All your questions have already been answered within the first page. There is NO bullshit involving IV/EVs in this game. No hatching and breeding, no Pokemon Kaizo romhack bullshit difficulties. It is literally just a harder-than-average Pokemon game that actually requires you to use some braincells to counter enemy teams by building correctly instead of just using 6 favourites and stomping the game. Of course, I cannot control how players approach the game, and some of them simply overlevel their mons to sweep everything (they will pay for their hubris in the future).
The difficulty is subjective at most. The game was designed solely for oldschool players old enough to appreciate tougher games, and of course, old enough to see 18+ content. It is NOT meant for beginners who don't know shit, or for filthy sad saps who refuse to use items in battle and consider the need for it as 'bad design.'[What the fuck do they think items are for then?]
Everything else, you make your own judgments.