Yeah, I used to feel that way about using AR, and honestly don't even start to use it until I've beaten the game. I recently started relying on it more to significantly cut down the time it takes to breed and EV-train my Pokes. I hate to sound like a Team Rocket member, but after playing through each Gen, I've lost the thrill and patience of running around hatching eggs, or looking for specific EV "hotspots" to train.
That's why I don't usually mind trading for decent Pokemon that other players obtain. I can appreciate the time they take to get those Pokemon, because I myself don't have the time to do it. Back in the day though, when it was just me and my wife (minus my two sons), I would spend hours breeding & training to get the right Poke. But nowadays, my average play time for each sitting is usually no more than 30mins, and even then I'm not really focused with my attention being pulled 6-ways from Sunday. Hell, that trade that me and you did took me a few days just to get into the room with you, and although you couldn't hear it, I was running around after these two monkeys lol.
So you're damn near about to be at the Pokemon League, that's wats up. Let me know after you beat it your opinions on it compared to D/P/Plt. And what's that Anime Stlye Battling really all about? Is it more forum-based, or are you guys actually raising Pokemon based off the anime and battling it out? And thank you, I'll let you know when I'm ready to make the trades (^_^).