I hold on to my opinion that really, there is no point in discussing things that will happen in years to come. I know its fun for some people, but there are also others that just want to enjoy the ship without having to think about it, and to having to hear the same things over and over again. We won't get anywhere ,no matter how much we speculate about it.
But you convinced me to do it this time.
Ok first, I think Serena's goal this season will be "finding a goal" , since really there is no other outstanding activity in the games ( like contests, or musicals) and she seems to be looking for something other than Ryhorn racing. Just think about it, it could be used as a way for the producers/writers to make the viewers( older and newcomers) to re/discover the world of Pokemon and the various activities and charms people might find in it through Serena's eyes.
Personally, I'd like her to decide to be a Pokemon Trainer eventually, but she would want to set herself apart from others, and that she might end up researching/specializing in the Mega evolution, pretty much as like your rival in the game does. Do you imagine how cool it'd be seeing Ash and Serena competing in a double battle tournament/ gyms? and even be sort of rivals? .The fact that Ash might play a big role with what Serena decides, well, it'd just add to this ship even more.
I know she will leave at some point if this is not Ash's final season and if the show continues with him, but that doesn't mean her crush/feelings need to go away too. It certainly won't kill Amourshipping, heck, you all know people think Misty feelings are still there after so long, so they won't lose hope till the very end. If Pokeshipping accomplished that much, imagine what Amourshipping would by the end of the season.
Lol, I don't know how many of you have ever been in love but well, as many people've said before , having a goal in life doesn't mean you can't focus on other things (like your love for another person) on the same( or even higher!) level of passion. In fact I think it actually makes your "main" goal even more worthwhile. But that's just me.
But yeah, we have been over analyzing things based on how real life works, but let's talk about it in a different perspective for a moment; the one where we look at the anime as the promotion device ultimately it is.
No one can deny the whole XY concept is a new step for Pokemon, as many people believe , I think its truly the first time they're trying to take a new direction and evolve the franchise, so it's only logical to think they would try to carry the same effect to the anime at some degree too.
Man, how I miss the times when the anime was at its best and was a hit all around the world, but lets be honest, thanks to the formula that the show has been using all these years ( gyms, fillers, beating team rocket, another team, ash losing the final tournament, etc). the anime has gone way past the point of being stale and redundant. People don't care about the anime anymore. And as the time passes, they'll lose more people no doubt. So they really need to change.
Better animations, better production values , and the writing seems good so far (for Pokemon standars anyway). Yeah ratings are low as by now, it has been discussed and I think we should just give it time, but look around, many people are returning back to watch the show. And not only here on Serebii, but everywhere pokemon related. I can't remember last time people were this much excited to watch a pokemon episode. As and example, I mentioned back in one of my post that in certain spanish page, XY007 (the one where the historic flashbak took place) broke viewing records not just for a Pokemon episode, but the whole anime streaming page.
So surprisingly, I think the AshXSerena thing is playing a HUGE role on it too. Yeah, Pokemon isn't and will never be a romance themed show, we know that, but I think people really understimate that part . A lot of people really care about that indeed, if they didn't, we wouldn't have shipping threads with many people participating in them in the first place.
Point is ,after so many years, they've decided to make a main girl companion crush on Ash HARD from the very beginning( and it seems the crush is stronger than Misty's was), the almost "fanfic" backstory they have given to Ash and Serena childhood, and that we even got Ash “hugging” someone, something some people considered impossible to happen in an episode, then it could give you an idea of what they might be trying to do. They want to spice things up.
I honestly don't think they are pushing this just to drop it at some point because Serena's attempts to make Ash notice her end in failure, just for her decide to let it go and move on with her life. What reason could they have to do that? Give girls a lesson on how crushes fade away because no matter how much they try, the guy won't notice so they better find another thing to do? It could happen I know, but I kind of doubt it.
That's why I don't like to speculate, I know this anime has very clear and defined traits, but I think we still won't know how all this would end. Whatever happens happens.
All I know is, if they continue like this, they will reach a point of no return, where fans will be really upset if it turns out they made all of this for nothing. If they really have the intention to eventually drop this, they better do it fast rather than continue building it more and letting the fans expectations to grow to dangerous levels, more than they already have.
Just my two cents.