Even though it would've been much more exciting if gym leaders had their emerald roster, we knew that wasn't going to be the case since they showed Wattson with Magneton as his ace (Manectric would've been so much cooler :/ ). They're keeping RS' gym rosters and champion.
But the level is really unsettling. Would I be too optimistic if I said we should take what we see in the videos with a grain of salt? If said there's a chance that, just like Fairy Wind Gardevoir, Leaf Blade Shiftry, lvl 23 Leaf Blase Grovyle and - the only one that really matters - Brawly's lvl 16 Makuhita will not be a thing? It's just such a poor decision. Everybody complains that pokémon is too easy and then they decide to deviate from the originals in order to make it even easier?! Kids did just fine back then, would Knock Off have that much of an impact? Especially since unexperienced young players aren't likely to use hold items, essentially making Knock Off a more consistent Arm Thrust. And if Knock Off is such an issue, just replace it with Bulk Up. There are no excuses for a lvl 16 Makuhita.
Why are the contests shitty? I might've misunderstood some of the information that came out last month, but they're pretty similar to RS' contests with just a couple new gimmicks. That's what most people were hoping for, wasn't it? And you can play online. That's amazing! Since there is strategy involved in playing in a contest, this will probably give rise to a mini metagame. I'm not a big fan of contests myself, but I can see this will be an interesting playstyle for many people.