at the Indigo Platue doesn't move until you beat the Elite Four, but then again, once he does nothing is stopping you. But I never tried it. Pallet just wouldn't be a possible starting point.
As for the white rock, I doubt it would be another Shaymin event. A possible proof would be the one in Hoenn. It didn't really do anything. It was just there for some reason as far as I know. It would be great if it lead to one of the unobtainables in the past like Celebi or Mew. I would personally prefer to get Celebi as there is no other way to get it other than.. Wait, IS there a way to get it?... Hmm.. OH! Yea, the Japanese bonus disk that came with the Japanese Colosium. I think Mew is just a tiny bit overrated. But I must say.. Its on cute Pokemon. x.x;! I named mine in brown Kawaii. <<; >|
And yea, them item people were a wonderful addition. They MUST make a comeo. I DEMAND it! x.x;
Oh, I almost forgot. About the Red Gyarados, my little brother is one presistant guy and he caught one in the first lake in Pearl with a rod I think. But it MUST, it MUST make a comeback in GSDS. Its a vital part of the story. If its not there, then the whole meeting Lance and kicking TR's behind would not be possible.
Edit: New Pokemon? Whatcha think its gonna be?
The Operator.