Ash and his friends meet up with Aya again.
Brock's Pineco is revealed to know Spikes.
This is the last episode to air in Japan before the earliest release of Pokémon Crystal.
This episode was banned in South Korea, likely due to the overt focus on Japanese culture.
What Tokichi says in this episode in regards to beauty ("Beautiful people are more beautiful...more so than people who are as they are") is similar to a line from Beauty and the Breeder, in which Jessie and James say, "Beautiful Pokémon are more beautiful...more so than people who are as they are".