Prior to Hoenn's debut. Johto was my favorite over Kanto. :') I do not hate Johto, it's more like Hoenn completely took that spot.
Pokemon like Feraligatr, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Noctowl, Ampharos, Espeon and Umbreon were all once my top favorites. They just sank and slowly got kicked out of my fav list. :( Because they were unobtainable prior to FrLg and Emerald. Kind of like you lost contact to a person and slowly the relationship with them just POOF! and went down just like that.
Brave Bird looks great in XY tbh, but you already know how I hate slow animations, right? :P
If memory serves, RS was the very first Pokemon games you ever played, right? Have you ever tried playing the previous Generations prior to RS?