Yeah, I'm going to be honest, I don't get the Festival Plaza at all. It's not transparent in the least, and I don't get why they did away with much more simplistic and easily accessible features instead of this convoluted mess.
I want to write a big, wordy think piece about how the reward system for the environmental design of this game is absolute garbage, but that will take time.
EDIT: Upon further research, I have come to realize that Poke Pelago is probably the better bet for EV training, as long as you stock up on Poke Beans. However, the removal of Super Training was stupid, and S.O.S. Chaining is certainly nowhere near as rewarding as Horde Battling. But that's Game Freak for you: Take one step forwards, and then in subsequent versions, take a step to the side, turn around, do a stupid dance and charge your Z-Power, and take two steps back.
I'm in full agreement here. there's some straaaange design here. I don't necessarily mind the environmental stuff so much once I better understood how it is stoutland works in comparison to older Itemfinder mechanics.
One that really chaps my behind though is the strange choice in how they've chosen to handle egg hatching. Allow me to explain.
Every generation has gotten slightly better than the last about providing a better method for hatching eggs and aquiring them. usually, there is a long, straight stretch next to the daycare. Gen 5's wasn't as long, but was the requisite 128 steps for an egg to spawn on either trip, but also featured an NPC who'd flag you down when it had an egg ready for you. this I felt was REALLY good.
Gen 6 did away with the NPC flagging you down, but rather channging the direction he faces when he has an egg ready for you. much more subtle, and sometimes his direction would stay changed because he talked to you. there's a nice and long stretch of route by him,a nd then the center of Lumiose city could be flown to where they have a big circular area you can hold one direction and acumulate steps without having to change direction. combined with the hatching o-power and Fletchinder/Talonflame being a flame body pokemon that could learn fly, this was the most painless generation for hatching yet. ORAS even improved this a little more by putting a daycare on the island with the battle tower and putting a camera pan area to ride around all in the same zone!
Sun and Moon has a stretch of oute seperated by two load zones and with twists and turns, but no camera pan for holding one direction. as far as I have heard, there is no area in the game that features the sort of camera pan that would let you hold one direction on your circle pad either.
What they have instead is a little broken area in the fence right across the road from the daycare. you can only fit through on foot, but there's enough room in this fence to call a ride pokemon. while just holding against a wall will not give you steps, turning around atop your ride pokemon in this enclosure does. since it can't fit out the door, you hop on Tauros and proceed to pretend you're playing Mario Party.
because this totally won't break our circle pads or require more effort than simply holding one direction on the D-pad while being locked to the grid, nope!
the advantage is the Egg giving NPC is always in sight and she will do a little thinking/puzzled pose when she has an egg for you.
Maybe gamefreak will give out some totally swag gloves if the Pokemon Stars rumors are to be believed...? then scalpers can scalp them like they did with the Link scarves.