Gladion Montblanc (Gladion's Team) | Pokémon World | Infinity Train (Project Solitaire)
Gladion Montblanc
Our protagonist, Lillie's older brother, who nobly embarked on a mission to train Type: Null and grow strong enough to protect her from all who would do her harm, particularly the Ultra Beast who traumatized her in the first place... only to find himself at a loss at the results. His desire for a chance to prove himself as a valiant knight attracts the Train... but will he truly find what he wishes there? open/close all folders
A-D
- A Boy and His X: Downplayed. Gladion goes through the Train with Larkspur by his side, not out of a bond between them, but a necessity. Also, he already has his Pokémon with him. However he asks Larkspur to stay in the 400 Rabbits Car so she can get any information about Kisaragi's plans after her sister, Lampetia, was destroyed (thankfully Lampetia's heart was intact so she can recover after some time.
- Accomplice by Inaction: Lillie accuses him of being this, as not only did he keep the Nihilego incident a secret, but he also disappeared from her life for years, only to come back when the Ultra Beasts become an issue. He later admits to himself that this is all his fault.
- Action Survivor: He mostly uses his Pokémon to fight, but Gladion can hold his own in the few times he can't use them. Just ask Margaret.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Since his quest is taken apart, he has a lot more baggage and regret over his actions than in the canon series.
- Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. In canon, Gladion fights with Pokémon like everybody else, and has no combat experience of his own. While he still primarily relies on his Pokémon here, he also becomes an Action Survivor who can carry his own weight if he has no other choice.
- Adaptational Dumbass: He's a lot more delusional than in canon, especially if it feeds into his idea that he's a knight in shining armor.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. Gladion's just as aloof in canon, but he's also more irritable and self-centered, and the main reason he wound up on the Train in the first place was refusing to acknowledge his sister has legitimate reasons to be mad at him and agency of her own.
- Adaptational Sympathy: The story doesn't give Gladion's Protagonist-Centered Morality any word edgewise, and just about everybody who does find out about it call him out on his colossal idiocy.
- Adaptational Karma: In the canon series, Gladion was never really punished for keeping the Nihilego incident a secret to Lillie and got away with chewing his mother out for her neglect. In this story, however, not only does he have his pedestal broken when Lillie gifts him orange lilies, which mean hatred, but he's also grabbed by the Infinity Train, with nobody (except Mallow) being the wiser.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Mostly aloof and stoic in the anime, the experiences on the Train show off a silly and dorky side of him.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: His relationship with Lillie takes a nosedive once she finds out what he knew and when he knew it, leading to her giving him the orange lilies and declaring her hatred of him.
- Aloof Big Brother: And this isn't a good thing. He remains aloof all the time, trying to come off as cool and stoic, while only coming across as an insensitive prick at best.
- All for Nothing: He kept the truth about the Nihilego incident to keep Lillie from reopening old wounds. Not only did Lillie find out about the incident anyway, but doing so caused her pedestal for Gladion to shatter, causing her to loath him for his dishonesty.
- Believes his quest to stop the Apex ended up like this: the Tape Car fiasco ended up with every passenger stuck in their memory tapes, the Apex nearly destroyed the Tape Car, Lampetia was killed trying to save an Apex child (and said Apex child spitefully snatched the heart away instead of giving it to Specter), and the best Gladion could do was send them to another Train Car with a Doormouse. Larkspur reassures that he still did good: he helped Robbie Jewell and Penelope Mouse move forward and Tokio is allowed to go home after two years.
- Always Save the Girl: This is what he thought he was doing by keeping the Nihilego fiasco a secret from Lillie, but as the rest of this page shows, he did much more harm than good.
- Amnesiac Hero: Only temporarily, thankfully. In the Pearl Gates Car, Margaret drugs him so she can manipulate his memories and make him act as a replacement for her dead son. Needless to say, this doesn't last thanks to Larkspur.
- Amnesiac Resonance: His memories as Gladion slowly but surely return while he's being made to act as Dar, and when they fully return thanks to Larkspur, he's pissed.
- And Then What?: A recurring theme with Gladion is that he doesn't know what to do after his short-term goals are completed.
- Faces this dilemma after the Nihilego incident is resolved; after all, there's no guarantee that other Ultra Beasts won't appear. And now that Lillie is cured and Lusamine is resolving to be a better mother and Faba is getting his just desserts, all is well. He initially intends to tackle the Island Challenge as a way of getting stronger after seeing Ash and Pikachu's Z-move, but there are undertones of this being an excuse to just go and do something.
- After he gets knighted in the Toy Brick Car, and his number having only dropped by a few digits, he quickly brushes it aside as he still has a quest to take down the Apex.
- On the ride towards the Tapes Car, Specter asks Gladion what happens should the plot against the Apex is successful. Gladion is unable to find an answer.
- Atrocious Alias: "Knight of the Orange Lily" is this to him, as it's a sick mix between his goal to become a knight and a reminder of the gift that not only symbolizes his sister's anger at him, but sent him to the Infinity Train. He later rolls with it.
- Awful Truth: The fact that not only did him keeping the Nihilego incident a secret didn't help whatsoever, but actually made things worse for everyone, especially Lillie.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: After arguing with his sister, he spitefully wishes that he could embark on a never-ending quest and prove himself a true knight. Enter the Train.
- Believing Their Own Lies: He keeps referring to himself as a knight in shining armor, who went on a grandiose quest to become the strongest there was, and kept his helpless little sister Lillie safe by keeping the truth away from her. Then he has to face the truth in the Fog Car...
- Big Brother Bully: Downplayed, but he clearly comes across as this; constantly thinking of Lillie as a helpless damsel and acting aloof all the time.
- Big Brother Instinct: In theory, him keeping his mouth shut about the Nihilego incident was him protecting Lillie so she wouldn't be retraumatized. In practice, he shot himself in the foot and gave Lillie every right to resent him.
- Bookworm: Severely Downplayed: He claims to have read "Alice in Wonderland", but that's about it. Justified in that he probably didn't have that much time to read due to his goal to get stronger.
- Break the Haughty: He believed himself to be a knight in shining armor who was completely in the right and doing the good thing. Needless to say, Lillie's reaction and call out serve as a big reality check for him, and his inability to accept that got the Train involved.
- Broken Pedestal: Finds himself standing upon one after Lillie's Big Brother Worship fades in the face of his mistreatment. In return, Gladion regards her with disappointment for not remaining the fragile, helpless maiden he'd built her up to be.
- But Now I Must Go: Intended to pull this at the start of the story, leaving Lillie and the rest behind without any word of where he was going or what he was doing.
- Character Tics: Placing his right hand over his left hand and left hand over the right hip or vice versa. Lampshaded in Blossoming Trail as he's called the guy with the "weird hand poses" by the Apex.
- Character Title: He's the titular "Knight of the Orange Lily", though this is a title he was given, rather than something he thought for himself.
- Chuunibyou: Deconstructed in how he has slipped into prioritizing his personal narrative over all else, including the sister he's supposedly doing this all for.
- Combination Attack:
- During his fight with the Black Knight, Gladion and Silvally work together to attack his weak point: Gladion smacks him with his shield and stuns him long enough for Silvally to tackle him.
- In the Shock Street Car, he has Silvally use a Water Memory based Multi-attack and combine it with Easter's electricity to destroy a horde of zombie animatronics.
- Commonality Connection: He tries to bond with Larkspur by talking about the latter's relationship with her sister, Lampetia. Keyword being tries.
- Color Motif: Black and White. For the former, he mostly wears black, his shield's mostly black, and most of his Pokémon are Dark Types. For the latter, he ends up wearing white after he breaks free from Margaret's brainwashing until the end of Act 1 and he believes himself to be a white knight in shining armor. This makes the parallels to Alice in Wonderland more fitting: chessboards and pieces are usually black and white. Moreover, he has a problem of seeing things only in black and white. He also ends up being the leader of the group White Gestalt.
- Contrasting Prequel Main Character: Among the many parallels and contrasts between him and Chloe:
- While Chloe felt as though she'd been abandoned by her father and Childhood Friend in favor of Pokémon, Gladion effectively abandoned his sister in pursuit of strength.
- Chloe encountered the Train after calling out her father, Goh, and Ash. Gladion was on the receiving end of a call-out, and the Train appears while he's furiously dismissing his sister's anger.
- Chloe wants nothing to do with Pokémon, and enters the Train without Yamper or any other teammates for protection (though she'd considered retrieving Yamper before the Train intervened). Gladion is obsessed with proving himself as a powerful trainer and has his 'mons with him when he boards.
- Both have younger siblings; however, their relationships with them are completely different. Chloe trusts Parker as her confidant, and the pair know each other better than anyone else in her life. Gladion regards Lillie as a helpless, fragile slip of a girl, totally reliant upon his protection, and strove to keep her in the dark about the source of her trauma.
- Chloe's story begins with her leaving Vermillion City behind in order to blossom and grow outside of a stifling environment, figuring out what she wants to do with her life and eventually decides that her quest on the Train is to confront the Apex for the damage they did, have Lexi gain some catharsis for being Buried Alive and get answers for Atticus on what happened to King Aloysius. Gladion had already left his family behind to pursue his Goal in Life of getting stronger, which shifts into proving to everyone that he's every bit the hero he fancies himself as and immediately declares to topple the Apex.
- Chloe has long maroon hair, wears a white and blue dress and wields a donut holer (read: pipe) as her weapon; Gladion's pale blond hair is held in a short ponytail, he dresses in black and red and uses Pokémon to help fight.
- Gladion was named for the sword lily (Gladiolus), while Chloe Cerise is based on the cherry blossom. Adding onto this, his Flower Motif is the orange lily, while Chloe is symbolized with lotus flowers.
- Gladion has canine-based Pokémon by his side (Umbreon and Dusk Lycanroc), along with one who is a mish-mash of other creatures (Silvally). Chloe's initial partners on the Train are the Corgi King Atticus and Lexi, a talking book who can shape his papers into various forms. Gladion mainly uses a shield while Chloe is gifted a donut holer and a cloak that lets her cast fire.
- The narrative for Chloe's story showcases a macabre motif focusing on demons. Gladion's narrative is on twisted fairy-tales.
- While both are going to fight the Apex, they differ as to when: Gladion immediately decides to fight them after learning about their existence from Larkspur in his first car. Chloe initially learns about them from Titus (her second car) but doesn't fully decide to go after them until Atticus reveals his fears that they murdered his friend King Aloysius and when Olmec states that One-One has given her this mission.
- Gladion freaks at the sight of a "snail-boy" in the Spiral Car, compared to Chloe — who knows the reference — would probably being fascinated by it.
- One of Chloe's strengths was her artistic streak ranging from love of of stories to her skills in making props. Gladion, in contrast, is a Terrible Artist.
- Gladion immediately becomes famous within a week's time and becomes heralded as the Knight of the Orange Lily. In contrast, it takes Chloe a few weeks before she becomes well known as the legendary Chloe of the Vermillion. However in Voyage of Wisteria, while Chloe's feats are praised the entire Train over, whatever Gladion did was kept secret and removed from people's minds and London remarks that denizens aren't going to be happen when the truth settles in.
- They both lead a group of four, but Chloe's group was much more altruistic and consisted of two passengers (her and Amelia) and two denizens (Atticus and Lexi) that equated to two males and two females. Gladion leads an Anti-Hero Team with the main four members being passengers and male. And while Gladion doesn't stop the Apex, Chloe is the one who ends up bringing about its end.
- Gladion's quest is cut short due to his actions, while Chloe is able to get her number all the way down to 0.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Though he wears black and has Dark-type Pokémon on his team (with Umbreon and Silvally needing high levels of friendship to evolve), he cares for his sister and sought to become stronger for her sake. Unfortunately, his good intentions were marred by the execution...
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: As part of the author's annoyance with Gladion's treatment in the anime, it's fitting that a realistic look was taken to him.
- Of the Chuunibyou. Instead of being a quirky gag that hurts nobody, Gladion's chuunibyouness makes him unwilling to face reality in favor of his fantasies, making him come across as oblivious and foolish at his best.
- He also deconstructs the Aloof Big Brother: In most media, this type of character would come across as cool and interesting, especially to their younger siblings. Gladion, meanwhile, comes across as cold at best, a prick at worst, and his aloofness is part of the reason why Lillie just can't stand him anymore.
- And of course, Secret-Keeper is taken apart as well. While normally such a character is seen as doing it for the greater good, the secret Gladion kept did more harm than good, and when people eventually do discover it, specifically Lillie, she's justifiably livid.
- Did Not See That Coming: Lillie coming to resent him for keeping the truth away from her, to the point she gifts him flowers that symbolize hatred, catches him completely off-guard. Then he definitely not expects a train in the middle of the ocean...
- Didn't Think This Through: Keeping the Nihilego incident a secret was one thing. Bugging off elsewhere while the Ultra Beasts attacked was just outright poor planning on his part, not only because it proved to be harder than he thought, but because it made him look worse than he already was.
- He also did not consider how his plan to trap the Apex in their tapes could backfire.
- Disappointing Older Sibling: Lillie holds nothing but contempt towards him over keeping the Nihilego incident a secret from her, which causes their relationship to crumble.
- Everyone Has Standards: He hates the Apex but even he is appalled at Kisaragi's idea to use passengers as footsoldiers for the Apex to murder in an attempt to shock them about what they're doing along with the bunny's manipulations on Tokio.
F-M
- Failed Attempt at Drama: His dramatic declaration about how he has his Pokémon by his side, and how he'll use them to topple the Apex, is cut short when one of said Pokémon tackles and begins licking him. And then he remembers that he's naked.
- Famed In-Story: Blossoming Trail shows a statue of him in the Canals of Fondue Car and denizens leave orange lilies in honor of him. In Voyage of Wisteria, once memories of what he did return to the minds of those in the Train, he and the rest of the White Gestalt have tributes pouring in.
- Fatal Flaw:
- Denial. Many of his problems stem from his refusal to acknowledge the ways that reality doesn't line up with the narrative he's woven around himself or the fact that his actions unintentionally hurt his sister.
- Secrecy. If Gladion comes to believe a certain piece of information could lead to consequences, he'll keep it a secret to the end of the world. It's this reason that caused him to hide the Nihilego incident from Lillie, and which also convinces him to tell nobody about his Train trip when he comes back.
- Failure Is the Only Option: After learning what happened to Dar, Gladion makes it his mission to topple the Apex and defeat them for good. However, since they're still around by the time Blossoming Trail rolls around, he's not gonna be successful, though at least he'll get to derail a big plan of theirs that involves the Tape Car but Voyage of Wisteria reveals that it was erased from memory....
- Flower Motif: The gladiolus, his namesake, along with orange lilies, which symbolize hatred. His encounter with the Train is sparked off by his sister giving him a bouquet of orange gladiolus while he denies her right to be angry. In Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail, denizens in the Canals of Fondue Car leave orange lilies at a statue of him in tribute.
- Foil: Like Chloe before him, Gladion has many parallels and contrasts with various characters from both halves of the Crossover:
- Simon: Both are ponytail-sporting blonds who got stuck on the Train, and their respective Fatal Flaws hinge on how neither is willing to admit their mistakes. Both cling to their self-justifications, ignoring the impact their actions have on others, even those they care about most — both turn upon Grace/Lillie for challenging their respective delusions of grandeur. Simon is a young adult who primarily wears white, while Gladion is a black-clad pre-teen. Gladion came onto the Train with canine Pokémon as companions; Simon boarded alone and spent some time traveling with The Cat until she "abandoned" him while fleeing a Ghom. Simon's willingness to murder without remorse provides a dark reflection of what Gladion could become if he isn't careful.
- Goh: Both are Pokémon-obsessed youths who favor black/grey and red outfits. Each is focused upon a particular Pokémon (Nihilego and Mew); however, Gladion's reasons are much more personal, given the trauma Nihilego inflicted upon his family, while Goh's search for Mew is more of a general Goal in Life. Both have a strained relationship with a girl who used to be important to them; Gladion left Lillie behind on his quest for strength, while Goh simply neglected his Childhood Friend. Both insist that they're closer to Lillie/Chloe than they actually are, and are dangerously out of touch with their feelings. Of the two, Gladion is the more experienced battler, while Goh is more focused on capturing 'mons. Gladion's family includes a sister and mother (his father having been sucked into an Ultra Wormhole long ago), while Goh is an only child with both parents around and a grandmother.
- Lexi: Both hold an intense grudge against somebody who wronged them (Grace and Simon/Faba and Nihilego); this hatred threatens to lead them down very dark roads in pursuit of catharsis. Their relationships with the most significant girl in their lives are drastically opposed. Lexi holds Chloe in high regard, and her opinion matters greatly to him; he's willing to both listen and trust in her strength. Gladion claims to have sacrificed everything for Lillie's sake, but regards her as a helpless damsel, refusing to recognize her strength or respect her opinions. Like Simon, Lexi wears white while Gladion favors black. Both of them want to topple the Apex, but Lexi's case is much more personal compared to Gladion wanting to defeat them for just being a-holes.
- Trip: Both are rivals to Ash — Trip from Unova, Gladion from Alola — who got on the Train after different crossroads: Trip was trying to get out of his mindset of being all about rules and wanting to fight Alder while Gladion not only strives to become stronger but also to be a knight to his sister. Trip has no siblings, Gladion has his sister Lillie. Both of them believe in Ignorance Is Bliss for different reasons: for Gladion, it's to keep Lillie in the dark about the Nihilego incident while Trip wants Goh to be completely ignorant of the Infinity Train's existence else Goh will try to enter it to save Chloe. Trip hosts a variety of Pokémon on him while Gladion mostly used Dark-types. Last, Gladion only saw Ash as a measuring stick to gauge how he must train harder while Trip eventually saw Ash as someone he truly loves. Amusingly, Larkspur brings up Trip's trial to fight the Apex to Gladion.
- Tulip: Left after a huge argument with a loved one and went on a journey somewhere — Tulip for coding camp, Gladion on a "quest" to become stronger — before the Train picked them up. Tulip teamed up with Atticus while Gladion has his Pokémon. Tulip unintentionally ended up on a grand quest that brought One-One back to his role as the Conductor, while Gladion wants to end up on a quest to be a true knight. Tulip's parents were divorced, Gladion's parents were Happily Married until his father was taken into an Ultra Wormhole.
- Jesse: Older brothers who entered the Train after hurting their respective siblings. Jesse was an Extreme Doormat and couldn't stand up for himself over fears of making everyone unhappy. Gladion was in denial and walked out on the person who needed him most. Jesse's partner was Alan Dracula, a deer who had strange and abnormal powers. Gladion has Silvally who can change to whatever Pokémon-type he wants if given the right disk.
- For Your Own Good: Claims that this is the reason why he kept the truth about the Nihilego incident under wraps from Lillie. She doesn't buy it.
- Good Is Not Nice: Gladion is, for lack of a better, a delusional prick who sees everything he does justified. However, he's ultimately a good person deep inside, just with screwed up priorities.
- Good Wears White: Initially entered in his black hoodie, but he switches to a complete white outfit to signify he's a good person and his desires to be like the White Knight. This is dropped at the end of Act 1, heralding a darker turn for him.
- Harmful to Minors: He's only a pre-teen, and yet he barely takes a few steps into the Train before he's drugged and brainwashed into thinking he's Margaret's dead son. In contrast, Chloe ended up perfectly safe in a car filled with adorable talking corgis.
- Hero of Another Story: He's this in Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail, as Chloe learns more of his journey on the Train several months after he left it...but it turns out that in Voyage of Wisteria whatever he did with something called "White Gestalt" was so bad that it had to be completely erased off the Train. It's later revealed that he tried to trap the Apex in their memory traps but accidentally got every single passenger trapped as well.
- Hidden Depths:
- He may be a chuunibyou with hand-poses and dramatic lines, but he recalls having read Through the Looking Glass and admiring the White Knight's dedication.
- He also seems to know at least a little bit about the language of flowers, since he's visibly furious when he receives the bouquet of orange lillies.
- He has a hidden love of castles, reading many books about them and making sand castles when he was younger.
- His Own Worst Enemy: Among the many, many obstacles that Gladion deals with on his journey to become a true knight in shining armor, is his stubborn that he's destined to become one of these, ignoring both the consequences of his actions in doing so, and the complex reality surrounding him.
- Hypocrite:
- He called out his mother for being oblivious to the Nihilego incident, when he knew about it the entire time and kept his mouth shut. This trope is one of the reasons why the fanfic was even written in the first place.
- He repeats this Amelia, blaming her for the Apex and not doing someting productive like making instruction videos. Again, just like what he did with his mother and Lillie.
- Ignored Epiphany: One of his fatal flaws.
- While Gladion briefly considers the notion that things might have been better if he'd been more forthright before Lillie confronts him, he swiftly dismisses the idea, and blows off her feelings when she calls him out.
- He ignores the idea of his mother and sister being worried about him even though he's consoling Tokio over how he's been gone for almost two years.
- Insistent Terminology: He's a Knight in Shining Armor, thank you very much.
- I Reject Your Reality: In Gladion's eyes, he's a knight in shining armor whose decision to keep the Nihilego incident a secret from Lillie was a noble thing. He prefers this over the truth, that he Didn't Think This Through and hurt Lillie thanks to keeping secrets.
- Ignorance Is Bliss: Thinks that keeping the incident with Nihilego secret was the right thing to do for Lillie, so she wouldn't be retraumatized. He may have had a point in this since Cosmog abruptly teleporting everyone to where he was training Type: Null did catapult her back to square one. Lillie, however, thinks otherwise, as the key to overcoming her trauma was learning the full truth of what happened that night.
- Innocently Insensitive: For all intents and purposes, he legitimately wanted to protect his sister from reopening old wounds. It just so happens that his method of doing so was the worst one possible.
- I Just Want to Be Special: He wants to become a knight in shining armor, whatever that's supposed to mean. He eventually gets that desire at the end of the Toy Brick Car.
- Insane Troll Logic: Gladion keeping the Nihilego incident a secret because he was worried Lillie would be retraumatized actually makes sense. Expecting her to be okay with him abandoning her and her family as an add-on is what brings this trope to light.
- In-Series Nickname: Aside from "Knight of the Orange Lily", he's usually nicknamed with either "Lily Knight" or "Mr. Lily" which he is very annoyed with.
- Irony:
- His favorite character from Alice in Wonderland is the White Knight. Gladion himself initially wears black.
- For someone associated with darkness, you think he'd like nightmarish things. Turns out he's squeamish to them.
- While he's associated with orange lilies, he hates the flower because of what it represents in the language of flowers (hatred). And yet, by the time of Blossoming Trail, the Denizens use said flowers as tributes to him.
- The card that he drew from Nozama's fortune telling is Jack of Spades. Spades are equal to the Sword Tarot suit, yet his weapon is a shield. Moreover, the Spade symbolizes clarity, but Gladion refuses to admit that it's his fault that Lillie's trauma lasted longer than it should have.
- It's All About Me: Played With; Gladion justifies many of his actions with the notion that it was all for Lillie's sake... but completely discounts how she felt about all of it, and gets enraged over her apparent failure to understand how he suffered during his self-imposed quest.
- Jerkass Realization: Gets one in the Fog Car when he watches a movie of the Nihilego incident through his sister's eyes, at how she was hurt and in pain and just wanted to know why she couldn't touch Pokémon and how her feelings didn't matter in the name of his epic quest to get stronger.
- Kleptomaniac Hero: He snatches some shampoo and stuff from the hotel he stays at on the Toy Brick Car. This is something he picked up on his self-imposed quest to become a knight, as he could never be sure if the place he went to next would have the resources he needed.
- Knighting: He is knighted after the events of the Toy Brick Car.
- Knight in Shining Armor: His ultimate Goal in Life, although the story points out how unglamorous it is to try to become one...
- Knight in Sour Armor: ...And even if he does achieve said goal above, he's so jaded and cynical he fits this trope more.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He not only kept the Nihilego incident a secret, but he also effectively abandoned his family in the process, only coming back when things got hairy. Understandably, Gladion receives a harsh reality check in the form of a ticked off Lillie and a bouquet of orange lillies, as well as a severe call out for it.
- Light Is Good: Downplayed. He has a secondary association with light, and he's on the side of good, but his association with darkness is more prevalent.
- Line-of-Sight Alias: Variation: when Blacksmith Pratt asks what his personal symbol is, the only thing he can think of is the orange lily, much to his immediate regret.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He wasn't around to witness Lillie's Character Development, so when he returns, he naturally believes she's the same "helpless damsel" of a sister that she used to be. Needless to say, Lillie's not impressed.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Gladion puts his shield to good use during his fight with the Black Knight, both in defending himself, and smacking him with it.
- Meaningful Name: Gladion is named after the gladiolus (sword) lily, and Montblanc is "White Mountain" in French, with the "Blanc" representing Gladion wishing to be the white knight, and the "mountain" representing his sheer stubbornness and denial.
- Missing Child: Just like Chloe, the Infinity Train picks him up and he disappears as a result. Unlike Chloe, however, it takes about a week and Mallow bringing up how he's not around for people to notice. And what's worse, no one will even know about him being on the Train until long after he returned and only because of Chloe disappearing and entering a certain car in the Train that worships him.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He realizes what a fool he's been in the Fog Car upon seeing a "home movie" of the night the Nihilego incident happened, him running away from home, and how his sister was coping with a trauma she had no idea about since he was the only person who knew the truth.
N-Z
- Naked People Are Funny: Yes, even he gets hit with this trope. Once he's free of Margaret's brainwashing, he tore off his initial clothes in anger. Once he calms down, Larkspur has to mention that he's completely naked in a public place. He has to hide in a bush to cover himself up and demands pants immediately.
- Never My Fault: Refuses to see himself as anything but the hero; whenever his decisions hurt others, he blames a scapegoat. It takes a trip to Silent Hill to realize that he messed up significantly.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hey Gladion, trapping the Apex was a good idea! Now if only you didn't trap everyone else and radicalize the Apex to lay waste to the Tape Car...
- Not a Morning Person: If his "Mornings are evil" comment is anything to go by, waking up early isn't one of Gladion's strong points. It gets to the point that Umbraeon usually wakes him up with a Dark Pulse.
- Not Bad: Says this after he and Silvally test the shield Pratt made for them, and verify its quality.
- Not Helping Your Case: Gladion was always going to have a bad first impression with Lillie, since he kept the Nihilego incident a secret and all. However, if that was all he did, then he probably could've at least tried to get back on her good grace. Him abandoning her and her mother, and then acting like a self-righteous brat who believes they're in the right once the truth comes to light, gives Lillie more than enough reason to see him as an insensitive prick that has no business acting like he's better than anybody else.
- Outside-Context Problem: Downplayed. Gladion, for all intents and purposes, isn't much stronger than the average Passenger; what puts him on this trope is the fact that he boarded the Train with his Pokémon with him, when every other Passenger enters alone. Not only that, but his Pokémon could be compared to non-sentient Denizens, since they're more than happy to help Gladion just like how Denizens help Passengers work out their issues.
- Playing Card Motifs: He's associated with the Jack of Spades. The Jack of Spades symbolizes brave young men, fitting Gladion and the White Gestalt being a heroic male group, being born in a wealthy family, and are said to be on spiritual quests like Gladion is on the train to better himself. Moreover the Tarot equivalent is the Knight of Swords.
- The Power of Hate: Breaks out of Margaret's spell thanks to Larkspur showing off his orange lilies...which are associated with hatred.
- Prefers the Illusion: Prefers a reality where he sees himself as a knight who kept his sister safe from potential wound reopening, rather than the actual reality of him keeping secrets at the expense of helping his sister. He realizes his mistakes in the Fog Car at how he didn't care how much pain his sister was in since it wasn't as important as him being the knight to save her.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Both Deconstructed and Defied. Gladion's deluded himself into thinking he's a knight in shining armor who's keeping his sister safe by hiding the Nihilego from her, all while never really considering what she thinks or wants. However, once the truth comes to light, Gladion's forced to pay quite the heavy reality check, with Lillie in particular being outright hurt and insulted at what he did. And instead of seeing what he did wrong, he assumes Lillie's at fault, at which point the Train picks him up.
- Replacement Goldfish: Margaret tries to make him this to replace her dead son. It doesn't last.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Out of the many reasons Gladion kept the Nihilego incident a secret was because he feared Lillie finding out about would cause her fears to resurface and send her back to square one. While this does happen once Lillie sees Nihilego again, it fails to excuse the dickish lengths he went to keep it a secret and how he blamed Ash not taming Nebby.
- Rule of Symbolism: His initial number, 197, is Umbreon's National Dex Number, representing his association with darkness.
- Saved by Canon: He's alive and well in Blossoming Trail, so he's at least gonna come out of the Train alright.
- Secret-Keeper: Deconstructed. He kept the Nihilego incident a secret from Lillie in order to protect her. However, this, coupled with Gladion effectively abandoning his sister in the process, makes his intentions come across as less well-intentioned than they are, and he ears his sister's ire as a result. And of course, he's not gonna tell anybody about the Infinity Train.
- Secretly Wealthy: He's part of a ridiculously rich family, but he's in no real rush to let anybody know about this. Justified on the Train, since he both doesn't find a good context to reveal this, and has more important things to do.
- Self-Proclaimed Knight: He considers himself a knight in shining armor who valiantly protected his sister by keeping the Nihilego fiasco a secret. Reality has a different opinion, though.
- Shield Bash: Part of his Combination Attack with Silvally involves hitting and stunning his opponent with his shield long enough for Silvally to Tackle them.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: He leaves the Pearl Gates Car completely in white, though not willingly, to signal how he wishes to be the White Knight and help people. He later changes the white into a Zoroark-esque jacket and some jeans in the Canals of Fondue Car (the end of Act 1) which is when the author reveals that it's going to start getting darker from here on out.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Of a different flavor than Chloe: Rather than being Bullied into Depression so much that he keeps everything bottled up, Gladion has spent so much time alone that his social skills have withered, which aren't helped by his delusions of grandeur.
- Tautological Templar: Gladion not only believes himself that he's a knight in shining armor, but that this justifies everything he does: keeping secrets to Lillie, leaving behind his family to become stronger, everything is good, because he himself is good.
- Terrible Artist: While at the Toy Brick Car, he uses the blocks to try to create something. The best thing the narration can say about his creation is that it resembles Umbreon.
- They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: At least part of the reason he kept the Nihilego incident under wraps was because for him, It's Personal with the Ultra Beast, especially since bringing it up could reopen old wounds and send Lillie back to square one. Nevertheless, this doesn't give him much sympathy when the truth comes out.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He went through quite the effort to keep the source of Lillie's trauma at bay: from keeping her in the dark about it, to outright leaving to become stronger so it wouldn't happen again. Unfortunately, he still went to unnecessary extremes for this, so Lillie isn't willing to cut him some slack because of this.
- What the Hell, Hero?: On the receiving end of a passive version of this from Lillie, who gifts him a bouquet filled with orange lillies in order to get her message across. He'll get chewed out even more in Blossoming Trail when Ash calls him about why he kept his train trip secret for so long.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Downplayed. Though his intentions were good, Gladion still neglected to consider the negative impact of his actions upon anyone else, even the very sister he'd sworn to protect.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Does not like the Sandyghast line because the idea of haunted sentient sand castles (castles being something he has an interest him) is enough to give him nightmares.
- Would Hit a Girl: Starts attacking Margaret after he recovers his memories and learns she tried to make him her son. The only reason he didn't go any further is because Larkspur stopped him. He also has no qualms attacking Grace Monroe, but that's justified considering all of her atrocities.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: Despite being justifiably angry and being more than twice his size, Gladion doesn't lay a finger on The Thief/Robbie Jewell, instead giving him "The Reason You Suck" Speech in order to try get him to see reason.
- Wrong Genre Savvy:
- He believed that things would go like in canon: he kept the Nihilego incident a secret, came back just in time to save the day, and everybody's happy. Of course, since this story takes away his Protagonist-Centered Morality, this isn't what happens at all: He gets constantly called out for holding back important information when it was most certainly needed, and Lillie, the person he did this all for, comes to hate him because of it.
- When he enters the Train, he assumes he's there in order to achieve his goal of becoming a proper knight, when the reality is that the Train is essentially a therapy locomotive who's trying to get him away from those thoughts.
- After discovering what happened with Dar, Gladion makes it his mission to take down the Apex, believing that it's his ultimate test to finally become a knight. Not only does the above point still apply, but his story's a prequel, meaning that he ultimately won't be the one to take them down but he will stop them from enacting some evil plan.
- You Are Not Ready: Part of his reason for keeping the truth behind Lillie's issues to her was because he still thought of her as a damsel in distress, an emotionally frail girl that, if she were to find out the truth, would shatter her immediately. Needless to say, he pays dearly for this mindset.
