To explain what Snailface said, PAlib is a wrapper for libnds - keep that in mind. Without a lib3DS, a wrapper isn't possible. Hell, lib3DS isn't possible before we find a homebrew booting exploit in the first place, so yeah...
If you want to program and you don't have enough resources on the DS, try the Wii, PSP or other devices covered in the devkitPro toolkit.