This is the first time Jessie's Lickitung was used since the episode in which it was caught 34 episodes earlier.
This is the first time the running gag of getting Butch's name wrong is used. In this case, James called him "Botch", a more-or-less accurate translation of Kosanji (mistake) in the Japanese version.
Jessie, James and Meowth do not blast off in this episode.
This episode marks the first time Pikachu has been controlled by an evil organization.
Both of Butch, Cassidy's, Jessie, and James's mottos are said at the exact same time in this episode. Although Cassidy claims that Jessie and James' version of the motto is incorrect, in The Secret of the Breeding Center! (1998), Meowth claims that Butch and Cassidy stole the motto from them.