That depends on the perspective you know. Before SM Pokemon had been a pretty run of the mill monster of the week show. And as much as I love the Pokemon anime, it really does tell the same story every single saga. We have a lot of similar story threads throughout the sagas, with some being completely dropped or forgotten(G.S ball, The latter half of BW Story). Really it's not until Pokemon XY that the show tried to tell a different story, albeit still pretty base in it's execution (it is just a kid's show after all). Pokemon SM completely destroys any of the series episodic tropes and has given us a fresh new take on a Pokemon story.
Some people might think that that new take on story telling is better than the old style.
Seconded.Haven't watched it, but I honestly hate the new animation.
Are they? Ash is going to a Pokemon school isn't he? he's learning about Pokemon there, they aren't studying math or physics there (tho I hope they do, even to a minimal degree, children do need to learn those things), the only subject that there is in a Pokemon school is probably about Pokemon... how exactly does that become detrimental to his aspiration to be a Pokemon Master?
And it's not all about being the best Pokemon Trainer, it's far above that...
Spoiler:
Tho I do agree he has to win the league at some point XD
1. The fact that, even as early as Kanto, specifically "The School of Hard Knocks" where he managed to take down Giselle, Pokemon Tech's top student, with minimum effort, he was demonstrated to not need school at all to be a good trainer should have been a pretty obvious hint that they're scraping the barrel. Yes, technically, it doesn't prove detrimental to his goal, but it doesn't necessarily help it either especially when every single time a school subject has been brought up, Ash ultimately proved he didn't need it in the first place, so why would he need it now. It's like saying the world's best physicist all of a sudden needs to undergo remedial science.
2. I'm not sure that manga and its explanation should be taken as canon to the anime considering that it was an adaptation of Movie 20, which is pretty much the only movie right now that is explicitly non-canon to the anime due to being a rehash of Ash's first journey under the loosest definition. The closest the anime has EVER given to an actual consistent term of his goal was him winning the League, and especially against the Elite Four and Champion.
True that he doesn't need education on being a trainer, he's already proven proficient at training, raising and battling with Pokemon... His multiple, high placements in Pokemon Leagues is proof of that. But, he didn't necessarily entered the school to become better Pokemon trainer. As proven in the SM the classes are all about Pokemon... He and his classmates aren't stuck in the class room as we've seen them on multiple field trips already. He's still experiencing the same ecology he's studying, not to mention actually being tutored by a Pokemon Professor who has probably spent his entire life studying Pokemon. The only thing he lost is, maybe the adventure...
Pokemon Tech is specifically aimed at the art of battling. As the school is aimed at training Pokemon battlers who don't want to go and collect gym badges. Graduates are then qualified to enter the Pokemon League even without said badges.
Pokemon Master is as vague a goal as you can get... How does one become a Pokemon master? every fan has their interpretation. But in the shows world, we have yet to see one such character who is labeled as a Pokemon Master. For all we know becoming a Pokemon master is something that Ash just made up. Heck, the Official Pokémon Handbook states that a Trainer would deserve the title of Pokémon Master upon defeating or capturing Mewtwo... Nobody knows how you become a Pokemon Master XD