Foil / Infinity Train: Blossomverse

Let's just say that the author of Infinity Train: Blossomverse really takes the time to compare and contrast the characters in the work.

Note: Spoilers for Book 1 of Infinity Train are unmarked. You have been warned.

Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail/Infinity Train: Voyage of Wisteria

Chloe Cerise

Through Word of God, Chloe Cerise was written to contrast the numerous passengers who entered the train.

• Grace Monroe:
  • Grace was pushed by her parents to become a dancer, Chloe was pushed by everyone (sans her mother) to get into Pokémon. Grace is charming and manipulative, Chloe is softspoken and quiet. Neither of Grace's parents care for her and push her into an ever-changing number of caretakers, whereas both of Chloe's does except Professor Cerise never took the time to notice and neither Chryssa nor Renji actually did anything to help. Grace had no friends growing up (until meeting Simon), Chloe had one but her relationship with him is distant. Grace only wanted to be loved by her parents and to have gratification when others looked up to her so she never ended up alone, Chloe wanted to be her own person and be accepted as she is. Grace also liked looking down at other people, whereas most of the students in Chloe's class look down at her.
  • As the story goes on, Chloe becomes noticed for her bravery and kindness. Grace, on the other hand, is noticed for how she and the Apex are ruining a lot of people's lives and must be stopped.
  • Grace is a proud Know-Nothing Know-It-All who leads a cult, Chloe is a Humble Hero who is rallying the denizens to fight back against the cult.
  • The two become close to a denizen: Chloe becomes close to Lexi whereas Grace (unknowingly at the time) bonded with Hazel.
• Simon Laurent: His first partner was The Cat, Chloe's partner is Atticus, King of Corginia. Simon is disillusioned with the idea of changing himself, Chloe understands that the train is about self improvement but she wants to stay on the train for as long as possible. Simon is a Narcissist and a Control Freak who wants things (and people) to be the same or how "they should be" whereas Chloe has obsessive-compulsive tendencies but is willing to try new things (except Pokémon).
  • Simon was writing an epic fantasy trilogy, although we only see that he's written the first part, Chloe is shown writing macabre short stories. Simon wears his blond hair in a ponytail and wears a white hoodie. Chloe wears her red hair down and wears a white dress.
  • Their reactions to Lexi are different: Simon tore him apart and buried him underground. Chloe dug him out and is shown to be kind, caring and patient with him.
  • Simon is willing to hurt and murder others to show off that he's stronger, whereas Chloe does want to get revenge on those who hurt her but not to the point of killing or injuring them (barring a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown she did on Sara) and comes off more as a Martial Pacifist. Simon was betrayed by The Cat when she never came back for him, Chloe essentially betrayed everyone else when she boarded the Train.
  • Their interactions with Amelia are opposites: Simon wanted to beat the crap out of the old woman when his worldview shattered. Chloe starts feeling angry at her, but later tells Amelia that she's doing all she can to move on with her life. Amelia's interactions with them are also opposites: she doesn't care about Simon's troubles and calls him a child, but she shows concern for Chloe about the trouble she's getting into. Last, Simon actually met Amelia face-to-face; Chloe is currently talking to her via text message.
  • Both of them are the last components for Walter and Henry's ritual: Destiny and Destruction. But Chloe is revered and praised by the duo whereas both of them despise Simon.
• Amelia Hughes: Amelia is a 60+ British woman into technological wonders and got on the train (in order to save her from jumping off the rooftop of her university) after the death of her fiancee and Childhood Friend, Alrick. Chloe is a ten-year-old girl who is into Alice in Wonderland and macabre short stories who ran away from home to escape everyone's pressure and neglect. Amelia's end-goal was to make a train car that mimicked her past life with Alrick. Chloe wants to escape her past by reinventing herself. Amelia wears her brown hair in a braid and wore a black cloak — later grey suit — while Chloe initially wore her maroon hair in a braid, but lets her hair flow freely, and wears a white dress. Amelia didn't care for anyone but herself and shows no qualms on her actions hurt others, Chloe cares about others yet she's unaware that her disappearance has hurt her family and friends. Amelia is a loner, Chloe adventures with Lexi and Atticus. Word of God even points out that Amelia would've been the third member of the group before Book 3 changed the plan and Lexi was introduced instead.
• Hazel: Hazel was a six-year-old girl wearing a black shirt and grey sweater vest, Chloe is ten and wears a white dress. Hazel was a Plucky Girl, Chloe is a Shrinking Violet. Hazel ended up with a broken number, 337, while Chloe had 151. Hazel lived alone with her adoptive mother Tuba, Chloe has a father, mother and little brother but is somewhat distant to them. Hazel wanted to make friends with the Apex, Chloe wanted to reinvent herself and escape her friend Goh and her classmates that could've been her friends had they not been influenced by Sara. Hazel is named after a tree, Chloe is named after a flower. Hazel is an experimental clone of Alrick, Chloe is 100% human.
• To Sonia: Both are reddish-haired girls frequently shown with a Yamper (even if Anime Sonia may not have one) who are related to a Pokémon Professor and tend towards listless, goal struggling states of life. They were good friends with a dark skinned boy whose starter was a Fire-type Pokémon (Goh and Leon) whose friendship was strained by the arrival of a outside being with more experience in Pokémon matters who took the friend under their wing with a plant-based name (Ash and Rose). However Sonia appears to have handled the stress better than Chloe did and is still affectionate about Leon while Chloe didn't handle it nearly as well and can't stand Goh anymore. (Sonia later confirms she never ended up on the Infinity Train). Both are interested in Pokémon legends but Sonia actively looking into them and talks to them with the strangers Ash and Goh while Chloe only realizes she has interest in them after she snaps at the familiar Ash and Goh and runs away (which, as Ash and Goh note, they could've told Chloe the tale of Darkest Day).
• To Alrick: When Alrick died, this brought Amelia on the Infinity Train where she attempted to recreate her life with him for the past 33 years. When Chloe vanished onto the Train, it caused Parker to unknowingly tap into the power of the Unown and give him a copy of his sister and the chance to enact vengeance. Both Alrick and Chloe had a fondness for Alice in Wonderland — Alrick wrote an essay about it in "The Past Car" and Chloe indulges in stating references to it. Alrick was mostly known for wearing a black hoodie, Chloe wears a pretty white dress. Alrick was in his late 20s/early 30s when he died, Chloe is only 10.
• To Paul:
  • Both he and Chloe are closed off, quiet, relatively unsocial, have brothers, find Ash aggravating to be around, end up on the Infinity Train, and abandon a Pokémon. However how they executed these traits are notably different. Chloe never caused anyone any pain without either extensive provocation (the talent show) or on the day she finally snapped at her father, Goh, and Ash, while Paul was a lot more frequent an offender of hurting people (see Maylene, Ash, and Chimchar).
  • Chloe's anti-social behavior is a result of her schoolmates while Paul has no known excuse for being a jerk (his brother outside saying he's always been like that, even before he got obsessed with strength). While Chloe dislikes Ash for such crimes as becoming Goh's friend easily, getting her father's attention easily, and existing, Paul dislikes Ash for reminding him too much of his brother Reggie and having a vastly different approach to Pokémon training.
  • Paul abandoned Chimchar and countless Pokémon he was responsible for for being 'weak' while Chloe abandoned Yamper — whom she doesn't own but is the one Yamper is closest to and wants to be fed by — as a side effect of her running away (albeit this is accidental as she wanted to take Yamper on her). Red-haired Chloe develops and freely wanders the Infinity Train helping people and would rather not have to enact violence on the Apex while violet-haired Paul is being tortured in a single car and let a Apex member drown. Reggie is Paul's older brother while Parker is Chloe's younger brother.
  • They're associated with Electric Pokémon: Electvire for Paul and Yamper for Chloe.
  • For Walter's ritual, they are treated differently: Chloe is Destiny, revered and not to be harmed. Paul is Despair who must be tortured so he can be pushed into the Despair Event Horizon.
• To Ash:
  • Both of them, upon entering their environments and strides become heroes and help those who need it. This occurs at the age of 10. However Ash does this as a Pokémon trainer and to humans and Pokémon while Chloe does it on the Infinity Train to passengers and denizens.
  • Both of them have negatively affected the other but how and why is different. Ash entered her life upon meeting her Childhood Friend Goh and earns the attention of him and Chloe's father easily which makes her jealous and contributes to her eventual breakdown and running away. Chloe's angry words before running off cause Ash to gain a Guilt Complex that gets reinforced by those reacting to her disappearance. Ash did not mean to make Chloe's life worse and wants to be her friend while Chloe wanted him (and Goh and her father) to be hurt as she ran off and wanted nothing to do with him ever until it's later revealed she did want his friendship.
  • Both of their relations with people led to both good and bad developments for them, but Ash in general was a positive influence those he considered friends and those that ended up in worse places after meeting him were his rivals (trainers like Paul, Trip, and Alain who both ended up up the Infinity Train and to whom Ash was not the sole cause for their fate). While Chloe's actions led to several such as her father and Ash to ponder and work to alleviate their mistakes her actions have led to the person she cared about most, her brother, to become worse and spiral into the worst actions possible out of concern for her while the ramifications of her leaving have put many (including her teachers, classmates, and Goh) in worse positions than they were before she left to a various degrees of culpability.
  • Ash comes from a small family in the country and gets along very well with his mother. Chloe has a larger family in the city and only really connected with her little brother.
    • Ash has little to any contact with his father and doesn't usually express a reaction to this fact. Chloe had a lot of contact with her father, and had a lot of reactions to his actions that unintentionally hurt her.
  • Ash loves Pokémon and everything to do with them. He went into their field of his own interest. Everyone assumed by default Chloe liked Pokémon because she was the daughter of a Professor while she was ambivalent at best to them and grew to dislike them to a point of Fantastic Racism for a time in story.
  • Ash has many friends, Chloe had one friend before the Infinity Train.
  • Ash is popular with many because of his interest and personality. Chloe is unpopular with many because of her interest and being an active target for bullies.
  • Ash is fairly forgiving to many, but not all, actions. He's even friendly at times with Team Rocket despite their years-long history, though he doesn't usually like or trust them. Chloe is very much unwilling to forgive people for their actions large or small without a lot of time and reflection.
  • Both Ash and Chloe saw reflections of their past selves via antagonists during Part 2. Ash saw Yeardley and Chloe [UnChloe]. However Yeardley is a reflection of what Ash was like at the start of the series and, separated at three-four years, Ash looks at him more like 'was I ever that bad?'. [UnChloe] represents Chloe's actions roughly a month before and her reflection hits hard.
• To the Apex:
  • Chloe ran away from home and became stuck on the Train like the Apex and just like them she wants to stay on the Train for as long as possible. However while the Apex want to destroy cars and ruin denizens' lives because of how they were indoctrinated by Grace and Simon to see their numbers as strength, Chloe peacefully travels through the cards and only gets in fights if she has to, treating denizens as equals. Should a passenger intervene on their fun, the Apex will attack them while Chloe will extend kindness to them (even to ones like Zack). The Apex hates those who sympathize with the Nulls while Chloe herself doesn't want to see/hear/know a Pokémon Trainer or anyone she knows (particularly her classmates) also on the Train. They both see the Train belonging to them but the Apex sees it as a place for them to lord over while Chloe finds it her safe haven from everyone who bullied her.
  • The groups see the Train as a different imaginary world: Chloe sees it akin to Wonderland while Ameila comments that the Apex sees the Train as Neverland. Last, Chloe came on the Train after One-One came to power so she knows what the Train's purpose is while the Apex formed when Amelia was still in charge so they are fumbling around in the dark. They also treat Amelia differently: the Apex initially laughs at a 60+ year old woman being the Conductor before she shuts them up with her number. Chloe ignores the number and sees someone who honestly wishes to atone for her mistakes to the point that Amelia is a Sixth Ranger.
• To Goh, the two are practically two sides of the same coin:
  • They both have a pretty bad issue in regards to their ability to communicate, but while Chloe fails to express what she wants to say, Goh fails to properly ''listen.'"
  • Neither of them initially knew about the Infinity Train. But while the train came looking for Chloe, Goh seeked the train once he realized that's where Chloe was.
  • They were both Bullied into Depression, which exacerbated their issues greatly. Chloe was bullied physically and resolved to grow stronger once she caught her breath, while Goh was bullied mentally by Parker and Zeno, and came out of the bullying nearly losing the will to live.
  • Their feelings regarding Pokémon are also foils. Chloe initially doesn't like them but eventually grows to remain neutral about it, while Goh became obssessed with Pokémon and, after his Epiphany Theraphy, probably wants nothing to do with anything anymore.
  • Their first Pokémon battle ends in a colossal failure. But while Chloe's loss further fuels her anger and eventual decision to run away, Goh's loss fuels his depression and belief that he can't do anything right.
  • They're both Locked Out of the Loop at the start of the story. But while Chloe's unaware of what happens outside the train and couldn't care less about it, Goh's unaware of what happens inside the train and grows worried sick because of it.
  • They both have parents who did little to help them with their issues. But while Chloe's parents couldn't do anything because they didn't know what the issue was, Goh's parents decided to take the hands off approach despite the issue being crystal clear.

Lexi

• Vs. Simon: Both wear white and carry a deep-seated hatred born from trauma — Simon hates denizens because of how The Cat abandoned him to a Ghom, while Lexi hates passengers thanks to Simon's betrayal of him. However, while Simon shows no empathy to anyone, Lexi felt remorse after accidentally hurting Chloe while attacking his father. Once an idea is in Simon's head, he will not let it go, while Lexi struggles with the fact that getting vengeance on the ones who hurt him isn't worth it. They both use a derogatory label on their targets — 'Nulls' for Simon about the denizens and 'Free-riders' for Lexi for apathetic passengers. Simon has blond hair in a ponytail and wears a white hoodie, Lexi has short ashen gray hair and wears a white suit.
• Vs. Goh:
  • Both have a dream they've grown obsessed with: Goh's pursuit of Mew as his 'partner' versus Lexi's desire to explore the Train and to get revenge on the people who hurt him. Both were once eager to make new friends, but Goh turned bitter and reclusive after a misunderstanding, while Lexi was betrayed by Grace and Simon.
  • Their relationships with Chloe reflect each other: Goh takes her presence for granted, ignoring and dismissing her, oblivious to her feelings or why she disliked curry and Pokémon and claims that they're friends even though he never interacts with her. During their argument, he insists that she has no right to criticize him due to her lacking any Goal in Life, and only realizes how much he hurt her and how little he knows of her after she runs away. By contrast, Lexi starts off wary of this new 'Free-rider', but is immediately remorseful after accidentally harming her and makes a real effort to care for and get to know her better, along with changing his way of thinking about vengeance thanks to her influence.
  • Lexi is quick to realize if he's being insensitive and does all he can to cheer her up and is totally interested in what she has to say while Goh is oblivious to how his actions hurt her and doesn't even care about what she has to say. Lexi lived with his father, while Goh lived with his parents and grandmother. Last, Lexi is willing to lean on the strength of Chloe and Atticus and express the anguish and hurt he feels inside, whereas Goh has an I Work Alone attitude, even with Ash, and clams up about subjects (regarding Tokio) and later on, he becomes resentful of her running away and any attempt to have her back is to have things back as they should be, instead of doing a better attempt to change himself.
  • While Goh decided to not go into making friends after Tokio abandoned him, turning withdrawn in the process, Lexi decides to open his heart to Chloe and is rewarded with a loyal ally and someone who tempers his wrath.
• Vs. Ash: Both want Chloe to join them on their adventures; Lexi is more successful as he makes an effort to get to know her better by asking her what she likes and indulging in getting a makeover from her and even dancing alongside her, whereas Ash extends the offer and lets it hang, uncertain how to proceed when faced with her indifference. Ash is an All-Loving Hero who wishes to better himself in battle against other trainers; Lexi seeks to experience all the Train has to offer... but also desires revenge upon those who wronged him, and is much less trusting of others. Lexi is the equivalent of a teen, Ash is 13-14 in the fic. Lexi lives with his father while Ash lives with his mom.
• Vs MT. They're both denizens who become partners to a passenger, and were initially less than trusting of their partners. But MT's goal was to find a way to escape the train while Lexi's goal was to explore it and possibly get revenge on the two who hurt him. MT is bald and wore a black sleeveless top, Lexi has short white hair and wears a white suit. MT is made of chrome, Lexi is made of paper. MT's attitude stemmed from being pursued by the Mirror Cops, Lexi's attitude comes from the anguish of being trapped underneath the ground for eight years.
• Vs Tuba: She's a giant purple gorilla, he's a silver book whose papers turn into a human. She lost her family, including a daughter, he was stuck underground just feet away from his father. Tuba is immediately distrusting of Grace and Simon, he is shown to be wary of Chloe due to the actions of Grace and Simon. Tuba becomes a mother figure to Hazel and bonding with a lullaby, Lexi becomes a close friend and confidant to Chloe and bond via dance and stories. How Simon dealt with them was different: for Lexi, he ripped Lexi's pages apart and buried him alive in comparison to how he murdered Tuba and let her be grinded by the train's wheels.
• Vs The Cat: They're white colored denizens who end up becoming close to a passenger. But The Cat is sneaky, thinks only of herself and abandoned Simon to a Ghom (she does perform a Heel–Face Turn later) while Lexi is bitter at jerkass passengers but is nothing but supportive of Chloe. The Cat usually wears a waistcoat and tie, Lexi wears a suit. The Cat is a Collector of the Strange and has a car dedicated to all of the objects she gathered while Lexi collects stories of the various cars on the Train. The Cat is having a relationship with Frank the Bear (one of her employees) while Lexi's feelings for Chloe are platonic.

Atticus

• To Yamper. Yamper can only speak his name most of the time whereas Atticus is capable of human speech all of the time. Yamper can electrocute opponents with Spark, whereas Atticus does not have that ability. Yamper is loyal only to Chloe, while Atticus is open to forming close bonds with several characters. Yamper doesn't mind being picked up by Chloe, but Atticus fusses about when Chloe has to carry him across the river.
• To Ash: Ash does his best to get Chloe to come join him and Goh in searching for Pokémon, but he never goes past a suggestion. Atticus doesn't just put Chloe in an uncomfortable position but slowly coerces her to partake in the tour of Corginia and later to different experiences. Chloe's insecurities involving them are different: she feels like she'll never be as accomplished as Ash whereas Atticus fondly talks about Tulip but states that Chloe needs to be able to be the best she can be. Last, Ash never really tries to bond with her whereas Atticus is one hundred percent ready to travel with Chloe. Ash's presence is what causes Chloe to shy away from Pokémon but Atticus's sincere wish to know more about them is what has Chloe open up to the idea of getting to know them more.
• To Professor Cerise: Chloe's father is completely oblivious to her insecurities, making no effort to connect with her that isn't connected to his interests. Atticus, meanwhile, is more aware, offering plenty of good advice, but also aiming to avoid pushing her. Upon learning about his daughter's interests, Professor Cerise shifts blame on other outside influences, while Atticus seems fine with it.
• To Tuba: They're both talking animal companions but he requested to join Tulip and Chloe without hesitance, whereas Tuba was hesitant in joining Grace and Simon (only tagging along because of Hazel). Tuba is a mother who lost her family, Atticus is a king of an entire car who is concerned that his friend, King Aloysius, has been injured by The Apex. While Atticus was shot and turned into a Ghom, he comes back alive and well. Tuba gets Killed Off for Real by Simon.
• To Lexi: They both care for Chloe but each of them focus on a different aspect. Atticus focuses on Chloe taking the steps to face the unknown and try something new. Lexi helps Chloe to move on from those hurt her and to embrace who she truly is. They both want a bone to pick with the Apex — Lexi wants revenge on Grace and Simon for how they tortured him while Atticus wants answers to what happened to King Aloysius and the Unfinished Car.

Titus

• Like Mr. Pepper, he assigns Chloe tasks meant to broaden her horizons. However, his efforts are more successful, courtesy of his willingness to work with and be patient with her, keeping her interests in mind, whereas her teacher dismissed her efforts as 'not good enough'. Mr. Pepper actually wants Chloe to succeed, but since he's never actually telling what he wants from the girl, Chloe thinks of him as putting her down and being a Sadist Teacher for the sake of it.
• As a father figure, he's the opposite of Professor Cerise. He's kind and patient with his own son, never once pushing him to take an appearance he didn't like and was proud of Lexi learning to fold his papers into different beings. He also tends to numerous books like their his children and his only flaw was a Horrible Judge of Character moment on Grace and Simon. In contrast, Professor Cerise's work is about the relationships between Pokémon and humans, but he is completely oblivious to Chloe's problems, has no idea that she doesn't like Pokémon and the only time he praises her just makes things even worse.
• To Goh's parents: Goh's parents work in a software company which leaves them with little time to interact with Goh, whereas Titus works as a caretaker of a library and recounts happy memories with his son. Goh's parents are shown to fear Goh's lack of of a social life, Titus's fear came from learning that his son was injured and buried underground for eight years. Last, Goh's parents don't do anything to get Goh to make friends, whereas Titus gives Lexi a go-ahead to travel with Chloe and Atticus.

Parker Cerise

• Is one to Nate Cosay, being the younger brother of a passenger who got on a train and have a case of worship for them. Both were attacked by bullies (Parker got hit with a paintbucket trying to defend his sister, and Nate broke his arm in a "manliness" test set up by his brother's "friends"). Nate was one of the reasons why Jesse got on the train in the first place, Parker wasn't to his sister.
• To Goh: They're both young boys into Pokémon and have a relationship with Chloe (Parker being her younger brother, Goh being her childhood friend) but Parker starts becoming more mature on learning of Chloe's disappearance whereas Goh becomes desperate to find her. Goh is a Pokémon Trainer, Parker isn't.
  • Parker was interested in what Chloe liked, while Goh could care less because it didn't involve his interests. Parker decides that he's going to write things about what he likes about his sister, Goh doesn't grasp how important Chloe is to him and only focuses on finding her. Parker later starts growing afraid of Chloe returning yet disappearing if someone hurts her, while Goh focuses on how hurt he feels when Chloe cuts ties with him and blames her for everything going sour.
  • Parker is known to have other hobbies while Goh's life is nothing but Pokémon.
  • Parker's Fatal Flaw is wrath, while Goh's Fatal Flaw is denial.
• To his father: While both are related to Chloe, Parker has a far richer relationship with her by virtue of actually paying attention to his sister. He was willing to give her interests a chance and found common ground, whereas the Professor is leery after hearing about them and treats learning more about his daughter as studying. By the time of Part 2 Professor Cerise has fully accepted his mistakes and punished those who deliberately hurt his daughter, while Parker has gone so black and white in his actions he uses chance terrible powers to punish anyone who ever hurt his sister in any way plus innocents.
• To Lexi:
  • They both are interested in Chloe's macabre tastes but their personalities are different. Parker is a cheerful child who never had to go through any traumatic experiences prior to Chloe running away (barring one where he was attacked by Chloe's malicious classmates).
  • Lexi had been crippled and buried alive for eight years and gained a bit of distrust for other passengers. Parker is into girly things — he's into My Little Ponyta and Sofia the First — while Lexi has a fascination with mythical creatures (Gryphons) and art.
  • While Lexi's age is unknown, he's given the appearance of a teenager. Parker is a 5 year old boy.
  • While both care for Chloe, Lexi knows not to fully attack and will listen to Chloe if she says not to. Parker, on the other hand, is willing to attack anyone and everyone who hurt his sister with a metal softball bat.
• To Gladion: Gladion is an older brother who convinced himself that he was protecting his younger sister by strengthening himself, but doesn't realize the damage that his absence caused the sibling he was supposedly protecting. Parker genuinely protected his older sister and was closer to her than anyone, and is convinced that he is avenging his sister on her tormenters - not realizing the harm he's capable of doing.
• To his sister: While they both like the macabre, Parker is shown to have a love of girly shows and princesses while Chloe isn't into that type of thing. And when it comes to anger, Chloe is a slow-simmer while Parker is a firecracker ready to explode. Chloe would rather not hurt anyone even though she indulges in those fantasies, Parker is ready and willing to make them a reality.
• To Molly Hale: While both had family members disappear and were affected by the Unown (even having the Unown make illusions of what they see their loved ones as), Molly just wanted to have a family again, while Parker also wants vengeance against everyone that had hurt Chloe and make it so that Chloe will never disappear again when she returns. Molly did not target people while Parker does.
  • The father figure the Unown make for Molly is Entei, an legendary Pokemon that Molly often compared to her father. While for Parker, they create a copy of Chloe as a Gothic princess, who is portrayed as a human.
• To Amelia: While both lost loved ones — Alrick to a dirtbike accident and Chloe running away from home — and end up tampering with supernatural forces in an attempt to bring them back — the train for Amelia and Unown for Parker (albeit unknowingly), Amelia refused to see what harm she was causing, while Parker is more terrified of someone hurting Chloe again, such as his father, Goh and Ash. Also, Amelia is a woman in her fifties, while Parker is a boy only in kindergarten.
• To Yamper: Both are among the closest and most familiar with Chloe, but while Parker can give his perspective freely Yamper can only be properly hard in specific circumstances like Unown fields forcing human speech or being translated by Meowth. Parker sees 'what ifs' in what people do or don't do while Yamper only sees what can be done and doesn't hold what-ifs into account in his perspectives. Parker initially found Ash cool but after Chloe ran away quickly soured on him and sees him as equally responsible for Chloe's sadness as anyone else while Yamper took a while to warm up to Ash after their first meeting but warmed up to him over time and understands he was well-meaning, just dumb and the problem was beyond Ash's actions. Parker sees [UnChloe] as Chloe while Yamper sees her as anything but.
• To Delia: Both of them have a fair amount of resentments, but Delia's resentments are a lot more focused and controlled than Parker's are. She focuses the bulk of her anger on only who she sees as most at fault while Parker lashed out at anyone with any mistake on them. Parker thinks the world of Chloe while Delia thinks she is a brat.

Professor Cerise

• To Alrick as both were catalysts for why Chloe and Amelia entered the Train. Professor Cerise did love his daughter, but was ignorant of his daughter's problems and focused more on his research and on his "research fellows" which Chloe saw as a sign he didn't care. In contrast, Alrick loved Amelia with all his heart and his death was a sign that there was nothing left for her. Also Cerise's first name here is "Aldrich" which is very similar to Alrick. Profesor Cerise has a wife and two children, Alrick was Amelia's fiancé.
• To Grace's parents: Grace's parents didn't care about raising their daughter right and didn't understand that Grace's shoplifting was in the hope that they noticed her. Meanwhile, Professor Cerise truly does loves his daughter but he realizes too late that he was completely oblivious to her suffering and, after going through some denial, fully comes to the conclusion that he's been a horrible father.
• To Tulip's father, Andy. While both are catalysts to their daughters running away to the train, it's shown that Andy really did feel sorry for the schedule mix-up that prevented Tulip from going to coding camp whereas it took Chloe chewing out her own dad to make him realize just how oblivious he was to his daughter's problems. Andy is divorced while Professor Cerise is Happily Married. In "The Cat's Car", it's shown that Tulip went down and tucked her father to bed when he was Exiled to the Couch to show that she cared, whereas Chloe doesn't show any concern for her own father and eventually stops seeing him as one.
• To Simon: they're both quick to reject the truth about their actions in the wrong, but Simon goes deeper and deeper into the idea that he's right while Professor Cerise starts blaming everyone else except himself for why Chloe ran away from home. Thankfully, Professor Cerise realizes that he's been truly neglectful about his daughter.
• To Chloe, surprisingly enough: He loves Pokémon so much that he has devoted his life to researching them; Chloe despises them for being more important to her father than she is. Both also have a bad habit of blaming others for their problems rather than working on themselves. Chloe's resentment and insecurities made her indecisive about her path in life before she boarded the Train. Meanwhile, in the wake of her departure, the Professor has become increasingly focused on rooting out any other reasons for her to have fled beyond her dissatisfaction with him, with an eye towards addressing those instead of focusing upon the part he personally played until Chapter 12 gives him time to reflect on his actions.

Talia Cerise

• To Tulip's mother, Megan. Talia does her best to support Chloe as best as she could whereas Megan doesn't understand why Tulip's trip to coding camp is so important. Talia is married to Professor Cerise, Megan is divorced from her husband.
• To her husband: unlike Professor Cerise, Talia is more aware of her daughter's discontent, though she was stymied about the best way to approach the issue. When they learn about her more macabre interests, Talia shows herself to be more open-minded despite her discomfort, while her husband acts more dismissive and rejects the suggestion that it's similar to his investment in Pokémon research.
• To her daughter, Chloe. Chloe is unsure of herself and who she wanted to be. Talia is fine about being an illustrator. Chloe loves the macabre, Talia is known to be afraid of it. Chloe has a fiery temper when pushed while Talia goes into Tranquil Fury when she learns her husband was ignorant of Chloe's problems.
• To Delia Ketchum: Both are kind sweet mothers but Delia seems to be a lot more suited to handling unusual stressors than Talia is. This can probably be in full context: Delia's son left home on a journey that she knows and can follow, while Talia's daughter ran away and got sent to another world. Delia knows more or less everything Ash does through news and talking and can handle what has happened while the knowledge gaps combined with the bits they do know are driving Talia up the wall with concern.

Sara Diktaylis

• To Chloe:
  • Sara is an Alpha Bitch with a Girl Posse who looks down upon Chloe and insults her interests. Where Sara's mother is an alcoholic who spends more time nursing hangovers than looking after her daughter, Talia tries to connect with Chloe. Sara's father died in a car accident, but before his passing constantly doted upon and spoiled his daughter rotten; Professor Cerise has grown estranged from Chloe over the years.
  • Sara keeps her hair up in two pigtails; Chloe has her mother's help in braiding her hair. After boarding the Train, she lets it fall freely.
  • Sara is constantly compared to a princess (her name even means 'Princess'. Chloe prefers witches, and dislikes being called 'princess'.
  • Both are fueled by resentment towards others whom they assume have better lives than they do; Sara believes that Chloe's parents dote upon her the way her father once did and that she enjoys all the perks of being a Professor's daughter, while Chloe sees Ash as The Ace and believes he and Goh have her father's favor. However, they deal with this envy in different ways — Chloe spent years marinating in her anger before it finally boiled over, while Sara devoted herself to systematically turning her classmates against Chloe and tearing her down.
  • Like Chloe, Sara has a taste for darker fiction; in her case, she shared that with her father, much like how Professor Cerise encouraged Chloe's interest in softball. However, she mostly set that aside in favor of more 'acceptable' and 'normal' hobbies, and one of her primary self-justifications for hurting Chloe so much is that she's a Creepy Loner Girl who 'deserves' to be isolated because Loners Are Freaks.
• To Akemi: Sara is blond with pigtails, Akemi has dark hair in braided pigtails. Sara is quick to look down on Chloe, while Akemi made a real effort to befriend her.
• To Lexi: Sara looks down on Chloe's macabre interests, Lexi encourages them. She would rather shirk on her book reports — it's mentioned she copy/pasted the movie summary of Coraline — rather than actively take the time to jot them down like Lexi would. She struggles with issues with her mother choosing to ignore her in favor of booze; Lexi also had issues with his father being oblivious to his pain, but it wasn't intentional neglect on Titus' part, but the product of circumstances completely beyond his control.
• To Simon: Both are blond bullies with absolutely no empathy for others and like to look down on people because of how "different" they are. But while Sara has only gone so far as to dump paint on Chloe and giving her the "Monster Lover" nickname, Simon has actually murdered many denizens without remorse. Sara has a somewhat sympathetic backstory — her father died in a car crash — while Simon's only problems were from being abandoned by The Cat after fleeing from a Ghom.
• To Ash: Both Sara and Ash are able to influence many and made Chloe's life worse. However Sara does this with manipulation and wants Chloe to suffer for being different while Ash does it with a Magnetic Hero personality and wants to be Chloe's friend. Both are raised by single mothers but Ash's mother is a far more effective, caring, and attentive parent even with a son constantly away than Sara's alcoholic mother. Sara's father is dead while Ash's father's status is unknown, Sara's was involved in her life until his death while Ash's seems to be mostly absent.
• To Grace: Both manipulate and lead a group of problematic children: Sara leads 5-E and Grace leads the Apex. Both cause problems for Chloe and both make those around them miserable. Both have bad home lives. However Sara is a lot more focused on just making Chloe miserable while Grace is a menace to an entire magical train. Grace's parents were too busy while Sara's parents are a combination of dead and alcoholic. The Heel Realization affects their groups differently as it is everyone but Sara (and Yeardley) on Sara's end while Grace is the only/first to go through one in the Apex.

Goh Fujihachi

• If Chloe is to Tulip, then he is to Mikayla. Both are dark-skinned friends of the main character but while Mikayla is known to be supportive of Tulip, to the point of trying out Tulip's video game even though she's not really them, Goh absolutely is so absorbed in his quest to find Mew that he knows little to nothing about Chloe nor does he show any interest in interacting with her or even going to school^note Episode 49 of Journeys reveals he only goes to school for tests.
• To Jesse:
  • Both are dark-skinned boys who end up unable to apologize for their actions to someone close to them (Jesse to his brother Nate for getting him injured, Goh to his friend Chloe for stating that she had no dream at all) with the main difference is that Jesse got taken onto the train whereas Goh has learned that his best friend vanished.
  • Jesse was pushed around by his "friends" while Goh spends more time with his good friend Ash and his goal to capture Pokémon. Jesse eventually learns to mature and get away from posionous and corruptive people while Goh starts becoming one as he wants Chloe to be as she was without even considering how she would feel about it. And on a minor note, Jesse has a little brother while Goh is an only child.
  • Jesse felt so bad on leaving MT behind that he gets back on the Train to find her and ends up bringing her to the real world. Goh begins to become toxic and doesn't feel bad about what he did that caused Chloe to be on the Train, refusing to admit that he is at fault for many circumstances.
• To Amelia as the two of them are completely obsessed with something to the point of not caring about others. The only difference is that Goh quickly realizes just how much he's hurt Chloe (although he doesn't realize how much he really hurt her and starts blaming her for everything later) while Amelia didn't care who she tortured for 30 years until after Tulip talked to her and even then she doesn't care that she indirectly created the Apex (albeit she notes to Chloe that she finds them disgusting).
• To Alrick as they were catalysts for why Amelia and Chloe got on the train. Goh claims he's Chloe's friend but does nothing to show that he cares and states that she has no right to call him out for his faults because she has no dream. Alrick was Amelia's fiancé who was nothing but loving and supportive to her. Chloe ran away from home to get away from him and could care less about his problems; Amelia got on the train after an implied suicide attempt, and then tried to make the train recreate her old life because she couldn't stand a life without him. Goh is a ten-year-old boy, Alrick was a man in his 30s.
• To Simon:
  • Both of them have some sort of mental disorder — Simon is obsessed with order, Goh has a total fixation on Mew and takes personal problems literally — and had one good "friend" in a girl (Grace for the former, Chloe for the latter). However, Simon is a sociopath who doesn't understand the idea of changing himself or accepting blame for his mistakes, whereas Goh blames himself for what he did yet doesn't do anything to fix them...initially.
  • Simon is eighteen years old with blond hair and a white hoodie, Goh is ten years old with black hair and wears a grey hoodie. Both of them were abandoned by someone — The Cat for Simon, Tokio for Goh — but Simon grew resentful towards the denizens and Goh just shut himself off from making friends or even trying to maintain his friendship with Chloe.
  • The parallels only grow stronger in Arc 2, as Goh deals with the revelation that Chloe no longer wants to be friends, and has no intention of returning to Vermillion (mostly because she can't until that number of hers drops to 0). Much like Simon with Grace, he takes the news that their goals aren't aligned... poorly. Lashing out and blaming her completely for the situation, attempting to convince others to buy into his spin on reality. However, unlike with Simon where there was no one willing to stand up to him, there are plenty of people who are not buying Goh's bs in the slightest.
• To Grace:
  • Both are dark-haired and dark-skinned characters. Grace was a charmer and was able to use her social skills to get children to join her; Goh has No Social Skills at all. Grace was fixated on being "the strongest", while Goh wanted to capture all sorts of Pokémon so he can eventually fight and capture Mew.
  • Grace's parents were ambassadors who showed no love to her at all and shunted her off onto different caretakers with Grace only wanting to be noticed and loved by them. Goh's parents have their own software company and show concern for Goh's lack of friends, with Goh understanding their busy schedules and loving them all the same, and has a grandmother who looks after him. However it also shows how Goh's parents were very hands-off in raising their child.
  • Grace is an adult who wants to feel like she's looked up to and loved by having these children follow her corrupted viewpoints, while Goh is a child who captures Pokémon as replacements to human friends.
• To Tulip: Both tried to run away from their problems by holing up in their rooms in front of a computer (Tulip so she can code her game, Goh to search for Mew). Tulip's parents are divorced, Goh's are still together. Tulip had one good friend in Mikayla, Goh has one in Ash. Tulip blames her parents for the divorce, Goh blames himself for causing Chloe to run away and then starts shifting the blame onto her for not doing more for their friendship.
• To Leon: Both are dark skinned trainers whose first Pokémon was a Fire-type and they were friends with a red-haired girl who was a Professor's relative (Sonia and Chloe). This friendship was strained when they met and interacted frequently with a more experienced person in Pokémon matters whose name relates to plants (Rose and Ash). Both have a notable hang up that affects their day to day life (Leon, in most canons, gets lost very easily while Goh is very bad with social interactions). Both are also tied into a loved one getting on the Infinity Train (Leon's younger brother Hop and Goh's childhood friend Chloe). Both respect Ash. However Leon is the world's strongest trainer, champion of Galar, and a celebrity known to many while Goh is a capture enthusiast known only to a few people. His relationships with Sonia and Rose are different from Goh's as Sonia doesn't hate Leon and he and Rose aren't best friends. Leon had no idea that something was wrong with Hop when he vanished while Goh knew very well that Chloe was upset before the train picked her up. Leon and Hop's relationship didn't break while Goh and Chloe's did.
• To Sara: Both of them feel threatened by Chloe's happiness after losing their respective privileged lifestyles. Sara lost her doting father in a car accident, and despised Chloe for seemingly having a happy life with her own family, leading to her trying to tear her down so she could watch her suffer. Goh blames Chloe for running away, as this led to things changing in Vermillion, including the erosion of his cushy way of living. Both refuse to recognize how their own actions have contributed to their problems, pinning it all on Chloe. Sara went out of her way to make Chloe miserable, while Goh starts fantasizing about putting Chloe 'back in her place' and forcing her back into misery.
• To Bea: Bea is about as socially iffy as Goh is, with Goh not being able to read the room and Bea being fairly terse and overly serious outside of sugar. However Goh is a catching specialist while Bea is a battling trainer. Bea is a lot more physical than Goh is.

Yeardley

• To Chloe: He brushes off the question of "Who do you want to be in the future?" with his answer of "My life is a work in progress" without any criticism, whereas Chloe was talked over by everyone else when she was asked the same question. His father looks down on him, calling him that very same phrase because of his low grades, while Professor Cerise is well-meaning but is in the dark about a lot of what is going on with his daughter. When issues are presented about both Yeardley (his grades) and Chloe (the talent show violence) Yeardley is forced to 'socialize' with a tutor to get better grades to force him to do something better, while Chloe is kept at the lab after school to protect her which unintentionally forces her to be alone.
• To Sara:
  • Both have unpleasant relationships with one of their parents: his father versus her mother. Both are unsupportive in their own ways — Yeardley's father scorns his struggles with studying while Sara's mother neglects her in favor of drinking away her sorrows.
  • While Yeardley's father tears his son down, Sara's father doted upon her and spoiled her rotten, to the point that he died while on an errand to exchange a gift that she'd rejected. Both of these extreme parenting styles ultimately had a negative effect upon their kids.
  • Both are Driven by Envy: Yeardley resents the idea that Chloe, a girl, is able to rival his skills at softball, while Sara hates her for daring a life that looks better and happier than hers from the outside.
  • Yeardley shows more capacity to regret his behavior than Sara does; even before their bullying is publicly exposed, he has moments of remorse and self-doubt, while she remains The Unapologetic even when they're being punished. That said, he's also just as quick as her to try shifting the blame and pointing fingers at others.
• To Franklin:
  • Both are boys who got away with things Chloe wasn't able to: Yeardley with having a life 'in progress' while Frank was allowed to be solitary and different. The main differences is that Yeardley had a much more active role in the class and tormented Chloe, while Frank avoided social contact with anyone. Chloe had similar interests to both in sports and reading but where Yeardley hated this and bullied her because of it Frank didn't act it and accepted it as something the rest of the students should do more of (instead of socializing). Yeardley resents his younger and older sisters, Frank morns his stillborn younger brother.
  • Franklin's name means 'Free Landowner' while Yeardley's means 'Fenced Meadow', contrasting that Franklin has more freedoms (both because of his Asperger's but also because he has evidence to show that he wasn't involved in the bullying) compared to Yeardley (who is now trapped because of his own actions and the proof online that he was a misogynist bully).
  • Both are mentally different: Yeardley is Book Dumb while Franklin is autistic (has Aspergers).

Ash Ketchum

• To Grace:
  • Both of them are charming and publicly behave as a Friend to All Children, but Ash's kindness is genuine and leads to the betterment of those around them while Grace is all about getting adoration and manipulates said children into harming others and generally has a negative effect on those she meets.
  • Ash has a loving relationship with his mother whereas Grace's parents could care less of actually raising their daughter at all. Grace's flaws are her pride and her desire to be loved to the point of manipulating others, while Ash's is his humility (so he couldn't explain more of his stories to Chloe) and his inaction to actually get to know her. Also, both of them have similar analogies made to them: Chloe views Ash as a "black hole" while Simon nicknames her as "Void".
  • Both have been on journeys for a while, but while Ash travels the world as a Pokémon trainer in search of a goal and growing as a person while Grace has been stuck on a magical train avoiding the intended growth for passengers and is keeping children who should be back in their homes with their parents to become monsters.
• To Goh: One is Chloe's Childhood Friend, while Ash has only recently met her. While she resents them both, her issues with Goh are much more personal; with Ash, she's Driven by Envy of how he appears to be The Ace who has effortlessly captured everyone's attention.
  • Goh's focus on his Goal in Life has left him socially stunted, while Ash's many adventures have helped him forge many friendships and bonds with others, and he isn't afraid to ask for their help. Ash is at a loss as to why he didn't help Chloe the same way that he has others, while Goh is more focused on finding her in the belief that that will fix everything. As things continue in story Ash, after hitting a low point, begins to recover and put himself in a better place while learning from his mistakes while Goh is outright freaking out at the idea of change and continuing to fall into a worse and worse place.
  • Ash accepts Chloe's apology and truly takes the time to be there for Chloe, glad to start again. Goh blames Chloe for everything and can't wait to tear her down when she returns.
• To Trip:
  • Ash is seen as optimistic; Trip is blunt and cynical. While the Train is a completely Outside-Context Problem for Ash, Trip has personal experience with the Train and has plans on how to proceed. Ash is also conflicted about the prospect of keeping Goh Locked Out of the Loop, while Trip believes it's for the greater good. Both of them are training to fight a powerful Trainer: Ash for Leon and Trip for Alder with Ash having become the Alola League Champion while Trip doesn't have that high an honor yet. Last Ash is shown to be a Celibate Hero and Oblivious to Love while Trip opens up about having a crush on Ash.
• To Yeardley:
  • Both boys are academically lacking and contributed in some way to Chloe's issues with both considered 'Work in Progresses'. However while Ash strives to improve himself as a Pokémon trainer and a person Yeardley does not improve himself as a student or a person. The idea of being a work in progress is something Ash accepts in himself while the title was given to Yeardley by his disappointed father and he uses as a joking mechanism for his troubles. Ash's issues with Chloe were unintentionally inaction while Yeardley's were intentional actions. Both frequently mention a parent but Ash's relationship with his mother is far more positive than Yeardley's with his father.
  • Yeardley wants to be a Pokémon trainer while Ash is not only a Pokémon trainer but an accomplished one. Yeardley has many traits in common with Ash back during the Indigo Seasons, but virtually all of them are Ash's negative qualities that, unlike Ash, Yeardley has not outgrown and are accompanied by additional negative qualities. Ash is kind to everyone he meets, whether they be boy or girl. Yeardley loved making Chloe suffer solely because she was a girl.
  • Ash is an only child and this doesn't bother him in the slighest; Yeardley is the middle child of three (two of them being sisters) and he hates it with a passion.
• To Chairman Rose: Both are more experienced individuals in the world of Pokémon with plant based names who influenced and helped up a young dark-skinned trainer with a Fire-type starter which resulted in a weakened friendship (Leon and Sonia versus Goh and Chloe). Both come from humble beginings. Both are missing their fathers and get involved in matters involving Legendary Pokémon. Both have connections with a wide range of people in the world. Both make great use of Steel-type Pokémon as Rose specializes in them alongside his company while Ash's main Pokémon in Journeys will be Lucario when Riolu evolves while his starter Pikachu makes a lot of use of Iron Tail. However Ash is Goh's friend while Rose is Leon's sponsor. Rose's father died in a mining accident while Ash's left on a journey and hasn't been seen since. Rose gets his connections with money and resources and many of those he does forge connections with see his faults and distance themselves from him (Professor Magnolia and later Leon) while Ash's relationships are more natural and healthy. Rose wants to revive a dangerous Legendary Pokémon to ensure Galar's energy future while Ash just wants to battle the legendaries he encounters by chance most of the time. Rose is an adult C.E.O while Ash is a kid trainer.
• To Leon:
  • Ash is a trainer seeking to be the best while Leon is considered the best Pokémon trainer in the world. Both respect the other immensely and want to battle the other again. Both possess a Charizard and both have problems with directions.
  • Both have childhood friends who are the grandchildren of Professors (Sonia and Gary). Both love challenges and are always quick to help people but are tied up in the reasons someone ended up the Infinity Train which are in turn tied into the other: among the conversations that helped take away the last straws from Chloe's issues were about Leon's battle with Raihan while Hop felt inferior to Ash because Leon was gushing about him. Leon's successes are far more known than Ash's and he never loses battles while Ash fights through both victories and defeats to reach his goals. Leon's main Pokémon is his Charizard while Ash's Charizard is just one of his best Pokémon and he'll freely battle entire leagues without him.
  • They are both the cause for someone close to them being sent to the Train because of their ignorance. Ash was ignorant of Chloe's problems and never bothered to actually understand her, while Leon unaware of Hop's problems of not being a good trainer was what got him sucked into the Train.
• To Paul:
  • Even before the events of the series both were contrasting trainers with extensive experience and skill, but while Ash is friendly, social, loving, and works with others to be better Paul is aloof, anti-social, abusive to his Pokémon and has few if any friends and loved ones.
  • In the context of the story both are tied to the misery of those on the train but Ash himself is not on the train. What he did was unintentional to all involved, and is bouncing back from his mistakes with the help of those around him and his natural personality. Paul is on the train himself, let someone die — even if it was a member of the Apex — and is breaking from his mistakes because he's forced into torture by denizens who are worse than he could ever be.
• To Bede: Both are trainers who care about their Pokémon and make a fair amount of progress at the start of their journeys. Ash managed to succeed where half his contemporaries at Pallet failed while Bede made it to the Great Class. However Bede has all of the arrogance Ash possessed in his brash starting days with a lot more initial talent, while Ash over time has lost the arrogance of his past self and gained talent with hard work. Bede specializes in a specific type of Pokémon while Ash uses whatever Pokémon end up in his care.

Trip Espinosa

• To Goh:
  • They're both introverts who take photos, but Goh takes his for research, while Trip's are to remind himself of his failures and past mistakes, in order to not make them again.
  • Goh wants to capture Pokémon in order to reach Mew, while Trip wanted to become a strong trainer in order to fight Alder. Goh himself wants to make friends (but has very stunted social skills due to his obsession to capture Mew) while Trip is a loner by choice. Goh focuses only on capturing Pokémon, Trip is interested on battling. Also, Goh's starter Pokémon is a Fire-type, while Trip uses a Grass-type. Both lack a fair amount of social grace which both criticize the other for. Their relationships to Ash are different. To Goh, Ash is his friend. To Trip, Ash is his crush.
  • Goh became disillusioned with friendship when he saw Tokio not arriving to hunt for Celebi. Trip became disillusioned with Alder when he saw the Champion acting lazy and would rather nap then fight.
• To Chloe: They're both children who got sucked into the Train due to different problems in their life. Chloe's was due to being indecisive of who she wanted to be and being unable to tell others to stop pushing her around, while Trip was just getting out of his mindset of being "The strongest" and following "the basics of Pokémon training". Chloe is a writer, Trip takes photos. Chloe doesn't like Ash at all, but Trip at least managed to bury the hatchet with him before being taken by the Train and Chapter 10 reveals that he has a crush on the boy.
  • Chloe has no goal while Trip wants to be able to fight Alder one-on-one. Last, Trip used his Pokémon to help him fight, while Chloe — who doesn't have one on her — decides to fight directly with her donut holer. Their color motifs are mirrors to one another: Trip's is green while Chloe's is red.
• To Paul:
  • They're both rivals of Ash who have a goal on being the strongest, but Paul was a very strong and experienced trainer while Trip wasn't. At the end, Paul sees Ash as a Worthy Opponent, while Trip began to see Ash as someone he loves.
  • They're both passengers, but Trip was able to escape with the only damage he received was a miscolored eye and a tattoo on the wrist and had Cara as his partner for the remainder of his journey. Meanwhile, Paul is being tortured and his sanity eroding, completely isolated from anyone who could help him.
  • Trip fought the Apex and was able to make a friend in the denizen known as Cara. Paul also encountered the Apex but he let one of the children drown in the lake and is alone and isolated from everyone.
  • Trip's main Pokémon is Serperior while Paul's was (initially) Chimchar before settling with Electvire.

Emperor Neapolitan

• Compared to Professor Cerise, he is more aware of the issues unfolding under his watch, but deliberately allows Nico to be bullied by his peers. Both regret their mistakes, but get defensive when directly called out on them and attempt to deflect blame. The Professor directs his outrage towards his subordinates, while Neapolitan focuses on blaming Nico for his own isolation. Both resist the notion that they must change in order to make things better.
• To Mr. Pepper: Both hold a position of authority related to food, and have strong feelings about how food should be handled and prepared. Each disapproves of how one particular individual handles their assignment — the Emperor disapproves of Nico's experimentation, while Mr. Pepper scolds Chloe for following the recipe precisely and not 'making it her own'.
  • They also both passive-aggressively blame them for circumstances beyond their control: Mr. Pepper notes that Chloe isn't in any after-school clubs, implying that she chooses not to be involved with such things. (In reality, the issue lies more with her father insisting that she work at the lab after school.) The Emperor similarly insists that Nico is responsible for his own isolation due to his different tastes, as that is easier than admitting his own failings.
• Atticus himself likens his kingdom to being more like a classroom, drawing parallels between how Chloe and Nico were singled out and bullied. However, Flashbacks show that at least some of her teachers were aware of the problem and took steps against it, while the Emperor allowed it to continue.

Goh's parents (Ikuo and Kurune)

• To both Professor Cerise and Talia Cerise. The Professor was completely oblivious to his daughter's insecurities, while Talia was more aware, but didn't know how to approach her. Meanwhile, Goh's parents were both aware of their son's issues and were equally concerned, but still failed to work together on figuring out a solution. On a lesser note, both of them have their Japanese names, while the Cerise parents use their dub ones.
  • The Professor's work got in the way because of how Chloe felt that he cared more about Pokémon than he did about her — a view he unintentionally reinforced by having her work as his assistant after school. Goh's parents have also been kept busy by their jobs, but Goh had no problems with this, understanding why they were busy and loving them all the same. Chloe was resentful, while Goh only becomes resentful after their botched intervention attempt.
  • Goh's parents work for the same software company. The Professor is a researcher while Talia is a stay-at-home mom who also works as an illustrator.
  • During their fateful argument, Professor Cerise does little to intervene; though he scolds Chloe for her outburst, Goh does most of the fighting. Talia, meanwhile, is completely absent. Goh's confrontation with his parents in Azalea Town involves both of them, and Kurune calls her son out in a way very similar to how Goh blamed Chloe.
• To Grace's parents. Grace's parents were ambassadors who could care less of their daughter's emotional well-being and pushed her to be skilled in dancing and into the hands of caretakers while Ikuo and Kurune wanted to help their son, but didn't know how to approach him and actually made things worse by helping to encourage his goal via the six monitors and device to detect Mew's psychic energy. Grace's parents are never named, but Goh's parents are.

Tokio Chisou

• To Ash:
  • They're both friends with Goh but Tokio was Goh's First Friend who was into Pokémon while Ash was Goh's first friend in a long while. Tokio is searching for Celebi, Ash wants to be a Pokémon Master and fight Leon. Tokio is from the Johto region, Ash is from Kanto. Tokio is a newbie Trainer while Ash his a seasoned veteran. ** Tokio was taken onto the Train while Ash has traveled to numerous regions and is indirectly the cause of others getting on the Train.
  • Tokio has white hair, Ash has black.
• To Trip: Again, Tokio is from the Johto Region in search of a Mythical Pokémon, Trip is from Unova and wants to be strong to fight Alder. Both were taken by the Train but Trip was already a Pokémon Trainer while Tokio was a defenseless eight-year-old boy. Trip got tattooed by the Apex, Tokio got tattooed by the denizens. By the time the story starts, Trip is already an experienced Trainer, while Tokio has just started his journey with a Chikorita.
• To Chloe:
  • Both were friends with Goh, but their relationships were damaged by miscommunication: Goh assumed the worst of Tokio after he supposedly 'abandoned' him, using this to justify focusing on Pokémon over people... which naturally contributed to his neglect of Chloe. Tokio regrets how his illness kept him from keeping his promise, wanting to reconnect with him, while Chloe's bitterness built to the point where she gave up on rebuilding their friendship, severing ties by deleting his messages before telling him upfront that she's ending their friendship for good.
  • Chloe fell in love with all the Train has offered her, enjoying adventures with Atticus and Lexi by her side and learning to love herself. Tokio was traumatized by his experiences trying to survive on the Train by all himself.
• To The Cat: They were a partner/friend to someone but abandoned them at their time of need. The main difference is that the Cat never returned for Simon for the past eight years out of guilt or cowardice while Tokio — who suffered through a fever and couldn't physically make it — wished to Celebi to let him travel to the past as an apology.

Issac "Zack" Foster and Rachel "Ray" Gardner

• Zack only:
  • To Lexi: Older male characters who look after a younger girl. Zack is a black-haired, scythe-wielding serial killer covered in bandages who was drawn onto the Train alongside Ray; Lexi is a white-haired denizen of the Train who can fold his own paper body into weapons. Zack is rough around the edges, but never lies, taking his promises seriously. By contrast, Lexi has a nice front, but is deeply embittered over his past experiences with "free-riders". Zack wields a humongous scythe in battle, while Lexi can shift his body into different forms but his main weapon is folding his arms into sharp blades.
  • To Goh: They're dark haired boys but Zack is always honest and keeps his promises whereas Goh is known to never keep them. Zack is in his late teens/20 while Goh is only 10. Zack fights with his scythe, Goh is a Pokémon Trainer and uses his Pokémon to battle. Zack is Dumb Muscle (because he never learned how to read) while Goh is quite analytical. Zack is upfront with his promises, Goh has No Sympathy and No Social Skills. Zack grew up with an abusive family and the closest thing to a caretaker was a blind yet kind old man. Goh lives with his parents — who spend lots of time working at a software company and were hands-off in raising him — and his grandmother.
• Ray only:
  • To Chloe: Both are white-clad girls with long hair who had horrible family lives. But where the Professor was simply oblivious, Ray's father was outright abusive, intentionally hurting his daughter. Chloe has only lashed out at her father verbally; Ray killed hers in self-defense. Where Chloe wants to move on with her life, Ray is a Death Seeker. Ray's weapon is a shotgun (and knife), while Chloe uses her donut holer.

Serena Delis

• To Chloe:
  • They're girls who are Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life and were pressured by someone to follow their parents' footsteps. Serena's mom pushed her to become a Ryhorn Racer while Chloe had everyone else in her life pressuring her to get into Pokémon like her father. Serena had support from her friends to reject that expectation and do what she loved; Chloe only had her little brother and English teacher to keep her floating and her mother was also helping her find something she loved (although she never really got to know her daughter's interests well).
  • Serena had an Important Haircut to keep it short as her first step to become a Pokémon Performer whereas Chloe decided to let her hair down as a sign that she was ready to discover herself. Serena usually wears a hat over her head, Chloe doesn't wear any accessories. Serena wears red and pink, Chloe is find with white and blue.
  • Serena hates horror and starts spinning out yarns that exaggerates them, Chloe loves horror and is frequently writing stories in regards to them.
  • They both have canine-like Pokémon: Yamper for Chloe and Braixen for Serena.
  • Serena is enamored with Ash, sees him as inspiration to become stronger, and even went as far as to kiss him. Meanwhile, Chloe initially resented him for just existing. Ash gave Serena a blue ribbon that she cherishes, to Chloe he gave her nothing.
  • Serena was shown to be a Cool Big Sis for Bonnie while Chloe was the same for her brother, Parker.
• To Trip: Both of them have a thing for Ash, but Serena already started with a crush on the Pallet Town Trainer when she was younger while Trip realized his long after they had met. Serena's starter was a Fire-type (a female Braixen) while Trip went for the Grass-type (a male Serperior). Serena is a performer while Trip is a Trainer with a penchant for photography.
• To Goh: Both learn about Ash's Relationship Upgrade under less than ideal circumstances (she learned it when she sees Trip calming Ash down with a kiss, Goh learns it when Ash reveals it to him after he tried beating Trip up). Where Serena handles her disappointment and heartbreak with grace and open-mindedness, however, Goh responds selfishly. Serena ultimately wants Ash to be happy and is willing to be support of Trip too, while Goh plots to make him miserable and to hurt Trip as much as he can. Serena has romantic feelings towards Ash while Goh's are non-romantic. Their starter Pokémon are fire-types with Serena having the fox-like Braixen and Goh the bunny-like Raboot. Serena acts like a big sister figure to Parker, Goh doesn't even think of Parker in the slightest.

Hop Hyacin

• To Chloe:
  • Both wound up on the Train due in part to feeling overshadowed by their famous relatives — Professor Cerise and Leon, respectively. Both feel pressured to live up to their reputations; however, Hop wants to be a Pokémon Trainer (and potentially the next Champion of Galar), while Chloe wants nothing to do with such things and is fine learning more about legends and tales about the mons.
  • Both also resent Ash to some extent for unintentionally stealing the attention of their loved ones. Chloe saw Ash effortlessly getting along with Goh and her father, while Leon gushed to his little brother about Ash's potential to challenge him, unaware that Hop was fresh off a bitter loss to Bede. Moreover, it was fighting Ash (and losing to him) that was one of the last straws for Chloe whereas the idea of Ash fighting Leon was made Hop break.
  • When they first arrive, Hop ends up in the foreboding Fog Car, meeting up with another passenger in Alex Shepherd, while Chloe was fortunate enough to meet Atticus in Corginia. (Humorously, Hop wishes he was in a car like Corginia).
  • Chloe matures on her journey and travels to other cars, becoming more assure of herself thanks to Atticus and Lexi. Hop is stuck in Silent Hill and somehow regresses to a childish mindset due to the denizens' influence.
    • As Chloe matures she realizes her animosity with Ash was misguided and unfair and apologizes for it. Due to the growing mental manipulation Hop starts to conflate Ash and Bede, so his dislike of Ash gets worse.
  • In Walter and Henry's plan, Chloe is "Destiny" and Hop is "Delight".
  • Chloe's Animal Motif is a wolf (which translates to Houndour/Houndoom in Pokémon terms) while Hop is compared to a sheep (Wooloo).
• To Ash: Trainers who wish to be able to fight Leon, but where Ash is an experienced Trainer, Hop has only just started out on his own travels. Ash uses his gut instincts and unorthodox strategies to win; Hop has analyzed his brother's techniques, but has trouble putting them into practice, second-guessing and psyching himself out. Ash has no relation to Leon beyond being another Trainer, while Hop is Leon's younger brother.
  • Both had a heavy loss thanks to a jerkass Trainer: Paul for Ash and Bede for Goh. But while Ash was able to bounce back and later defeat Paul, Hop felt like he couldn't measure up after Bede's Breaking Speech on him.
• To Goh:
  • They're ambitious Trainers driven by their respective goals: capturing Mew versus matching Leon. Both are currently facing painful setbacks: Hop fears that he Can't Catch Up with Leon, while Goh has been chasing after Chloe to no avail. Their reactions to learning that Ash is the Alola League Champion are identical, but Goh is really excited to know his best friend is a Champion while Hop feels like he's absolutely insignificant.
  • Hop's first Pokémon was Wooloo, his beloved friend and partner; he's so attached to him that the thought of switching him out in favor of a potentially stronger teammate makes him so conflicted that it helps draw in the Train. Goh, meanwhile, started with Scorbunny, another Galar native. Unlike Wooloo, Scorbunny/Raboot's relationship with Hop is so strained that Raboot questions whether he means anything to the Vermillion City Trainerbeyond being just another member of his collection.
  • While Leon is largely oblivious to his brother's struggles, Chloe knows that Goh is chasing after her and wants nothing to do with him.
• To Jesse: Both were brought onto the Train in order to work through issues regarding their sibling; both were keeping silent about their respective problems, not wanting to burden anyone or risk disappointing them by revealing how they'd fallen short of expectations. Their problems also were based on following a crowd: Jesse was an Extreme Doormat while Hop wants to be just like other strange Trainers to the point of boxing his precious Wooloo. Jesse was the older member of his sibling pair, while Hop is younger.
• To Grace: Both Hop and Grace just want to be noticed by their loved ones, but Hop is a Nice Guy whereas Grace is known to be quite manipulative. Hop has an older brother while Grace is an only child.
• To Parker:
  • They both idolize their older siblings, but have taken this admiration into different, equally unhealthy directions. Parker has become more violent (in words and actions alike), frustrated by the injustice Chloe faced and desperate to defend her reputation along with wanting to make sure everybody who harmed Chloe gets hit with karma. Hop is also worried about his brother's reputation, but fears that he could be staining it by association, worrying that he'll never be able to measure up to Leon.
  • Parker's big sister was relatively unknown before she ran away (barring her being the daughter of Professor Cerise), while Hop's older brother has been Galar's Champion for several years.
  • Age wise, Parker is in Kindergarten who is Wise Beyond Their Years whereas Hop is in his pre-teens/early teens who mentally regressed into a Kiddy Kid.
• To Paul:
  • Both are purple-haired trainers who wish to be the strongest, but Paul is skilled and experienced and Hop...isn't. They have older brothers who are powerful trainers (Leon for Hop, Reiji for Paul) but Leon is famous and undefeated whereas Reiji was also a skilled trainer who stopped battling after one loss to the Frontier Brain Brandon. Hop idolizes Leon, Paul sees Reggie as a failure.
  • While both landed in The Fog Car, Hop has had a happier time (mostly because he's been brainwashed) with Alex whereas Paul is trapped in a dungeon after he murdered an Apex member by letting them drown and tortured by Walter. Even their roles in the ritual are opposites: Hop is "Delight" — as he is usually a Nice Guy — and Paul is "Despair" because he's known to be a stoic and apathetic Jerkass.
  • Paul is from the Sinnoh Region while Hop is from Galar.

Walter and Henry

• To Atticus: A kind and friendly corgi king who treats Chloe with respect and kindness, allowing her to stay without hesitation and joins her on her quest. Walter and Henry own the Grand Guignol Apartments, but they would rather not want their visitors to leave.
• To Lexi: A stoic humanoid-like denizen who, despite his face and drive for vengeance, is nothing less but a gentleman to Chloe and is always supportive of her. However, Walter and Henry look altruistic but have very sinister motives and have either brainwashed / tortured passengers to their liking in the name of vengeance.
• To the Calligraphy Car: The Calligraphy Car was once welcoming to Trip but become deeply xenophobic as a result of the Apex to the point of forcibly tattooing Tokio. Walter and Henry are outwardly welcoming and hospitable but hold malicious intent towards those who enter the The Fog Car.
• To Grace and Simon: Grace and Simon are human teenagers who have destroyed cars without a car over a misguided belief that numbers equate to strength and that the denizens aren't real and don't have feelings. They have a Villainous Friendship with one another but they also bring out the worst in each other along with corrupting minors to serve their needs. In contrast, Henry and Walter are human-looking denizens who are married in an Unholy Matrimony and they attack passengers (who are in their teens) either through torture or hypnosis for the cause of stopping the Apex.

Alex Shepherd

• To Leon: Being an older brother figure who was considered The Unfavorite mostly because his parents didn't want to get too attached to him as he was supposed to be sacrificed while Leon is adored by everyone.
• To Tuba. Tuba lost her own children and takes it upon herself to guide and protect passengers to point risking her life despite the danger which eventually kills her. Alex lost his little brother by accidentally drowning him. He guides Hop into Silent Hill, but leads him into danger and coddles Hop as if he was much younger than he actually was.
• To Atticus: Alex and Atticus were the first denizens that Hop and Chloe met in the Train, respectively. But while Atticus is supportive and caring for Chloe so she can grow, Alex would rather have Hop serve his wishes to be an older brother and babies the boy. Alex is human while Atticus is a talking corgi king.
• To Lexi: Their names are both derived from "Alexander" (translated as "Defender of Man"), but Lexi is truly supportive and protective of Chloe while Alex leads Hop into danger. Lexi treats Chloe as an equal and trusts her judgment while Alex coddles and babies Hop.
• To Walter and Henry: While he agrees to their plans to stop the Apex, he treats Hop as a little brother compared to how those two treat their patient and prisoner as tools, to the point that he states Hop by name but Walter and Henry designated their subjects as "Despair" and "Dreams" respectively. Silent Hill-wise, Alex has more combat training than those two (since he was trained by his father) whereas Henry was an average everyman and Walter was a Serial Killer.

Satou and Shio

• To Grace and Simon:
  • The leaders of the Apex were relatively normal people before entering the Train, with Grace only committing petty shoplifting. By contrast, Satou had already murdered two people, blackmailed several others, assaulted more, and kidnapped Shio and kept her captive.
  • None of them wish to leave the Train. But while Grace and Simon have been securing their place by murdering Denizens and wrecking havoc, treating the Train as their personal playground, Satou chose to become a waitress, achieving the same goal of remaining on the Train with far less violence.
• To the Apex: Shio, like many of the cult's members, is a child groomed to follow a charismatic individual who serves as their guardian. But while Grace and Simon are primarily using the Apex to forward their own selfish agendas, Satou is geniunely trying to give Shio the care and attention she never received from her own parents... though her perception of love is twisted.

Class 5-E

• To the Apex: Both groups were indoctrinated by a Manipulative Bitch to hate and condemn those she deemed to be 'Other', be it the denizens of the Train or Chloe. While most of her classmates are horrified as the Awful Truth of their monstrous behavior sinks in, Sarah remains The Unapologetic holdout. With the Apex, the reverse occurs: Grace has her Heel Realization long before any of her followers, and is forced to see what she's shaped them into with fresh eyes and fresh horror as they resist any lessons about their behavior.
• To Chloe:
  • Despite their differences, all of them bought into the same idealized concepts about the lives of Pokémon Trainers. While Chloe resented having that career path thrust upon her by everyone's expectations, her classmates resented her for being born a Professor's daughter, granting her natural advantages in purusing that path. Sarah exploited their mob mentality to turn them against Chloe for going against the grain.
  • Along similar lines, their perception of Ash was much like Chloe's: they saw him as The Ace and a glittering, impossible ideal. However, while she simmered in resentment over him seemingly replacing her and being the child her father wanted/the friend Goh desired, her classmates looked up to him as the personification of everything they wanted to achieve for themselves. They also assumed that he would be perfectly fine with them tearing Chloe down for not fitting in, much like how Chloe presumed that he shunned her for not being into Pokémon.
• To Goh: Like his peers, Goh failed to see Chloe for who she was beyond a shallow, self-serving impression: to him, she was just his Childhood Friend. He took her presence in his life for granted, much like how their classmates took for granted the notion that she 'should' be into Pokémon.
• To Parker: Parker placed his sister on a pedestal, believing the best of her. Her classmates did the same, only to punish her for her supposedly perfect life, setting her up just to tear her down. Parker's eventual decent into Unown-fueled vengeance mirrors the Disproportionate Retribution they heaped upon her, giving them A Taste of Their Own Medicine taken to horrifying extremes.
• To Ash: At their age Ash was traveling all over the world and on adventures, while they are stuck at school and can only envy such accomplishments. Ash was allowed to go on his journey on his free will while several were put in the position of it by sheer lack of options after everything happened. Ash has a lot better relationship and respect from his mother and those around them than they currently do in regards to their parents and community.

Bede

• To Paul:
  • Both are Jerkass trainers who scorn their opposition. But while Paul is a veteran trainer who mostly regards others with a cool, even-toned disdain, having little use for interacting with others beyond battle, Bede is a skilled rookie prone to posturing and mocking his opponents. Bede's especially fond of rubbing in his victories and giving those he defeats Breaking Speeches, driven to rub in how much better he supposedly is compared to them.
  • On the flip side, while Bede is worse to other people, he's much kinder to his Pokémon from the start, while Paul is infamous for treating his Pokémon as interchangeable parts, easily discarded and replaced without remorse.

---

Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily

Just like in the first story, this story takes some time to contrast characters with each other.

---

Gladion

• 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.

Lillie

• Lillie Montblanc
  • Parker: Both are younger siblings who idolized their older siblings, both of whom wound up boarding the Train. For Parker, however, this is a new experience, and his faith and admiration of Chloe hold firm and he's shown to get angry at those who hurt his sister (whether indirectly or directly). Lillie dealt with her brother's absence for years, spurring her to reject him before he boards. Parker has no Pokémon on him, barring him trying to train with Yamper in Chloe's absence, while Lillie has her Alolan Vulpix, Snowy.
  • Nate: Another younger sibling who also played a key role in their brother winding up on the Train. Jesse's passivity led to Nate's arm getting broken by Jesse's "friends" forcing him through a 'manliness test'. Gladion similarly witnessed his sister being traumatized by Nihilego and promptly left her behind while he ran off with Type: Null, aggravating the situation. Nate forgave his brother for the stunt, Lillie is not willing to be that forgiving.
  • To Chloe herself as they are both white-dressed girls with green eyes who show anger at a boy (Gladion/Goh) for practically abandoning them on some grand quest. The main difference is that Chloe got on the Train, not Lillie and that Chloe could tell her father to bug off while Lillie shows concerns about her mother. And while Chloe doesn't make her anger towards her tormentors subtle at all, Lillie decides to employ Passive-Aggressive Kombat.
  • To Mallow in regards to Gladion: Mallow has concerns about where he went because of her experiences with the Infinity Train, while Lillie could give a flying feather about his whereabouts.

Lusamine

• Lusamine Montblanc
  • To Professor Cerise from Blossoming Trail.
    • Professor Cerise never tried to contact Chloe when she went missing (although it's under the lens that he didn't know it was possible since Goh never said anything about it). Lusamine immediately asks where Gladion is after he's been missing for a week.
    • Professor Cerise's funds mostly come from donations, governments, and so on, and recent events cause those funds to take a hit. Lusamine, meanwhile, has so much money that even if the Absurdly High-Stakes Game she has with Lillie ends in her loss, she won't need to worry about it.
    • It takes a lot of probing and trauma to get Professor Cerise to realize what a bad father he's been towards his children, and a big spectacle is made out of it. Lusamine realizes and tries to atone for these mistakes with little fanfare.
  • She contrasts Amelia as both lost someone they loved — Mohn was sucked into an Ultra Wormhole, Alrick died — but both had different ways of coping through it. Amelia entered the Train and wreaked havoc for 33 years to recreate her life with him, whereas Lusamine got into her work and did her best to raise her children properly. Lusamine is blond in a white dress, Amelia is a brunette with a black cloak/grey suit. Lusamine is in her 40s, Amelia is in her 60s.

Mohn

• Mohn Montblanc to Chloe Cerise, as a family member whose disappearance brought a huge chance to their family. Mohn was an adult man, while Chloe's a pre-teen girl. He was taken by an Ultra Wormhole, while Chloe was snatched by the Infinity Train. Finally, Chloe's likely gonna come out of the Train okay, while Mohn's all but stated to be dead, given the Death World status of Ultra Space.

Snowy

• Snowy: Serves as one to Yamper from Blossoming Trail. They're both single Type Pokémon who's close to a pre-teen girl (Chloe for Yamper, Lillie for Snowy), but while Yamper was an original Pokémon who Chloe wasn't that close with, Snowy's an Alolan variant of a Kanto Pokémon, and their relationship with Lillie's so close as Lillie was taking care of Snowy back when they were an egg, they even have a nickname.

Mallow

• Obviously she's one to Gladion as someone who was a former passenger on the Infinity Train. However, Mallow's trip was a more traumatizing time due to being a five-year-old girl who ran away after chewing out her mother for being ill (with it being the last time they ever talked) and also because this would've been years before One-One returned to his rightful throne and began posting videos on how to navigate the Train. Zing time due to being a five-year-old girl who ran away after chewing out her mother for being ill (with it being the last time they ever talked) and also because this would've been years before One-One returned to his rightful throne and began posting videos on how to navigate the Train.
• She serves as a foil for Goh as they're both dark-skinned characters who are the Deuteragonist of the story. But while Goh has no idea why Chloe ran away and no clue as to what caused her to vanish, Mallow has the experience and tries to find evidence of the Train. Goh's problems were him being insensitive and No Social Skills that made it hard for him to understand how he hurt Chloe, whereas Mallow's problems is that she doesn't fully explain the existence of the Train and instead only vaguely asks if anyone is concern about Gladion's disappearance.

Larkspur

• To Lexi

Margaret

• Margaret
  • Of Lusamine. Both are motherly-type figures but Lusamine truly means well as a mother (but was distracted by her work) whereas Margaret has darker motives for Gladion. A few of her behaviors more or less match game Lusamine, such as her controlling and obsession.
  • Of Tuba as both were mothers who lost their child and got a replacement in either Mallow/Hazel for the former and Gldaion for the latter. However the main difference is that Tuba's love for the two girls was genuine, Margaret tried to force Gladion to be her son.

Robbie Jewell

• He's a foil to Tulip Olsen, which Gladion notes. Both of them are going through divorce with Tulip trying to get into gaming and he with his Pulseman video games. While both were on the Train, Tulip's main focus was to find the Conductor and get off it while Robbie wishes to find something that will keep his family together.

Specter

• To Lexi: Being a white-haired, silver suit wearing being with the main difference is that Lexi is copying from Specter. They have traumatic pasts that are tied into a loyalty with someone (Specter to Ryoken and Lexi to Chloe)

Paul London

• To Amelia: The eldest members of their group with high numbers with Amelia's main reason being her denial of moving on from Alrick's death and London is atoning for having murdered people. But Amelia took thirty three years before she moved on from the lesson, whereas London already has learned his lesson. Amelia wears a black cloak and a grey suit, London wears all white.

Tokio Chisou

• To Chloe

Mad Ben

• To Lexi: Both are shapeshifters, but while Lexi changes his form while sticking to his living paper nature, Mad Ben changes his species. Mad Ben uses technology while Lexi uses his natural abilities. Mad Ben is far more aggressive, arrogant, nasty, and otherwise brutish than Lexi is, and while Lexi was a victim of the Apex, Mad Ben victimizes the Apex.

---