I agree. The XY series is enjoyable. I'm not too far in but so far Ash acts like someone with 5 leagues' worth of experience, Bonnie isn't too annoying, Tram Rocket has a decent balance between credible threat and comic relief, and I love the battles. Only thing I could do without is what feels like excessive niceness at times lol. But that's probably just because I'm used to Misty yelling at Ash all the time.

[s]Bonnie, Pikachu, and Dedenne playing ninja is the most adorable thing though[/s]