A massive six-part/four day epic featuring the Unown, as Chloe gets what she asked for but not what she wanted...
This arc contains examples of:
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not exactly clear what's going on with the "Parker" who attempted to hold Goh back from ending it all once his "Nightmare Therapy" had Gone Horribly Wrong. On the one hand, every other character in the nightmare was pretty explicitly a Sock Puppet for Zeno and Parker's arguments, and the narrative makes clear that the real Parker did not lose consciousness in the few minutes that Goh was trapped in his mindscape; he was too busy being read the riot act by his victims. On the other hand, the "Parker" who pleaded with Goh made references to events outside of the simulation; apologizing for everything, promising that it would stop once Goh was better, and weakly admitting that he couldn't be there for Chloe "after what [he] did." In addition, Zeno took a moment to show pity towards that Parker, and the kid was shown the details of Goh's torment the next day. So, was that figure the actual Parker, present in the nightmare through some form of Mental Time Travel? Or did the complete failure of the "Nightmare Therapy" reduce Zeno to such a state that he resorted to having the Parker simulation voice the very real consequences facing Chloe instead of presenting another simulation?
- Angrish: Professor Cerise just snarls in outrage after Mr. Bradbury texts him with the phone number of a counselor for his son, recognizing it as the one he'd originally tried directing him towards to help his daughter.
- "Arabian Nights" Days: The Cyan Desert Car is based on Saudi Arabia, with the author notes stating that she was inspired by the legendary city Ubar, "Atlantis of the Sands".
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The Central Theme of this Car.
- Chloe wanted everyone in Vermillion City to be sorry for how they treated her. Parker made sure they were.
- Goh learns what would happen if he kept Chloe as she was; a hypothetical situation where she jumped off the school's rooftop because Goh was never there for her.
- Parker wanted to see everyone who'd ever hurt Chloe punished. By the time the Unown have been dealt with, his own actions have seriously hurt others, including his sister.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Unown are defeated and neutralized, and everyone is still alive...but the trauma caused will have massive consequences for everyone on and off the train.
- Deceptively Silly Title: The car is about Chloe navigating a desert of blue sand so she can go to an Arabic-based village and tell stories... while Vermillion City goes through an Unown attack and Goh ends up on suicide watch.
- Didn't Think This Through:
- Parker never considered the long-term consequences of his torture spree. Among other things, he's lost all trust and respect from Ash and his friends, his family is facing legal action that will gut their lifestyles, and his sister will be paying for a lot of it if and when she returns home.
- Chloe realizes too late that her email threatening to stay on the Train forever unless everybody apologizes to her was poorly worded, as Parker ends up taking it literally, leading him to summon the Unown.
- Deconstruction: Chapter 21 is focused on deconstructing Goh as a character by focusing on how he's never really cared about knowing more about his friends unless it was about capturing Pokémon, how he was unsympathetic to Raboot's desires, ignoring everyone who was concerned about him, and how his lack of social skills makes him incapable of making amends with Chloe no matter how hard he tries.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Goh doesn't understand what he has to learn in his nightmares. It's almost funny...until it isn't.
- Dream Emergency Exit: Discussed. Parker originally believed that since the "Nightmare Therapy" he planned for Goh was a dream, it was possible to change the details or wake up with enough willpower. In truth, the only way to escape the dream was with Zeno's say-so. After the fact, Zeno chews his creator out for not implementing a better "emergency exit", since it was quite possible Goh could have been stuck inside for a lifetime.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Just narrowly averted with Miss April, courtesy of Mr. Bradbury.
- Zeno's nightmare therapy shows what would happen if Chloe was back at home just like Goh wanted; because Goh was never there for her when she needs it and rushes out to go adventure with Ash, she decides to jump off the school's roof.
- Easily Forgiven: This arc plays with how forgiveness is handled and most of it isn't for the better.
- Epiphany Therapy: Zeno attempts to do this with Goh. It goes well in all the worst possible ways.
- Evil Gloating:
- With a little help from UnChloe, Sara makes another Engineered Public Confession where she brags about being the 'Queen' of her class, gloating about how she manipulated everyone into turning on Chloe and revealing what she really thinks of her classmates.
- UnChloe nudges Goh to muse aloud about his plans to out Ash to his mother, along with complaining about others treating Chloe like the victim and blaming her for everything.
- Failed a Spot Check: UnChloe tries to prevent the real Chloe from reaching Parker by blocking her texts. Too bad she didn't account for email, though...
- Four Is Death: The arc takes place throughout four days and a lot of horrible things happen within those four days.
- The Unown threat is finally neutralized in Part 4.
- Get Out!: Professor Cerise tells Yeardley to leave his lab upon learning how he physically abused his daughter and got away with it.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Rashid and Azam join the Red Lotus Trio for the trip.
- Heroic BSoD: Goh gets stuck in one of these, and it won't be stopping anytime soon. Chloe has one as well that, while not as permanent, hits her hard.
- Hero of Another Story: Larkspur in Part 6 had an adventure with Gladion in the past.
- Imagine Spot: Chloe has a desert-themed one about what would happen if she had been the one to summon the Unown. It ends with her stabbing the sand with Cheshire.
- Internal Deconstruction: This arc rips apart the general M.O. of the series thus far, and its status as an Accusation Fic / Betrayal Fic.
- Internal Reveal:
- Amelia reveals to the Apex that she's the Conductor by showing off her large number and bringing up the Unfinished Car they raided.
- In Le Chat Chalet Car, The Cat tells Grace and Simon about the Red Lotus Trio and Chloe of the Vermillion. They also hear from Henry and Walter about Sean, the Apex child who drowned in the Fog Car.
- Ironic Echo: Before Chloe ran away from home, she questioned why her father couldn't be "Someone different". When her father finally decides to text her, one of the things he points is that one of the few things that came from the Unown experience is that he'll be "Someone different".
- I Warned You: Mr. Bradbury once told Professor Cerise that he should get his daughter counseling. Aldrich completely ignored this advice and instead put his daughter at the Institute while effectively ignoring her problems and one of the reasons Chloe's problems went unnoticed for so long. After the Unown are dealt with, Mr. Bradbury sends him a text with a phone number so that he can get his son the help he needs, leaving Aldrich screaming in rage over the English teacher's smug reminder of how so much pain might have been averted if he'd heeded his past warnings.
- Kick the Dog: After the entire Unown fiasco is dealt with, Mr. Bradbury sends Professor Cerise a message with a number to get Parker some help... And it's the same number as the therapist that he offered Chloe once. Considering everything that just happened, it really pours salt into the wound.
- Laser-Guided Karma: What Parker assumes he's doing through UnChloe. He's not.
- More than Mind Control: UnChloe inflicts this upon Sara and Goh when spurring them to air out their darkest secrets and intentions.
- Nightmare Sequence: Chapter 21 is Goh going through "nightmare therapy" so he learns his lesson on how he's been a selfish brat. Good news? He learned his lesson. Bad news? He's also learned that there's no hope of him making things right
- Punny Name: The boat rental service in the Cyan Desert Car is called "Ubar" like the taxi service "Uber". The author notes reveal that it's really a reference to what is called the "Atlantis of the Sands", a mythical city that was home to a frankincense trade that was swallowed by the desert.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Parker dishes out a lot of these in this saga, and he is given several in turn when it's all over.
- The Reveal: Hooo boy, this arc is just filled with them.
- Sara and Yeardley are forced to reveal why they hate Chloe so much. One hated her for being able to enjoy horror and having a seemingly better home life; the other hated that she was a girl able to rival him at softball when he considered sports to bethe one thing he was good at.
- One of the things that Chloe wanted most? Just someone to tell her to try again. When everyone tells her to get into Pokémon, mocks her likes or laughs at how she failed at knowing that Tackle sucks against Ghosts, it just says "You are such a stupid girl and you're worthless." Yamper revealing this to everyone is what makes Professor Cerise realize how insensitive his remark in the first chapter was. It's also the reason why she always turned down Ash and Goh's offers to join them on journeys — she did want to go with them, but always felt like she could never measure up to them.
- Elaborating on the above, it turns out that Chloe actually did want to be friends with Ash, but her lack of self-esteem from the bullying she suffered from had convinced her she wasn't good enough for him.
- Chloe reveals that Miss April was in an abusive relationship, which impaired her judgment skills.
- Running Gag: Chloe starts obsessing over shawarma during her stay in the Cyan Desert.
- Shown Their Work: The author notes for the first part brings up the inspirations for the arc, from the city of Ubar, the nickname "Atlantis of the Sands" and references to Lawrence of Arabia.
- Sixth Ranger: Amelia is officially welcomed by the Red Lotus Trio as their fourth member, now calling themselves "Red Lotus Quarto". She meets up with them at the end of the arc.
- Spanner in the Works: The Unown Arc begins to fall apart because Mr. Bradbury went to keep an eye on Miss April, saving her just in time before she died via slit wrists. This leads to Professor Cerise telling Parker what happened and Chloe revealing how bad it is, making him have a Heel Realization at what his actions made him become.
- Lexi convincing Chloe to make an email to Parker came in handy; when Parker wishes to get an email from her, UnChloe is forced to give it. Reading this makes Parker come to his senses.
- Suicide Watch: After the nightmare therapy shatters Goh, he's thrown into a suicide ward in the hospital.
- Tempting Fate: Toby thinks highly little of Chloe of the Vermillion and thinks she won't be able to stop them. He will eat his words in a few cars.
- This Is Gonna Suck: A lot. It's safe to say that every individual chapter has at least one instance of someone dreading the immediate future.
- Unstoppable Rage: Professor Cerise is on the verge of losing it when he sees neither Sara nor Yeardley realizing the ramifications on the bullying they did to his daughter.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: If Sara had just kept her mouth shut just when Parker was calming down, the Unown would never have emerged.
- Villain Has a Point: UnChloe has a lot of hard truths to tell, as monstrous as she is.
- She picks apart Chloe's inability to make her own decisions, citing her lack of proactivity and always needing to be told what to do.
- For Parker, she pulls no punches in telling him that he has no right to call himself a "good boy" after everything he's done.
- Wham Episode: As a whole, this Car changes the entire story for better or for worse. And almost every chapter has its own share of Whams. To list them here would take us all day.
- What You Are in the Dark: After everything is set and done, Parker and Professor Cerise share a moment alone, where the former reveals his true self: a scared boy who wanted to do right by his sister and who wants to make amends for what he did. Despite this, Parker decides to end this interaction by trying to guilt trip his father by claiming that nothing would've happened if he had paid more attention to Chloe.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Parker only began Goh's Nightmare Therapy after Ash was already striking out against the Unown; Professor Cerise got a phone call from Goh’s terrified parents a few minutes after Un Chloe was defeated, saying that Goh was screaming. Since the punishment took place inside a dream, those few minutes could contain a Trauma Conga Line that completely broke Goh; Visitors of Achilles would later estimate he had endured ten hours of horror.
