The Pokemon series has developed several odd traditions over its 24 years of existence. Swapping out the main characters with each new generation of Pokemon is one of them. With each new game and region, a new kid from that region embarks on their journey. And, because Ash Ketchum will always remain the protagonist, the female version of that new character will join him on his journey in the Pokemon anime. But of all the girls who've joined Ash over the years, Serena may be the most unique.
Serena was the female player character in the Generation 7 Kalos Region games Pokemon X & Y, and Ash's companion in the anime episodes based on them. While her game incarnation was nothing too out of the ordinary, the Serena of the anime was a bit more out there in comparison. In fact, the writers almost seemed to have it out for her. They wrote Serena as more of a girly-girl than Ash's earlier companions, making her more aimless and prone to bouts of insecurity. Doing so did endear her to the audience, but all that mold-breaking put Serena through some odd experiences.
26 She Has A Mirror Universe Doppleganger
Chalk this up as one of the weirder things in the Pokemon anime: there's a Mirror Universe. Like the Star Trek one, but without the goatees.
In the episode "The Cave of Mirrors," Ash is exploring the Reflection Cave, which is full of mirror-like crystals. One of Ash's reflections actually pulls him through the mirror into another world.
Everybody's personality is reversed there. The Mirror Universe's Ash is a timid wimp and Serena is an arrogant battler in contrast to her polite usual self. Serena never met her doppelganger, so no one can know how she would have felt about that.
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19 She Impersonated Ash Once
Serena is probably closer to Ash than any of his other female companions. It might explain how she could pretend to be him so easily.
In the episode "Battling at Full Volume," a guitarist named Jimmy challenges Ash to a Pikachu on Pikachu battle. Ash agrees, but catches a cold before the fight. Serena steps in, disguising herself as Ash, and with Pikachu's help, they beat Jimmy.
Her deception would have worked completely if Team Rocket hadn't seen through her disguise. Leave it to the only people who've known Ash longer than Serena has to not to be fooled.
18 She's Afraid Of Ghosts
Serena's not scared of Ghost Pokemon. She's scared of actual ghosts. Several times in the anime, it's shown that Serena is superstitious when it comes to haunted houses and forests. She'll let her reason get away from her and speculate wildly about horrible things.
Now, this is something that has never made sense in Pokemon from the very beginning. It's strange that Ghost Pokemon exist at all. But, since they do, how can you be afraid of ghosts in a world with Ghost Pokemon? The Ghost Pokemon we meet are all friendly, if a bit mischievous.
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15 Her Pokémon Team Is Never Consistent
Across her multiple incarnations, Serena's Pokemon team never stays the same.
Heck, her anime version doesn't even have a full team. That Serena only has three Pokémon; a Fennekin, a Pancham, and a Sylveon.
Of those three, her game counterpart only has one. Sort of. Game Serena can have a Fennekin, but only if the player character is male and has a Chespin.
Her manga counterpart, Y, seems to mix the two together. Y has Anime Serena's Sylveon and Game Serena's Absol, but her starter is the water-type Froakie. She also seems to have stolen her mother's Rhyhorn.
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13 Her Fennekin Burned Her
Serena's skill as a trainer improves over the course of the anime but, in the beginning, she let her emotions influence her Pokemon too much. Once, when she got upset with her Fennekin after a bad Performance rehearsal, her Fennekin responded by shooting her with Flamethrower. Serena wasn't injured, though, and the two made up later.
Weirdly, this is a tradition in the anime: trainers getting burned in the face by their starter Fire Pokemon. Previously it happened to Dawn with her Cyndaquil and it started way back with Ash and his Charizard.
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11 She Started Her Journey Way Late
Anyone familiar with Pokemon knows what the game's setup is: kids leave home at age 10 to travel the world and catch Pokémon. Serena must not have gotten that memo, though; the version of her from the games didn't set out on her journey until she was 16 years old. For this series, 16 is basically old age.
While her anime counterpart is closer to Ash's age, that Serena seems to have inherited the same lateness. It took her 47 episodes to figure out what her actual goal in life was. She'd mostly just been following Ash around before then.
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7 No Card In The Trading Card Game
Almost as surprising as the longevity of Pokemon is the longevity of its Trading Card Game. Much like the video games and the anime, each new Generation gives the Trading Card Game a shot in the arm. New cards based on all the new Pokémon and characters get added.
Except for Serena.
When the cards for X & Y rolled around, she was one of the few characters without a card based on her. What's more, she is the first main character in the series to not have a card based on her in the expansion. No one is sure why, either.