While other movies have featured in-person cameos of Pokémon Champions and Frontier Brains, this is the first film that features an in-person cameo of an Elite Four member.
This is the first movie in which Ash and his friends encounter Team Rocket since Pokémon: Giratina y el Guerrero Celestial (2008), which was also released on July 19, coincidentally. This is also the first movie to feature Team Rocket's Meowth Balloon since its design changes in the Best Wishes series.
Argus Steel mentions that the chocolates he was eating in the airship scene were imported from the Hoenn region.
This movie has more human antagonists than any other movie, with four.
This movie marks the first appearance of a Floatzel in the anime since its cameo in Eve of Battle! Satoshi's Pokémon All Together!! (2010), over four years previously.