True, but then again, Misty being a Lorelei fangirl wasn't even implied in Red, Green, and Blue, and the only time it was even alluded to be the case before FRLG was in the Anime. Hence, their rewriting Misty's character to reflect her anime counterpart. I mean, Brock didn't get any Anime references in the Fame Checker at all, and they certainly had an opportunity to do so.
As far as the last bit, you DO realize the anime's essentially an advertisement for the games, right (especially now)? That would make it pretty important to actually celebrate a 20th anniversary (especially when it was the movies that gave us those legendary Pokémon starting with Jirachi).