My favourites are definitely One Piece and Full Metal Alchemist, both with lots of action and very interesting characters. I also love magical girl anime, starting with Sailor Moon and moving on to Mermaid Melody, Shugo Chara, and now Precure(where my avatar is from). The only futuristic series I ever got into was Code Geass, which was amazing. Have you seen that?
I get ideas from all over the place, including what I read and watch, and also from life experience. Antagonists are probably inspired, at least in part, by real-life people I don't get along with haha. And that's the biggest problem I have with writing...the ending. I suck at it because I'm in the mindset where I want the story to keep going on forever. But that's unrealistic so I have to work on that.
Team Rocket was getting really old, and I'm glad they're no longer in every episode like they used to be. They're still there too often though IMO. I remember that about Butch, and would love to see him and Cassidy return. Sadly I doubt it'll happen.
I've heard that Yo-Kai Watch is to blame for Pokémon's sudden change. Have you heard of it? It's another creature collecting game that is very popular in Japan. I've tried it, but I don't like it as much as Pokémon. Anyway it also has an anime, and it seems oddly familiar to the Sun and Moon series. D:
I often toss in cute Pokémon as well, but they're usually single staged like Pachirisu or Emolga. I once swept a team with my Pachirisu, and it remains one of my favourite battles ever. ^_^ I haven't tried Little Cup unfortunately, but I've always been meaning to try. And I'd love to battle you as well but I don't have WiFi at home. Maybe one day when I'm in town. ^^
Sorry to hear about your sleeping problems. =/ I used to work in retail so I know what you mean about early mornings. I had to wake up at 5 and start work at 7. Before working there I was used to waking up at 9! I eventually grew used to it however, and even though I don't work there anymore the sleep schedule has stuck. Heh
And your experiences with customers sound just like mine. Some loved me and would consistently come in to talk to me while doing their shopping, while a few would talk to me about subjects I knew nothing about. It was fun-as long as I also got my work done. haha
And you can rant as much as you like haha. As you can see you aren't the only one who puts a lot into these VM's. =O