It would " bother" me that a tank design would require pre-soaking to be able to develop evenly, or to reduce the risk of bubbles. This would never be a problem in a well designed tank.
Pre soaking to remove antihalation dye, is a cosmetic issue, and never actually affect development.
Pre-soaking to bring the tank up to temperature, introduces a a problem of how to know when the developer permeates the emulsion sufficiently to start working.
It also tends to dilute the developer, both changes require the development time to be altered to compensate.
If the developer is to be used a number of times this dilution effect can be considerable.
A better technique is to use a preheated (temperature controlled) water bath to pre-warm the tank before filling with developer.
In cold, or very, hot rooms It is best to keep every thing in the water bath in their own containers including the tank, developer, stop bath, and fixer.
A tank full of developer can lose several degrees during development, which will vary as to the ambient temperature. for year round consistent results a water bath is highly recommended.
Everything else being equal a prewash is un necessary.
In the days of Glass plates many were coated on the back with a thick semi solvent layer of antihalation material. Some were difficult to remove, but were designed to be soluble in an alkali developer. This often resulted in an argument, like the present one, as to whether pre-soaking was necessary or not.
Bubbles are usually an issue involving agitation and how it is performed. I was always taught to bang the bottom of the tank on the bench to dislodge any bubbles after each agitation cycle.
Bubbles trapped between layers of emulsion can be impossible to remove and are usually a design issue. involving the tank and the film packed too closely to each other or the sides of the tank or septums.