I personally thought it was an awesome episode. I thought it was so cool to see Cilan's brother Chili make a return and have a battle with him. What did you guys think of the episode?

I like how it explored the relationship between Cilan and his brothers. It may sound off topic, but are they triplets?

They may be triplets, but I am not sure, since characters' ages are rarely mentioned in the show, with a few exceptions, such as the fact that trainers generally start their Pokemon journeys around the age of 10.

Nice episode.

This episode was a nice one and I'm glad to see that they're trying to develop Cilan's brothers. Iris and Cilan are watching Ash train his Pokemon for their gym battle against Clay when one of Cilan's brothers, Chili, suddenly appears and challenges him to a battle. Despite a type advantage, Chili's Pansear loses to Cilan's Pansage causing Chili and Pansear to get into an argument and to run away from each other. Concerned, Cilan calls his other brother, Cress, at the Striaton Gym and finds out that Chili ran off without telling Cress because he felt he was losing too many battles and lost his temper when Cress told him because he didn't use any defensive moves. Cilan finds Chili and after explaining his problems Cilan says he'll help his brother battle better. Can Cilan help his brother Chili with his battling style? Where has Pansear run off to? Is the Striaton Gym going to be down another Gym Leader? And how many Fire-type attacks will it take before Chili realizes all Fire-type attacks aren't going to work? Read below to find how all this sizzle outs:

Burn, MONKEY:
We start the episode in the Pokemon Center with Ash training Snivy, Tepig, and Pikachu (um, Ash, Driftveil is a Ground-type Gym... oh wait, this is Pikachu, nevermind... though I'd still switch Tepig and Pikachu with either Tranquill, Oshawott, Swadloon, or Palpitoad). Iris and Cilan note how ready Ash and his Pokemon are when the attention is drawn off the battlefield when someone calls Cilan's name: his brother Chili! Opener, title, Pidove's flying into the sun, and Cilan asks Chili what he's doing here and Chili says he's traveling and training like him (so does that mean Cress is the only Striaton Gym Leader? QUICK, SNIVY TRAINERS, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!).

Ash: But Chili, you're one of the Striaton City Gym Leaders, aren't you?
Comment: So is Cilan, what's your point? 100 pokedollars says they're about to say something hypocritical.

Iris: Anyone who challenges the Striaton Gym gets to choose the Gym Leader they want to battle.
Comment: Excuse *Pikachu315111 leaves the room and you hear loud laughing from there before Pikachu315111 re-enters* Phew, that was a good relief.
Iris: How does the Striaton Gym function with two of you gone?
Comment: There's still Cress. And apparently the Unova region liked the idea of a pure Water-type Gym so much they're making one in Black 2 and White 2 (good job getting yourselves fired ).

Chili says Cress can handle the gym by himself though in an almost spiteful way before cheering up and challenging Cilan to a battle (I get it, with Cress's Panpour keeps on beating Chili's Pansear and without Cilan's Pansage to complete the elemental rock-paper-scissors Chili started feeling bad so went out looking for Cilan... someone has low self-esteem). Chili says he wants to see all that Cilan has learned while on his way to become a top Connoisseur and Cilan happily accepts.

Ash: I'll be the referee, okay?
Comment: Wow, this episode is full of comedy bits, isn't it?

It's one Pokemon each and each Striaton Gym Leader send out their signature Pokemon who both shake hands having not seen each other in a while. Chili pokes fun at Cilan for choosing Pansage as he always does (Chili, Cilan now has a Dwebble and and Stunfisk, both having a type that's strong against Fire-types, you shouldn't be talking) but Cilan says this is their battle style and how they always did this back in at the Striaton Gym. Chili agrees but then suddenly gets angry asking Cilan he's been training for a while and is he sure he wants to stick with the same battling style FOREVER? Cilan tells Chili to save his comments until after the battle and thus we start.

Pansear uses Flamethrower and Fire Punch but Pansage dodges both attacks and Chili says battling isn't just about dodging but Cilan says dodging is part of battling. Pansear uses another Flamethrower but Pansage dodges so it goes into a Flame Charge (does Pansear only know Fire-type moves?) but Pansage uses a Rock Tomb that knocks Pansear back. Pansear uses its last move, Fire Blast (so yes, Pansear only knows Fire-type attacks, no wonder why you're probably losing against Cress's Panpour) but Pansage dodges it using Dig. As you expect next to happen, Pansage appears right under Pansear tossing it back and Pansage finishes things with a SolarBeam just to add insult to injury, knocking Pansear out.

Ash: Hey Pansear, you okay?
Iris: You can't say that Ash.
Ash: Oh yeah. Pansear is unable to battle, Cilan wins!
*Iris sighs*
Comment: Well Iris, if you knew what to do you should have taken over.

Brother's Monkeying Around:
Pansage goes over to check on Pansear who's okay but as Chili tries to return it Pansear jumps out of the way and in front of Chili and starts yelling at him. Chili asks Pansear why it's so angry (because you lost to a type it's strong against?) which actually turns out to be the reason why it's angry and Chili tells it they lost because it missed with Fire Blast which gets Pansear literally red-faced angry and it starts jumping and screaming like the monkey that it is. Ash and Iris tells them to stop fighting and Cilan explains to Chili they lost because Chili made a mistake and he shouldn't be blaming Pansear. Chili denies it's his fault but is Pansear's and Pansear reminds Chili why you don't blame a Fire-type by Flamethrowering Chili's face. Pansear decides to run off and when Ash asks if Chili is going to do anything Chili says if Pansear doesn't want to be his Pokemon then that's just fine (um, isn't Pansear your ONLY Pokemon?). Cilan says that Chili doesn't mean that but Chili gets upset and runs off telling them to leave him alone and Iris asks if Cilan should do anything which Cilan saying if knows that if he talked to Chili now it'll make things worse (you know, Pokemon, not all Fire-type trainers have to be hot-headed) and decides to call Cress to see what's going on.

One call later and Cilan finds out that Chili actually ran away from the Striaton Gym and Cress hasn't heard from Chili since he left. Cilan tells Cress that Chili told them he was on a journey and Cress thinks he knows what's wrong as he head into a flashback where we see Chili laying on the Striaton Gym's battlefield. Chili asks what he's going to do when Cress comes up and asks what's wrong which Chili said he can't believe he's been losing to so many challengers (... which would make sense if the Striaton Gym ran like it did in the games, but in the anime you got to choose which one you battled so I think this should be a normal thing). Cress tells Chili losing is part of a Gym Leader's job (... that didn't come out right, Cress said it better) but Chili says that's only after showing their strength however he thinks he's losing way too easily (well if an challenger's Pokemon is resistant to Fire-types then that Fire-type only move set kind of stabs you in the back). Cress unknowingly agrees which gets Chili mad as he thinks Cress is saying he's a loser which Cress tries to correct but Chili then asks Cress why is he losing so much and to be honest. Cress tells Chili that he's all offense but no defense which gets Chili red-faced angry about being told he has no defense much to Cress's confusion. Chili accuses Cress of saying he's battling wrong which Cress says he didn't.

Chili: That's it, we're no longer brothers anymore, goodbye!
Comment: That's no how it works. Then again I'm saying that when we're dealing with a set of triplets who all have DIFFERENT COLORED ANIME HAIR (and one doesn't even have sclera (white part of the eye)).

Out of the flashback, Cress is concerned but Cilan says he's sure that Chili just needs time to cool off though Cress still asks Cilan to look after Chili all the same which Cilan says he'll of course do and ends the call. Iris says Chili has a short fuse since he got angry for getting the answer he wanted from Cress and Cilan just says that's how Chili is but the good thing about being brothers is that they can cover the things one of the others couldn't handle (so then who battles the Dragon-type challengers at the Striaton Gym?). Cilan says they should go find Chili though Ash asks how does he know where he is and Cilan says when Chili is angry he goes to eat his favorite food (it better not be what I think it is...).

Oh, it's doughnuts, I wasn't quite expecting that. Cilan asks how are the doughnuts surprising Chili and tells him that Cress says hello and that Chili ran away which an annoyed Chili says Cress assumes too much. Cilan tells Chili that Cress was worried about him though Chili says that Cress probably likes it better that he's not there losing battles (I would think if Cress was happy about something being gone it'll be your attitude). Cilan tells Chili he wants to speak for himself and Cress that they're his brothers and care about him (which is why their holding this intervention on your doughnut problem...) which Chili agrees with and says he's just frustrated that he has a problem but can't find any answers (which is why they're holding this intervention, DOUGHNUTS ARE NOT THE WAY! (this episode review is not sponsered by Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme)).

Cilan asks what's been troubling Chili and Chili explains how his temper effects his battling and when Cress told him he's an offensive battler it got to him and he left on his own journey but after traveling a little while he began thinking he should change his battling style after all but he doesn't know how. At the Driftveil Pokemon Center Chili heard that Cilan was there and so thought that if he battled Cilan it would answer his questions. Cilan suggests Chili to start by showing what he learned in his training (I think that was done during the battle, also you'll have to find Pansear) so that he can do an Evaluation and they decide to look for Pansear which Chili says he thinks he knows where it is. Like a monkey, Pansear is up in a tree eating apples and Chili starts apologizing to it though Pansear throws an apple at him. Cilan says they should leave this up to Pansage who climbs up the tree and talks with Pansear.

Iris: They sound exactly like Cilan and Chili.
Ash: They're just like you guys.
Comment: Yes, Cilan and Chili are monkeys.

Despite Pansage talking to it Pansear still refuses to go back to Chili so Chili climbs up the tree to apologize to Pansear face-to-face. Chili tells Pansear he has a dream to open up his own gym, the first Fire-type Gym in Unova (so with the anime showing that there are way more then 8 gyms in each region, out of all the gyms in Unova the Striaton Gym is the only one which has Fire-type Pokemon?) and says in order to do this they need to learn everything they can about Fire-types (here's a free hint, don't teach your Fire-type attacks of the same type) and Pansear decides to accept Chili's apology.

Meanwhile with Team Rocket, they're now at Thundurus's shrine where James pulls out and destroys the "Lightning Wedge" which causes the shrine to glow for a moment and Meowth says it won't be long for Thundurus to appear.

Too Solar To Handle:
Cilan starts to Evaluate Chili and Pansear noting it's Ability is Gluttony which he says also fits Chili (um, Pansage and Panpour also have Gluttony unless you and Cress managed to get ones from the Dream World) and they both have hot tempers thus they're a good match which Chili says he knew they made a good team (you're a Connoisseur, you should have already figured that out). Next Cilan goes over Pansear's move and comes up with the same conclusion I did at the very beginning of the episode: Chili really needs to teach Pansear moves of different types.

Chili: As a Connoisseur, what do you suggest?
Comment: ... are Chili and Cress not Connoisseurs?

Cilan says that Fire-types are weak to Water-type moves which are weak to Grass-type and suggests that Pansear should learn SolarBeam (you know you could have mentioned all of Fire-type's weaknesses, Water, Ground, and Rock, and point out that a Grass-type move is super effective against all of them). Iris asks if Pansear should learn a defensive move and Cilan says that with Chili's and Pansear's attitudes that wouldn't work so well so decides to go with the old motto of "offense is the best defense" (which Cilan and Chili even say). Chili says Cilan sure knows what makes them tick and Cilan says it's something he picked up travelling with Ash and Iris explaining before he favored balancing his moves to be prepared for anything he would come up against but now knows that it's also the trainer and their connection with their Pokemon that must also be taken into consideration.

Chili and Pansear decide they want to learn SolarBeam and so the first thing they do is stand out with arms wide open at the sun to absorb its energy (well, at least for the Pokemon, the most Cilan and Chili are absorbing is a tan). Ash, Pikachu, Iris, and Axew do the same thing (though Pikachu and Axew can't learn SolarBeam and Iris is already dark-skinned) and Cilan asks if Chili can hear the voices of the grass and trees (Cilan, that laughing you hear aren't coming from the plants). Chili says he can't hear it which Cilan tells him he needs to open his heart (great, Cilan's gone crazy) and Iris and Ash both say they think they heard it (great, the craziness is infectious).

Just like a spreading Pokerus, Chili says he's hearing the voices and Cilan starts giving the instructions on how to fire the Solarbeam by storing it in one point of your body and then doing the Dragon Ball's Kamehameha which Pansear does and nothing happens. Cilan says they need to give it a little bit more time but now it's time to work on stamina and strength and we go through a training montage complete with Pansear running up a flight of stairs (*starts playing "Gonna Fly Now"*). Finally it's time to try SolarBeam once more and while at first it didn't look like anything was happening Chili tells Pansear to concentrate and finally its "hair" starts to twinkle like Pansage's and no sooner do they reach the next step that Pansear pulls off a successful SolarBeam (so, which move did Pansear forget?). Everyone congratulates Pansear and Cilan goes over Pansear's other moves though only really talks about how Flame Charge increases Pansear's Speed which gets Chili anxious for a battle and, wanting some more practice, Ash suggests that they battle which Chili accepts.

At the Pokemon Center's battlefield, Oshawott pops out showing it wants to battle (hey, this should be something Chili is used to ) and they point out the type advantage Oshawott has yet not how this should be a good way to see how effective Pansear's SolarBeam is considering it learned it TO COUNTER Water-types. The battle starts with Pansear using Fire Blast and Oshawott using Water Gun which cancel each other out. They move to Phsyical attacks where Pansear uses Fire Punch but Oshawott uses Razor Shell and once again the attacks cancel each other out. While Cilan is glad to see Chili and Pansear are making up for the type disadvantage with power, Pansear starts a Flame Charge (revealing it forgot Flamethrower, though I guess with Fire Blast being no more accurate than Flamethrower in the anime I guess it makes sense) and Oshawott uses Aqua Je... wait, Tackle? Yes, Ash has Oshawott use Tackle and gets hit by the monkey surrounded in fire and shockinging is the one coming off hurt as Pansear takes Oshawott's recovering time to use Fire Punch and sends it flying. Oshawott however it okay and now uses Aqua Jet while in midair but Pansear dodges out of the way thanks to the speed boost it for from Flame Charge as it then tries a Fire Punch which stops Aqua Jet and cancels each other's attacks. Oshawott heads in and starts using Razor Shell after Razor Shell as Pansear takes the defensive and accepts the hits while blocking them which confuses Iris. Though as Cilan had said, doing this got Pansear's anger up and it finally uses SolarBeam which speeds too fast for Oshawott to dodge and it hits knocking out Oshawott. Chili is declared the winner and him and Pansear hug each other.

That noon Chili thanks Cilan for helping him and says he's going back to the Striaton Gym to apologize to Cress and they give each other their best wishes before Chili sets off. While waving goodbye, Nurse Joy comes out of the Pokemon Center to tell Ash that Clay has come back to the Gym and is ready for their battle. And now with Ash's long awaited 5th Gym Battle on its way, we cut back to the Kami Trio's shrines where a fierce thunderstorm starts to form.