>>55858905They are still trying to gain female favor and by that I meant from younger girls because I'm sure older ladies and fujos are absolutely satisfied with all these ikemen and shotas that boys's anime provide firsthand. I'm sure they looked at their data tables and noticied some hole from girls at a lower age spectrum and were perplexed that whatever their girl companions did was not enough. Not long lasting Misty, not May and Dawn with their contests, not bratty Iris with a high-profile VA, so they tried a different approach from XY onwards:
Serena's perfomances with Bonnie as little girl insert
The Alola girls ensemble and their different characterizations
Koharu being whatever
Now Liko
Not sure what they expect after all these years, specially when they are sticked right after proper little girl show like Aikatsu. Of course those girl viewers will compare them and find that Pokemon anime did not provide them with a similar experience and promptly get ignored/dropped. Only the future knows if chasing that favor is a mistake for themselves