In a car where everything is awesome, Gladion wishes to become a knight and ends off facing a dragon. And on Melemele island, the Ultra Guardians face off against their first Ultra Beast.
Tropes in this arc include:
- Accidental Truth: When Robbie rejects the notion that Gladion's parental drama is in any way comparable to his own, he rants about how their separation was likely caused by some kind of fantastical scenario, spinning a scenario out of whole cloth that cuts oddly close to what actually happened.
- Adaptational Badass: The battle against Buzzwole is much more intense than in canon, with no flexing contest in sight.
- Alien Sky: Gladion notes the brick sun and wonders if each car has its own sky.
- Ambition Is Evil: How Penelope's actions are viewed.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Gladion asks Robbie whether his parents would be proud of what he's done, causing him to notice that all the images he's created of them are glaring down at him.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The Infinite Radio. Portable, informative, over 600 channels with an information channel that goes on and on and on...
- Breather Episode: Coming off of the tails of the Uzumaki Car and before the Wham Episode that is the 400 Rabbits Car, the chapter is bright, colorful and awesome.
- Brick Joke: Pun unintended; the car Gladion entered prior to this one is based off of a Junji Ito manga, Uzumaki. When Penelope leaves, she warns Gladion of the next car which is...also based off a Junji Ito manga, Black Paradox.
- Built with LEGO: The Toy Brick Car is essentially The Lego Car in all but name and is ruled by Vitruvius from The Lego Movie. Emmet Brickowski is also a denizen.
- Commonality Connection: Averted. When Gladion tries to reach out to Robbie this way, he completely dismisses the idea that their situations are in any way comparable, sneering about how Gladion's problems are likely way more interesting and less mundane.
- Cuteness Proximity: Zossie is enamored by Ash's Pikachu and Rowlet and squees in delight at getting to hug Rowlet.
- Foreshadowing: The song the trouadbours play when Gladion faces the dragon is "Crusade" by Voltaire. The next chapter reveals that Voltaire apparently entered the Train along with Artix von Kreiger.
- Internal Reveal: Gladion learns about Tulip's history via the history channel. This comes in handy when he comforts Robbie.
- Knighting: Gladion's wish after he saved the Toy Brick Car from the dragon is to become an official knight. He gets it.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Gladion receives a shield from Blacksmith Pratt and decides to deliver Specter's shield to him in case they ever meet up.
- Never Say "Die": Subverted. When Gladion asks where Emmet is now, the answer he gets is that he's gone. They then clarify in that they haven't received messages from him in a while.
- Noodle Incident: What did Specter do to become an official "knight" in the Toy Brick Car and why did he and Lampetia have to leave so soon?
- Not a Morning Person: Gladion replies that "the mornings are evil" when he wakes up.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Larkspur is shown to not have good feelings with her sister Larkspur throughout the chapter: she stops talking with pauses between words and even resists getting the information about how Specter (whom is partnered with Lampetia) got a portrait in the Toy Brick Car.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Phyco is bemused to note how nobody, not even Lusamine, seems to see through the Masked Royal's disguise, wondering whether his team actually needed to bother disguising themselves.
- Sneeze Cut: When Larkspur comments how Lampetia is too..."too", it cuts to her and Specter in the Giant Canada Goose Car where Lampetia lets out a sneeze.
- Take Me to Your Leader: After the battle with Buzzwole, 'Phineas' requests to meet the group's commanding officer. When that's met with blank stares, he follows that up with requests to see their leader, their boss, their teacher... whoever's in charge of their squad.
- Totally Radical: Phyco's attempt at being 'normal'.
