Whether by Flanderization or a closer look, it's easy to read the characters in several ways in the Infinity Train: Blossomverse.
The Main Trilogy
Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail
- What did Mr. Pepper mean by his passive-aggressive comment about Chloe not being in any school clubs? Was he trying to goad her into trying something new and breaking out of her comfort zone? Was he being insensitive about her problems? Was he aware that her father makes her work in his lab after school — and does he see that as a rightly earned punishment for what happened at the talent show? Chapter 13 reveals that he was never aware that Chloe was being bullied and that all he wanted was Chloe to become better...except that because of how it was worded and because Chloe has had little to no self-confidence due to everyone else, it sounded like he was just picking on her just because.
- Is Sara a bully for the sake of it or is there more to her than meets the eye? She hates Chloe both for being the daughter of a Professor and for bringing up how her father is dead yet we also know that her homelife is not perfect what with her mother being an alcoholic. Is she jealous of Chloe being a better student and lover of the macabre (as shown by how she and her friends made supernatural "boyfriends" on the "Create-A-Crush" app yet they mocked Chloe when she created her character and that Sara's book report happened to be Coraline) or does she just wants to mock her for being weird and different? It's later revealed it's jealousy since she can never experience the joys of horror like Chloe can now that her father died.
- Between Goh and Chloe, who is more at "fault" at their friendship deteriorating? On one hand, Goh never appeared at Chloe's side and didn't show any concern for her at all as her school life went to hell, and his poor social skills became the final nail in the coffin that led Chloe to run away. On the other hand, Chloe always refused invitations to actually spend time with Goh (and Ash) or offered any alternative activities and mostly just sat far away from everyone at the Cerise Lab. The answer is somewhere in the middle: while Goh was in heavy denial about his obsession and his No Social Skills didn't help matters, Chloe refusing to open up about her problems also fed into their friendship falling apart.
- Speaking of Goh, how sympathetic is he? On one hand, he is beating himself up over losing Chloe and really wants her back and we see that Tokio not showing up heavily impacted him. But on the other hand, his severe lack of social skills makes him unable to comprehend that Chloe is in no mood to rekindle their friendship now — due to the pain he caused her by neglecting her over his obsession towards Mew, how she's busy with her a quest of her own and the fact that she physically can't leave the Train until her number drops — and his selfishness towards those who aren't like him is making him really hard to feel sorry for. Even Ash, his closest friend, can't get to him after Goh decided to beat Trip into submission.
- When Professor Cerise decides to let Parker message Chloe about Hop and Alain instead of Goh, he calls his son, "someone who cares for Chloe". Was it a sincere comment (because of how Parker loved his sister and knew her better than anyone in the family), an (un)intentionally insensitive remark (because he just noted that he wished he could've contacted Chloe since Goh never mentioned how he was texting her), or perhaps both?
- A small remark in chapter 19 reveals that the Apex kid that attacked Paul was threatening to kill his 'nulls'. Considering that any non-human creature would be viewed as a 'null' by the Apex, it's quite possible Paul was protecting his Pokemon when the boy drowned. Chapter 20 reveals that Paul had Electivire defend himself and it was all a tragic accident which didn't help when Paul didn't have Gastrodon on him.
- When UnChloe tells Chloe via text messages that all who hurt Parker must be punished, is she telling Chloe that so she cannot be stopped from punishing 'all who hurt Parker', or does she consider Chloe to have hurt Parker and her actions are deliberately aimed at punishing her? Further from that, is this something that was decided on her own without Parker's awareness, or does some deep, deep, deep part of Parker want to hurt Chloe too?
- When Grace does her Motive Rant about the "Red Lotus" group to Simon in Chapter 19, was it sincere or, since this was taking place as her number was starting to drop, is it a giant bluff just to keep Simon happy?
- Since Zeno was created as a construct by Parker to teach Goh some lessons in empathy, does he initially have a Specter-esque sadistic personality or is he just compelled to torture others even if he himself dislikes it? It's shown that he does have a kick at making Goh squrim but he feels guilty upon how much torture the boy has gone through at the end of it all?
- During the aftermath of the trial we have two instances:
- When Yeardley's older sister hits him across the head and calls him a "dumbass", was it either from disappointment that her little brother was mean or was she actually a Big Sister Bully that contributed to his misogynist viewpoints?
- And as for Marianna Diktalyis, when she walks away from Sara, is it from disgust and shame pointed at herself for her drinking habits, or for her daughter who decided to go so far as to humiliate, haze and traumatize one girl and brainwash others just for her own amusement?
- Were Sara's initial habits of drawing the other classmates an effort to get friends or was she truly seeing them as pawns and would ditch them immediately after she was done crushing Chloe underneath her heels? It's mentioned that in order for her to get along with others, she ditched her love of nightmarish things; she got into what was "Socially acceptable", but did she secretly want to go back to the girl she loved and was too scared to admit that she wasn't normal? And she had to admit that Chloe did good deeds for her, giving up an old Hi Skitty toy and sharing lunch without even bringing it up. Does she see herself in Chloe and, deep down, wanted to be her friend all along?
- Another possible way of looking at it is that the reason why Sara wanted to ruin Chloe so badly was because she was obsessed with her and wanted to get rid of her so she could steal her life and identity.
- Is the video of Professor Cerise presented to the court as straightforward as it seems? Given this takes place while he's at work, is he focusing on Goh and Ash because they're working as his research fellows?
- Molly coming to comfort Parker at the juvie. Is she there out of goodwill, or is it a pragmatic move to try stop Parker from going on a rampage all over again?
- Speaking of Parker, is he really regretful of how much damage he did? While he acts like it, his sheer refusal to admit his own faults, as well as his smug rubbing in of the fact of that nobody paid attention to Chloe until after his rampage, makes it seem less like he's less regretful that he hurt everybody, and more like he’s upset that people have the gall to say that he's in the wrong.
- Are the reasons Parker gives to his mother and Delia (that Pokémon took away everything from him, and that Talia and the Professor's argument convinced him that they wouldn't accept Chloe) legit, or is he trying to find an excuse to make himself come across as better than them?
- One of those reasons is believing Ash will take Chloe away from him, as in "replacing him as Chloe's brother". However, the way that his Motive Rant to Delia is phrased plus the context heavily implies something a lot more than simply a deep admiration for his older sister rather than just feeling jealous towards Ash.note
- Similar to the above, considering how he was the first person she reached out to after she had cooled down from her anger, did Chloe come around to Ash because she had feelings for him the entire time and didn't know how to act on them? It would go a long way to explain some of her more contradictory behavior towards him as well as portray Parker's dislike of Ash as a case of My Sister Is Off-Limits. There was also that one moment where Chloe explains to Atticus that she would never be friends with Ash. Maybe she wasn't just trying to deny wanting to befriend him, but was also trying to suppress her feelings for him? This is the angle that Orange Rose Gathering takes, though in a different context than the original trilogy.
- Is Chloe doing some Psychological Projection when she chews out Grace and Hop? Notably, the former shares a very similar past before she got on the Train, so when she chews her out, she could be seeing the Chloe that was so bitter she chose to run away rather than face her problems. As for the latter, since he represents what Chloe was when she initially entered the Train-a person who only cared for their own happiness and catharsis-that her trying to talk him down is like telling herself that this was not the way to go.
- Simon becoming Destruction: Did he assume the role to prove he was an irredeemable asshole who only wanted to destroy everything? Or is he so sick of all the horrible things happening right now that he wants to get rid of everybody and everything, even if he takes himself out in the process.
- Likewise, his lack of a reaction to the " Some Denizens are reincarnated humans" reveal: Is he really as callously uncaring as he comes across? Or has he been Conditioned to Accept Horror by what he's seen so much, he's simply grown too numb to actually care? It probably is the former after he murdered Chloe.
- Chloe snapping at Paul and telling him he had everything that happened to him coming. Is it a Moment of Weakness that shows just how badly she's taking her prolonged stay at the Fog Car, or is it a Kick the Dog moment that proves Chloe's so pessimistic that she'll even beat a dead horse just to make herself feel better?
- The Red Lotus Quarto's treatment of Grace during the Fog Car. While they have justified reasons for not trusting her, are they acting within acceptable lengths to make their displeasure known, or are they childishly letting their own grudges get the better of them to snap at a legitimately apologetic woman, and while they have more pressing matters to tend to?
- Near the end of Chapter 34, Chloe goes on a little tangent over how everything is her fault, and that if she had just conformed or found a third option, the Unown fiasco would’ve never happened, and now she'll be returning to a home that legitimately hates her because of what Parker did. Is this her finally realizing her mistakes and affirming them, or is she just going in circles when it comes to her problems?
- The three Trainers who hear this comfort her with a pep talk afterwards, even though she's indirectly rubbing in their faces how she's going home soon while they won't be there for a few months or years. Are they really letting bygones be bygones, or is their pep talk their way of calling Chloe out, since it's all about tearing down her own bias towards Trainers and how it's not as glamorous as she thinks it is?
- With the reveal that Mr. Bradbury "never got to be a parent", is his close relationship with Chloe a teacher and student sharing a Commonality Connection with writing? Or does he see Chloe as a stand-in for the child he never got?
- There's also his smug derision of Professor Cerise for not getting her therapy. A teacher rightfully calling out a neglectful parent for not getting their kid the help they needed, or a Smug Snake who's ignoring the more complex nature of the situation to wallow in the fact he's allegedly a "better parent" to Chloe than the professor was?
- Do Chloe and Parker's issues come entirely from their trauma from Chloe's abuse by her classmates, or do they have something wrong with them? Was the therapy often spoken of more meant for their trauma, or did they have some sort of mental disorders? If so, what do either of them have?
- Did Yeardley actually break Chloe's arm, or was this something she made up in an attempt to bring her bullying issues to light? A side story on A03, Grave of Lobelia further explores the latter possibility.
Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily
- At the end of The 400 Rabbits Car, Kisaragi hands Tokio the White Rabbit Mask. Is it a good luck sign for the journey ahead, or is Kisaragi just giving Tokio a huge Kick the Dog moment?
- Was Kisaragi's treatment on Tokio on equal terms even if Tokio stated that "agreed" to it? How much of it was Tokio's wish and how much of it was Kisaragi's manipulations?
- Lillie's petty nature regarding what happened with Gladion. A case of Adaptational Jerkass, or her being stuck between the anger and denial phase stage of grief?
- What prevented Lillie from even speaking to her mother? Dulse notes that if she had been suffering for so long, Lillie should've made this a priority to Lusamine instead of wallowing in her anger.
Infinity Train: Voyage of Wisteria
- Ikuo making Chloe contact Amelia with Goh's phone, which holds the very last message she gave him in plain view. Is the message something Ikuo put there to make Chloe realize how badly she hurt his son, or was it the last thing Goh was seeing before being Trainnapped?
- After being slapped by Ikuo, Chloe doesn't react besides glaring at him. Is this her affirming that she's no longer the same weak Chloe from before, or is she giving him a warning sign that if he tries that again, she'll beat him up?
- Kurune telling the Cerises to leave their house. Is this a moment of Tranquil Fury to make it clear they're not in the mood to talk with Chloe, or is she so sick and tired of the Cerises being the center of the Blame Game that, even if it's just an idea, she wants them to leave for a moment to catch her breath?
- Ogami. Is him killing Passengers who're believed to be unchanging a cruel Kick the Dog moment that denies the Passengers a chance at redemption, or is it Necessarily Evil after the disaster that was the Apex?
- There's also the question of whether Tokio knows how much of a bad place Goh is, and if he does, is he pulling a Godzilla Threshold in hopes that Goh will deliver the message, or is he letting his anger get the better of himself to spite him?
- Trip telling Class 5-E that they only wanted validation for their envy. A sign of growth since he doesn't go on a tirade against them, or proof that he's the same filterless Brutal Honesty guy he's been since day one?
- Chloe's continued use of "The Reason You Suck" Speech. A sign of development as she now tries to focus on delivering them only to people who deserve it, or a bad omen at the fact that her past self isn't quite gone yet?
- Was Carl Foster always an Abusive Parent to Kris, or did his jealousy and resentment of Ash eventually turn him into an Opportunistic Bastard willing to endanger people, including his own son just to ruin Ash's reputation?
Spin-Offs
Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus
- Did Victor and Gloria actually believe that Goh should've been going to school, making them no better than the other Vermilion City citizens, or were they so shocked at seeing how bad things were at the school that they said the first thing that came to mind without considering how insensitive or illogical it sounded?
- When Chloe almost falls for Dr. Yung's bait during the Mirage War, is it because she's breaking down over the fact her life would be better if Vermillion City wasn't so bad, or simply her having learned nothing after her talk with Goh and still insisting on blaming everybody for her problems?
- The gods and demons of the Train arguing that they haven't dealt with the Cage of Flauros because The Fog Car "doesn't want us to interfere". A legitimate reason that builds up The Fog Car's threat, or complete bs that they came up with to try dodge the question regarding their utility?
- The fact that Chloe's cloak is now a mix between god and demon magic. Is it slowly but surely corrupting her into being just as spiteful and filled with rage as her usual Blossomverse self? Or is the cloak harmless, and Chloe's meaner moments are entirely her own?
- Professor Sycamore's snapping at One over him refusing to lift the ban on White Gestalt. A poor man nearly succumbing to despair, or a poor man being used as a puppet to let his Shadow bend over his frustrations on the bowling ball?
- In general, the idea that Asher "merges" with Sycamore when he gets stressed enough. A proof that the two are becoming one and the same, or is it a clever ruse to hide the fact he's actually controlling Sycamore and using him to vent during the more taxing moments?
- Does Gloria actually feel bad about nearly making the Cerise Institute situation worse with her Analogy Backfire? Or, given this isn't the first time she's done something like this, is she just putting on a pity party to make everyone feel sorry for her to avoid taking responsibility?
- Does everybody actually believe it when they tell Chloe that she's not at fault for Professor Sycamore snapping and having his insanity sealed, or are they just trying avoid them going in circles?
- Parker calling Ash Goh's "boyfriend" while complaining about Goh to Gloria: is he using it as an insult, or just stating what he thinks is going on between the two? If Parker were a normal five-year-old it would certainly be an innocent take on the latter or parroting what others say, but Parker is not a regular five-year-old which muddles the issue. Chloe later clears this up by explaining to Parker that she was just angry that Goh was spending more time with Ash than her that she used the term in a derogatory manner.
- When Kaito blatantly asks if Professor Cerise even cared about his daughter after hearing everything that happened in the institute, everyone enters a Stunned Silence. Are they seriously still wondering if the professor cares after everything that happened in Act 1's climax? Or are they so dumbfounded that after everything that has happened that people would still question Professor Cerise, that they simply have no idea how to process it?
- Does Goh really have problems with keeping promises (as he at least apologizes to Chloe for being late), or is this just another instance of Chloe taking things out of context and/or blowing them out of proportion?
- Crossoverpairinglover offered a take
that suggests that Lana and Kiawe's discussion on Ash's potential involvement in the Rainbow Rocket arc, discounting the idea due to the World Coronation Series and lack of an impact, is a symptom of a lack of sleep rendering them delirious and not actually what they'd think if they were coherent. - Are Chloe's poor attempts at apologizing to Ash in Act 2 a hint that the situation at hand is taking a toll on her, or a sign that she still believes herself to be innocent and demands that the boy be held accountable in exchange for saying she was also in the wrong?
- Alongside this, how much of her rant the second time she tries to apologize is derailed because she's suffering from stress and has no idea what to do, and how much of it is an act in order to garner some sympathy from Ash and Goh, being unwilling to apologize otherwise?
- Chloe brings up Sara at a couple points later in Act 2 despite the girl having been dealt with at the end of Act 1. Were Sara's actions really that damaging to Chloe that she still brings her up long after she was defeated, or is Chloe grasping at straws to find something, anything, that allows her to paint her situation as black and white to justify having the moral high ground?
- Chloe mentions that for all that they did, her classmates don't deserve to be sent to the Infinity Train. Is she showing empathy considering how dangerous the Train can be, or, given how its purpose is to help people work on their issues and come out better people, is she saying in a roundabout way that they don't deserve a second chance?
- Due to Continuity Snarl between Crocus chapter segments written by different authors, a moment like this happens to Goh: in one chapter, he sees no issue with the fact that his Pokemon don't like Chloe, yet in the next one, he shames them for wanting to assault her for everything that happened to him, indirectly because of her. Did Goh change his mind at some point about Chloe, or was his bitterness about Trip's mistreatment of Ash coloring his perception on her momentarily and he otherwise would be against it?
- Is Chloe really suicidal as she claims to be, or is she simply using it as a means to garner attention and sympathy from everyone? While there is evidence suggesting that she's being honest, notably, whenever she talks to someone about wanting to kill herself due being bullied, she rather conveniently leaves out details of her having mostly brought the bullying upon herself by harassing her classmates with horror. On top of that, she often goes on long, overly dramatic speeches detailing everything she went through and just how she would kill herself if she could. Lastly, when she finally gets the attention she wants, the suicidal thoughts seem to just disappear.
- Coupled with this, whenever Chloe does mention these suicidal thoughts, she almost always has someone else try to kill her, either by goading them or doing nothing to avoid it. Is this a sign that Chloe's suicidal tendencies are just for show, and she wants someone else to kill her so she won't be responsible for taking her own life? Or is she so tired in these moments she physically cannot do the deed and knows this, hence the request for someone else to do it?
- When Chloe recaps the flashback of Goh's birthday party and him saying, "I don't want friends, only Mew", and Goh himself later clarifies that he actually said "I don't want a lot of friends because I only want ''you", it's possible she misheard him, given that "Mew" and "you" sound phonetically similar.
- Tomie jumping to defend Chloe during her argument with Goh's parents, accidentally downplaying the fact he nearly drowned in the process. A honest mistake coming from a person trying to get others to see the good in someone else despite the bad things they did? Or a slip of Tomie's true mask of favoring Chloe over Goh?
- Likewise, the fact that Goh's descent into Chloe-focused glorification at his own expense happened while living with Tomie. Was Tomie not aware that Goh was going down such a spiral? Or did she push Goh in that direction in the hopes that Chloe won't have a reason to go back to the Train, at the expense of her own grandson?
- Kurune and Ikuo wanting Chloe and Goh not to see each other again. An overreaction that caused both kids to grow strained and a good reason to call them out? Or a Necessary Evil performed by a pair of worried parents who simply want to protect their son, who is strongly hinted to be special needs, and not only is hated by the rest of Vermillion City, but is actively slandered by everybody else while they glorify Chloe?
- Hannah and Daiki claim that Goh's classmates hate him because...nobody has been willing to deliver him his homework since Chloe vanished. Is this petty reason the real reason why his classmates hate him? Or is the actual reason much more damaging that they decided to lie to Goh with something that wouldn't hurt him as bad? Or, alternately, are they just as clueless as to why Goh is so hated and are just going with what makes the most sense in their heads?
- During their talk in the Harvest Moon Car, Chloe claims that Goh's drive to find Mew made him popular at school. Is this something she genuinely believes, or was she just trying to reassure him that he wasn't entirely hated? The fact that their classmates would act nice around him (as a way to screw with Chloe) implies the former.
- Speaking of the talk, after bringing up the first time Goh snapped at her over "being too scared to take the future into her hands", Chloe claims that this was likely the reason why she became so reckless in trying to prove she wasn't a scared little girl. Is this a legitimate argument that shows just how much Goh's words affected her, or is her fragile state making her so desperate to absolve herself of any guilt she'll even go so far as to try to use some random words uttered years ago just to make Goh responsible for it?
- Also from the talk, Chloe eventually reveals that the reason she adopted the Chloe of the Vermillion persona was because she thought this would make her the best friend she thought Goh wanted her to be. Was this her original goal from the start, only to have the constant praise and admiration from the Denizens and the ensuing power trip cause her to forget said goal? Or was she always more interested in getting attention from the other world, and that statement is more of an attempt at excusing herself from straying so far from working on herself to get her number down?
- Class 5-E buying Sara's statement that if they bullied Chloe, they would get a Pokemon. An example of how dumb they were to trust her in the first place, or a desperate attempt made by them to try and get out of their less-than-stellar home situations, which are generally shown to range from mediocre to outright abusive?
- Was Goh really being ungrateful when he rejected Chloe's Mew magnet, or was he actually trying to tell her in the only way he knew how that what he really needed was for her to comfort him after Tokio's betrayal?
- After the Unown incident is dealt with, Class 5-E try to apologize to Chloe, but she rejects them, claiming that they would only find another way or reason to bully her, if not somebody else. However, it's made clear through the story that Class 5-E were at most annoyed but ultimately neutral towards Chloe before Sara came along, and she outright called them out over being followers. So is Chloe in the right, claiming that they're perfectly capable of being malicious without Sara or some other ringleader present? Or is she taking advantage of the situation to snap at them at their lowest point, something she never got to do before her Train trip?
- Speaking of Chloe, before the events of the Harvest Moon Car, did she actually learn the lessons she got and snapped back for genuine reasons, or did she simply pretend to learn the lessons in order to get people off her back and keep her from having to work on herself? The narrative claims the former, and some moments after her first few lessons do imply that they stuck, but her constant snap backs, tendency to do it at the slightest implication of adversity, and the fact she spites on people, and especially Goh, despite long having "learned" that the situation isn't black and white gives the impression that she simply acted like she learned her lessons in order to get away with her behavior, or at best, continue to willingly ignore the bigger picture to justify staying in her own little bubble.
- Canonically, Goh goes to school because he made a "personal promise" to a teacher. However, given how terrible the Vermillion City school is shown to be, and how this teacher is yet to be described, did Goh really make a promise to do so without considering if the school was worth going to? Or is he being forced to go to school, and the "personal promise" bit is just a convenient lie to hide what's really going on? Firefly would later reveal that Goh has special accommodations, so is that just how Goh describes the permission (a promise to Ms. April to oblige by the terms of it), or something else.
- Are Kurune and Ikuo's job really so demanding that they were driven to alcoholism, or are they suffering from stress regarding Goh's special condition and the apparent hatred that many people have towards him? It could be both of these factors.
- Is Goh's later behavior down the story really just the result of the stress of it all? Or is he becoming suicidal due to realizing how bad the situation actually is, how much people actually hate or at least dislike him, and the little support he gets from people, even his own family, with most people jumping to Chloe's defense and condemning him?
- It's possible that Chloe is simply using her loss to Ash as a basis to try and get people to notice how bad her life is, since, compared to other people who she could've lost to, the Alola League Champion would definitely get at least some notice.
- Is Professor Cerise willingly entering the Infinity Train an example of him growing as a character and wanting to better himself? Or have the events of the Cyan Desert Car broken the professor so much he's become suicidal, and he feels that if he's going to kill himself, he might as well do it far away from the same people who do nothing but add insult to injury?
- Goh asks an In-Universe example while he's grilling Chloe in the Harvest Moon Car: did she take up the task to retrieve the flowers from Gourgeist because she hoped that Goh would acknowledge this and be grateful for what she did, or because she wanted to get back at him for ignoring her warnings not to chase after the Vivillon? Or, with Goh's calling her a coward still likely fresh in her mind, did she just want to prove herself?
- Who exactly is at fault for Goh's special school accommodations being ignored in Crocus proper? Ms. Valente for enforcing normality on Goh? Ms. April for seemingly not bothering to ensure that school knew about them before she got fired? Goh's parents for ignoring calls? Or some combination of some or all of them?
