>>27158398
XY

XY and DP are top tier.
Personally I think XY is the best though that could just be it being fresh and the hype is still affecting my opinion.

>>27158398
It's really divisive since people have different tastes in anime formats and general storytelling. My take:

1: DP seasons tend to have a good mix of entertaining filler episodes and contest/gym episodes. Recurring characters like Paul and Zoe also present meaningful rivalries and messages along the way. Ash is presented as consistently competent.

2. XY seasons are cool because due to beautiful animation (especially in battles) and bg (even moreso than other modern anime from other studios). Ash's travel partners are pretty good, and Ash is competent again.

3. Season 1 & Orange Islands: Orange Islands can go die in a pit, but the majority of season 1 episodes establish the Pokemon world as a whole, and the Brock + Misty + Ash dynamic is pretty entertaining. Be warned for multiple occasions of early installment weirdness.

4. AG / Battle Frontier seasons are generally considered okay; what really sets it back is the large amount of skippable filler and some big fat helping of flat flanderization (Ash's idiocy, Team Rocket's incompetence, etc). Ash gets better when the Battle Frontier rolls around, though, and some contest episodes are pretty okay.

5. BW seasons are characterized by heavy plot- and lore-establishing episodes early on, but since BW2 popped up so suddenly, the seasons as a whole take a backseat and we're left with terrible rivals, terrible animation (seriously, what's up with the thick lines), and an unbearably incompetent Ash.
6. Johto seasons are considered subpar for an enormous amount of meaningless filler, and Ash's efforts to train his johto mons being wasted by his Gen I mons eventually taking over.