In the second part of the Lunar Arc, White Gestalt are tasked by One-One to investigate these mysterious Moonlight Passengers. But first, they have to spend one day at Horrorland.
Tropes found in the arc:
- Adaptation Amalgamation:
- Through author notes, the Horrorland Car is mostly based off the first TV series but it has Jonathan Chiller from the Goosebumps HorrorLand series. It also has Gestalt in Werewolf Village which was the starting point of Escape from Horrorland. Part 2 mentions Karlsville, which was from the Chillogy three-parter.
- While the car mostly has references to Goosebumps, it also has a few The Haunting Hour references sprinkled in: namely the TV guide that has a cover for the Uncle Howee Show, a bear that's in "Near Mint Condition", and a coatrack with a cowboy hat on it.
- Adaptational Expansion:
- The mentioning of Yeardley injuring Chloe is finally expanded upon; it came from Chloe being hit with a dodgeball from behind, (she was trying not to blow up in front of her classmates) and she broke her wrist upon falling. Chryssa and Renji helped Chloe out with small tasks until she could do them on her own.
- Easter was never given a backstory in Knight of the Orange Lily but they explain their past and the circumstances that made them fall out of the sky in Part 2.
- No real reason for why the Goetias worship Chloe so much is given beyond her fascination with them. Here, it's because they believe her to be the descendant of Alec Cerise, the Demon Researcher.
- Adaptational Intelligence: A minor example, but Team Rocket decide to just give Morpeko away to Matori instead of having to deal with its voracious appetite. That way they have one less mouth to feed and get to laugh at Matori getting exactly what she wished for.
- Adaptational Karma:
- Matori in Journeys never faces consequences for her actions, outside of Episode 24. In here, she's given ownership of the infamous Morpeko of Team Rocket, with all the gluttonous grief that implies.
- Looker notes that a phantom thief duo, Annie and Oakley, would eventually make their way onto the Train, considering how their actions led to the death of Latios.
- Adapted Out: In the HorrorLand arc where Chiller is from, there were six helpers. Aside from the three mentioned — Chef Belcher, Murder the Clown, and Madame Doom — the other three that are missing are Mondo the Magician, Winner Taikall, and Seymour Win-Doe.
- Adults Are Useless:
- Gladion's narration notes that if he tried to tell his mother about what happened with Nihilego, there would've been a huge chance of Faba trying to interfere and say it was nothing. He mentally lampshades why horror media for kids love ramping up the "idiot adult" cliché.
- Discussed in Part 2 when Parker learns that Chryssa and Renji helped his sister when she had her arm broken but then decided to step back once she had recovered, which culminated in her getting on the Train. The two bring up that they did want to help, but Chloe kept insisting she was fine at the time and neither of them expected a therapy Train to take her away all of a sudden.
- Lillie subverts this, stating that the only reason her mom couldn't help was because she refused to tell Lusamine that she had a problem.
- All Girls Like Ponies: Colette introduces her Galarian Rapidash, Pastel, to Lusamine and Wicke. Both women fawn over the majestic unicorn. Averted with Lake though.
- Ambiguous Situation: Uncle Howdy and Madame Doom may or may not be Goetia. For the former, his hand starts glowing with fire when he asks for a handshake but steps back when Gladion says he won't take shit from demons, and his phone case has the number 46, which is the number for Bifrons. For the latter, when Lotus draws a Goetia circle to summon one, Madame Doom arrives just before Lotus can finish it, snarking that there are other ways to summon them. Not to mention that she just so happens to have a scroll that has someone with a seal on their outfit.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: The first scene depicts Team Rocket cheering over how Morpeko is out of their hair at a ramen bar.
- Arc Words: "(Mind the) Gap" is brought up a few times.
- Armor-Piercing Question:
- Gladion is asked one of these by Madame Doom after his tarot reading.
Madame Doom: What’s more important? Revenge or to move on?- Sick and tired of Tokio going around in circles about hating Grace and blaming himself over Goh, Specter swiftly asks Tokio:Specter: Goh isn’t the one currently being a spiteful little brat whining about his past, now is he?!
- When Parker asks Renji if he hated Chloe due to not sharing her love of horror, he retorts by asking Parker if he hates Jinny just because she likes mermaids and he doesn't.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Chiller lists the monsters that the Apex could fall victim to, his last one is lawn gnomes. Tokio questions why lawn gnomes just as they come alive and try to devour Specter.
- Artifact of Doom: Chiller collects these for a living, and this is actually the reason why he doesn't want the Apex in his car. The Apex are impish scavenges who look before they leap, not caring for the consequences of who they hurt if it means that they keep scoring with their numbers and killing nulls along the way. And given how many of the artifacts are super dangerous, he has a point.
- Artstyle Dissonance: Uncle Howdy's books are cute, colorful, and contain stories of how two Cerises survived horrors that make White Gestalt traumatized.
- Ascended Fangirl: When Lusamine sees her daughter and Mallow dressed up as magical girls, and explaining how they transformed, she ends up squeeing in joy that she gets to be Mission Control for what essentially Power Rangers and magical girls.
- Backing Away Slowly: Gladion and Tokio do this when Specter explains his sanity was kept intact thanks to Harmonious Storm being there for him...and he's motioning to empty space.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- After Tokio goes gently down the stream in a coffin, Specter (who currently has London's staff), tries to use the telekinetic powers London has to free Tokio...only to get nothing. London won his powers by killing the previous White Rabbit.
- The end of Part 1 had the White Gestalt being taken for dinner...as in, they're going to have dinner with other denizens.
- London being turned into a Creep was thought to be permanent. Then it's revealed that not only is there a cure, but the transformation wears off after 12 hours.
- Be Careful What You Wish For:
- According to Jessie, Matori wanted the powerful Pokémon the trio captured. She ends up with their Morpeko, who will eat her out of house and home.
- When vultures take Gladion, Tokio and Specter away, Tokio tells them to put them down. The vulture carrying him snarks that sure, they'll put them down while they're flying in the sky and see if he can survive being turned into a pink gooey mess on the ground.
Tokio: Um… Y-y-you know what… We’ll just stay in your claws if you like.- Gladion is careful to word how he makes a wish to Madame Doom and simply asks that she uses her powers to help those "more desperate than me"...except he wasn't aware that Grace Monroe would fit that category.
- Big "NO!": White Gestalt scream this when Uncle Howdy is about to tell them another horrific story in a cherry picture book.
- Bittersweet Ending: More on the sweet though. Chiller was never truly defeated by the Gestalt and will continue terrifying future passengers, but the scare tactic by Gladion will be repeated told to the old man's face for a while. Not to mention that Gladion has finally found his purpose while on the Train and decides to rename the White Gestalt as "Shiro Shinobi".
- Breather Episode: Coming off the heels of the arc where Chloe was about to kill herself via beheading, the trip is a lighthearted campy affair with Dark Is Not Evil denizens and comedic moments coming from Alola.
- Brick Joke: In Harvest Moon Car, Kiawe snarked that maybe Colette can perform with the Alolan Idols after the Rainbow Rocket ordeal is over. The beginning of Part 3 has Mallow and Lana somehow transform into their Alolan Idols selves.
- Call-Back:
- When Team Rocket see that Looker is at the same ramen cart they're at, they call him Mr. Lunchbox and how he hasn't been seen since Unova. The nickname comes from their first meeting in the Diamond and Pearl series, when he bought a train full of bento boxes for the trio to eat.
- Jesse, Colette, and Lake mention how Lillie and Mallow's new attires is a manifestation of "Harmony" magic which was a plot point in Orchid Observer.
- Cassandra Truth: The Horror who greets White Gestalt is jovial until Lampetia brings up Chiller House. He immediately warns them to not enter, but they believe that he's just pulling their leg and walk off. They should've listened, and he's quick to tell them off for ignoring him.
- Cellphones Are Useless: White Gestalt's phones are bricked by an unknown hacker just one car before Horrorland. This means they can't contact anyone for help after Chiller separates them. Specter tries to use this as an excuse not to call Ryoken, but Uncle Howdy hands him another cellphone.
- Central Theme: "What's more important? Revenge or moving on?" Jonathan Chiller refuses to move on, hoping to get revenge on his deceased parents for not seeing him as anything special, despite them dead at this point. Gladion learns the tale of Armand, who didn't make a wish with a shadow demon for revenge, but used their powers for a better future. Gladion himself struggles between wanting revenge for what the Apex did and to focus on himself before moving forward with his life and granting Chiller mercy. Tokio learns to move forward and forgive himself instead of wanting Grace to die in a hole. Ryoken is still focused on killing all of the Ignis and refuses Specter's feelings for him whereas Aoi is hoping to move forward by following a letter from Bohman to what.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When Alternate Gloria asks Alternate Ryu why he doesn't put his Digimon in a duffel bag, he explains that the one he wanted got a lot of bad reviews due to how people were incapable of keeping their Nebbies from escaping.note
- Tokio asks how Chloe hasn't scared her pants off over being in so many horror situations, to which Uncle Howdy says he wouldn't know because Chloe has never worn pants since she started her trip, revealing pictures of her in dresses, leggings, and skirts over leggings.
- Commonality Connection: In Part 3, Jesse notes that people who can use the magic of Harmony seem to be those who successfully left the Train: Armand, Mallow, Ryan and Min-Gi, even he has this ability as well. Colette theorizes Rey Mysterio needs to be scanned as well.
- Continuity Nod:
- Uncle Howdy's phone has the number "46", and "Firefly Funhouse Car" has Chloe mention that the number represents the Goetia known as Bifrons.
- When Colette smacks Lusamine across the head with her umbrella, she says she got it from a friend. Said friend is Juliana from Arcanum Archives: Descendant's Shadow and Arcanum Universe: Scarlet Heists.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- What are the chances that Chloe fit the same beats as Alec Cerise: someone with the Cerise surname, has red hair, loves mint chocolate chips and has an insatiable love of the macabre. Tokio even surmises that this is why the Goetia are rooting for her.
- One of the rooms Gladion entered just so happened to have a portrait of Alec, his journal, and his trademark weapon. He even lampshades how convenient it was.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot:
- Ai constantly tells Gladion that this is all his fault for accepting Chiller's challenge to which Gladion said that Chiller would've found a way to make them go through his challenge. Part 2 reveals that the Gestalt never had to challenge Chiller if they listened to Stine warning them not to go to his store. However London points out that if they didn't, they wouldn't have gotten the Character Development needed to move forward.
- Lillie laments that she could've had a better life if she actually told her mother that she had a problem instead of ignoring her.
- Covert Group: Looker is part of an organization called ORINOCO, which apparently is so secret, not even the secret organizations `know about them!
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Downplayed. Easter chews on some blue salt water taffy...not knowing it was a strain of Monster Blood that is dangerous if it gets in contact with water. This causes Easter to glitch out and feel ill and when water does enter their mouth, nothing happens...yet. Thankfully, Shockro manages to get it out of their body before real damage could be done.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- White Gestalt become the main focus group of this car after spending most of the story as supporting characters. More specifically, the arc focuses on Gladion leading the fray.
- In the VRAINS scenes, Aoi is the focus in hoping to uncover the whereabouts of the revived Ignis.
- Deal with the Devil: Gladion is given two of these in the story. The first attempt has him refuse it because he won't take shit from demons. The second attempt only has him ask that the dealer helps others who are in worse spots than him.
- Delayed Reaction: The Rabbit Tribe spirits show Specter a sign that he and Tokio are at the quicksand beach. It takes Specter three seconds to realize what's going to happen next.
- Specter:...Waitaminute QUICKSAND?!
- Dope Slap:
- Specter gives London one of these when London starts singing "It's a Jolly Holiday" complete with Cockney accent.
- When Lusamine gets too giddy over wanting to see Lana as an Alolan Idol, Colette smacks her across the head with a pink umbrella. She does it to Jesse before he blabs over the power Mallow and Lillie having being the same as Ryan and Min-Gi.
- Lake flicks Colette on the forehead when she tries to backpedal on not having a "theory" over what happened with Mallow and Lillie.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: In Part 1, White Gestalt gets kneecapped in numerous ways to the point that Gladion's the only person that is capable of getting things done.
- Someone decides to hack their phones, meaning that any chance of communicating or using Infinet is dashed until they leave.
- Chiller makes Lampetia fall down a trap door, so she can't get info from her sisters to share with the others.
- Easter's curiosity made them eat a piece of Monster Blood that's destabilizing them, thus they and Specter can't fuse.
- Tokio is given the haunted mask so not only does it limit his vision — so he can't aim his exploding cards well — but it's giving him a Jekyll & Hyde problem. And while he still has his Pokémon, the mask's influence prevents him from taking control for long.
- London takes the Creep Cookie and becomes a brainwashed reptilian monster who also kept his telekinesis, something White Gestalt can't counter easily.
- Ai's Duel Disk gets destroyed by a hunter, so he can't summon his monsters.
- Finally, Specter's so mentally unstable from losing three of the people closest to him that he's not on top of his mental game.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Alternate Ryu's schtick of getting rid of a ghost is to trap them in a box and kick it down a cliff...just one scene after Specter got stuffed in a casket that's going down a waterfall.
- Tokio surmises that Chloe's being observed by the Goetias ecause she's a descendant of Alec Cerise...except it's not the Chloe Cerise on the Train who has the blood of Alec.
- Duels Decide Everything: Madame Doom mentions a Duel Car where passengers can only move forward after participating in a duel. Armand had to do an improv duel to pass.
- "Eureka!" Moment: After Ai mocks how Gladion isn't acting like a true knight, but more like a ninja, Gladion gets the epiphany of what the Gestalt will do from now on — they will become like ninja and help the heroes in the shadows.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Chiller is an asshole but he's not that stupid or evil enough to allow the Apex to run amuck his car and use very powerful but dangerous artifacts.
- Everyone Can See It: It's not hard to put two and two together that Specter is in love with Ryoken. London has to gently tell the Knight of Hanoi that for everything London has done, he's not his significant other.
- Exact Words: Gladion asks Madame Doom to help others "more desperate than him". So she decides her first target is Grace Monroe because she's desperate to get out of her situation of being imprisoned by Elipzo/wanting revenge on Chloe for outshining her.
- Facepalm: Gladion does this when Tokio tells him how King Raven was trying to tell him about a kore heart in the drawer of the vanity table where Gladion gave himself a makeover...and he constantly refused to humor the plush raven.
- Failed a Spot Check: Gladion goes through this twice. He refuses to look in a drawer of the vanity table to find there was a kore heart no matter how many times King Raven tried warning him. He also didn't take a good look at his Helper Car as he realizes that the fortune teller he met and Madame Doom look completely different.
- Famed In-Story:
- And not in a good way. Turns out all the horrific adventures White Gestalt endured has made them become prey for Chiller to hunt. The first Horror White Gestalt meets even references their exploits back in the Shock Street Car.
- The original Red Lotus Trio is so famous that they have a picture book detailing the time they met Uncle Howdy.
- Alec Cerise is famous for how he liberated the Horrors from the evil mayor of Karlsville and also went on many horrifying adventures in a parallel to Chloe, which is why Chloe is being observed by the Goetias.
- Foregone Conclusion: Part 4 of Harvest Moon Car reveals that White Gestalt will make it out okay. The question now is how and what it had to do that involved Specter in a clown costume.
- Foreshadowing: Stine calls Ai "Vampire Breath" in Part 1. In Part 2, Gladion picks up a bottle of "Vampire Breath".
- Fun with Acronyms: Looker is an agent of ORINOCO — Organization of Righting Inconsistencies, Negligence, or Obsolescence and Combatting Obstacles.
- Genre Savvy:
- When Chiller pulls out two cookies and states one will turn someone into a Creep, London just tells Chiller to cut the crap and give him the Creep Cookie. He knows that 1) the jar Chiller pulled them out of must be filled with those same cookies and 2) he's figuring out that it's going to cause a huge fight between who gets to be the sacrifice and he decides to let himself take the bullet to save everyone the trouble.
- Twice, Gladion is given a deal by a dark figure for help, but refuses under the idea that he's not going to "take shit from demons".
- The Ghost: Matori is referenced in Team Rocket's talk while they have ramen.
- Gilligan Cut: When Colette finds out that her dad knows where she is, not in Celadon City as she told him but rather another dimension, she screams that she is going to be grounded for this. Cut to her father in his lab also shouting this phrase.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: In the span of an hour, Specter ended up becoming a Nervous Wreck from being trapped in a coffin, and hallucinating that Harmonic Storm is alive.
- Hand Gagging: London gets this twice in the first part. Lampetia covers his mouth to ensure he doesn't repeat what happened with Easter in the Shock Street Car, the second is when a sentient scarecrow does this to him.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The central conflict of the car is Chiller wanting to hunt White Gestalt to prove a name of himself.
- Hypocrite: Parker still believes that not liking something another person likes means they hate them and accuses Renji of such regarding Chloe's love of demons. Renji in turn brings up the former being best friends with Jinny despite not sharing her love of mermaids.
- Incompatible Orientation: When Alternate Ryu asks if Aoi has a crush on Specter, Aoi completely denies it with Emma stating it wouldn't work out due to Specter's heart belonging to Ryoken.
- Inevitable Waterfall: Specter and Chef Belcher quote the famous lines between Kuzco and Patcha regarding this trope.
- It Can Think: After London is turned into the reptilian creep monster, while he's running on animalistic instincts, Creep London can still access his telekinesis.
- It Runs in the Family: Tokio questions if the Cerise family are nightmare-obsessed maniacs given Chloe and her love of demons, Parker knowing who Pyramid Head is, and now Alec Cerise and his role as Demon Researcher (the irony being that Alec isn't related to the Chloe on the Train)
- I Warned You: The Horror who greets White Gestalt, Stine, tried warning them about meeting Joe Chiller. When they reunite in Part 2, he is quick to tell them off.
- I Was Just Joking: When London hears how Alec Cerise is the "Demon Researcher", he then asks if this was because Alec met up with actual demons. The silence he gets from everyone has him point out he was kidding.
- Lampshade Hanging: Tokio questions why denizens don't bother with telling passengers what to do, given how that would've helped him when dealing with Grace.
- Loose Lips: Gulus Gammamon spilled the beans about Colette's whereabouts, causing her dad to head out to rescue her.
- Love Confession: Part 2 has Specter confess his love for Ryoken in order to cry so his tears can be used for an antidote. Unfortunately, Ryoken refuses to accept it.
- Mama Bear: Literally with Bewear in this case; she made sure to not completely break the spines on the last four RR grunts who tried to kidnap her Stufful.
- Manipulative Bastard: Chiller plays the Gestalt like a string quartet and disables all but Ai and Gladion in a few minutes.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": When Lampetia takes a photo of some Horrors, they scream in terror. Justified in that she has the cursed camera from Say Cheese and Die! on her.
- Meta Guy: Ai becomes one of these, snarking at some of the stuff that's happening in the story, like the "unspoken thing" going on between London and Specter and telling Gladion that he was stupid to accept Chiller's challenge and just ditch the Gestalt.
- Morton's Fork:
- In hindsight, Gladion realized he was screwed no matter what he did. Stay with Lillie to tell the truth? Faba would've likely used his Hypno to repress the memories or lie to Lusamine about what happened. Run away to train? That meant he deliberately withheld the information and made Lillie suffer in silence...and thus let Faba try to hypnotize her if they were alone together. Gladion then notes that if he just had told the truth, gotten a reasonable adult to keep an eye on Lillie, and then tell her he'll be off to train but promise to return — he might've had a better chance than just bolting.
- In regards to who got the Creep Cookie: if London took it, then White Gestalt is in a severe disadvantage because there's been no one strong enough to stop his telekinesis. If Specter took it, they lose his wits and psychological analysis. London ultimately takes the cookie because he knows that Specter is more important in the grand scheme of themes.
- My God, You Are Serious!: When London comments on the Cure Bar he ate was salty, he asks what was put into it. Specter bitterly answers that the saltiness comes from his tears. London assumes this is a joke until he sees Specter's puffy eyes.
- Mythology Gag:
- Glad-One and Sad-One's lines of "Yay, us! Yus!" and "No. Nus." are from the original Infinity Train pilot.
- The Moonlight Passengers are clear expies of the Golden Letters that appear in several expanded universe stories in the Blossomverse up to this point.
- Chiller makes a reference to a cult called "Infinite Imperium", a reference to the Infinity Imperium from Crown of Thorns.
- Goosebumps-wise, the Creep Cookie is based on the scene in Calling All Creeps! in which the Creeps decide to put the seeds that turns anyone who eat them into a brainwashed reptilian monster in the cookies because they look like chocolate chips (something London himself observes before he eats it).
- All of the artifacts that are mentioned in Chiller's store hail from the Goosebumps franchise.
- The Horror who greats the Gestalt is named "Stine", obviously a reference to R.L. Stine.
- The camera that Lampetia uses is from the Say Cheese and Die books. Gladion suggests trying to take a photo of it to make it go away, but is told that it just makes a copy of itself, which is what happens in one of the books, and the reference of making 62 copies references the number of books in the original Goosebumps series.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Gladion is repeatedly told to get the hell out of Horrorland since he's not handicapped by Chiller. Gladion refuses .Gladion: I’ll fight, I’ll survive, I’ll figure out a way without abandoning my friends.
- Noodle Incident:
- Whatever Chloe did when she met Uncle Howdy involves killing a warden of an asylum filled with mannequin inmates involved garlic bread for some reason.
- Alternate Gloria and Ryu mention a friend (Colette, presumably) who met up with blue fanatics that somehow led to her getting a girlfriend (Orchid Observer reveals it was Regina). Then said girlfriend got dragged into Colette's craziness and befriended a virtual boy and a sexy vampire.
- London points out that ninjas historically wore blue than black, giving an explanation of "Ninja Purists Car" as to how he knows that factoid.
- Off with His Head!: It's implied an alternate Mami Tomoe met her end this way by something named "Charlotte".
- Oh, Crap!:
- Colette has this look when she reads a text message from her father, who now knows she's not in Celadon City like she said she was.
- Chiller freaks when Gladion has the cursed camera on hand.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Alternate-Ryu will never make Aoi forget that she threw trays at Daten and now calls her "Evil Tray Lady".
- Onion Tears: Subverted. The Cure Bars needed for London needs "Tears of Desoloation". When Specter reaches for an onion, the vampire explains that fake tears won't be enough and genuine sorrow is needed.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Shockro declares Specter and Easter as "rivals for life", which is why he works to get the Monster Blood out of Easter's body.
- Outside-Context Problem:
- Tres and those like him, Moonlight Passengers, are this for the Train itself. Normally, the Train only picks up people it senses to be at a crossroads in their life/trying to safe them from death (ie, takes Grace when she's being punished for petty larceny, gets Tulip out of the snow on her trek to coding camp, preventing Amelia from committing suicide). Moonlight Passengers are somehow able to enter the Train without having to wait for it, and they're signified by a blue moon on the back of their right hands.
- Looker discusses how the Train is essentially this to the Pokémon world given how there are numerous Pokemon ways to disappear, but not so many train ones.
- Parental Hypocrisy: Lady Arachne points out that despite Professor Cerise getting angry for how his daughter lied about where she was heading off to — supposedly to Celadon but now on an outer-world mission — Cerise himself kept lying constantly about his whereabouts while Colette and his research fellows were off doing their own things.
- Pass the Popcorn: In the Cerise Institute of Colette's world, Mimey hands Chryssa and Renji a large bag of popcorn as the assistants watch Cerise close to murdering Gulus Gammamon for accidentally revealing where his daughter has been.
- Pepper Sneeze: At the Artisans Car, Specter starts sneezing due to Easter putting too much pepper in his ramen.
- Playful Hacker: One of these bricks the phones of White Gestalt. Even with Ai able to hack into one of them, they're still unusable. He appears in the last part of the car, explaining that it was necessary to prevent them from being targeted by Elipzo.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Stine warned the Gestalt not to enter Chiller's house, but the Gestalt assumed he was lying. It turns out he was telling them the truth and he wastes no time telling them this. Tokio lampshades this by stating the Horrors didn't thoroughly explain why Chiller wasn't to be trusted.
- King Raven tries to tell Gladion about a kore heart in the vanity table, but King Raven is a plush toy who can't speak, and Gladion is too focused on finding a way out of the castle to listen. It takes him asking Tokio's Furret before Tokio and Specter find out and Gladion facepalms at his stupidity once more.
- The Power of Friendship: Discussed. When Lillie and Mallow somehow transform into their Alolan Idol attires after they confessed a vow to be there for one another, Lusamine squees that their friendship made them into magical girls. However, the look on Colette's face reveals that it's a bit more complicated than that.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Chiller could trap the Apex in a place that's presumably much safer than the Fog Car. But he refuses because he has a store full of dangerous artifacts that, should the Apex take even one of them, would spell doom for the entire train. Case in point, he's got a Rewriting Reality typewriter, so if the Apex wrote that they forever ruled the Train, then so be it.
- Put on a Bus: Morpeko was shipped off to Team Rocket HQ after Matori asked Team Rocket for their "strongest Pokemon".
- Quicksand Sucks: Specter and Tokio unknowingly rest up in Quicksand Beach. Thankfully, Chef Belcher rescued them in time.
- Record Needle Scratch: When Gladion shows off the knife he found, a vampire bumps into the phonograph, causing this effect.
- The Reveal: The Goetias are backing Chloe because they assume she's the descendant of a previous Cerise who aided the Goetias, Alec Cerise.
- Reverse Psychology: Brought up when the Horror, Stine, that introduces Gestalt to the Car warns them to not go to Chiller House. Ai points out that they're gonna do the opposite of what he says. But given what Chiller has in store for them, they should've listened. Stine is quick to tell them that he was telling the truth.
- Running Gag: Aoi screaming at Daten (Ryu's Digimon) and striking them. In Part 1, she throws a tray at them. In Part 2, she throws a pillow after they evolve into Tsumemon. At the stinger of Part 3, she slaps him across the head as Keramon.
- Scary Scarecrow: One of them tries to put London in a chokehold. He's also named Harold like the one from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Discussed; Ai says that because Gladion's the only member of White Gestalt who wasn't broken by Chiller, he should just leave. Gladion refuses.
- Secret Test of Character: The first half of Part 2 was designed for Gladion, Tokio, and Specter to either use their wits or to finally air out their problems. Gladion decides for the former — disguising himself and uncovering a spare knife — while Tokio and Specter go for the latter.
- Shout-Out:
- Upon seeing a Horror in a carnival barker outfit, London sings, "Oh it's a jolly holiday in Horrorland."
- One of the vultures carrying Gladion, Tokio and Easter away has a Galarian accent. Not the first time that happened.
- The scarecrow is named Harold. Speaking of which, London also makes a reference to one of the stories of a girl who gets a large zit that ends up being a spider's egg.
- Chiller does a Non Chalant Dodge from Specter while commenting "Slow. Sloppy. Sad."
- One of the warnings the Horror tells the Gestalt is not to open Wardrobe Five.
- Madame Doom is dressed in red and black with blond bangs and a black veil over her face. Just like the fortune-teller in Shadow of Destiny.
- Three of Chloe's outfits are her dressed as Lydia Deetz, Ruby Gloom, and Scary Godmother. She's also seen kindly rejecting an offer to wear a magenta shirt and bellbottoms, ala Shaggy.
- One of the cars Uncle Howdy is familiar with is The Thriller Restaurant Car.
- Two of the incidents Alec Cerise went through include performing plays with Sally Starlet and playing the role of Mr. Kite and something about meeting up with a blue creature with long blue arms.
- Simultaneous Arcs: The scene of Specter sneezing coincides around the time Chloe is getting a call from Parker in the previous car about Goh catching a Snom for her.
- Spit Take:
- When Gladion shows the knife he found, a vampire spits out his drink.
- Upon seeing Daten eat two AI programs, Akira drinks some coffee and spits it out from how bitter it is.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: When The Walls Are Closing In for Ai and Lampetia, both of them mention becoming "sandwiches".
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Lampetia falls into a trap hole, London tries to save her with his telekinesis. Unfortunately, he ends up having to give up and let her fall. Lampetia, a kore, is a marble statue, and she'd be too heavy for London to pull out with levitation alone.note
- Take That!: Team Rocket are happy to have Morpeko given to Matori, which is a reference to how that particular Morpeko is heavily disliked by the fanbase for being an asshole glutton who gives the Rocket trio nothing but grief, nor getting any character development to stop being an asshole glutton.
- Take Our Word for It:
- What happened when Chloe teamed up with Uncle Howdy that involved garlic bread and the death of a warden in an asylum. All we see is White Gestalt, and Ai, reacting in horror.
- Armand had to wear some sort of costume in the Duels Car for his improvisation challenge. King Raven and Lotus look in shock at what it was.
- Whatever Lampetia saw when she took a picture of Easter with the cursed camera. It's so horrifying that she rips it in half, pours juice on it, then stomps the pieces.
- Tarot Motifs: Gladion is represented by the inverted Knight of Cups, which drills in every single trait a chuni like him has.
- Tempting Fate: Easter hopes that the experience would be better than Shock Street. It's not; it's so much worse. They also hope that there's no one who can ground their electricity...
- There Are No Therapists: Averted. Tokio has been seeking therapy after his initial trip, which comes in handy for how he utilizes a technique for those having panic attacks. He even lampshades how Gladion should get therapy sometime. However, Specter notes that this isn't something to brag about when the boy refuses to make amends whereas Goh has become mentally better despite his lack of therapy.
- The Walls Are Closing In: Ai and Easter get trapped in one of these in the Hall of Mirrors. Thankfully, they don't become a sandwich since a trap door makes them fall at the last second. Lampetia also encountered one of these on her way to get back to the Gestalt.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Madame Doom says that the White Gestalt really aren't friends. Gladion replies that they act more like this.Gladion: Friends come in different varieties. They bicker, they argue, but that doesn’t mean we hate one another.
- What You Are in the Dark:
- Madame Doom gives Gladion a way out of Horrorland to get some much needed supplies. Gladion flat-out refuses, but he's also humble enough to swallow some of his pride to ask for help.
- When Armand was trapped in a cave with a shadow demon, he asks only for a friend, not vengeance.
- Wham Episode: A minor one, but it turns out there's an alternate Gloria and alternate Ryu, whereas the one the story is focusing on is part of Elipzo.
- Wham Line: Easter thinks they got the upper hand over Chiller cause they didn't eat green Monster Blood. Chiller then notes:Chiller: Oh you naive little lightning bolt. I forgot to put up a sign. That is a new strain of Monster Blood.
- Wham Shot: After Gladion asks Madame Doom to "help those more desperate than me", she looks into her crystal ball to see who she should help...and the image is Grace's Apex mask.
- Worth It: Jessie's statement of having Matori dealing with their Morpeko fits this trope.
- You Are Grounded!: Colette assumes this is her punishment when she learns her father knows she's dimension-hopping. The Gilligan Cut to the Cerise Institute in her world confirms it.
- You Remind Me of X: Madame Doom remarks that Gladion reminds her of two individuals: one is the passenger stuck to the Homunculus (Eike Kusch), and the other is Armand.
