He's not just a coward or a plot device. He's a naive kid with an insanely high IQ and that's one of the reason I love this show so much.

An example that comes to mind is when Eggman is complaining that a 5 vs 1 isn't fair so they all have to fight him individually and he wins against Tails by using his own invention against him by complimenting him on it.

Yes, Tails made the crazy smart device but let his guard down through compliments because he's an actual child. (Well, ages are a bit ambiguous in boom but I just go with canon)

Sonic Boom doesn't always have the best characterization (looking at Knuckles but it's okay because Boom Knuckles is the light of my life) but they did good with Tails.

I just need to share this.

And the other day we saw 2 twin fawns

But the other deer we kept seeing was not pregnant and we know it because it was actually quite skinny