So I believe that Ash is in an extremely interesting spot right now. He's battling with his brain!!! Let's consider the past: Generation I thru III he was the rash boy we've always known and loved, letting the heat of the moment get to him in battle and often making questionable decisions. Generation III did introduce somewhat of a mentor aspect with May at the very least which showed a different side. Generation IV he remained his headstrong self, but with the introduction of a truly antagonistic rival (Gary was Gary more than an antagonist) in Paul, Ash was motivated to battle better than ever before, coming up with unique strategies and training hard with his team, resulting in his best league performance to date. Generation V he unfortunately reverted somewhat, but I believe this was largely due to his extremely large team, which would have inevitably lacked some training compared to his past teams (not that having 10~ pokemon was bad per se, just understandably hard to manage for both him and the writers).
So we get to Generation VI and I really like what they've done with Ash this series. He's as caring as ever with Pokemon, and he's kept what was great about his personality. But what he has introduced with his battling style is what's most impressive, and he has lacked it in past generations: adaptability WITHIN battle. In the past, he would battle without particularly considering what his opponent would do. In Generation IV this was explored, but would often have to lose at least once (multiple times in Paul's case) to figure out what to do to win. In Generation VI he is, for the most part, demonstrating an ability to adapt on the fly. Most recently this was demonstrated by his battle with Valerie and adapting to the use of Sylveon's ribbons, and the move Trick Room: in the past, and as seen even earlier in Gen VI in the battle with Viola, he almost definitely would have taken a loss the first time around.
Furthermore, he has a team that is well suited to his traditional style plus that. With the recent addition of Noibat, he has a team of Pokemon that are essentially known for their high speed and manoeuvrability, which is commonly known to suit Ash. Assuming full evolution across the board, the in-game base speed of his Kalos Pokemon are: Greninja - 122, Talonflame 126, Hawlucha - 118, Noivern - 123, and of course Pikachu is Pikachu and he can be whatever the writers want. With this knowledge, I do not have as much of an objection to the release of Goodra as he could well have gone on to be Torterra 2.0, even if Ash was showing a proficiency with working with him.
In summary I'm quite excited for where Ash is heading into the business end of the Kalos series. If the most recent trends continue, his Pokemon may also receive some deserved attention (especially Fletchinder, I expect his evolution to come this year), and that he will be prepared for a solid Pokemon league performance when that comes around.
