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Beat the elite 4 last night.
It's much easier this time around to stomp through gym leaders since it's easier to keep a leveled balanced team.
At first I was driven by my desire to unlock all the clothing shops, then I wanted to beat the elite 4 for friend safari to be unlocked as well as all the post-game perks.
Just don't get too wrapped up in the other features of the game and tell yourself that you can dabble with it easier in post-game.
I even had my lead 3 pokemon maxed in affection, started a brief staryu breeding program for shinies, as well as getting my japanese ditto pretty quickly.
This game is much faster when you get used to it.