We jump from the continuity of the original anime to the one started by I Choose You! as the Ash Ketchum there — though not Alolan Champion nor the World Coronation Series Monarch — is still chasing his goal to become a Pokémon Master. On his way to meet his father, Ash encounters a young man named Sunny, and the two strike up a friendship from there. But as Ash starts to grow closer to him, he learns a tragic truth that helps him to realize there's not always a guarantee when it comes to living.
This episode aired in Japan first prior to To be a Pokémon Master, but was aired as the final episode of that series in the United States.
This episode contains the follow tropes:
- Adaptational Context Change: Ash's hat in the original series was a giveaway from the Pokémon League (only 100 copies were made) that he got by sending in thousands of postcards for. In this version of events, It Was a Gift from his father.
- An Aesop: You really don't know how long you have on this world with your loved ones. Cherish that time, and appreciate the simple things in life you take for granted; sometimes it's the simplest things in life that are the most worthwhile.
- Alternate Continuity: The episode takes place in the I Choose You universe instead of the main anime series, as evidenced by Ash's outfit.
- Broad Strokes: A version of "Primeape Goes Bananas!" seems to have occurred in this universe, as Ash mentions a Mankey once stole his hat.
- The Bus Came Back: In a meta sense. The I Choose You version of Ash and Pikachu hadn't been seen since Pokémon: Secrets of the Jungle, nearly two years ago, mainly due to animation studio OLM having staffing shortages and a lack of new mythical Pokémon to use the movies to promote. This special is their first (and currently final) time since then.
- Call-Back: Ash says a Mankey once stole his hat.
- Close on Title: The Japanese episode closes out with the episode's title of "Pocket Monsters: The Distant Blue Sky", using the Japanese Pokémon logo. The dubbed version just simply uses the international Pokémon logo with no mention of the episode's name.
- Costume Evolution: Ash has switched his outfit back to the one from the original I Choose You movie, which more closely resembles his original outfit. To make the transition complete, his father gets him the original Indigo League hat as a gift.
- Darker and Edgier: Atypical of the more lighthearted anime, Ash finds a couple in mourning for their son having died a year ago before he could truly begin to live, and helps them to find some closure.
- Dead All Along: Sunny, Ash's new friend, is really a ghost, as the real one died a year ago from an unspecified illness.
- Death of a Child: Sunny looks to be about Ash's age, and has been deceased for a year.
- End of an Era:
- Meta wise, this is the final Pokémon episode that has Carter Cathcart (aka Jimmy Zoppi) involved as a dub script writer and voice actor, having been forced to step down from his roles as James, Meowth, Gary, and Professor Oak due to throat cancer.
- In Japan, this is the last episode featuring Ash and Pikachu from the I Choose You continuity, while in the US, it's the last episode of To be a Pokémon Master — and thus the last time that any Ash is in the lead role.
- Foreshadowing: Towards the Dead All Along reveal:
- At the beginning of the episode, Ash passes by some rocks with carvings of Gengar, the original Ghost-type Pokémon.
- Sunny refuses opportunities to physically interact with the world several times - he refuses a handshake from Ash, mentions he's never petted a Pokémon, and turns down the food offered by Sue.
- Friendly Ghost: Sunny turns out to be the spirit of a deceased boy trying to get his old hat back and give his parents some closure.
- I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why: As Ash is chowing down on his Mom's croquets, he suddenly starts getting teary-eyed but isn't sure why. Perhaps missing his father might be the cause, but it's never definitely answered.
- Missed Him by That Much: Ash was supposed to meet his father at the Pokémon Center, but his dad left five minutes before Ash got there due to an emergency.
- Moving Beyond Bereavement: Sunny's parents are still taking the loss of their child hard, with his father painting pictures of the sky constantly to honor his son's memory. It takes Ash finding Sunny's hat that allows them both to have some form of closure, prompted by Sunny's ghost helping Ash to find it.
- Mythology Gag:
- Ash says a wild Mankey once stole his hat, like in the original series episode "Primeape Goes Bananas!"
- Ash's father gives him the original Indigo League hat as a gift.
- Never Say "Die": Averted. Sunny's parents do say that he passed away a year ago outright.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Sunny long predeceased his parents, and the main plotline of the episode is giving them some sense of closure regarding their grief.
- Pet the Dog:
- Ash gives the wild Mankey who took Sunny's hat his own hat.
- Inadvertently, but Delilah gives the disguised and starving Team Rocket extra croquets for them to eat, and they genuinely thank her for it on the way out.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: Ash encounters a Kakuna and thinks Sunny can pet it, since all it does is stand still. Then a swarm of Beedrill appear behind him to object. Ash and Pikachu dart the hell out of there.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Averted. Unlike in the original continuity, where Ash and co. would rarely take advantage of Team Rocket's delivering of their motto and just attack them or stop them in their tracks, Ash steals Pikachu out of their latest trap while they're talking, then sends them blasting off again.
- The Unreveal: Nothing is said about who Ash's father is or what he does for a living, with the closest hint being it involves some sort of safety-sensitive position. Nor does the audience even get see a physical appearance of the man because he happens to have left the meeting location before Ash finally arrives.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Unfortunately, Ash didn't get a chance to meet his father, whom he's implied not to have seen in a long time, due to having missed him by only a few minutes.
