>>56842398And even beyond this, what is potentially and even bigger issue, is that there is never any fun or interesting interactions that Ash and Serena have with one another whenever they do interact, like fooling around, cracking jokes, or in just in general having fun doing an activity they both enjoy, all they do on their dates is go shopping which Ash isn’t interested in but goes along with because he wants to support whatever Serena is doing, and have a Pokemon battle, which Serena isnt interested in but goes along with because she wants to support whatever Ash is doing.
And this is especially important with a character like Ash, who is a very easygoing, goofy guy, having his main love interest be a girl who is very refined, and classy, just doesnt fit, I get that they went in this direction with Serena because Kalos is based on France, which is all about that in pop-culture, but then you shouldnt of made it so that the one time you give Ashs female companion and official crush on Ash, its with a character so utterly incompatible with him.
And its why I will say and defend the opinion, that to this day, the best written romantic relationship with Ash, by a mile, is Ash and Latias, in 1 short movie, they are able to develop this relationship miles beyond what Ash and Serena ever were in 140 episodes.
They show them having fun, and goofing around, establishing how they are both kindred spirits in regards to enjoying these sorts of things, and is something absolutely essential for Ashs character, they show Latias growing to trust Ash over the course of the movie, from a complete stranger, to a friend, to someone she is willing to seek comfort from in her time of need, they are both shown to be the adventurous type, seeking to move away from home for the sake of exploring the world and making friends.
It speaks volumes that the only female companion of Ashes which comes even remotely close to this level of development is Dawn, whose very clearly cont.
