Just saw the new Pokéchi trailer and the hype is about to consume me! The animation is so fluid! The characters are so expressive! Everything is so colorful! The backgrounds are quite detailed - I love that closeup of the flowers. I can't wait to see what the battles look like in this series.
Samson Oak referenced Buizel and Xerneas. CONTINUITY, Y'ALL! LOL at Ash and Mallow's reactions.
You're right; there are so many intimate, realistic details. Even the way Pikachu is perched on Ash's shoulder looks more realistic; he is actively holding on with his front paws, rather than just looking like he's glued there.
Never just a PokéGirl by her appearance?
I do like how they are all so different from each other. Each has the potential to bring a unique flavor to the series, and to their relationship with Ash. It will keep Ash's interactions with his classmates more interesting and less likely to get stale.
I would really like to see Ash develop a sibling-like relationship with one of the girls. Right now, my bet is on Mallow; she seems more similar to Ash than the other two. However, Lana is the oldest of her sisters, so she may end up viewing Ash as a younger brother figure (especially if she is older than Ash).
Actually, I would really like to see that. Ash has traveled with girls, but he has never shared a house with one for an extended period of time. That has the potential to be so entertaining, especially since Lillie can't touch Pokémon and Ash has one who is never in its Pokéball. I can totally see Pikachu wandering the house and nearly bumping into Lillie, and her freaking out over it.
I really like that, for once, there is an equal number of boys and girls on the main cast. It's about time! Until XY, Pokémon seemed to adhere to the "Smurfette Principle" (only one female main character). XY proved that Ash can get along with more than one girl, so I always hoped that SM would take that a step further, and it is.