You're absolutely right. Gen 6 may have shit writing (as do all Pokemon games imo), but at least it has the decency to be fairly unintrusive. Gen 7 on the other hand is just as trash in terms of storytelling, and it pushes that shit to the forefront. The praise for Sun & Moon's story is clearly totally lost on me. I will never understand how people get value out of such awfully trite dialogue and bland characters.
Even as far as gameplay is concerned, XY gets the nod. I've actually replayed them a few times at this point, and find them far superior for many of the reasons you listed in the OP (dex variety in particular). I think people really take for granted all of the new features and QOL improvements that they brought to the table:
Oh, and the Kalos dex is the best batch of new Pokemon since Gen 1.
Even as far as gameplay is concerned, XY gets the nod. I've actually replayed them a few times at this point, and find them far superior for many of the reasons you listed in the OP (dex variety in particular). I think people really take for granted all of the new features and QOL improvements that they brought to the table:
- 3D battles. This is just the status quo now, but back then it was a huge deal and made XY feel super fresh to me. Of course, Game Freak being Game Freak decided that using the exact same poses and animations for the models for the subsequent SIX years (four sets of games) was perfectly fine. This is one example of a good feature that XY introduced, but has probably been tainted over time because of Game Freak's awful decisions.
- Trainer Customisation. Another long-requested and exciting new addition. And yet...low and behold, this is the best the feature has ever been. Gen 7 had less clothing options overall, and much less variance in style.
- PSS. This is the best online functionality a Nintendo game has ever had. Fans universally agreed that it was awesome. So in typical Game Freak fashion, they replaced it with the worst online implementation ever devised in the following gen.
- Super Training, O-Powers and horde battles all simplified EV training and made it more accessible. Game Freak removed these features in Sun and Moon. Are you sensing a pattern here?
- Pokemon Amie. This one is easy to dismiss as it's not everyone's cup of tea...but I do think it was a fantastic new feature that helped give the Pokemon much more personality within the games. As far as I'm aware, it hasn't been improved since?
- Fairy Type. Fans had been clamouring for a new type for years, and we finally got one here.
- Mega Evolutions were admittedly a bit hit or miss, but ultimately I liked their inclusion overall.
- Friend Safari. I get the feeling that this was overlooked by most people? I thought it was awesome! It encouraged connecting with lots of people to try and get a Safari with a specific Pokemon you couldn't get anywhere else (at the time). For those who were interested in the competitive side of things, it offered a good way to get Pokemon with good IV's for breeding, and it also had a super high chance of letting you find a Shiny.
- Battle Maison. This was a decent postgame battle facility, and is only hated as much as it is because ORAS copy and pasted it. Hell, the Battle Tree in Gen VII feels like a re-skinned Maison too tbh.
- New breeding mechanics made getting competitive Pokemon much, much easier.
- Between the Friend Safari, the Poke Radar and Consecutive Fishing, shiny hunters had lots of different options available to them.
- Wonder Trade was a super cool little addition.
Oh, and the Kalos dex is the best batch of new Pokemon since Gen 1.