I'm pretty disappointed that they chose to throw this one to Pikachu rather than Tranquil. Tepig going down quickly was a surprise, as was Sewaddle/Swadloon getting TWO victories (we all knew it would evolve in the battle though- I believe that's a first for the series!). As for Team Rocket, I'm glad that they're going back to actually having personalities, but I could do without them showing up in every episode with a silly capture plan. I'd rather see them go off and do their own thing (musicals maybe?) and only meet up with the gang every now and again, while mostly being entangled in the Plasma storyline. I wonder if, as Giovanni is gone, he'll be succeeded by the four admins from HGSS. It wouldn't be the first time the anime featured previously skipped characters from earlier generations (Like Wallace in the middle of Sinnoh). Yamask is a welcome addition... I wonder how long it will be until Woobat and Yamask evolve though, as Team Rocket tend to have evolved pokemon. Typical that a pokemon called Cofagrigus should fall to James, of all people...
