The reason why they made it short, sweet, and simple is because this isnt the last time we'll see Serena. Through all the series, OS, AG, DP, BW, XY was the only series to actually consider itself unfinished, as mentioned in the airport the XY gang's departure will only be temporary, meaning its possible for Clemont and Bonnie to make a cameo in Alola, and its actually possible since Clembot can take control over the gym. And then there's the whole thing with Serena... one of the writers decided to comment on the reason why they had to cut her hair saying it showed her side of things through a new personality, and yes it did change the story. But it also resembles heavily on the new female protagonist in Sun and Moon, also the name for the female protagonist is also heavily similar to Serena by being named Selene. Now, since its the 20th anniversary of Pokemon and the anime itself too. Many people are bound to return, Look at what BW did for their 15th anniversary. Looker returns, Dawn returns, Cynthia returns, Decolora Islands ED credits shows all the past protagonist from May to Dawn, Misty to Brock, Gary to Paul, etc, it also included flashbacks from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Now, Gary Oak is bound to return in the SM anime, not now, but next season in late 2017 where it marks the 21st season overall in the anime. Serena is simply bound to return and take Selene's place, competitions are also a must in SM which is why they still havent announced the feature yet. Shota is in Hoenn too doing much research with Steven, but research doesnt last forever, he'll take Hau's place and actually be considered Hala's grandson (Kinda how Gary Oak is Blue from the games). XY was a major selling point for the series. They arent SEGA... They wont make something amazing, then total shit afterwards (besides Sinnoh to Unova since the DP had some bad flaws too which makes it worse than XY by a few). SERENA will return, SHOTA will return, Clemont, Bonnie, Alain, Manon, every1.
