It's not all about getting wins, I really enjoyed Boldore's and Unfezant's battles even though they lost, great animation and music helps. Also, Koffing is one of my all time favs so might as well get some redemption here. I enjoyed the trust Ash seemed to show Mofotoad, but in the end he was overwhelmed by the Poison/Venoshock combo, still not too bad. And my boy Pignite is further cemented as a powerhouse, don't even care about the "overuse". Hopefully, Emboar DOES become the main starter, even if it's yet another Fire type, it's the first Fire starter that's actually my favourite starter of the region. Pikachu stars again, but it's ok, he's the other main character and this is the final gym, anything else would seem unfitting for me, unlike Infernape, any of the Unova Pokes had no plot reasons to star.
Also, I'm not sure how BW advertises more blatantly than other sagas, if people mean Homika being the final gym then yeah, I guess that's obvious, but it's still an interesting twist for the anime, I don't even care about Drayden. Most people say Ash now looks weak, but really, Homika is apparently such a beast in the anime, that he should be regarded strong just for winning. And since next time is a "New Beginning", this team seems to have plenty of time to develop. It explains why the starters haven't evolved much yet imo.
Also, YES, Ash finally scanned frigging Koffing! I always wanted him to do it when I was a kid.
EDIT: Also, YAY a new Pokeball throwing animation for Ash, looked good too!
EDIT 2: One interesting point in the match, they actually had Ash lower Koffing's Special Defense with the secondary effect of Energy Ball, Cilan mentioned this. Not sure if they've ever had a move lower defense by a secondary effect or even mention Special Defense before, I liked that.