Serena's Departure

[Alola]

After watching Serena's fourth TriPokalon and seeing Palermo, I think I can see how Serena will leave the show. After Ash finishes the Kalos League, I believe Palermo will hit Serena up with something along the lines of:

"I've been watching you ever since your TriPokalon debut. You have what it takes to become the next Kalos Queen. Let me further train you/represent you as you ascend to your calling. Don't throw away your future. You owe it to yourself and your Pokemon. I'll make you a star."

Or something like that. Palermo clearly has an interest in the girl and is looking for the next big star apparently. Basically, I think she will be the reason Serena stops travelling with Ash. Thoughts?

 

[Perpetual_Phoenix]

Welp, there goes my amourshipping dream of being canon.

Everything you said is pretty much how I imagine the whole deal of them going their separate ways.

BUT Y DOES IT HAVE TO HAPPEN?! ;_;

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

I hope she stays and they swap her goal to contests. Showcases aren't as fleshed out and we don't get to see the characters battle.... rarely if so.

Clemont and Bonnie need to go but Serena can stay

 

[Necrozma]

Well, Palermo was clearly introduced for one main reason: Serena.

Wouldn't at all surprise me if the writers used her as a way to have Serena stay in Kalos and depart from Ash.

 

[Olive]

"I've been watching you ever since your TriPokalon debut. You have what it takes to become the next Kalos Queen. Let me further train you/represent you as you ascend to your calling. Don't throw away your future. You owe it to yourself and your Pokemon. I'll make you a star."

I second that theory.

While I make no effort to hide the fact that I am an Amourshipper, I always figured that Serena getting over her childhood infatuation with Ash and moving on to pursue her dream would be the ultimate step in her character's development.

 

[pokepal_123]

I can see her winning the master class in front of Yashio and finally proving to her that she is really a great performer(since she has lost every time she has seen Serena so far) and Yashio takes her under her wing to make her the next Kalos Queen similar to Aria. So yes she would stay in Kalos and have to leave Ash in the end as well.

But I also see her being the first character to actually achieve her dreams otherwise why would they have Yashio really inetrested in Serena even though she's lost every Tripokalon she has seen of Serena so far. Plus the haircut.

 

[ii kanji]

Agree with your theory both in likelihood and what I'd like to happen anyway. As long as Serena doesn't outright win her final boss master class thing, and also as long as we don't somehow get her outstaying XY, I will be happy.

 

[SammyW27]

That's a very good point, dear Hilbert.

Still, it seems fairly cruel of the creative team to drag Serena along like they've been doing (and even crueler to the armourshippers) when surely they knew from the start it was never meant to be...

 

[ii kanji]

Still, it seems fairly cruel of the creative team to drag Serena along like they've been doing (and even crueler to the armourshippers) when surely they knew from the start it was never meant to be...

1. I think anyone who has watched more than one series ought to have known from the start that it was never meant to be.
2. Nothing was more cruel than Shudo's blog killing Pokeshipping forever OK?!

 

[Hidden Mew]

I hope she stays and they swap her goal to contests. Showcases aren't as fleshed out and we don't get to see the characters battle.... rarely if so.

Clemont and Bonnie need to go but Serena can stay

There's no reason for Serena to stay past the sixth generation. They'd want a new female character to represent the new generation. While I do honestly wish that Serena became a Coordinator instead, as her performances show that she'd do pretty well in Contests, I think it would be kind of bad for her to change her goal. I really don't care for Showcases myself, but after all of the good character moments Serena has gotten from finding a goal she was passionate about, I think that swapping it out for Contests would kind of feel like bad writing in a sense.

Anyway, I actually really like this theory. It's better than something like Serena going to another region to become its Queen and it seems pretty likely given what happened during Serena's first Performance. It would also make it more likely for Showcases to stay just exclusive to Kalos, which would be for the best in my opinion. I haven't seen her most recent Showcase yet, but the ones I have seen have been dreadfully boring. Showcases really do not work as a long-running goal for multiple reasons and they feel like a step backwards in a few ways as well. They're pretty at best, but that's about it and for a long running goal for one of the main leads, they need to have something more like than looking nice for me to be invested in them. Showcases can be ditched in favor of Contests or perhaps some new sidequest that are featured in the next generation of games for the next series.

As for the whole Ash and Serena pairing, I can understand why people would be upset about that, but it was painfully obvious from the start that it wasn't going to go anywhere. Even without factoring in that Serena is only going to be around for one series, Ash is an oblivious ten year old boy who is too obsessed about Pokemon to recognize romantic love, let alone understand it. Barring something like a flash forward or a time skip, which would also stand out like a sore thumb in Pokemon, they weren't going to show Ash being together with Serena, or anyone for that matter. She'll just be another character in a long line of one-sided crushes on Ash.

 

[Shadao]

Depends on the confession. And what is to happen to Ash after the Kalos League. Or the anime's future in general....

 

[Almonds]

I second that theory, and I'm about 99% sure Serena's going to leave the show that way.

BUT I do want some kind of resolution to Serena's crush. The writers had never openly provided a ship for this long and even if it seems obvious that they're not meant to be, XY(&Z) has been breaking a lot of patterns and with the way they're doing with Ash, I think we still have a chance at seeing the ship go somewhere. At the very least, leaving the shipping canon-debatable, not just conclude it as "not canon". My wishful thinking is that Serena wouldn't give up on her crush even after she stays in Kalos, but instead keep on training under Yashio so she could "be the very best" and meet Ash again once she's fulfilled her dreams. She's inspired by Ash after all.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I think its a pretty believable departure, as much as I wish she could stick around. After Johto, its become a standard for the female companion to leave at the end. Its still gonna be sad saying goodbye to Serena. When she does go, I do hope that Pancham has one last moment with Chespin also. Those two can't deny they'll miss each other.

 

[Deleted member 72389]

Oh man, I love Serena, so it would be incredibly saddening to see her leave. But yeah, this does sound like a plausible way of giving her a good closure.

Although I don't like the idea of giving her 'character development' by having her get over her crush on Ash. I think they should just leave the amourshipping subplot open ended. She could make a resolution to herself that she would confess to Ash after becoming a Kalos queen. Or Palermo might notice her crush on Ash and advice her to not give up on him, but make her dream a priority.

I am sort of still hoping to see a mini-arc in Hoenn after the Kalos league where Serena discovers Contests. And probably meets May too.

 

[KrisiChiki]

I was thinking the same thing. This is what is probably going to happen at the end.

 

[technickal]

After watching Serena's fourth TriPokalon and seeing Palermo, I think I can see how Serena will leave the show.

I can believe this if I know one thing: What exactly did Palermo do in XY100? (Sorry, I main the dub and Bulbapedia is no help)

Although I don't like the idea of giving her 'character development' by having her get over her crush on Ash. I think they should just leave the amourshipping subplot open ended. She could make a resolution to herself that she would confess to Ash after becoming a Kalos queen. Or Palermo might notice her crush on Ash and advice her to not give up on him, but make her dream a priority.

Yeah, shipping aside, I don't like her crush being portrayed as a weakness. She's already toned it down quite a bit. I mean, it's a crush, not an obsession. There's a difference.

 

[IncineROAR]

Serena is the first female companion that I really like (Dawn is a close second). The other 3 I'm not as fond of. Clement can go too.

 

[Alola]

I can believe this if I know one thing: What exactly did Palermo do in XY100? (Sorry, I main the dub and Bulbapedia is no help)

She watched the Showcase, but shots were shown of her specifically emoting whenever Serena was onstage. She also genuinely smiled (notable as she usually has a bored expression) when Serena was able to rally Eevee back into finishing their performance.

 

[Shoutmon]

Sounds fair but I think she and Yashio/Palermo should interact and outside Tripokalon episodes. Elle should be involved too.

 

[Lillie]

I hope she stays and they swap her goal to contests. Showcases aren't as fleshed out and we don't get to see the characters battle.... rarely if so.

Clemont and Bonnie need to go but Serena can stay

That won't happen. Serena should stay in her Showcase career imo. I'm hoping Palermo gives her an offer to train her to become a better performer/Kalos Queen if she wins the Master class. I also hope that amour dies as well.