Is this why they call it grinding....? :)
Yes. lol :)
As for me, honestly, the Delta Episode. It was good, just too short to enjoy it, and all the annoying story-telling while climbing Sky Pillar.
Also no Battle Frontier, I don't want Battle Maison or Battle Tree with regular battles.
I want slot things that force you to start a battle with certain status effects (Arcade in Gen IV) or having to pick a path that can possibly heal, status, battle you (Pike in Gen III).
The only dislike I really focused on was the lack of Battle Frontier. When I first caught wind of the remakes I guess I just expected to them to add it for even more content and it seemed like a big deal back then. Sadly, it just gets hinted at and there's a copy of the Battle Chateau from X/Y. Oh well. The island is great for egg hatching at least.
I was about to say the same thing myself about the Frontier. I was hoping they would really improve it, I actually expected it to be there, but it makes sense since it was not an actual Emerald remake.