Recap / Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: Le Chat Chalet Car

The morning after, Ash is still stewing over his argument with Delia when he gets a call from another mother: Kurune, who explains that her son told them about the Train. She also has a personal request: could he take Goh on another trip sometime? She feels it did him some good, and is hoping that getting him away from Vermillion will continue to encourage him. Ash agrees to see what he can do before heading out on a run through the city.

Mr. Bradbury meets with Miss Turner, who's been hired to help further mitigate the damage done to the school's reputation. Many parents are looking to pull their children out, and nobody's looking forward to dealing with the fact that Chloe will have to take some remedial classes to make up for what she's missed. Miss Turner also reveals that there's a lot of paperwork to work out regarding Class 5-E, though she has a solution in mind: setting up a final class in the form of a private guest-lecture. And she already has a prospective speaker she's considering.

Delia takes Talia on a mother's day out; unfortunately, their time together is interrupted by an unexpected guest: Hilary, Delia's sister-in-law, and her sons Trey and Troy. Hilary swiftly reveals herself to be a Control Freak who blames Ash for 'discouraging' her sons from pursuing their own careers as Pokémon Trainers. In reality, the pair were inspired by his adventures to become archaeologists — but that doesn't sit well with Hilary, who insists that they'd be better off as Trainers. Delia refuses to take her crap, and Talia stands up for her as well, and the boys head out without their mother while she huffs off.

Afterwards, Delia opens up a bit more about her troubles at home. Her sister isn't the only one who envies Ash's success and accuses him of overshadowing their children. Talia realizes that she's projecting this onto Chloe, and gets her to question whether Chloe has as much in common with her son's other critics as she thinks.

Back in Alola, Gladion and Mallow share their stories with Lillie, Lusamine and the rest of their friends. He swiftly retreats to get some much needed sleep, while Lillie demands to know why Mallow didn't tell her everything she knew before she gave Gladion his 'screw-you bouquet'. Mallow questions whether anyone would have believed her, and only gets angrier upon learning that everyone thought she was only concerned about him because she was secretly crushing on him. Lana's ill-timed jokes about this push her over the edge, and she calls them out on their lack of concern before storming out.

Ash runs into his cousins, who are ecstatic to see all of the Pokémon he's out jogging with. They chat about recent events before being interrupted by a Hex Maniac who challenges him to a battle.

Meanwhile, Lana catches up with Mallow on the beach. The two have a heart-to-heart which leads to both sides making concessions: Lana admits that they screwed up, but wishes that Mallow had trusted them more. Both apologize, acknowledging that there was no easy way of handling the situation.

On the Train, the Red Lotus Quarto attempts to fly to their destination, but get ambushed by a swarm of Ghoms, forcing them to land and duck into another Car. Amelia then calls One-One, getting him to rearrange the Cars so that they'll be able to reach the Fog Car much faster. They seek shelter, only to cause The Cat's day to go From Bad to Worse when they break into her cabin, reuniting with Randall in the process.

While Frank the Bear fixes some eggs for their unexpected guests, a tense conversation follows. The Cat attempts to dance around the nature of her 'connection' to the Apex, unaware that Chloe's gift from Olmec grants her the ability to see into troubled minds. Through a Flashback, Chloe witnesses Samantha's meeting with Simon... the moment she abandoned him... and the way she turned a blind eye to the rise of the Apex, as well as her recent confrontation with him.

Chloe's mounting fury spikes further when she exits her trance just in time to hear The Cat blame Amelia for inspiring the Apex, and she calls her out. Caught off guard by her accusations, The Cat finds herself rapidly backed into a corner despite her denial, with each of the Red Lotus Quatro countering her attempts to talk her way out, dragging all of her crimes out in the open... before revealing that Chloe has been broadcasting the whole thing live.

The Cat tries blaming Chloe for ruining her reputation, only for Amelia to coldly point out that while passengers can't attack denizens without their numbers rising, denizens lack the same restrictions. Her pleas for mercy fall upon unsympathetic ears, and the tension is only broken by One-One contacting the Quarto to let them know that everything's been rearranged and they just have one car left to pass through. They head off, leaving Samantha a broken wreck behind them with only Frank for company.

Back in Vermillion, Delia and Talia watch Ash's match with the Hex Maniac. Afterwards, they find some privacy for their own heart-to-heart, as Delia finally admits to her son what sort of passive-aggressive jealousy she's dealt with back home. While matters between them aren't perfectly resolved, they manage to reach some accord, especially with Talia mediating.

Meanwhile, Goh calls Tokio for a much-needed talk of their own...

...While Grace, Simon, Tuba and Hazel arrive at the Fog Car, where they're welcomed in by a cloaked figure calling himself Despair. Despite Simon's threats, Despair refuses to fold, and leads them deeper into Silent Hill.

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Tropes found in this chapter include:

• All for Nothing: Mallow feels that her efforts to get others to care about Gladion's disappearance were effectively worthless, as her concern was mistaken for a poorly-masked crush. However, Lana points out that her roundabout way of doing so did nobody any favors. And even if Mallow explained what was going on, they couldn't have done anything since the only way to get on the Train is to have an unstable mind.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • After learning some of the roots of why Delia detests Chloe so much — that she reminds her of people who've jealously blamed Ash for his accomplishments — Talia questions if she's seeing more of those people in Chloe than is actually there. Delia doesn't answer.
  • The Cat is hit with several of these in rapid succession during the confrontation in her cabin. One that makes her crack hardest is Chloe pointing out one oversight:
    Chloe: You could've at least told him that numbers are meant to go down, right? Because he was only at 55 when you met him...
• Bittersweet Ending: Even more so then the first:
  • Bitter:
    • Parker is banned from ever entering Vermillion again, and his family’s lives are completely ruined, forcing them to live in Delia’s guesthouse for the time being. And while he is still learning the consequences of his actions with Zeno’s help, he has burned his bridges with nearly everyone and won’t be forgiven anytime soon.
    • Vermillion International School’s reputation has been completely ruined due to Class 5-E’s and the majority of the teachers' actions regarding Chloe. And the students of Class 5-E are not only still traumatized from Parker’s actions, it is made clear that they are not going to be left off easy from what they have done to Chloe as shown by the trial, meaning their futures are still looking very bleak, even though Ash did promise he would help them with becoming Trainers. Sara herself is broken beyond repair, losing everything she held dear with only a loving foster family the only thing that's keeping her from either killing herself or as another victim on the Train.
    • Everyone has been affected negatively by Parker’s actions, such as Ash suffering from nightmares and Goh having his sanity shattered. Even Chloe has been affected by it, as she’s forced to confront her own selfishnesses afterward thanks to Delia and Talia calling her out on it, and she’s going to have to deal with being the cause of the whole thing after she returns home.
    • Hop, Paul and Alain are still being brainwashed into the components for Henry and Walter’s ritual. And the Apex are now in the Fog Car, with the chapter ending with Paul/Despair leading Grace, Simon, Hazel and Tuba into the car.
  • Sweet:
    • Chloe has fully admitted her own mistakes and faults, and is changing for the better, admitting her fears and wanting to make amends with everyone.
    • Ash is learning that not everything is not on him, as he refuses to blame himself for what Parker has done. However, he still has a ways to go, as he still feels responsible for what happened to Hop, Alain and Paul.
    • Goh is slowly starting to deal with his problems, opening up to his parents and Tokio and learning to be more compassionate.
    • Aldrich and Talia are finally being shown some compassion after being blamed for everything, as they learn that the whole thing could had been avoided if Chloe and Parker just opened up about their feelings, meaning that not everything is on them. They are also refusing to be blamed anymore, with Aldrich angrily telling Bradbury to stop taunting him with the fact that he refused to get Chloe a counsellor and Talia sternly telling Chloe to stop it with her childish behavior.
• Bookends: The Prelude to Act 2 and Le Chat Chalet Car both end with someone leading a passenger into Silent Hill and the last words being the eponymous sign, Welcome to Silent Hill.
• Call-Back: As Atticus leaves Le Chat Chalet Car, he brings up something that Sad-One said to the Cat long ago.
  'Atticus: We don't like you.''
  • Moreover, The Cat tries to bring up how she ulitmately did the right thing by saving Tulip and Atticus, but Atticus points out that Atticus would never have been turned into a Gohm if she didn't bring the Conductor to them.
• Can't Catch Up: Played With. Ash's cousin Trey dropped out of Trainer School, and his mother believes that it's because he feels that he'd be overshadowed by Ash's accomplishments. Truthfully, Trey was inspired by said exploits to become an archeologist; Hilary just refuses to accept that because "Archaeologists don’t get in the papers!" Delia pointing out that they do goes straight over her head.
  • Hilary also notes that this is true for a lot of Pallet's trainers, with half of the kids of her knitting group failing the preliminaries in the Indigo League and the other half simply didn't make it that far. The fact that Ash threw a sulking fit about "only" getting in the top 16 in that tournament rubs a lot of Pallet parents the wrong way.
• Cassandra Truth: Discussed. Mallow assumed that this would be the case if she tried to talk about the train with her friends, which was why she talked in a roundabout way about where Gladion had gone. Lana points out that they would've believed her if she'd just TOLD them, since they worked with interdimensional creatures and ridiculous situations in the past. Mallow admits that it was hard to talk about her experiences and was all but making up excuses not to. And not to mention that even if she told them how to get on the Train, it wouldn't have been worth it.
• Dirty Coward: The Cat is completely exposed as one, as her abandonment of Simon comes into light, and she frantically tries to protect herself after her past deeds come to light.
• The Dividual: Trey and Troy, Ash's cousins, aren't twins but look and talk like they are, and Ash privately admits that he can't tell the two apart himself.
• Double Standard:
  • Mallow does not find it funny that the first idea everyone had in mind when she brought up Gladion's whereabouts was because they thought she was crushing on him and not the idea that he was picked up by the Infinity Train and disappeared completely.
  • Delia acknowledges that she's given Trip much more leeway than Chloe, revealing that part of the reason is that not only is he the first of Ash's many suitors to actually start dating him, he also happens to be the only guy. Meaning that if she came down harder on him, it would seem like she disapproved for other reasons.
  • Talia gently asks Ash that if Delia isn't allowed to hold a grudge against Chloe for being, more or less, a bully, if she should forgive her daughters' bullies.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Lana's joke of Mallow going to "elope" under the hypothetical idea of her having run away to be picked up on the Train is treated like this, as Mallow glares at her friend at how mean it is. Moreover it sounds heavily insensitive since Mallow was only five when the Train picked her up and this was due to the grief of her mother being sick and then dying, something Lana knows. Lana later apologizes, admitting that her dark sense of humor isn't always the best way to handle things.
• Dungeon Bypass: In order to reach the Fog Car faster, Chloe and her friends attempt to fly over the Train. They also bargain with One-One to rearrange things so that they only have one Car left to pass through... though while that's being arranged, they have to stay in the Le Chat Chalet Car. Lexi is more than a little annoyed to learn Amelia could easily do the second since the first nearly got them killed by a pack of Ghoms.
• Engineered Public Confession: This time, one of these happens on the Train, as Chloe uses her phone to livestream their conversation with The Cat... including her connection to Simon Laurent.
• Foil: Hilary is more or less a darker representation of the Cerises, possessing none none of their redeeming qualities; the main difference is that Aldrich and Talia truly love their kids and were simply ignorant of their problems, whereas Hilary actively discourages her sons from being anything other than Pokémon Trainers, and treats them as extensions of herself.
• Forgot About His Powers: It never occurs until now, as in the last chapter of Arc 2, for Lexi to just fly everyone towards the Fog Car as a gryphon. Unfortunately a swarm of Ghoms arrive after five cars pass so they have to make an emergency landing in Le Chalet Car. Then Amelia just realizes she could ask One-One to move plenty of cars to avoid that in the first place. Lexi throws a paper ball at her head in annoyance.
• Four Is Death: Mallow has a bracelet with two beads that read "44". Not only is it her Train number, but it's also how old her mother was when she died.
• Green-Eyed Monster: This is revealed to be why Ash's later accomplishments weren't really celebrated back in Pallet Town: the more he achieved, the more envious the other adults became of him, blaming him for their own children being Overshadowed by Awesome.
• Insistent Terminology: The Cat's insistence on being called 'THE Cat' causes Amelia to immediately recognize whose cabin door they're knocking on, leading her to barge right in rather than continuing to ask permission.
  • She also gets angry when she’s called by her real name, Samantha, saying that only Simon has the right to call her that.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Gladion shares his experiences on the Train with Lillie, Lusamine, Mallow, and the rest of the Alolan friend group. Mallow also reveals to them that she boarded the Train years ago.
  • Chloe reveals that The Cat was once Simon's denizen partner, but abandoned him to a Ghom.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Lana points out that they had no way of knowing how bad things were because Mallow hadn't told them, while also allowing that she was in a tricky position and that there were no easy answers. Mallow accepts this point and apologizes for snapping.
  • The Cat does bring up some points, such as her not being the only one responsible for Simon’s downfall, and how she helped Tulip save Atticus. However, it is made clear that Amelia NEVER asked him or Grace to make a cult in her name, that the Cat is the main cause for Simon hating denizens since she abandoned him and how she was one of the main reasons Atticus got turned into a Ghom in the first place.
• "Just Joking" Justification: The moment she sees how upset Mallow is at her "Elopement" crack, Lana stammers that it was a joke.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Despite Mallow's warnings in Knight of the Orange Lily, Lillie expressed her hatred of Gladion by sending him a bouquet of orange lilies, leading to Gladion being picked up by the train. When she learns of her brother's disappearance, she spitefully believes she's the wronged party and thus wouldn't care if something bad happened to her brother. This spurs Mallow to call Lillie out for her extremely callous treatment of Gladion's disappearance and points out that Gladion could've died and if he did, it's all on her. Even better, Mallow shows absolutely No Sympathy for her when she starts tearing up afterwards.
• Mad Oracle: The Hex Maniac talks gibberish before, during, and after the fight, but reading between the lines suggests that she can see Ash's future. Considering that she all but announces Ash and Delia's reconciliation, Ash wonders if she deliberately set the battle up for that purpose.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is the Hex Manaic just some Chunni weirdo? Does she actually know the future?
• Never My Fault: Deconstructed with Lillie. While Gladion made his own fair share of mistakes, she's the reason why Gladion got picked up by the train - she was angry with him for constantly abandoning her, but instead of telling him outright, she sent him a bouquet of orange lilies. Even worse, Mallow tried warning Lillie not to do so, but she refused to listen, and convinced herself afterwards that she wouldn't care if something bad happened to her brother. Cue Mallow furiously telling her that she has no right to play the victim card because if Gladion dies on the train, it'll be all on her and her "stupid bouquet".
• No Sympathy:
  • Lillie's response to learning that Gladion was on the Train was to declare that now he knew what it felt like to be stuck in a bad place. Mallow's infuriated by the implications and calls her out on it.
  • No one accepts The Cat’s excuses and her concern for Simon, as she had the choice to go back for him, but chose not to.
• Not Worth Killing: The Quarto ultimately leaves the Cat with her sins exposed, since she's not worth putting off the Fog Car any longer. Atticus also notes that most denizens probably won't leave their cars and risk getting lost in the shifting train just to get revenge on her.
• Noodle Incident: Another of Chloe and crew's offscreen adventures is alluded to: The Cat had them spend the night in the Pizza Chat Car... without warning them about the murderous animatronics.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Chloe sees parallels in how Samantha abandoned Simon and the way she ran away from home... and Goh. Her friends reassure her that their cases are Not So Similar.
• Plot Parallel:
  • Mallow, like Chloe, kept what was troubling her largely to herself, and snapped when her friends didn't respond the way she hoped when she revealed the truth to them. In particular, she's pushed over the edge by Lillie and Lana's apparent Lack of Empathy, much like how Goh showed No Sympathy when Chloe lashed out. However, Lana actually pursues Mallow afterwards and talks things out, helping her calm down and understand that Both Sides Have a Point and her own words were just as much to blame for how people misinterpreted her as their own assumptions.
  • Chloe likens Samantha/The Cat's situation to her own, and berates herself for being just as self-absorbed as her. Her friends point out that unlike Samantha, she's taken steps to address her mistakes and set things right, while The Cat has kept running away from her problems and insisting that nothing is her fault.
  • Hilary selfishly tries to push her sons towards the career path she prefers for them. Samantha/The Cat is similarly revealed to have deliberately misled Simon about the nature of the numbers, and rants about how he was hers when exposed, showing a similar lack of regard for what was best for him.
• Properly Paranoid: To the point of Dramatic Irony: After calming down, Mallow admits that the reason she was so snappy is because she’s afraid for Tuba’s life due to the Apex being on the train... While unaware that Tuba is travelling with their leaders and has now entered Silent Hill alongside them. ^note :And one of said leaders is her killer in the original series.
• Psychological Projection: Hilary insists that her sons resent Ash just as much as she does, claiming that they've given up on becoming Trainers because they can't possibly hope to match him. Truth is they admire their cousin, and she simply can't accept that they aren't letting her dictate their futures.
• Rage Breaking Point: Mallow explodes after Lana's rude joke and Lillie pointing out how Mallow miscommunicated about the Train. This is also coming after the fact everyone assumed she was worried over Gladion because she had a crush on him.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Mallow rips Lillie apart for her showing No Sympathy towards her brother Gladion getting trapped on the Train — something which happened in no small part because of her spiteful gift and calling him out on his neglect. Mallow points out that for all his flaws, Gladion still cared about his sister, but Lillie's response made it sound as though she didn't care that he could have been lost forever - meaning that if Gladion actually died on the train, his blood will be on Lillie's hands and her "stupid bouquet" because she's the one who sent him there. Lillie's reduced to tears by this.
    Mallow: You refused to listen to me, Lillie! You immediately went, 'Well now my brother knows how it feels to be in a bad place so I don't have to feel a single ounce of pity on him'! At least Gladion showed concern for you and did all he could to try and protect you even if he made very bad communication errors! But you. DID. NOT. CARE. THAT HE COULD HAVE BEEN GONE FOREVER! AND ALL BECAUSE OF A STUPID BOUQUET!
  • Lana follows this up with a more controlled one in private, basically telling Mallow that her failure to tell the people who were dealing with aliens because it was too outlandish was stupid and its her own fault they believed it was something as silly as a crush. Mallow acknowledges this and apologizes for snapping earlier.
  • The Red Lotus Quarto give a massive one to The Cat for her past deeds, saying that she’s the main one responsible for turning Simon into a mass murderer that killed so many denizens just because she wanted to save her own skin.
• Shadow Archetype: Hilary is what the Cerise parents would be if they weren’t just simply oblivious to Chloe’s struggles and had actually forced her to be into Pokémon like everyone else.
• Shipper on Deck: Deconstructed; everyone assumed that the only reason Mallow was worried for Gladion months ago was that she had a crush on him. Mallow is angry that the first thought everyone thinks when a girl is concerned for a guy is because they are in love with them.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Before the confrontation gets ugly, Samantha cautions against Chloe thinking she can singlehandedly solve the problems of the Apex.
• Stage Mom: Hilary is a Control Freak who blames Ash for inspiring children to follow their own dreams rather than pursuing careers as Trainers.
• This Is Going to Suck:
  • Delia's reaction upon seeing her bitchy sister-in-law Hilary, remembering too late that she'd moved to Vermillion.
  • Chloe isn't thrilled when they open the doors to the last Car standing between them and the Fog Car and get greeted by off-key Christmas carols.
• Villains Want Mercy: The Cat pleads with Chloe to help her with damage control after her connection to Simon is revealed. Amelia, aka the Conductor who caused the Apex, is particularly unimpressed.
• Villainous Breakdown: The Cat/Samantha goes through one after Chloe reveals to the whole Train how she used to be Simon's denizen partner, and the role she played in his transformation into one of the leaders of the Apex.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Lillie attempts to call out Mallow for not explicitly warning her about the Train. Mallow points out how she likely wouldn't have believed her if she'd told her upfront.
  • Mallow takes Lillie and the rest of her friends to task for treating what she and Gladion went through like it was no big deal. Reminding them that she was five at the time she was pulled on board, and that either or both of them could have DIED on the Train... and yet they're treating these revelations lightly, cracking jokes about the whole affair. Lillie especially is driven to tears after hearing how her spitefulness led to Gladion getting on the train and thus being at risk of dying for real - and if he does, his blood will be on her hands.
  • Lana follows this up with private, basically telling Mallow that expecting Arbitrary Skepticism from people who dealt with aliens was stupid and that the reason they all thought she had a crush was because her wishy-washy arguments came off like that instead of what Mallow was going for.
  • After seeing the truth hidden within her mind, Chloe calls out The Cat/Samantha for blaming Amelia for everything the Apex has done while denying the role she played in Simon's Start of Darkness.

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