Things you liked + disliked about XY's plot

[Hidden Mew]

I think you are way too fixated on what they specifically showed in the anime. Just because they didn't show how competitive making Poke Visions could get doesn't mean that its not possible to be able to be the best at it? My point is that if the writers wanted to make it a thing they could! The reason why Serena settled on being a performer though is that it encompasses all these things she liked.

What they specifically showed in the anime is kind of important. It isn't impossible for someone to be the best at Poke Vision or Poke Puff baking, but since XY never mentioned that trainers could devote themselves entirely to either things as their own goal, it just feels like a huge stretch to me. They could have made them into things if they wanted to, but they didn't and that is important. Just because they could have made them into competitive goals doesn't mean anything when they weren't treated as such in the series. That's the point I'm trying to make here. They were not treated as two distinct separate goals that Serena could have focused on instead of Showcases. They were the building blocks of Showcases, which is why I disagreed that she tried different goals before settling on Showcases.

And what is with the obsession with competition? There's no competition for Misty's goal? Nor Brock's goal?

Because competitions can be a useful way of showing a character making progress towards their goals. It isn't required and bringing up Misty and Brock's goals not having them is a good point, but based on how characters are handled with and without a competitive goal, it's generally better for characters to have them. Misty's goal doesn't have a competition, but since becoming a Water Pokemon Master would require battling, they probably should have given Misty her own kind of competitive League separate from the Pokemon League just so she could improve on her battling skills. Brock is one of the few characters who I think doesn't really need a competitive goal mainly because they weren't quite clear on what a Pokemon Breeder was exactly.

 

[Fan of Jarrus]

Liked:
Citron's and Eureka's gags
The main team's interactions
The battles
Satoshi's performance
XYZ Japanese opening

Disliked:
Sanpei hit with the Worf Effect
Noivern came too late