Cilan

Gender
 Birth date
 Eye color
 Hair color
 Hometown
 Region
 Family
 Friends
 Occupation
 Trainer class
 **Voiced by** | Jason Griffith

**Cilan** (Japanese: **デント** *Dent*) is an A-class Pokémon Connoisseur and a former traveling companion of Ash. He made his debut in *Triple Leaders, Team Threats!*.

## History

### Pre-series

Cilan grew up with two brothers, Chili and Cress, in their hometown of Striaton City in the Unova region. At some point during their childhood, Cilan received a Pansage as his starter Pokémon and partner, while Chili and Cress received a Pansear and Panpour, respectively. Years later, Cilan and his brothers became the Striaton Gym Leaders while also running a café together.

### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Cilan debuted in *Triple Leaders, Team Threats!*, where he was running errands in Striaton. He was intrigued to see an Axew and remarked that it and Iris seemed to be perfect partners. He then noticed Pikachu and examined it excitedly, having never seen one before. When Ash explained he wanted to challenge the Striaton Gym, Cilan happily showed them the way. He leads them to a café and sits them down at a table, despite their obvious confusion. After toying with Ash for a bit, Cilan reveals that he, along with his brothers Chili and Cress, are the Gym Leaders at the Striaton Gym. After introducing their Pokémon to Ash, he and his brothers were shocked to hear he wanted to battle all of them, but they happily accepted his offer. Cilan served the role as the judge for his brothers' battles, and finally faced off as Ash's final opponent. After a heated battle with Cilan, which carried on to *Dreams by the Yard Full!*, Ash wins and gets the Trio Badge. After the battle, Cilan meets up with Ash at the Pokémon Center and begs him to tell him his battle secrets for future reference as a Connoisseur. After spending the day with Ash and Iris, Cilan decided to accompany them on Ash's journey, serving as the navigation as well as the cook as revealed in *Snivy Plays Hard to Catch!*.

In *A Home for Dwebble!*, the group encountered a wild Dwebble making its shell. After it was stolen by a group of thieving Dwebble, Cilan sent out his Pansage to follow them. With no luck, the group approached the Dwebble with empathy, but this only scared it and caused it to lash out at their Pokémon. It ended up hitting Pansage with a stray rock, which later ended up making him ill. Once he recovered, they unsuccessfully attempted to help Dwebble retrieve his shell in a 3-to-1 battle. Cilan then hatched a plan to lure the Dwebble away with Pokémon food so that the Dwebble to battle them one at a time. The plan was a success and the Dwebble urged to be a part of Cilan's team, who was happy to have it on board.

In *A Connoisseur's Revenge!*, Cilan revealed that he is an A-class Pokémon Connoisseur after Ash found a Connoisseur's shop in a Poké Mart. After doing some shopping, Cilan and Iris found Ash in a different Connoisseur shop belonging to a C-Class Connoisseur named Burgundy. Burgundy instantly recognized Cilan, who stated that he had defeated her in a Gym battle sometime before meeting Ash. Seeking total revenge, Burgundy challenged Cilan to a battle to prove she was a better Connoisseur, putting Ash's Pokémon on the line. Cilan accepted the battle, as well as responsibility for whatever might happen to Ash's Pokémon as a result of the battle, much to Ash's dismay. However, Cilan managed to defeat Burgundy without much trouble, and she decided to start her own journey. As the group was seeing Burgundy off, Cilan stepped forward and offered a few words of encouragement to his new rival, who still swore revenge on him and ran off.

He revealed that he has quite a knack for scientifically thinking in *A Night in the Nacrene City Museum!*, as well as in *A UFO for Elgyem!*, when he, Ash, and Iris witnessed a UFO landing. This led them to the home of Professor Icarus, a scientist in UFO engineering who Cilan admires.

Cilan showed off some of his skills as a fisherman in *Facing Fear with Eyes Wide Open!*, where he fished a Stunfisk out of a lake that was preventing Ash and Oshawott from retrieving a water herb that would heal their poisoned Pokémon, using a lure that resembled himself. Though Stunfisk put up a struggle, Cilan confused it by twirling it around in the air with his fishing rod before he slammed it to the ground. This left it unable to battle and he captured it. These skills were put to use again in *A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!* when he managed to hook a Basculin during a fake fishing competition held by Team Rocket.

In *Reunion Battles In Nimbasa!*, Cilan signed up to participate in the Club Battle tournament in Nimbasa Town along with his friends. He also reunited with Burgundy who was still determined to get her revenge. It was revealed that his first opponent would be Trip and their battle began in the next episode. He chose Dwebble to go up against Trip's Gurdurr. Initiating all of Dwebble's skills, Cilan was able to defeat him and advance to the second round of the competition, much to Burgundy's dislike. In *The Club Battle Hearts of Fury: Emolga Versus Sawk!*, his second round opponent was Luke. Cilan chose Stunfisk to go up against Luke's Larvesta and lost, thus knocking Cilan out of the tournament.

In *Crisis from the Underground Up!* and *Battle For The Underground!*, Cilan revealed he had an extensive knowledge of trains, and had once met Emmet and Ingo at a train convention. He even donned a black conductor's hat similar to Ingo's. Later when Team Rocket had stolen all of the Pokémon at the Pokémon Center, Cilan used his knowledge to become a major asset for Emmet and Ingo and help rescue the stolen Pokémon.

In *Lost at the Stamp Rally!*, Cilan competed in the Subway Bosses' Stamp Rally for a chance to battle either Ingo or Emmet. He collected all of the stamps except for one, though regardless, the Subway Bosses agreed to have a Tag Battle against Cilan and Ash as thanks for saving the Nimbasa Subway network from Team Rocket earlier.

In *A Call for Brotherly Love!*, Cilan was able to meet up with his brother Chili. Chili told him that he came to view the progress of his studying and immediately asked him for a battle to which Cilan accepted. He was able to easily able to defeat Chili's Pansear with his Pansage which provoked a fight between the High Temp Pokémon and its Trainer. He later learned from Cress that Chili had run away from the Gym because he criticized his battling style. Cilan decided that he would help Chili find his own battle style. While Cress said that Chili needed to not focus on offense so much and focus more on defense, Cilan thought it would be better for him to continue to focus on his offense under the premise of "a good offense is a good defense". He believed that teaching Pansear Solar Beam would be a good way for Pansear to defend itself against Water-types and it successfully learned the move with the help of Pansage.

In *Cilan Takes Flight!*, upon seeing that Skyla was not exercising her job as a Gym Leader properly, he decided to battle her. After seeing that her "Air Battle" system was only trusting in type match-up, when she told him that she was going to win, he put his efforts after his previous experiences where types didn't tell the outcome of the battle. However, as she had predicted he lost the battle, leaving Ash to attempt in making her have a change of heart, in which he succeeded.

In *The Clubsplosion Begins!*, Cilan entered the Clubsplosion that was held in Ambiga Town's Battle Club. He was able to defeat Flora in the first round, but lost to Stephan in the second, much to Burgundy's delight.

In *Clash of the Connoisseurs!*, he was hired by Mr. Hatterly along with Ricard Nouveau, another A-class Connoisseur, in order to choose Mr. Hatterly's daughter's first Pokémon. Cilan and Ricard didn't come to an agreement due to both having different points of view, and a duel between both Connoisseurs ensued. Even though Ricard's Premium Brand was the Pokémon of Cilan's phobia, a Purrloin, Cilan remained victorious. He then revealed to Mr. Hatterly that he had found out that his daughter had already befriended a Pokémon, a Foongus, and convinced him that this would be the best partner for his daughter.

In *Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times!*, shortly after arriving at Cynthia's villa in Undella Town, Cilan asked to battle Dawn as he wanted to evaluate a Pokémon that had been raised by a Coordinator. He chose to use his Pansage against Dawn's Piplup, and was surprised to see his strategies being countered and used against him. During the battle, Cilan gave an evaluation of Dawn's bond with Piplup, saying that he could sense that the two were friends by the way Piplup used his moves. The battle was eventually interrupted by Meloetta.

In *Jostling for the Junior Cup!*, Cilan entered the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup. He managed to defeat Shepherd and Horatio in the first and second rounds, respectively, assuring his progression to the semifinals. There, he faced off against Trip, using his Crustle against Trip's Serperior. Despite his efforts, Cilan ended up being defeated and was eliminated from the tournament.

In *A Surface to Air Tag Battle Team!*, Cilan and Ash battled brothers Soren and Rocko in a Tag Battle and won the match. Afterwards, the brothers began blaming each other for the loss, so Cilan provided a Connoisseur evaluation and concluded that they needed to catch some Water Pokémon. Rocko and Soren soon caught themselves a Corphish and Buizel, respectively, and immediately started working on new battle combinations.

In *Farewell, Unova! Setting Sail for New Adventures!*, Cilan, Ash, and Iris traveled to the Decolore Islands as a means to travel to Ash's home in Pallet Town. The gang was tricked into giving their Poké Balls to Team Rocket, however. Eventually, they got them back by the end of the episode due to Oshawott freeing them.

In *Cilan and the Case of the Purrloin Witness!*, Cilan tried to investigate the person who stole the gem of the gem collector Mrs. Ripple. He eventually deduced the thief's identity as Teaque, a competitor of Ash in the Marine Cup Tournament.

In *The Journalist from Another Region!*, Cilan and the group met up with Alexa, a journalist from the Kalos region visiting the Decolore Islands to research local festivities on the islands, while in Harvest Island. On the island, the group entered a Pokémon Sumo Tournament, which Cilan entered Pansage in. Pansage won in the beginning round, but was eventually defeated. After this, Alexa and the group decided to travel together throughout the rest of their adventures in the Decolore Islands.

In *Survival of the Striaton Gym!*, Chili and Cress called Cilan, asking him to come to Paladin Island. There, he learned that Morana had defeated both Chili and Cress and threatened to take over the Striaton Gym. In order to protect the Gym, Cilan battled her Abomasnow with Pansage. After defeating her, she told Cilan that she will win next time and departed. Cilan briefly considered returning to the Gym to protect it from people like Morana, but Chili and Cress encouraged him to continue traveling.

In *Best Wishes Until We Meet Again!*, when the group arrived in Kanto, Cilan and Iris decided that they will stop traveling with Ash. Cilan decided to travel to Johto to compete in the Old Rod Fishing Rally that was being hosted by Mr. Briney from the Hoenn region. He also decided to start anew as a Connoisseur. As such, he chose to travel with Iris on the Magnet Train and then set forth to the competition once in Johto and to start anew.

Cilan appeared in Ash's fantasy in *The Dream Continues!*.

In BWS01, after parting ways with Iris, Cilan met up with Brock. Together, they successfully quelled a rampaging Gyarados and stopped a Pokémon poacher named Amer. By the end of the episode, however, neither were introduced to each other or knew that Ash was a mutual friend of theirs.

### Pokémon the Series: XY

Cilan appeared again in XYS06. He was shown to have traveled to the Kalos region to participate in a fishing tournament in Lumiose City, during which he met Clemont and Bonnie. When Cilan reveals that he would like to visit the Prism Tower, Clemont and Bonnie agree to accompany him there. On Cilan's suggestion, the three decide to take the subway to the tower, but Bonnie ends up boarding a runaway train alone. Clemont and Cilan manage to stop the train and rescue Bonnie with the help of Clemont's special lure, his Aipom Arm, and Cilan's fishing skills. They later send out Pansage and Chespin to battle an Eelektross who had been causing the subway problems, before realizing it was lost and sick from electrical overcharge. After helping the Eelektross, Cilan heads off to Shalour City to visit the Tower of Mastery.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Cilan reappeared in several flashbacks of *Thrash of the Titans!*.

In *Radio Lulled the Mischievous Stars!*, it was revealed that Cilan had become a listener of Team Rocket's new radio show, which he sent a letter to using the pseudonym "Radio Connoisseur".

In *Partners in Time!*, Cilan appeared alongside Brock and Alexa, watching Ash's Masters Eight Tournament match against Leon.

In *Must Be Our Heroes and the Witch!*, it was revealed that Cilan had traveled to the Galar region, where he reunited with Ash and Brock and met Misty. After seeing that Brock was depressed, Cilan suggested that the group go to the Glimwood Tangle, where Brock was mind controlled by a wild Hatterene. While trying to free Brock from mind control, the group befriends a wild Hatenna, and were briefly controlled by Hatterene's power as well. Cilan found himself trapped in illusions with Ingo and Emmet. When Brock finally freed himself from Hatterene's powers, Cilan said goodbye to the group and revealed that he was returning to Unova to participate in a gastronomic event created by Ingo and Emmet.

### Other appearances

Cilan made a cameo appearance in the ending credits of *I Choose You!*.

## Character

Cilan tends to use the phrase "It's <verb> time!" when addressing a special scenario, such as when he evaluates Pokémon and human relations he says, "It's evaluating time!" in the dub and "It's tasting time!" in the original. During Gym battles in the dub, he will use the phrase, "It's time for the battle to be served!" When catching a Pokémon, he uses the line 「\_\_\_\_\_ゲットでグッドテイスト！」 in the original. He has used different phrases for catching Pokémon in the dub, however.

Like Brock, he has proved himself to be a good cook as he prepares meals for the group, and he also has a very broad knowledge about Pokémon. Cilan also navigates the group on their journey through use of his Town Map, much like Max who had a PokéNav, and Brock who had maps and a Pokégear.

As a Pokémon Connoisseur, he can read into people's personalities and often finds the best ways to approach them. He's patient and caring towards Ash and Iris, often offering them advice when they don't know what to do. While he has been shown to lose his temper, he quickly moves on and will go out of his way to make up for it. He tends to be an optimist looking at things positively rather than wallowing in defeat.

He is also shown to be afraid of the paranormal which has made him a skeptic, preferring to find logical scientific explanations for everything, but when he can't find a logical explanation he is typically the first to flee. His love for science is later emphasized upon encountering a possible UFO sighting which leads to him meeting one of his mentors, Professor Icarus.

Cilan also has a passion for sleuthing and will sometimes play detective. He even has a special hat that he wears and a magnifying glass. But he does more than just play as he was able to draw conclusions and come up with ideas in order to find the missing Audino in *Where Did You Go, Audino?*.

In *Purrloin: Sweet or Sneaky?*, it was revealed that Cilan also has a fear of Purrloin. He stated that one of them did something terrible to him, which he refused to talk about as he didn't want to remember it. In *Cilan and the Case of the Purrloin Witness!*, Cilan overcame his fear a little bit, but never truly got over it. The reason for his fear is unknown, although he has told Ash and Iris about it.

He, like his brothers, often speaks about Pokémon in relation to their element; in Cilan's case, leaves and herbs. All the brothers tend to use hand positions like rock, paper, and scissors - Cilan emphasizes words using his fingers.

## Pokémon

During his time running the Striaton Gym with his brothers, Cilan usually specialized in Grass-type Pokémon. However, during his travel with Ash, Cilan caught Pokémon that are strong against opponents that have the advantage over Grass-type, such as his Crustle and Stunfisk, who are strong against Fire and Flying-type Pokémon. Like Tracey, Cilan doesn't have a full party.

Although he doesn't do a lot of training with his Pokémon, they seems to be capable battlers, as they have help Cilan in the many tournaments he participated in. Cilan's Pokémon seems to be strong enough to take on opponents that had the advantage over them.

This listing is of Cilan's known Pokémon in the anime:

### Released

 Debut
 Japanese
 English

### Temporary

 Debut
 Japanese
 English

## Pokémon competitions

Cilan has competed in the following Pokémon competitions:

* Club Battle - Top 8 (*The Club Battle Hearts of Fury: Emolga Versus Sawk!*)
* Harvest Festival Battle Competition - Unknown (*Pokémon the Movie: White—Victini and Zekrom, Black—Victini and Reshiram*)
* Subway Bosses' Stamp Rally - Winner\* (*Lost at the Stamp Rally!*)
* Wishing Bell Festival - 5th (*Climbing the Tower of Success!*)
* Clubsplosion - Top 8 (*A Clubsplosion of Excitement!*)
* Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup - Top 4 (*Battling Authority Once Again!*)
* Pokémon Sumo Tournament - Top 16 (*The Journalist from Another Region!*)

## Trivia

* Cilan, along with Iris, was first revealed in silhouette in a preview for *Pokémon the Series: Black & White* that aired after DP183 in Japan on July 1, 2010. The two were revealed in full exactly one month later during a trailer on Pokémon Sunday.
* Cilan is the only one of Ash's male friends:
	+ To have a female rival.
	+ To have a fear of a specific Pokémon, namely Purrloin.
* Cilan is the first of Ash's male friends not to have a traditional Japanese name in the original version of the anime.
* In the games, Cilan can only be battled at the Striaton Gym if the player chooses Oshawott as their starter Pokémon. Notably, Ash has obtained Oshawott from Juniper as his first out of the Unova starter Pokémon, and used him in his Gym battle against Cilan. The same thing also happened to Burgundy, as she battled him once with an Oshawott.
* Cilan is the last of Ash’s friends to physically appear in the main series following his retirement from the main cast. Prior to his cameo in *Partners in Time!*, his only reappearances had been in special episodes.
* Cilan took 426 episodes to reunite with Ash following his departure from the main cast, the longest amount of time for any of Ash's former traveling companions.

Pansage

Crustle

Stunfisk

 Released:

Basculin

Terrakion