Regarding Judith Barsi, I can't remember ever knowing anything about it as a kid. Perhaps I did, but if so, I forgot about it over time. I was vaguely aware of it by the time I rented the movie from the library as an adult for my initial viewing, but I didn't know the exact details of what happened, and I got so absorbed into the movie that I otherwise wasn't thinking about it while watching.
It wasn't until afterwards, once I'd been transformed into an LBT fan, that I learned more about it. There wasn't really one specific place where I found out; I just slowly started to hear about it more and more. I can certainly remember feeling numb and sick once I knew the full story (and I still am). Although that said, it hasn't really impacted future LBT viewings, in the sense that when I watch a movie I'm not always actively thinking about the real-life actors behind it. As in, when I watch the first two Harry Potter movies, I'm not necessarily thinking about Richard Harris as Dumbledore passing away. I just see Dumbledore on the screen.
For Pokémon ability, what exactly do you mean? Different from Pokémon moves?