I was expecting the starters to be revealed some time in October after not receiving news last month. It's much like the X/Y starters where their first stage evolutions were revealed one month before the games were released.
As for the three newly revealed Pokemon, I think they all look great. Definitely tied with Hoenn for having my favorite middle stage starter evolutions as a whole. Dartrix has a sophisticated and neat look, and the expressions it makes are pretty funny. This Pokemon seems to concerned about how clean and groomed its feathers. I get this image that Dartrix acts like a rich fella', and I have a theory how its evolution could tie into Robinroot based on that description.
Torracat looks cool too. One thing that really caught my attention is that if you try to pet the flame sac on its neck through Pokemon Refresh, the hand gets a "burned" reaction. Very nice touch since it reflects at how hot it is.
Brionne is very adorable. I thought it was pretty cute how it at that Pokebean in the Pokemon Refresh feature. It also looks like the perfect missing link between Popplio and Entermaid. Entermaid's design has been growing on me, so seeing how the middle stage looks like makes me glad I'll stick with Team Popplio for my first run. I think I'll go with Robinroot in a future playthrough because it's design has also been growing on me (I also don't want two Grass-types on my team for the sake of team balance; I'm already planning on having Lurantis on my team).
Festival Plaza reminds me of Platinum, HearGold/SoulSilver's Wifi Plaza mixed with that one Black2/White2 feature where you had that one street accessible through a local connection where people can set up shops so that you can buy valuable goodies or train your Pokemon in some way. I think I'll get used to it. I thought the Wifi Plaza was a really fun feature, while the B2/W2 wireless street feature was great for getting certain items.
I like the idea of Poke Pelago. No longer do you have to worry about the thought of keeping Pokemon trapped in a computer for the rest of their time. They can have fun while not being on your team! I also like how you can train Pokemon in your boxes without having to put them on your team using this feature, not to mention having a new way to receive rare items is a nice little thing to. Glad we're getting a demo for Sun and Moon as well and Mega Evolutions will make a return.
And the best news for last...
holy cow, Ash-Greninja is officially canon to the games!
As someone whose second favorite Pokemon is Greninja, is part of the minority that loves Ash-Greninja's design, and was worried said form was going to be anime exclusive, you don't know how happy this makes me! I honestly can't wait to use Ash-Greninja on my team! I bet it's going to have some really great stats despite the lack of Protean!
And no Mega Evolutions for VGC 2017? That's a bit surprising. I'm curious to see what Pokemon will become more popular for this format with the lack of Megas.