James is revealed to own a Growlithe, nicknamed Growlie.
James's childhood is revealed: James is revealed to come from a rich family and to have been engaged to a girl named Jessebelle - a doppelganger of Jessie.
Two episodes regarding Team Rocket's past are referenced in this episode, when James pretends to have amnesia and says that he remembers flunking out of Pokémon Tech (Pokemon hissho manyuaru (1997)) and joining a bicycle gang (Storm on Cycling Road (1997)).
James's faux flashback appears to be based on A Dog of Flanders, an 1872 English children's novel that is highly popular in Japan to the point of being regarded as a classic. James, as a small child, is dressed like a street urchin, and dies in front of a painting of a choir of angels on a cold winter night. James recalls that "the boy departed this world" and that "he was found frozen solid". A Dog of Flanders ends with the protagonist, a young, homeless child, freezing to death with his dog on Christmas Eve while spending the night staring at Paul Peter Rubens's "The Elevation of the Cross".
The running gag of Jessebelle saying "You're not running properly" was exclusive to the English dub.