A few days before Chloe Cerise boarded the Train...
Hop Hyacin gives his brother a call. Fresh off his humiliating loss to Bede — one that came complete with a brutal verbal beatdown, as Bede ripped into him for supposedly tainting his brother's sterling reputation by assocation — he could really use a few encouraging words. Some sign that he's not the grand disappointment Bede made him out to be.
But he can't bring himself to ask. And the conversation swiftly turns towards Raihan and Leon's many other challengers, including one that he's taken a personal interest in: Ash Ketchum, the freshly crowned Alola League Champion. As he gushes over Ash's potential, Hop is boggled by the other trainer's accomplishments... and left wondering how he could possibly measure up. By the time Leon asks if there's anything bothering him, all he can think to do is deny it; how could Leon understand what it's like to constantly lose?
No, he's got to solve this on his own. And that means making hard decisions... like... as much as he loves his partner, maybe Wooloo needs to take a break while he tests out other potential teammates.
Before he can call him back into his Pokéball, however, green light floods under the doorway as a train whistle fills both their ears. Opening the door reveals the source of the sound completely replacing the hallway. Though he considers calling his brother, Hop decides against it; again, would he even believe him?
Deciding that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Hop recalls Wooloo and steps forward, swiftly getting swallowed up by a blinding white light.
It's then revealed that he's recounting all of this to somebody he just met: Alex Shepherd. Or, as he initially introduces himself, A Shepherd. The two share a meal before Shepherd leads him back into town so he can meet the couple running the apartment complex where he's been staying: the Grand Guignol.
At the complex in question, Walter greets his husband Henry with an embrace from behind, letting him know that they're about to get some interesting new company. A passenger whom he's already judged to be perfect for their plans. A little lamb being herded towards his new home...
This chapter includes examples of:
- Delayed Reaction: Hop's reaction to learning that Ash is the Alola League Champion, which mirrors Goh's.
- Dramatic Irony: Hop moans as to why he didn't end up in a car with blue sky, green grass and adorable Yampers...not knowing that that's where Chloe will end up some time later.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Wooloo immediately senses something wrong about the Train and wants nothing to do with it, and is equally distrustful of Alex.
- For Want Of A Nail: Hop contemplates boxing his beloved partner Wooloo and trying out other teammates in hopes of breaking out of his slump. However, the Train's manifestation prevents him from taking that path, leading him down a different road instead.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: This chapter focuses on what made Hop enter the Infinity Train and where he landed.
- Meaningful Name: The Grand Guignol apartments is named after a theater that was once a former church that hosted bloody and gory Psychological Horror and Surreal Horror plays, which foreshadows the amount of nightmares this arc is going to contain.
- Ominous Fog: The Fog Car of course...which hosts a lovely place called Silent Hill.
- Wham Shot: As Hop follows Alex into town, they pass a sign that reads "Welcome to Silent Hill".
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Hop mistakenly assumes that this applies to the Train, reassuring himself that he can check it out for a day or so and then disembark to find only a few minutes have passed. He's been stuck on it for two months.
