PSS is a separate game from XY's campaign. Once you get through the story Kalos is fun to explore for online improvements such as TM collecting and horde training. PSS is an online game whose players have long since moved on, but when it was new and active it was a fantastic game to get into. /vp/ had Friend Safari threads and participated in 4chan x 2ch wonder trade events, but also the board was ruined with 10+ threads at any time made for one person to do one trade. Giveaways were also spammed until they were forced into a containment general. 3DS CFW wasn't accessible yet and PKHeX wasn't released either, but enough progress had been made behind the scenes for exclusive /vp/ event distributions such as a Dream Ball Baby Aegislash that could then be cloned by powersaves to speed up distributions. The hours before and after Bank's release was a fun ride too.

XY are still too easy for returning players, but the low difficulty and variety throughout the region make them great starting points. The first gym's leader's pokemon are a Surskit and a Vivillon. The game hands you a Kanto starter and a Mega Lucario. The Champion uses Aurorus. The full regional dex is one of the largest. There's a variety of distinct biomes. You can earn a full set of trophies in the Battle Maison. Your Rival can be rematched every day. The berry farm was in a convenient spot with many slots that produced a lot on large bushes. PR threads were niche but could be creative.

Kalos and PSS were things you had to be there for to forget about the bad campaign, but if you were there to experience them at release they had memoriable moments such as wasting hours you will never get back from biking simulator that was made obsolete with homebrew apps.