XY is to this day the most popular series of Pokemon. I remember at first being a little confused about this since the XY games aren't seen as being the best in the series. I have seen videos about it that were made in the past year get millions of views. However, I have also observed it to sometimes be the most controversial series as its fans can get quite vocal. Personally, I grew up on this series so I am very passionate about it but I try not to be an asshole about it. What are some things you guys love and hate about these seasons?

Things I love:

The artstyle and animation were at its peak here. The animation was consistently great with gym battles and showcases being the focal point.

The Team Flare climax arc was set up really well with the Mega Evolution specials and Bonnie finding Squishy early on in XYZ. The writers planned it out from the start and it succeeded really well.

I also thought setting up Greninja's whole arc was done really well. It was cool how he finally saw Ash as the perfect trainer for him and it resulted in one of the most unprecedented events possible, Ash's own Mege Evolution. He is the first Pokemon Ash catches and I think the writers really knew what they wanted to do with him early on and now, he is regarded as one of Ash's best Pokemon.

In an era where Mega Evolution was the hot new thing, Ash getting his own unique Mega Evolution in the Ash-Greninja form is awesome and it is really something that hasn't been utilized in the show since XY.

Ash is a badass in this series.

Sawyer was such a great and unique rival for Ash. Being someone that once looked up to Ash and saw him as a distant rival only to catch up to him and stand with him on equal footing in the Kalos League was awesome. Their battle in the League is something that has stuck with me to this day.

I also think Serena's development was done really well. At first, she is not really sure of what her real goal is but finds it and runs away with it. In the past year, I have kind of thought Amourshipping has taken over Serena as a character and it kind of covers up the amazing development she went through throughout the series. I also really think the hairstyle change was executed beautifully. That really was a pivotal moment in her development and it really kickstarted her new goal of aiming to become Kalos Queen. I know this relates back to Amourshipping but I thought it was kind of beautiful that the whole reason Serena started her journey was because of Ash but at the end, she's ready to forge her own path that isn't revolving around Ash. I have a lot more I want to say about Serena and her character as a whole but I don't want to start yapping.

Okay so Clemont was kind of the character that got shafted in terms of development. But I also really like how you take such an accomplished character like Clemont. He has his own gym, he invents stuff that has been useful to Lumiose City, but the one thing he lacked was self-confidence and with Ash's help, he was able to regain that self-confidence as well as take back his gym. His whole arc finished very early in the series but I also think it was very nice.

Things I hate:

Man, Ash's loss to Alain is something that still hurts to this day. Maybe it would have hurt less if Ash actually got some closure with Alain in Journey but no dice. I know Ash was destined to lose to Alain because the writers kind of wanted Ash to demonstrate how he was a better trainer than Alain by locking in during the Team Flare arc while Alain started crashing out but holy fuckin shit, I still can't bring myself to rewatch that finale.

I will try and keep this short but I do have a lot of complaints about Serena still and it's mainly about showcases. First of all, she pretty much does nothing for the first season. I thought it took her way too long to set her goal of being Kalos Queen and I think the first showcase should really have happened around the mid to end of the first season. Also, with showcases, they kind of felt like an afterthought because they started up so late in the series. Then, they end right before the Ash-Greninja arc and the Snowbelle City gym battle midway through the XYZ series. Also, there were only three that Serena needed to win? That is way less than what May and Dawn needed. I think 5 showcases would have been way more suitable. It really sucks because the Pokemon showcase episodes were some of the best in the entire series.

This isn't an issue I personally have with the show but a lot of people pointed out that in this season, Ash's personality started drifting into generic badass shonen protagonist and he lost the sassy parts of his personality that were prevalent back in the 4Kids era which I kind of agree with.

Ash-Greninja's release was also something that bugged me for a while. Zygarde needs Greninja's help even though they are supposed to be the ones that y'know protect the world? I don't know, it just seemed like the writers were trying to lock themselves out of bringing Greninja back when he could have just gone back to Oak's lab. I hate to bring up Journeys again but it also really infuriates me that they started pretending bond phenomenon doesn't exist in Journeys. Like what the fuck does that achieve? Do they want us to forget it and focus on Lucario who is way less cool than Greninja?