Hi, Mikee, welcome to the club! In my opinion, X/Y are definitely worth it. The 3D graphics are great (though sadly only part of the game is in 3D), there's character customization, and it's easier to breed/train/EV train your Pokemon. While that may be off putting to those who enjoy a greater challenge, for me it's great, because I can achieve a lot more and train a lot more Pokemon than before. Oh, and there's the Amie feature, that lets you bond with your Pokemon, making them better in battle, and Mega evolutions, and more stuff that I'm sure I'm forgetting right now.
By the way, there's a promotion going on until the end of the month; if you register a new 2DS, 3DS or 3DS XL and one of the participating games (which seem quite popular), you get a free download code for X or Y. So if you don't mind not having a physical copy of the game, it looks like a great deal. I'm not sure if the promotion is available for the US or UK or both, though.
LeafGreen and then Emerald sounds like a good plan. Funny you both mentioned playing LG, since I actually have an ongoing challenge on LG. Haven't played it in a while, but I have three badges and just got to Lavender Town. You've got a nice team there, Mudkip! Currently I have Charmeleon, Pikachu, Weepinbell and Nidoqueen, and planning to add Venonat and Slowpoke, as per the challenge rules (red > yellow > green > blue > purple > pink, in this order).
If an Electric-type is what you need, I'd suggest Magneton. I've used him before in White 2 (though evolved into Magnezone), and he's got very good defensively, especially with Sturdy, and has great Sp. Atk. As a matter of fact, I'm using it again on a SoulSilver challenge I'm doing right now, and he's just as great as I expected.