Headscratchers / Pokémon: I Choose You!

• Out-of-universe question; what was the point of not including Misty and Brock in the movie? The movie is meant to harken back to the original series, and the two were just as big a part of the first season as Ash. It's clearly not a matter of not having time to include them, given the appearance of two Suspiciously Similar Substitute's, and given fans have long been asking for both characters to return, including them would be an easy way to spike audience interest.
  • Kunihiko Yayuma confirmed that the movie was meant to be a What If? scenario had Ash found the Rainbow Feather dropped from Ho-Oh. So I guess the intent was to show us an Alternate Universe where Misty and Brock never traveled with Ash in the first place.
  • This concern is even more moot now that Misty and Brock guest-starred in two episodes of the SM anime.
  • My best guess for having these new characters was due to the fact that they didn't want to tie the adventure to one particular generation of the franchise, as this movie is supposed to be a celebration of the anime as a whole. Brock and Misty are gym leaders in Red and Blue and thus represent Gen I more than other games in the series. Although I do find it a bit suspicious that both Verity and Sorrel have strong elements of Gen 4. Does this hint at a possible Diamond and Pearl remake?
• Who is Verity's father? He is never mentioned in the storyline, and last time I checked Cynthia had never been in affair with anyone. The only two possiblities I can think of are Cyrus, who is very unlikely but would explain his abscense from Verity's life, and Archie from ORAS, but only because he had brown hair and liked Water types, just like Verity. Or did Verity's dad just vanish into disappeared-dad-land just like 90% of all other dads in Pokemon did?
  • He presumably some guy who gave his daughter brown hair. He's not mentioned because he's not important to this story, this doesn't necessary mean he doesn't exist.
  • Honestly I assume that Cynthia is but one of her mothers, with a brunette being the one who carried her to term. Where the sperm came from.....first marriage? Sperm bank? Random trainer wandering by who gave five minutes of his time?
  • Kunihiko Yayuma, the editor of this film, confirms that Verity's mom isn't Cynthia to begin with. She only resembles her.
• If the Rainbow Wing is supposed to be the nail, then how did it cause Ash not to meet up with Misty earlier on?
  • That's Ash's nail, others have their own nails. Perhaps Misty never felt the need to leave home to prove herself and stayed the gym leader, for example, and thus was not on Route 1.
  • Ash was chased by 1,000 Spearows instead of 50 this time. That could have easily changed his timing in relation to Misty's arrival at the river.
  • How about Delia's nail? In the movie, Delia had to wake Ash up, while in the show, Ash woke up by himself, albeit incredibly late either way. Perhaps the time difference between both wake-up calls was just long enough for Misty to find another lake.

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