Aside from simply being stronger than it’s evolution, the speed does wonders with attack that’s still decent. It doesn’t waste precious stat points from it’s total on unneeded defense due to being an ice type and with hustle, will be stronger than many other pokemon. This is especially the case when holding a life orb. If you’re still worried about faster enemies, slap on Ice Shard, the Jolly nature, or a Choice Band.
You don’t really have to rely on only close friends to trade pokemon to you. Just make a thread in #online:trading or ask on the discord’s trading channel and somebody might respond. There’s a good amount of people who’ve beaten the game and wouldn’t mind breeding a delta or two.