Reasons for a Serena return in Sword & Shield Anime?

[Pokegirl Fan~]

While Ash may have forgotten about meeting Serena as a kid for a bit, there is no way he would forget about Serena or any of his past traveling companions. Past companions have returned before and Ash has known who they were. It would be the worst writing in the history of the Pokémon anime if Serena returned and Ash forgot who she was.

it'd be hilarious though

Anyways I doubt she's going to get a guest appearance in the next main series since the 'past girl' guest appearance pattern seems to have been broken in XY.

 

[satopi]

If the games are coming out on November 15th, when will they actually reveal the Sword and Shield anime? I was thinking late September.

I’m gonna assume October, a month or few weeks before Gen 8 games come out in November.

 

[Dream Lad]

I definitely think that the kiss made some people think that Serena and Satoshi were officially a couple, which I don't quite understand since if that were the case, you'd expect them to have discussed it together rather than just going off on their own like nothing happened.

That was the biggest problem with Amourshipping for me. There was not enough from Ash's side. Of course people will point out hints like how he treated her, the looks he gave, parallels, the gift, etc., but it was never 100%. It's like the writers didn't want to fully commit by not having him ever blush or get jealous. And then it took the very last episode for Serena to finally confess, and it was awesome how she did it, but then that meant there wasn't any opportunity for a conversation to be had. I'm glad the director confirmed it's future canon, but it feels like cop-out writing if they don't ever have her come back and address it.

 

[_AISP]

Come to think of it, has every series except for the first had SOMEONE from the previous series return, including in special episodes (like Cilan and Clemont/Bonnie)?

 

[SatoSereFan224888]

#LillieforGalar

NO!!!!! NO LILLIE IN GALAR! SHE IS THE LEAST CUTE OF THE THREE ALOLA GIRLS!

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

I don’t understand the logic of people who think that Serena deserves to come back as a companion or that it makes the most sense for her to come back?? Like just forget May, Iris, etc huh? Serena is based off of the protagonist of the XY games which is why she was apart of the anime. There’s literally no reason for her or any of the previous companions to return as a main companion. Guest appearances are another story but with SM almost over, it looks like Serena’s ship has sailed. The likelihood for a character to get a cameo two gens later is slim to none. Misty and Brock don’t count for obvious reasons.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

I don’t understand the logic of people who think that Serena deserves to come back as a companion or that it makes the most sense for her to come back?? Like just forget May, Iris, etc huh? Serena is based off of the protagonist of the XY games which is why she was apart of the anime. There’s literally no reason for her or any of the previous companions to return as a main companion. Guest appearances are another story but with SM almost over, it looks like Serena’s ship has sailed. The likelihood for a character to get a cameo two gens later is slim to none. Misty and Brock don’t count for obvious reasons.

I see you're trying to argue with shippers. It's better not to get involved.

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

I see you're trying to argue with shippers. It's better not to get involved.

Lol I’m really not. I just don’t get why people think Serena deserves over the others. It’s like when people still thought Serena would cameo in SM even though Iris didn’t cameo in XY, for some reason some people thought Serena deserved it more and as a fan of Iris it irked me.

Like why would Serena go to gen 8 and not Lillie, Mallow or Lana? None of these characters are going but still

 

[AznKei]

Lol I’m really not. I just don’t get why people think Serena deserves over the others. It’s like when people still thought Serena would cameo in SM even though Iris didn’t cameo in XY, for some reason some people thought Serena deserved it more and as a fan of Iris it irked me.

Like why would Serena go to gen 8 and not Lillie, Mallow or Lana? None of these characters are going but still

The fans probably are desesperate for her to make at least a cameo in Gen 8 since she didn't have a post-XY special episode and a Gen 7 cameo. To me, ever since the anime producers/writers didn't deliver her post-XY special episode and got instead the legendary special with Prof Sycamore in which I don't see the point of airing this, I just went to the fanfic route and be done with it as I didn't need to understand why they did these. They just let the fans down and I doubt this is the only time they did this.

 

[Leonhart]

If Serena returns, it better not be for Amourshipping. Serena is an established character on her own despite Ash jump starting her journey as a Pokémon Trainer. The best way for her to return is if she has some business being in Galar like May was in Sinnoh or if she wanted to capture a new Pokémon. I doubt she’ll turn into a “badass” in her return when she isn’t a battler... only a badass on stage , performing for her audience.

I wouldn't want her to come back solely for AmourShipping either, but at this point that seems inevitable since the writers would be silly not to milk her crush for all it's worth. She would likely still focus on her goal of course, but we'd probably see her blush a lot when she interacts with Satoshi.

 

[Kintaro]

Actually, she did get to appear on a special episode (10th year anniversary special if i'm not mistaken). It wasn't at the end of the saga and she probably didn't get as much screentime as Ash, but we would be lying if we said she didn't get to participate in one. That is why i didn't mention her. But i did mention Max, so you shouldn't act like i wasn't recognizing there were exceptions.

Either way, May got something even better than a special, which was an entire arc on the DP series.
.

The Mastermind special that aired during AG in no way counts as an-end-of-series special when a character leaves and shows up again like every other character. May never got a special when she left at the end of AG. Which is quite strange, because back in 2007 people did think we'd see something of her in Johto along with maybe Drew/Harley but it never happened. DP had something of a fresh start because even though Dawn was a coordinator, neither Ash nor Brock made any reference of May in those early DP eps till she showed up. Which is weird at the time, given DP was still continuity heavy and referenced old sagas all the time.

It's also noticeable that when Charizard came back in BW, the writers flashbacked to all of Charizard's Kanto/Johto eps with Misty/Brock, but purposely left out its AG appearances so May and Max didn't appear in flashbacks. If anything Serena is treated sort of similar to the way May was where it feels like she's more or less put aside until whenever they want them to appear again.

Of the past girls that left, Misty got the most (obviously, she has numerous specials and cameos, more than any other girl), and Dawn got a very generous 9 episode cameo in BW, the longest any old character returned even if the eps themselves didn't do her justice. May, Iris and Serena were all treated very poorly after they left, so it's pretty obvious some favortism on the writers part. If there are DP remakes in the next few years, I'm very curious to see if Dawn gets another cameo. I wonder how people will react if Dawn gets to come back yet again whereas May/Iris/Serena never got to appear once more. I don't know if she will or not, I'd say it's a 50/50 shot if the writers will use her or just advertise Piplup with a new girl like in Movie 20.

 

[Power Up]

People misinterpreting my reasons for that quote ofc

I posted it to showcase that the kiss did go somewhere and it did have a point, at least in the eyes of the people who wrote the scene

You don't have to think Amour is canon or is even going to be, but that literally wasn't the point I was trying to make at all

Amour was a legitimate subplot in the anime and part of Serena's character and not addressing it is a failure in character writing

I personally think Serena will come back in a Pokemon movie

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

People misinterpreting my reasons for that quote ofc

I posted it to showcase that the kiss did go somewhere and it did have a point, at least in the eyes of the people who wrote the scene

You don't have to think Amour is canon or is even going to be, but that literally wasn't the point I was trying to make at all

Amour was a legitimate subplot in the anime and part of Serena's character and not addressing it is a failure in character writing

I personally think Serena will come back in a Pokemon movie

Can I ask why a movie though? I kind of feel like they’re only going to do AU movies or remakes from now on. I guess if they remake the XY movies I could see it

 

[Power Up]

Can I ask why a movie though? I kind of feel like they’re only going to do AU movies or remakes from now on. I guess if they remake the XY movies I could see it

Seems like a perfect place for her to get screentime without sacrificing important parts of her character, plus in movies, I personally believe they can do more and show more than what can be seen and done in the main Pokemon series anime

A movie would be great since she wouldn't overstay her return and her return wouldn't even have to be considered canon to the main anime series and would be in it's own universe

 

[Kintaro]

Well it is likely at SOME point in the next 10 years of the anime that Serena would show up again. I'm sure she's not never going to appear, the question is how long it takes and when. Misty appeared after a 12 year absence, and Brock after a 7 year absence, so who knows. It could be some time yet.

 

[DeepSquirtle]

It does seems like the writers could be keeping Serena on the down low to potentially set up a return in Galar. I guess time will ultimately tell what the writers decide to do with this.

 

[Kintaro]

Technically anything could happen. If you said even just 5 years ago both Misty and Brock would come back twice and with Mega evolutions...people would have said it sounded like fanfiction. Almost everything that eventually happened in the anime felt like fanfiction before it happened. Everything that happened in XY or SM couldn't have been predicted before it happened.

 

[Remmie]

I don’t understand the logic of people who think that Serena deserves to come back as a companion or that it makes the most sense for her to come back?? Like just forget May, Iris, etc huh? Serena is based off of the protagonist of the XY games which is why she was apart of the anime. There’s literally no reason for her or any of the previous companions to return as a main companion. Guest appearances are another story but with SM almost over, it looks like Serena’s ship has sailed. The likelihood for a character to get a cameo two gens later is slim to none. Misty and Brock don’t count for obvious reasons.

Except May came back in DP, Dawn came back in BW, and Iris got a special with a newly caught pokemon, and maybe they're waiting until she gets more training or gets to be a gym leader or champion to make her appear again. Until then, probably no Iris. Now Serena could come back to get things sorted out with her crush once and for all and possibly moving on and stuff, and she could probably meet the SM girls to get a vacation in Alola or something, because beach and all that. Who knows? The girls in SM, well, what else would they bring more, apart Mallow and Lana becoming trial captains along the guys while Lillie, possibly goes with her brother or on her own, because I think she needs development as a trainer without anyone else being with her not far behind. They could all pop up for a few episodes and go back home after that or something. Maybe bring Iris and Serena together? Would be funny to watch I guess.

 

[Kintaro]

Except May came back in DP, Dawn came back in BW, and Iris got a special with a newly caught pokemon, and maybe they're waiting until she gets more training or gets to be a gym leader or champion to make her appear again. Until then, probably no Iris.

Iris is soon to be gone 3 gens in the past. If they wanted to give her a cameo by now they would of. Unless something from the new games prompts them to give her an appearance, Iris probably won't ever appear in the show again.

Now Serena could come back to get things sorted out with her crush once and for all and possibly moving on and stuff, and she could probably meet the SM girls to get a vacation in Alola or something, because beach and all that. Who knows? The girls in SM, well, what else would they bring more, apart Mallow and Lana becoming trial captains along the guys while Lillie, possibly goes with her brother or on her own, because I think she needs development as a trainer without anyone else being with her not far behind. They could all pop up for a few episodes and go back home after that or something. Maybe bring Iris and Serena together? Would be funny to watch I guess.

I don't see any of this happening.

 

[Leonhart]

Serena coming back in a movie seems incredibly doubtful. The recent movies haven't even been canon, so that's one thing against the theory. Then there's the fact that characters from past sagas rarely show up in the movies to begin with, with few exceptions like Lizardon right off the top of my head.