Minor thing that's worth bringing up because I haven't seen it addressed much yet. This popped up in the Pokémon anime episode yesterday:
They're starting an arc based around Necrozma, and this mural apparently depicts ancient Alolan heroes' encounter with it centuries prior. You know how a lot of stories like to set things up in a way where there's a parallel between the old legends and the current protagonists? Well, they're doing it here, based on the three 'mons on the bottom right there: one each for Ash, Lillie, and Kiawe. These specific three make it highly unlikely that they were chosen at random.
So it's interesting that they're using a Lycanroc to allude to Ash, isn't it? Not a Rowlet, or a member of the Litten line? This seems to be another thing hammering in who his signature 'mon is for Alola.
Which puts us in a weird situation where a rumor is pointing
against a character that the big picture keeps pointing
toward. What does this mean in the long run? Hard to say just yet, but we should acknowledge it at least, shouldn't we?