This was an okay episode, though nothing too special. The animation was pretty off at times.
Let's see... It was amusing to see Ash ref a battle, and to hear Iris tell him to stop being a cheerleader. He's such a kid.
Fire trainers sure like being mean to their Pokemon... Tepig's trainer, Charmander's trainer... And now Chili. Not that Chili was anywhere
near as mean: it was cute to see him make up with Pansear. But it just seems like fire type Pokemon can be pretty unlucky in the anime. It was amusing when Iris pointed out that Chili had a "short fuse": very punny. Oh, and Chili had to have been really mad for a
long time if he made it all the way to this city. Such a kid.
I thought it was pretty obvious Chili needed something other than a fire-type move for Pansear. Very obvious. What gym leader wouldn't be able to figure out basic type coverage? Anyway, I'm the proud owner of a solarbeam-enabled Ninetails, so I was amused to see Pansear learn it. I also liked the training montage he went through. (Never did explain why a Pokemon suddenly forgets one move once it learns another, though.)
When the gang had their arms stretched out, eyes closed, leaning back in the sun, I was waiting for someone to come by and ask if they're in a cult or something. But I guess that isn't Pokemon-style humor.
And I knew Chili had to win the last battle for the sake of the story, but I was surprised Ash and Oshawott didn't even try reflecting the beam like they did back at the gym.
Overall, I liked how we got to know Cilan and his bros a little better. It was a good episode, though nothing jumped out at me too much.