Hot takes

Only thing I'll say about Pokéshipping is that the English dub did more for it than the native dub did. You don't quite get the same vibe that Misty has feelings for Ash that you do in the 4Kids English dub. If we include the manga, then Misty having a thing for Red I suppose counts too but it didn't go anywhere like it did with Ruby and Sapphire.

As for Liko, who knows. She's at least older so they have more freedom than they would if she was younger. I haven't seen the final leg of Season 3 yet on Netflix(hasn't been uploaded yet on USA or UK afaik). I just hope they don't thrust Liko or Dot into Coordinating/Performance trope again in Season 4. It's stereotypes that drive me insane when there's nothing wrong with a Female Ash and yet they seem so unwilling to do it. Ugh...

Above is a video game example of why Liko needs to be a Female Ash. If they can make Linkle(female Link), then Liko can do Gyms like Ash did. I honestly would have loved for her to do Paldea Gym challenge(while Roy deals with Titans and Dot with Team Star given her friendship with Penny) but they opted to do Z-A pandering in Season 4 from what I can gather. It's a shame honestly.

PS: Linkle mod exists for BotW. Not sure on TotK though but probably adaptable.