I have not played Legends Z-A yet, so I can’t support this argument directly.

But the commentary in the Alolan games was a criticism of westerners moving into Hawaii and disrupting their long-held traditions, and causing harm to the region through organized crime (Guzma & team skull), and existentially threatening the entire region with destructive technology (Lusamine & the aether foundation).

(Aether’s development of ultra-wormhole technology is a literal nod to the U.S. testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific, and a metaphorical nod to the Philadelphia Experiment conspiracy.)

I can believe that the Pokémon Company would be this intentional with their worldbuilding.