Before the move and Goh's inevitable journey on a Train, he and Chloe reconcile.
This chapter contains examples of:
- Adaptational Jerkass: Unfortunately happened with Delia. In the original chapter notes, she was serving some food for the Pokémon when she came across Chloe's Moment of Weakness by pure luck. In the chapter proper, it instead seems like she was actively looking for Chloe when she had the moment, ready to snipe and chastise her for not really changing. It was later written on her going to her son's defense in thinking that Chloe was about to go on a huge rant again.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: The denizens in the Canals of Fondue Car are happily celebrating that there is no more Apex to ruin their lives.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Delia attempts to smack Chloe with one by snidely asking whether Goh's apology meant nothing since he gained something in her absence. It backfires and gets countered by Chloe's frantic query as to who's watching over Goh at that moment since Delia, Ash, Trip and Serena are with her and Tomie is busy with moving boxes.
- Bittersweet Ending: On the whole, this chapter ends the story on a rather bittersweet note.
- Bitter:
- Both Cerises and Fujihachis have to move to different locations — Cerises for Pallet and Fujihachis for Celadon — so that means Chloe and Goh won't be able to see each other anymore.
- Goh's Train trip is inevitable at this point, and the only thing the Fujihachis can do is make what little time he has left on Vermillion worthwhile.
- Delia makes it abundantly clear that she's not going to forgive Chloe anytime soon, especially since so many people seem to backpedal just to ask forgiveness from her, and that this is something she has to accept.
- Chloe's reputation is still tarnished, and her brother is still stuck in juvie, leaving her a long road of redemption ahead.
- Mew's identity is revealed at the worst possible moment, with it leading to Goh getting picked up by the Train.
- Finally, Goh's number is so obscenely big (813) that he's gonna be stuck on the Train for months at best, a year at worst, and his nonexistent self-esteem is not going to help pass the time. And the first Denizen he meets is an extremely sketchy individual who may have plans of his own.
- Sweet:
- While there's a sense of bitterness and tensity, Chloe and Goh finally make peace with each other, having the curry they promised to have so long ago.
- Chloe's given the support she always needed despite all the adversities, from her family and friends when it becomes clear just how much she has to do to make up for it.
- With the Apex gone, and the Cage of Flauros dismantled alongside the Fog Car being quarantined, the Train's a safer place than it's ever been, with the Denizens celebrating the fact.
- Goh's final moments on Vermillion City aren't filled with spite, hate, and being blamed like he's grown used to, but is instead given encouragement, reassured that not everything was his fault, and finally, Raboot and Sobble accompany him to the Infinity Train, ensuring that he's not alone on the trip.
- Bitter:
- Book Ends:
- The story began with Goh and Chloe discussing their friendship over curry, followed by her leaving on the Train. It ends in much the same way, albeit with Goh on the Train, though their chat is much calmer.
- Chloe's farewell message to Goh ended with "Goodbye". Before boarding the Train, Goh jots down a quick message that also ends with "Goodbye".
- Chloe hated cooking curry because of how her Home Ec. teacher said she wasn't original. Now, she's seen calmly cooking her curry laksa.
- Once again, a neglectful adult with Skewed Priorities serves as the tipping point to send somebody to the Train when they step in to scold Chloe. Professor Cerise barely paid his daughter any mind until Pokémon were involved, then chided her for lashing out; Delia paid her far too much mind, eager to punish any trespass and berate her for having even the briefest negative reaction.
- One-One's intro message was playing when both Chloe and Goh enter the Train.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Delia and Chloe's shared Moment of Weakness. While Chloe's right in that Delia shouldn't have left Goh alone with his Pokémon, and she's clearly apologetic once she realizes the Oblivious Guilt Slinging she did at him, Delia's also right because not only she not know Pokémon weren't enough to deter the Train, but that after seeing and hearing everybody bend over backwards to ask for her forgiveness, it'd be very easy for Chloe to get back on her high horse, especially she made it look like she was ready to go on another giant rant when she saw the injured Mew.
- Call-Back:
- The curry Chloe cooked is the green curry laksa from "The Curry Car".
- Goh ends up on the Canals of Fondue Car, where the denizens are celebrating the end of the Apex. Moreover, the denizen he encounters was the same one whom Chloe met at the end of The Curry Car.
- Cliffhanger: The story ends with Goh on the Infinity Train, being approached by a Denizen who decides to accompany on his journey.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Delia angrily asks if Goh's apologies meant nothing, Chloe realizes that Goh himself may have believed that they weren't. Then things get worse when they realize that Delia just left Goh alone, trusting that Raboot and Sobble would be enough to ensure he wouldn't get on the Train...
- Foregone Conclusion: Somewhat; it was inevitable that Goh would get on the Train, but it was the circumstances that determined the "when".
- For Want Of A Nail:
- If Delia hadn't left Goh alone with Raboot and Sobble in order to focus on confronting Chloe over her inner conflicts, the three of them wouldn't have ended up on the Train. Moreover if she, and everyone else in the area, didn't assume that Raboot and Sobble were enough to stop Goh...
- If Goh mentioned that the Shiny Espurr was really Mew before Delia left him alone, things wouldn't have been dire that the Train came to pick him up.
- Fury-Fueled Foolishness: The confrontation with Delia was rewritten to emphasize Delia's anger as opposed to smugness, suggesting that it was more of a badly-timed Mama Bear moment on overhearing the exposure of Mew.
- Grand Finale: Of Blossoming Trail.
- High on Catnip: The cheapest florist in Vermillion City likes to use Pokénip as a filler grass, causing Pikachu and Yamper to trip balls...and then reveal that "Shiny Espurr" that Tomie's been babysitting was really Mew.
- Internal Reveal:
- Chloe informs Ash, Serena and Trip about Tuba's fate; Ash later passes on the sad news to Mallow.
- Everyone learns that the Shiny Espurr is actually Mew.
- Irony:
- With her blue-dyed hair and newfound confidence and drive, Chloe hardly resembles the girl who ran away from Vermillion two months prior. She mentally notes that this is likely for the best, given how her reputation has been trashed.
- Delia warns Chloe that she'll be watching for any mistakes or backsliding she does. Her impulsive decision to rub that in her face the moment she thinks Chloe's misstepped leaves her the one apologizing after she unintentionally leaves Goh unsupervised — with not even Raboot and Sobble not enough to stop him — and vulnerable to pickup.
- Goh's search for Mew is what caused Chloe and Goh's friendship to fall apart and led to her boarding the Train. Mew's presence leads to Goh boarding the Train.
- Delia was the best parental figure between her, the Cerises and the Fujihachis. Yet it was she who made the mistake to leave Goh alone so the Train can pick him up. In her defense, no one knew that Raboot and Sobble's presence wasn't enough to prevent Goh from leaving.
- While Zeno was still around, neither Parker nor Goh were taken by the Train, despite being often left alone. With him gone, Goh's taken by the Train as soon as he's left alone. Yes, Zeno's very existence prevented the Train from snatching them.
- Mood Whiplash: Chloe's chuckling at Pikachu and Yamper's antics one moment, then doing a double-take at Mew the next, followed by Delia closing in to snarl at her weakness and the horror of realizing Goh's been left unsupervised.
- Moment of Weakness: Chloe has a very brief flash of anger upon recognizing Mew and realizing that Goh achieved his Goal in Life, which quickly fades to conflicted grief. Delia is quick to pounce upon that, leading to far worse consequences.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Once it hits Delia that she screwed up in leaving Goh alone for him to enter the Infinity Train, she frantically begs for Chloe's forgiveness. Chloe would find it hilarious about how Delia screwed up if it wasn't so serious.
- No Sympathy for Grudgeholders: Ironically, this proves to be Delia's undoing. She's so eager to prove that Chloe hasn't changed and is still ruled by her grudges that she's blinded to how she's letting her own bias overrule her better judgement. Then again, this also goes both ways, since Chloe's own grudge-filled mistakes are the reason Delia shows no sympathy in the first place.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Chloe reassures Goh that they can search for Mew together, unaware that he's already found them. He doesn't correct her, leaving her to realize this was happening when she discovers the injured Mew sleeping and delirious from the Pokénip bouquet.
- Older Than They Look: Chloe is struck by how youthful Delia looks, and silently acknowledges that asking how old she was when she had Ash would not go over well, even if Delia didn't already dislike her.
- Poor Communication Kills: Nobody, not even Trip, who knew somewhat how the Train worked, told Delia that Pokémon aren't enough to deter the Train, leaving her to assume that the presence of Pokémon will be enough to protect Goh, despite the fact that several trainers boarded with their teammates in tow. Including Trip, Mallow, Gladion, Paul, Alain, Hop...
- Chloe assumes that the group knew that Pokémon weren't enough to stop you from entering, only to realize that it isn't the case. In her defense, she's only been back for one to two days and with everything going on, she hadn't had time to fully explain this, but it's still a pretty big blunder.
- Rejected Apology: Delia makes clear that it will take far more than words for Chloe to make any progress with her, and is more than eager to remind her of all her mistakes.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Chloe and Goh both lived in Vermillion City yet their friendship was very distant. Now as they're closer, they have to separate to different cities.
- The Silent Hill song, "End of Small Sanctuary" was about the end of Heather's innocent teenage life before she got plunged into the horrors of Silent Hill and played as she gave a call to her father and stating she loved him. Likewise, the story is about the end of the reprieve of Chloe returning and she and Goh forgiving one another before Goh gets sucked onto the Train.
- Goh arrives in the Canals of Fondue Car where Chloe's victory over the Apex is being celebrated in various ways, including a statue being erected in her honor. He mentally notes how she's being built up here after all he did to try tearing her down during his descent into jerkassery. Bonus points as this car was the one that started acknowledging Chloe being a hero.
- Goh's initial number is 813, Scorbunny's National Dex number and reflecting on how he was initially insensitive to his starter Pokémon's desires. The fact it's so stupidly big is also a clear cut symbolism over how broken he is.
- Not counting the Intermission and Arc 2 Prelude, the story has 38 chapters. In the Journeys anime, Episode 38 was Chloe's last focus episode for Season 1, highlighting that this is Chloe's journey on the Train is finally over.
- Say My Name: Mallow screams Tuba's name when she learns from Ash that the gorilla is dead.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Discussed when Talia finds her daughter, still recovering from her gunshot wound, busily packing up her horror paraphernalia.
- Delia notices Chloe having a Moment of Weakness after recognizing the shiny Espurr as Mew and decides confronting her is far more important than keeping an eye on Goh...and realizes how she messed up spectacularly.
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: Deconstructed. Chloe realizes that part of what finally drove Goh onto the train was guilt over the notion of 'everything getting handed to him' when compared to her, and when it looked like he was going to have everything he'd ever wanted, both Mew and Chloe, without 'earning it', he couldn't handle it.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Delia's decision to leave Raboot and Sobble as Goh's only company, expecting their presence to be enough to deter the Train, so that she can harass Chloe, provides all the opportunity the Train needs to pick up a new passenger. Guess who ends up apologizing to whom?
