Frequently, characters will have a reason for why they act the way they do in Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail, and traditionally in the story, this is not seen as an excuse.
Chloe Cerise
- She was constantly bullied by her classmates, lost much of her confidence and self-worth to it, and eventually began to feel lesser than her peers just because she wasn't into Pokémon, especially when her supposed best friend, Goh, was never there for her. This also caused her to close herself from others in fear of being rejected. However, this not only fails to justify rejecting Ash's offers to go on journeys with him and Goh, especially since he was one of the few people who treated her nicely, nor justifies the sheer spite in her words regarding coming back to the Train, but the sheer scale of the damage she ends up doing, both directly and indirectly, thanks to her running away, as well as her inability to accept her responsibility or the role she played in everything, causes her to seem less sympathetic than intended. And eventually, everybody wises up in Act 2, creating a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in the process. Eventually, Chloe’s mother sends her an email calling her out for her actions, stating that while she and her father make mistakes, they still care for her, and she needs to accept responsibility for actions that cause her problems. After screaming and taking some deep breaths, Chloe admits that her mother is right and resolved to atone for her mistakes, starting with writing an email to her father and apologizing to him for being so harsh to him.
- This is brought up again Chapter 34, as Chloe is still mad that she'll be treated the same as she was prior to the Train picking her up and it's all because she didn't want to be a Trainer. Paul points out that yes, what happened to her was unfair, but she can't complain and demand things from the world because that's not how it works. Hop and Alain later expand that she shouldn't have had to go through so much hurt from Trainer bias but that her family and loved ones shouldn't have had to be in pain from her actions either.
Lexi
- When Lexi left his home, the Library of Flying Books Car, on his first adventure, he was betrayed by his partners Grace and Simon, who he thought were his friends, and spend years buried alive. Chloe Cerise found him, rescued him, forgave him for accidentally getting her shoulder struck with hot water, was a shoulder for her to cry on, and struck a kinship with her. He then joined Chloe and Atticus on their quest to stop the Apex, the child-murdering cult that Grace and Simon are the leaders of. He understandably has a burning hatred of Grace and Simon and forges a strong bond of friendship with Chloe and Atticus and eventually stopped at Apex. But Chloe eventually left the train, and Atticus had to return home to be king, leaving him the only one left to look after Chloe's friend Goh Fujihachi. However, because of Goh's mistakes as a friend to Chloe, he begins to lash out at him and still has a burning hatred for Grace and Simon because neither of them apologized for their actions on what they personally did to him. Lexi is called out by his actions by Amelia and his father, Titus, in this regard. Amelia told him that he's not the only one that misses Chloe and has no right to lash out at anyone. Titus also disapproves of Lexi's treatment of Goh and encourages him to let go of his hatred of Grace and Simon now that they're gone. Titus also admits to Goh that Lexi's past trauma should not excuse his actions. Unfortunately, Lexi ignores both Amelia and Titus' words, only letting go of his hatred of Simon while still hating Grace. But then he learns of Grace's death in the Hazbin Car. He did not outright say it was a good thing like others did. Later, when he learns that Hazel, Lucy, and Toby build a small memorial for Grace and were afraid he'd destroy it, he reflects on what his anger towards her was turning him into and let his anger go.
Amelia Hughes
- Atticus does not accept Amelia's past as a reason for all the destruction she caused and how she turned him into a Ghom. Amelia herself admits that all she did for the sake of being with Alrick does not excuse all the people/denizens she hurt over the past 30+ years.
Emperor Neapolitan
- Emperor Neapolitan's greatest regret is allowing Cara to leave with the Apex after they wrecked the Potluck. Atticus is completely unimpressed by this, as for all that he laments his inaction, the Emperor has refused to take action in the four years since that incident, allowing the other penguins to single out and bully Nico for his different tastes—made worse by the fact that the Apex singled out Nico during their visit. The other penguins basically picked up where their bullying left off, meaning that he did absolutely nothing to purge Apex's influence from his community.
Goh Fujihachi
- Goh had a bad experience with Tokio in Azalea Town; when his new friend was unable to keep their appointment to meet up and search for Celebi together, he assumed that he'd deliberately ditched him when in reality, he'd just gotten sick. After learning the truth, Goh mentions the incident in one of his messages to Chloe. Chloe sees this as him just making excuses for how he abandoned her in turn.
Parker Cerise
- As revealed during his talk with Delia, everything he did at the Unown arc was fueled by resentment towards Ash and Pokémon supposedly taking everything away from him and Chloe, and how nobody did anything to help them, especially as Chloe only ever talked to Parker about her interests as if she could only trust him. However, Delia counters that this doesn't excuse the things he did out of his own volition and makes it clear that not only will he have to face the consequences of his actions, but she and Ash will never forgive him for what he did.
Tokio Chisou
- He never got to get back at Kisaragi for brainwashing him into becoming the White Rabbit, so he emotionally manipulates Goh to get said catharsis. Gladion doesn't cut him any slack when telling him how messed up that was.
