Pokemon anime fans notice interesting trend in Clian’s team

Cilan is a veteran of the Pokemon franchise now and fans have made an interesting observation about Ash’s old traveling partner.

Cilan has always been a bit of an oddball in the Pokemon world. His strange mannerisms helped him work into the heart of fans across the games and the anime though, and now he’s one of the more popular side characters in the franchise.

One observant fan noticed something about his team that may cause his loyal supporters to question exactly what was going on in the Striaton Gym Leader’s head when he formed his team.

The interesting trend in Cilan’s Pokemon anime lineup

In a thread on the anime’s subreddit, a user pointed out that Cilan’s team is actually themed around food.

The three faces of his squad are Pansage, Crustle, and Stunfisk, all three of which have direct comparisons to edible items. While the Rock Crab that Crustle is based around might be a niche dinner option, Pansage’s broccoli-like head shape & Stunfisk’s flounder-esque body make it clear that there’s something up with his squad.

The original poster referenced Cilan’s signature way of speaking, joking that “it’s literally tasting time” when any of his ‘Mon come out to play. They also joked that it was a “missed opportunity” to give him a Vanilish- the ice cream-based Pokemon of Generation V.

This all may seem a bit random at first, but for a character with green hair whose name is just a shortened version of Cilantro, it all adds up in the end.