AA Alkaline batteries often will leak and ruin the flashlight even if they claim to be leak-proof. You want to use Low Self discharge NiMH (rechargeable) batteries whenever possible as they don’t leak and will have much higher runtime . Just add a note so they don’t throw the batteries if they need to change them far from a charger. Buy the Eneloop 4AA/Standard charger combo , then if you need more batteries buy Eneloops, Tenergy Centuras, Amazon Basics (now made in China, not longer in Japan!) or whatever NiMH brand you prefer.
Lithium AA non-rechargeable batteries (such as Energizer AA Lithium) are another choice that are less likely to leak than alkalines if you don’t want to recharge but they are not much cheaper than NiMH. They will have a bit more runtime than NiMH.
Yeah, those hateful little alkaleaks will ruin any light they’re in, especially in something like a first-aid kit, bugout bag, etc., and you’ll only discover that when you need it most.
For longevity, I’d get a light that takes ’123s, or as you mentioned, Li primaries. Those’ll last for years untouched.
With Li AAs, at least you could swap in alkaleaks in case of true desperation emergency.
So? Any AA light with physical switch or twisty (Xeno E03, Jetbeam Jet-I, etc.) will stay put for years without draining the cell, but even a light with an e-switch (Sofirn SP10, etc.) can be locked out by unscrewing the tailcap a turn or so.
All those lights will work with everything from an alkaleak through 14500 (Li-ion or LFP).
For using a ’123, something like a Jet-II would be quite nice.