Authors Saving Throw / Infinity Train: Blossomverse

The author (and co-authors) of the Infinity Train: Blossomverse are quick to respond to criticisms made by the readers.

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The Main Trilogy

Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail

• Lexi's first lesson to Chloe is that she should forget about Goh; her decision to do so by deleting all of his apologetic texts makes her look unsympathetic. In the Intermission, Lexi clarifies that while she should still give up on their toxic friendship, she should also make a clean break by saying her farewells in order to stop giving him false hope. Moreover, Goh's response to her finally answering him also drives home that he's still not willing to listen; the communication breakdown is on both ends.
• Another common criticism is that she left her loving younger brother behind. Several scenes have her remembering Parker fondly, hoping that he's doing alright without her, and she asks both her father and Goh to pass on messages to him during her last messages to him.
• Many fans have disliked how Ash is being chewed out for something that wasn't entirely his fault. The Intermission indicated that yes, it is unfair. It isn't his fault but that this is also coming from people who don't have the whole picture (Trip) or are very biased themselves (Parker) and plays on how others have been seeing him and how it affects his psyche. Thankfully Arc 2 is showing Ash bouncing back from this mistake and more characters in the story defend Ash from unwarranted attacks.
• Moreover, many Ash fans were mad that Chloe doesn't accept that she was also responsible for the Poor Communication Kills problem. The Intermission has Chloe admit that she should've had more courage to talk to him. Chapter 18 also reveals that she really wanted to befriend Ash but her insecurities and the problems from the bullying at school prevented her from speaking up for fear of being laughed at. Chapter 19 has Chloe ultimately emailing Ash what she wanted and is willing to take his friendship and Ash is willing to try again when she returns.
• Chloe was Unintentionally Unsympathetic when she wrote her email about not coming back till "Everybody in Vermillion City becomes nicer to her". Chapter 20 has Atticus and Lexi give disapproving looks and she admits that she misworded the request. Arc 2 chapters are also home to a lot more characters who have criticisms of Chloe's behavior that is treated as valid and Chloe herself owns up to these mistakes. Chapter 23 also has her get an email from her mother that makes her take a good look at herself and then vow to truly change and face the future.
• Chloe being angry at curry was said to be kinda childish. The Curry Car reveals that she is more upset at not being able to have happy moments with Goh due to his obsession with Mew and Amelia points out that it's unreasonable for her to cling onto a promise she made when she was six.
• After being constantly beaten up by the story, Chloe's parents finally get a bone thrown their way after Act 2: Professor Cerise gets to be the one giving the call out rather than receive it, while pointing out how it's been rendered meaningless, while Talia gets some much needed comfort and support from Delia, a fellow mother who finally tells her that her children are responsible for their own mistakes, and how she doesn't deserve all the hate she gets.
• Chloe goes into her angsting in Chapter 34 again, but this time she gets out of it after she gets a pep talk about how her bias and the romanticizing of Pokémon trainers lives was very unhealthy. The following chapter continues by having her learn that chewing out others for her own personal catharsis isn't really worth it in the end and that it could lead to even more problems in the future (like what happened to Simon).
• The original version of the finale, Healer, had a scene between Delia and Chloe that had the former smugly asking Chloe if she took back what she said about Goh upon seeing the injured Mew, a moment that many readers decried. A few moments later, a rewrite was done that redid Delia's dialogue to sound more angry like a Mama Bear, which falls more in line with her character at that point.
• In The Elephant Teapot Car Part 2, Chloe doesn't show any empathy over her ultimatum that she emailed. The rewrite adds a few of her thoughts upon her realizing that Goh was telling the truth that people missed her, and she debated over replying because she didn't want to be seen as wishy-washy.

Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily

• By the author's admission, she felt like Alex Shepherd got the least amount of focus in Blossoming Trail and thus made him the focus character in the Fog Car and even wrote an origin story that explained how he became the Bogeyman.

Infinity Train: Voyage of Wisteria

The sequel fixes a lot of issues that its predecessor had.

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• After Mr. Bradbury had become a Smug Snake in Blossoming Trail, the flashback in the first chapter of this story has him apologize for his attitude toward Professor Cerise.
• Chloe had a horrible problem with blaming others for not reading her mind, but here she acknowledges in the first chapter what she truly wanted to Parker (who accepts that he did wrong).
• Chryssa and Renji had little to no character focus in Blossoming Trail. The second chapter of this story has them gain more focus, with Chloe no longer seeing them as moles who spill secrets to her father.
• Parker was disliked for having a lot of screentime and getting away with things other people would be lambasted for, but also because more often than not, he made things worse and refused to take responsibility for them. This story wastes no time writing him out of the main plot: he only appears for Chloe to tie up that loose end and then disappears afterwards before returning only as a cameo near the end of Act 1, and then never appearing in the fic again.
• Some viewers got seriously sick and tired of Goh being lambasted by everyone, while never getting a chance to talk back lest he be told he's in the wrong. Here, he receives a companion in the form of Warbler, who actually listens to him for once and doesn't invalidate him, and in The Deep Jungle Car he gets a big bone by venting his frustrations with Lexi, mirroring many of the viewers' thoughts and complaints regarding his later treatment. Even the author herself stated that she wanted to get it over with.
  • Likewise, Goh and Chloe's failing friendship eventually overstayed its welcome for some readers, and again, The Deep Jungle Car puts this idea to the grave by making Goh state that he's done being condemned for this fact.
• Trip's Brutal Honesty made things worse and made him unsympathetic to some readers. In the Dark Parables Car, he confesses to Serena that he did wrong and thought that his bluntness would actually be a catalyst of change. Not to mention that he realizes how foolish he was to stop Ash from seeing Goh going through his breakdown. Serena also helps point out that for all Trip did wrong, him arriving to explain the nature of the Infinity Train and pointing out the blind spots in everyone is what helped everyone to shape up their act around Chloe.
• In the Comm-Switch car, the author apologizes for the unfortunate implications regarding the blatant statement that Goh suffers from depression and promised to softened it in the future. It also has Titus helping Lexi work through his anger against Grace and Simon and telling him to make peace with their actions. Lexi's trip in Azada has him give life to Simon's fantasy novel as a way to move on from him. And he eventually moves on with Grace in the Hazin Car.
• When Kurune talks with Mrs. Borage, the woman warns Kurune against auto-diagnosing her son as being depressed, a fact that became quite controversial when first revealed.
• After a reader points out how cruel it was for Tokio to demand Goh to deliver a message to Kisaragi (particularly with the phrase "Can you at least keep a promise"?), Chapter 19 starts with Gladion questioning what Tokio was thinking at demanding something like that.
• The Omelas Car revealed that Chloe made a point of informing the #CallingChloe hastag that Goh was not responsible for what happened, so he doesn't come home to being blamed or harassed for what happened. She also comes clean and makes it clear she's just as much to blame for what happened, after Chloe spent the majority of the previous refusing to acknowledge her part in their failing friendship.
• In general, this story pulls tooth and nail to make up for the poor treatment Goh got in Blossoming Trail: not only does he get to go with people who actually support him and listen to what he has to say, but even when the story eventually has characters try to call out Goh over what he did wrong, not only is Goh placed in the right, but he even gets to call them out in return.
• Blossoming Trail put a lot of effort into making The Apex seem like the absolute worst the Train had to offer, which some readers found bizarre given that not only does this iteration of the Train hold Passangers who have done much worse things (like Megatron) but Amelia being a canon example of someone worse than the Apex, as she took control of the Train for 30+ years and has a number bigger than the Apex combined. The Hazbin Car eventually fixes this, not only having Charlie and Vaggie actually investigate the Apex's crimes (and shutting up London when he hypocritically tries to claim they're still the worst), but making it clear their actual crimes are much less numerous than believed, and have been used as scapegoats for something worse.
• While Blossoming Trail did some work to have Amelia feel more involved with the Apex, it didn't really bring much attention to the fact the Train sees Amelia as the worst of the two, as her number is bigger than the entire organization. "Memory Lane" does exactly that: having Goh and Hazel get it through Amelia's head that calling out Grace's guide isn't gonna get them anywhere, and have Amelia outright admit that, by Train standards, she's the worse person.
• A small complaint regarding Blossoming Trail's finale was that the grandiose, climactic battle against the Cage of Flauros was followed by the relatively lackluster Mundanger threat of Mrs. Turner, which some fans felt to be a bit of a downgrade. This story's climax makes both sides of the final battle feel equally climactic: the Darkest Day comes upon the Pokémon World, while everybody on the Train works together to defeat the Unsub's Crew once and for all.

Spin-Offs

Infinity Train: Melancholy Afterlife

• After the Blame Game that went on in Blossoming Trail, Melancholy Afterlife has Kikuna calmly point out the theory as to why Professor Cerise never focused on his daughter and the narration implies that Ash apologized and tried to talk to Chloe more instead of abandoning her which she happily reciprocated. On Goh's side, he immediately tries to get closer to her but Chloe just gives him the cold shoulder for the time being.
• Kikuna and Renji did little to nothing to help Chloe in Blossoming Trail (albeit the story was written long before they actually had defined character traits). The story reveals that Chloe actually interacted with them more to get into research and integrates their anime traits, like Kikuna's favorite Pokémon being Psyduck.
• Yeardley's character was of a misogynistic bully with no redeeming traits until the near end of the fic; this fic has him as the Innocently Insensitive boy he was in the anime and has him realize that he shouldn't have thrown paper balls at Chloe to get her attention.
• In Blossoming Trail, Chloe's hatred and vitriol over her father led her to not only renounce him as her father, but give him the cold shoulder while he and all of Vermillion City are beating themselves up for it, making her come across as more callous and unsympathetic than intended. In Chapter 5 of this story, Chloe and the professor have a civil conversation that, while having some bad calls, is much more friendly than any interaction they ever had in Blossoming Trail, reaching the conclusion that Both Sides Have a Point eventually. Things only go wrong when something happens that neither of them could've seen coming, rather than one party disowning the other out of spite.
• Alongside making her come across as less sympathetic than intended, Blossoming Trail had Chloe come across as bigoted (mostly homophobic, due to calling Ash and Goh "Boyfriends" in a spiteful way), and unlike her other bad traits, this one isn't really addressed. This story has it so not only is Chloe called out for the bigotry by Lexi, but then has Chloe have a My God, What Have I Done? moment and clarify her bigotry is completely unintentional, clarifying that she's not homophobic.

Infinity Train: Court of Cyclamen

• Chapter 6's Chloe scene has her talk to Ash and discusses on the fact as to why she wants to be friends with Ash, to address complaints that Chloe wanting to be friends with Ash came out of nowhere. It also explains the reason why Professor Cerise refused to take his daughter to therapy and highlight that he's had a tendency to not let Chloe do any activities that she sorely needed to help vent out her frustrations.
• Mr. Bradbury was never properly called out over all but stating that he was favoriting Chloe over his other students to try replace the child he could never have. This story features him getting a reality check from Professor Cerise, the very same man he once lambasted and mocked for being a bad parent, who makes it clear that no matter how sympathetic his backstory may be, he's not going to let the man get away with treating his daughter as a replacement.

Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus

• Blossoming Trail introduced Trip in order to deconstruct the Fixer Sue trope, but various factors (his Brutal Honesty being fairly on the nose, him just buying what was told to him, and getting together with Ash after he partially caused his Guilt Complex and treating Goh as a scapegoat like everybody else) turned him into a pretty divisive Base-Breaking Character. This story introduces Gloria who, while just as blunt and honest as Trip, also listens to people, stays calm even after she's yelled at, and most importantly, provides Goh with an In-Universe Catharsis to help him vent his feelings, something Trip never even thought of doing before.
  • Likewise, one of the biggest problems with Blossoming Trail was the relentless harsh treatment Goh got, with everybody and their grandmother using him as a scapegoat and worsening his deteriorating mental health. In this story, as soon as he meets Gloria, the girl not only listens to him without shutting him down, but actually helps him calm down by giving him an In-Universe Catharsis to vent his frustrations with. Even when the story still falls into the same trappings of Goh finding out what Chloe went through, it's done with a lot more tact and restraint than Blossoming Trail ever did.
• Parker's handling in Blossoming Trail made him near unlikable since no one manages to get him to realize the consequnces of his actions. But thanks to Gloria being both blunt and compassionate to his struggles in this story, and telling it straight to his face that Goh is really remorseful for his actions, he acts much more like a supportive little brother figure than the monster he eventually becomes.
• When confronted with news about the campaign back at home, Chloe immediately decided not to do anything about it since it came as too little too late. This time, Lexi and Atticus put their foot down and actually give well meaningful advice, and points out that what Chloe's going through is being afraid of trying again. Moreover, Chloe is not as spiteful as she was at that point in the story nor does she go into a full on rant.
• "The Poring Village Car" throws another one for Trip; in the original story, his idea to keep the Train a secret from Goh was seen as the right choice, and when Goh tried to rightfully call him out on it, Trip ultimately got the last laugh while further sending Goh down his breaking point. In here, not only is he properly called out over how it was a dumb idea, but Goh actually counters his argument with a simple answer, one that causes Trip to reconsider his stance and ultimately leave the Institute on amicable terms with Ash.
  • In Blossoming Trail, Trip's reason to leave Goh out on the Infinity Train, beyond not wanting him to get involved, can be charitably be described as "because I say so". In here, he's also hesitant to do so because his parents didn't know he went missing for over a year, and he doesn't want the guy to go through what he did.
• Goh and Chloe's failing friendship and inability to talk things out quickly got on several reviewers' nerves, with the fact Goh never got a word edgewise not helping. In this story, not only does Goh get the chance to call out Chloe for how she refuses to accept her part in their failing friendship without being negated, but this gets Chloe to confess what's bothering her and allows the two of them to actually start healing.
• Adults Are Useless was a prevalent trope in the trilogy, eventually to its detriment as nearly every adult featured either did nothing to help the situation or made it worse. This story, while still having examples of adults being useless or even harmful, features competent adults right out of the gate: Meyer becomes a voice of reason once he acclimatizes to the reveal, Kukui manages to be on the ball and prevent the Blame Game between his students, and Sycamore's arc involves him proving that he's not useless.
• The Blame Game quickly became a thorn on many readers' side in the original trilogy, since every time it appeared, it worsened the situation and sabotaged any attempt for people to talk things out. In this story, while the game is still played once in a while, the enhanced competence of the adults means that, most of the time, it's averted before it gets the chance to start.
• The way Blossoming Trail treated Ash gathered a lot of backlash, mostly because unlike Goh, who had some degree of control, Ash was being mistreated over something beyond his control, with the breaking point coming when he got a guilt complex as a result. In this story, once Trip gets called out for his insensitivity and leaves, Ash is soon to follow, going back to Pallet Town to train with his Pokémon, giving him a break from the constant mistreatment.
• The Ash and Trip ship became very controversial when it happened, mostly because not only did it come after Ash was saddled with a guilt complex, but after Trip's controversial honesty. In this story, while the ship still sails, Ash and Trip quickly notice the road ahead to be seriously bumpy, so they leave it at the docks for the time being while they work on themselves.
• The original trilogy didn't give Mallow any particular reason to keep the Train's existence a secret from her friends beyond the basic "they'd never believe me" logic that falls flat given what the Ultra Guardians got involved with. The Elephant Teapot Car has a flashback to a younger Mallow trying to tell Ulu about the Train, but he rationalizes it as a story Mallow made up in order to cope with her mother's death. Not a perfect fix, but certainly more effective than anything the original trilogy tried.
• Another minor throw involves Ash and Goh's passion. In the original trilogy, Passion Is Evil was firmly placed with both of them, giving them no end of grief for the crime of wanting to do something. When Sara brings it up, Professor Cerise clarifies that there's nothing wrong with them having a dream to chase.
• One could very well argue that Act 1's plot is pretty much the plot of Court of Cyclamen done right: in Cyclamen, Bede was quickly overshadowed by Chloe taking his spot as the main character, and by the time he got the reins back in, the story was already over, leaving little meaningful stuff to do with it. In here, Professor Sycamore's Decoy Protagonist gets thoroughly deconstructed, with a good deal of Act 1 being focused on how this doesn't help his self-worth issues.
• There was a bit of controversy when the Palimpsest Car had Ash decide to ignore the Rainbow Rocket invsaion due to believing his friends were "strong enough" to deal with it themselves, which came across as very out of character for him. A later chapter not only tries to give an actual explanation for why he said that, as Nanu and Burnett told him to stay out of Alola for his safety, but the end of the arc has Ash get the encouragement to go to Alola and turn the tide of the battle in Alola's favor after being reassured by Goh.
• While not much attention was brought to it, the original trilogy had little in the way of LGBT content, and what was featured didn't paint it in a positive light: Henry and Walter, a pair of gay men who were married to one another, were the main antagonists of the Cage of Flauros plotline, and the Ash X Trip ship had the misfortune of sailing shortly after Trip had broken Ash so badly he developed a Guilt Complex, and that's without mentioning how some of Chloe's own lines made her come across as homophobic. In this story, not only are there more LGBT content than before, with slightly more variation to boot, but there's an effort to show these pairings in an equally positive and negative light.
• Mental health issues weren't given that much focus in the original trilogy, at best having characters simply shown having them, and at worst having these same characters tortured violently like everybody else. Crocus has more neurodivergent characters that aren't just fodder for further angst and misery.
• Alongside Crown of Thorns, Seeker of Crocus expanded on the oft criticized Mallow secrecy angle by exploring exactly why she would do so beyond a belief that friends who had run into aliens and other dimensions would not believe him via a flashback of her not being believed by her father and brother.

Crown of Thorns and Akuma Numerology

• Most stories that feature Mallow keeping The Train's a secret until she reveals it after a big damaging event has happened. In this story, she reveals it the first time it's brought up in Aether Foundation.
• While not an opinion shared by many, some felt like Trip was nerfed in order to enhance the threat of The Apex despite being a competent Pokémon Trainer. In here, not only did he actually use his Pokémon, but had a Last Stand that turned into a Dying Moment of Awesome when he took down half of The Apex with him.