To be honest, I wasn't such a huge fan of this Pokémon at first, considering that there are already plenty of others resembling it--Vulpix, Zorua, Poochyena (spelling?), and Growlithe, to name a few. Eventually, though, it began to grow on me, and I'm glad it did; now, it's one of my most favorite Pokémon in Kalos.
It's cute, and has decent attacks available in its arsenal. Plus, although Delphox, its final-stage evolution, does have human-like body structure just like most other fire-type starters, it isn't fire-fighting. This type combination has been applied to fire starters of last three generations, if I'm not mistaken, which is definitely something to talk about; some us fans were sort of tired of it. Glad that it's finally changed!
As far as battling goes, I'm not sure how good Delphox is, as I haven't used it too much. Though, I'm sure it's not bad, considering how decent its stats seem to be! Would be nice if it were to gain some mega-evolution at some point in future, but we'll likely have to wait another generation or two, considering how new the Pokémon is.