New Pokemon Snap's Movie Easter Egg Raises Questions About Todd Snap and Ash Ketchum

New Pokemon Snap has an Easter egg for the latest Pokemon movie that raises some weird continuity questions. Players are still winding their way through the Lental region of New Pokemon Snap and its many secret routes and surprise encounters a month after its release. One Easter egg has recently picked up attention, as it ties into a Pokemon movie not yet released in the United States. One of the areas players can explore is Professor Mirror's base camp, which includes a brief jaunt into Mirror's lab. On the walls of the lab are several photos that were taken by Professor Mirror's assistant Rita.

One of the load screens in New Pokemon Snap mentions that the photos were not taken in the Lental region, but that's the only clue about their actual nature. It turns out that the photos are actually concept art taken from Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle. You can check out the images below.

The concept art on the wall in #NewPokemonSnap seems to be an Easter egg for the pokemon movie Coco.

Not sure about the blue building yet because the movie is out here, but the tree and the pokemon center are (thank you @PinkGermy & @KiddyKongFacts for tracking those down). pic.twitter.com/juiV1Elgyd

— TAHK0 ☕️ (@TAHK0) May 1, 2021

The really curious thing about the photos is that they actually represent a true crossover between New Pokemon Snap and Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle. It turns out that Rita makes a cameo appearance in the film, assumably shooting the photos that appear in the game. Not only does that mean that Rita is the third character who appears in the anime and a Pokemon Snap game (joining Professor Oak and original protagonist Todd Snap), it also raises some strange questions about the continuity of the Pokemon Snap franchise. After all, Todd Snap once appeared in the Pokemon anime, joining Ash as a traveling companion for several episodes.

However, Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle exists in an alternate timeline to the main Pokemon anime, one where Ash hasn't experienced all of the same adventures that he did in the main Pokemon series. Since Rita appeares in both Secrets of the Jungle and New Pokemon Snap, that means that the Todd Snap we see in the games is a different Todd Snap from the one in the anime series. That could also mean that video game Todd Snap never met Ash Ketchum, since he's a fully grown adult while Ash is still a 10 year kid in Secrets of the Jungle.

It's a little sad to realize that Ash and Todd have never met in at least one timeline, and that the Todd we see in the games is different from the one who appeared in the anime years ago. However, that doesn't take away from what is an otherwise cool Easter egg that links different parts of the Pokemon franchise in an interesting way.

New Pokemon Snap is available for the Nintendo Switch now.