A new "Pokémon" game is set to be released this year, and there would be corresponding major changes expected in the longrunning "Pokémon" anime show. For more than a decade, when the games introduce a new region to explore, such as "Pokémon Sun and Moon" and Alola region, Ash will start a new journey with only Pikachu with him. All of his old Pokémon are left at Professor Oak's gym and his companions usually leave Ash to pursue their own dreams. According to Anime News Network, fans are not yet ready to say goodbye to fan-favorite character Serena. In fact, they have begun a petition to break this thirteen-year-old trend to "save" Serena.

Serena started to be Ash's main female companion in "Pokémon XY: The Series". She is a Pokemon performer in the Pokémon showcases like "Pokémon: Omega Ruby" and "Alpha Sapphire." She is also Ash's childhood acquaintance. According to Comic Book, after seeing Ash on the news, Serena remembered her friend from a Pokémon summer camp long ago and met up with him early on the journey. She has become a fan-favorite because of her kind nature and obvious crush on Ash, which is the closest that the "Pokémon" series has ever come to showing a romance between two characters. Of course, Ash is unaware with Serena's affections, but it has created a fandom called as "Amourshipping", based to the Kalos region's French origins.

Because it's expected that Serena will leave the show at the end of "Pokémon XY: The Series", Junior Lopez, a "Pokémon" fan from New York, started a petition on Change.org a month ago asking the "Pokémon" company to keep Serena on the show. He wrote, "Many Pokemon fans are wanting Serena to travel with Ash to the next region. Serena has become Pokemon's most popular female lead and with the release of the Sun and Moon trailer everyone is worried that she won't be in the next series." As of writing, over 29,928 people have supported and signed the petition, exceeding its goal of 7,500 signatures.

Ash hasn't had a companion to follow him to another region since Brock rejoined him during his travels through Sinnoh during "Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl", which aired until 2011 in the United States. Ash's first two female companions, Misty and May, went with Ash for journeys through two regions a piece, although both left when the show began a new series that match with a new Generation of games.