There is a flashback to an ecological disaster that killed all the town's plant life. All the plants and trees are completely withered, and the town is completely overcast by a dark sky that blots out the sun. It's said that it took 20 years to recover from this.
This is very dark and intense for a kids film. The villain is shown to have destroyed a town's ecosystem in the past, and he plans to do it again. His plan involves kidnapping Zoroark and Zorua, a mother and child, and the two are then separated, as Zoroark is held hostage and forced to serve the villain, while Zorua escapes and tries to find her. Zorua is also physically abused and threatened by the villain many times. It's likely that young children will find this upsetting.
Kodai hunts down and attacks Zorua and Celebi. Zorua is attacked repeatedly and knocked out, and Kodai then grabs Celebi by the throat and nearly strangles it. This can be very frightening for children.