Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail / Tear Jerker

This is probably the last time I’ll talk to you, text, call, or face-to-face. I don’t have time to think of the past. I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.
So I’m thinking of my present and my future. And I’m moving forward. I have a long way to go before I can even think about going home. I have a goal, I have a dream. And that dream is coming true in front of my eyes.
So do what makes you happy, Goh. You have your happiness, and I have mine.
...Goodbye.

The story is essentially the struggles of a girl who honestly just wants people to love her for who she is, and the struggles she must overcome if she lives in a world where everyone favors supernaturally powered monsters and the thrill of battling over her, while also bring up the fear of both not realizing what you have until it's gone and the slow realization that you never truly knew someone. It also doesn't shies from showing that she is not entirely blameless on her perspective and that she hurts a lot of people with her selfish behavior and victim mentality.

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In General

This entire story is based off of bad communication, ignorance, and neglect. If Chloe had even one person who helped her through her pain and suffering, she'd be better off. But no. The only people in her life are her little brother, her English teacher, and her mom, and even they can't magically cure her. She still has bullies who push her around for no reason except for her status as "the Professor's daughter", her Childhood Friend ignores her for Mew, her father forgets her because of research and the Alola League Champion takes everyone away from her. Who could blame the girl for withdrawing into herself and then wishing to go to a world where everything is for her?
Goh's slow descent into despair. From someone who happily talked to Chloe all about what he did, to him seeing her chew him out, run away and disappeared completely from the world, being chewed out for how he is the cause of his friend's vanishing and then learning from the only other "friend" he had during that time that she's potentially stuck on a Train in the middle of nowhere. And when Chloe finally talks to him, it's to say her farewell to a friend who left her for a Pokémon (the last part of the transcript being the page's quote). By the end of the Intermission, Goh is a broken shell of the boy who was all about wanting to have the future in the palm of his hand.
Ash and Parker aren't faring better: the former is falling into depression thanks to Trip's unfortunate word choice that stated that Ash didn't do enough to help Chloe and Parker, who was for his sister, has to learn everything her classmates did and is ready to lash out anyone who didn't love her like he did.
The Apex have ruined multiple lives with their insistence about their needs over the denizens, all stemmed because there was no guide from the Train on how to progress and Grace couldn't suck up her pride to a grieving Simon. So many denizens have become xenophobic or broken if not wheeled for their entertainment. It's hard to dread what car Chloe is going to enter and learning just who was a victim of the cult.

Arc 1: Nothing and Nowhere

Run Away / Curry Worries

Chloe's issues and her breakdown put her on level with Tulip as she's just sick of everyone never paying any attention to her unless it involves having to be around Pokémon or battling them. One moment of her tirade is screaming at her father why he had to become a Pokémon Professor because no one ever cares about her, rather if she's going to follow in his footsteps.
- Professor Cerise realizing how badly he's ignored Chloe, to the point that he eats three of the curries in silence before weeping at his foolishness.
When Chloe asks where Goh was whenever she was bullied and alone, he shouts that he was chasing his dream which is something she lacks. Take note that in Episode 11, she was always pushed to follow in her father's footsteps and no one really bothered to think that she wouldn't want that. And he said this after proclaming that he cares for Chloe "like Ash and Raboot". This remark cements it in Chloe's mind that no, Goh never cares for her, and never wants to help her.

The Corgi Car

Friend Guard / The Corgi Car

When Chloe realizes her braid is undone, she's immediately reminded of how her classmates mock her for still needing her mother's help to plait it properly.
- The end of the chapter has Goh tearfully showing off Chloe's hair scrunchie to her parents, making them realize that she's gone.

Gale Wings / The Corgi Car Pt 2

When Chloe is about to sleep, she checks her phone and sees it filled with missed calls and messages from Goh. Rather than reviewing them, she simply deletes the lot unread, commenting on how he only ever texts her when he's apologizing for running later, or other small slights that he never learns from. Goh's frantic apologies go ignored because she has no reason to think this will be any different.

The Library of Flying Books Car

Slow Start / The Library of Flying Books Car

While Chloe is relaxing in Azada, everyone in Vermillion City is reacting to Chloe's disappearance: Goh blames himself for Chloe hating him, Professor Cerise snaps at Parker innocently questioning where his sister is (and Parker thinks it's his fault that Chloe is gone), and Talia is so depressed that the only food she can muster to cook these days is omelet rice.
When Atticus questions why Chloe can't get along with Ash, she doesn't know how to answer, eventually fumbling out that he's just better than her and would never be interested in somebody like her. This causes her number to rise back to 151; seeing this, she blames Ash for causing it.

Cursed Body / The Library of Flying Books Car Pt 2

Titus is happily grinding pepper for the meatball soup until Chloe arrives with Lexi...and he drops the pepper grinder because Lexi is his son that he hadn't seen in years.
Goh goes to Chloe's school and swiftly finds that most of her classmates don't care about her disappearance, being more interested in seeing how her battle with Ash went and mocking the results. When he calls them out, Yeardley and the others retort that he's even more to blame, since he's supposed to be her Childhood Friend and yet knew practically nothing about how she was doing.
- Goh's also stunned to learn that Chloe talked about him before and that she was always eating lunch by herself.
To drive the point how as to how much Chloe hates Goh's obsession with Mew, her story paints Goh as a boy so obsessed that he'd kill his own friend (albeit accidentally) and Mew is a Jackass Genie who cursed Goh to chase it forever.
Lexi fighting his father, blaming Titus for abandoning him. The fight only ends when Chloe pushes Lexi away from an upended tea kettle, leading to her left arm and shoulder getting burned by hot water. Titus calmly but firmly takes control of the situation to get her help, while Lexi's horrified at the sight of what his rage did to her.

Pickup / The Library of Flying Books Car Pt 3

Lexi was once a sweet innocent book who wanted to go traverse the other cars. However, the passengers he decided to go with were Grace and Simon, the latter cruelly tearing his pages apart and burying him underground without his father knowing what happened to him. He had been stuck in his own car for eight years and carried a grudge towards passengers ("Free-riders" as he calls them) ever since.
Chloe is embarrassed to admit how she once used a "Create-a-crush" app to craft a character that was more of a ghost than human. Several of her classmates mocked her 'creepy' tastes despite how they themselves also made supernatural boyfriends.
Lexi: And why were you upset about what you created?
Chloe: Because...because it was so different...because I was different! They hated me because I wasn't normal. Because normal girls are all about Pokémon and dressing them up and making them look cute. Or they swoon over handsome guys to sweep them off their feet. Princes, supernatural monsters, wish-granters, princesses, fairies, magic...those are all the common things they’re into! Not dark and twisted things or childish books! Normal girls don’t worry about their future; they worry about getting the newest dress or watching dramas or gushing about cute boys and movie stars or whatever they’re into these days!
Lexi: And what would it mean to you if you were normal?
Chloe: It means I’m not alone! It means I have people by my side! I’ve been alone for years, never had anyone to confide my insecurities and fears to! My closest friend abandoned me for some shapeshifting monster and a black hole from Pallet Town, leaving me behind! He never cared about what I did because it wasn’t exciting enough nor did it involve Mew to satisfy his cravings!

The Plush Penguin Car

Hunger Switch / The Plush Penguin Car

Breather Episode or not, Nico's isolation from his fellow penguins still stings. All the more so given how accustomed to the situation everyone is, especially with how the emperor sighs when he first shows up.
Neapolitan: Nico, how many times have we gone over this?
Professor Cerise's hostility towards Trip, and the way he lashes out at Renji for not alerting him to his daughter's discontent sooner. Trip clearly went through quite the experience on the Train, only to be met with distrust and doubt, while Renji is blamed for being more observant than his boss and choosing not to intervene.

Ice Face / The Plush Penguin Car Pt 2

The Breather Episode just turned as emotionally heavy as the Library of Flying Books Car. The Mood Whiplash is cemented with how the chapter opens, as Trip details his first encounter with the Apex. His attempt to defend the peaceful denizens of the Calligraphy Car led to both him and his partners being brutalized. Simon 'greeted' him with a sledgehammer to the eye, then forcibly tattooed his wrist with a quill pen.
- Nico stating that his best friend Caramel became a partner to a young child... who was under the thumb of Grace and Simon. Upon realizing that this meant that she's probably dead, he breaks down into tears. What doesn't help is how the news gets broken to him: while Chloe and Atticus try to be gentle, Lexi goes on a rant about what horrible monsters free-riders like them are, and that they deliberately deceived everyone in the car.
- Lexi and Chloe argue over Lexi's (justified) anger issues over the pair, with Chloe stating that him hurting them won't solve anything.
  Lexi: They deserve whatever karma comes to them, Chloe! And what about you?
  Chloe: What about me?
  Lexi: Don’t you want to get retribution on those who ignored you? Who mocked you? Who took no consideration to the fact that you didn’t want to do whatever they said?
  Chloe: I...I do. But I don’t want them dead or gravely injured!
  Lexi: Then how will you get the point across that they were the ones who caused the suffering? You could shout at them all you like, but unless they actually have any shred of conscience or empathy, then they’ll keep harping on you about what they want and focus on their selfish attitudes!
  Beat
  Chloe: I...I don't know.
- Later, when Nico shares his bagel ice cream sandwiches with Vanilla, the joy of the moment is dampened by the memory of Caramel, and her attempt to comfort him only causes him to lash out with grief.
While explaining how baby penguins get their colors, Chloe wonders what happens if somebody doesn't like their flavor. Nico explains that their society is much more flexible than his personal experiences suggest: so long as they use the components of their theme in some way, it's allowed. So why, then, does he get bullied...?
Nico: They just... do. I mean, it's no different from when someone makes fun of your choice of music, books, or the fact you've got curly hair. Someone picks on another because they're weird and different, and everyone else follows not because it's true, but because they want to avoid being the next punching bag, or because it's safe being indifferent to somebody else's pain.
Chloe flashes back to when she gave a book report and she's being harassed by her classmates for being a monster lover. When it gets back to the present, Chloe states how she hates never being noticed. It also doesn't help that the narration stated her book report was tossed into the garbage.
Chloe: If my own classmates don’t want me to speak up and call me names, then it’ll be the same with these sharks. They don’t want to listen to me; they want to play around and do whatever they want and make me whatever they want me to be! And I’m sick and tired of never being noticed! I’m sick of it!

Wandering Spirit / The Plush Penguin Car Pt 3

When Trip tells Ash that they should keep Goh Locked Out of the Loop so that he doesn't try and board the Train, Ash is reluctant, thinking that it's cruel to leave him in the dark. Trip fires back that Ash didn't do anything to help Chloe while he had the chance, and all she wanted was a shoulder to cry on, not the Alola League Champion in her face.
Parker crying a little when he reveals all about Chloe's hidden taste of the macabre, showing that he still misses her. It makes his exclamation that he loved her chapters ago even harder to look at.
The revelation that Emperor Neapolitan allowed Nico to be bullied for years because he felt ashamed for allowing Caramel to go with the Apex after they wrecked the Potluck. Simon threw salt in Nico's eyes while all of his peers stood back and watched, and then they just... kept tormenting him after Caramel left. And he did nothing. For all his guilt over his inaction against the Apex, he saw no need to intervene, even trying to justify it away by claiming Nico somehow brought it upon himself with his unusual tastes. Atticus is ashamed of the Emperor for this injustice.
While it's nice to know that Cara survived, the kind two-headed dog who told her to cover herself in charcoal was heavily injured and had a son. We're spared the details as to what the Apex did to him, but Cara decided to take care of him first before returning to see Nico again and spent the next year or so in hiding for fear of the Apex returning for her, especially when Trip appeared in her car heavily injured.

The Crayon Car

Bad Dreams / The Crayon Car

Parker shares one of his favorite stories that his sister wrote with his parents... and Professor Cerise interrupts, rejecting the notion that Chloe could have ever written such a thing. Insisting that there must be a third party involved, corrupting his daughter somehow.
- Parker is left in tears, wondering whether Chloe will hate him for breaking his promise to keep their parents in the dark. He also recognizes that she and Goh are no longer friends, noting how long it's been since Goh came to visit, and wondering whether his sister will ever return.
While thinking about her brother, Chloe hopes that he kept his promise, expressing some fear that her parents would be embarrassing in their efforts to at least feign support. Meanwhile, the reader knows that while her mother is at least trying to be supportive, her father is plunging deeper into denial, unable to accept that facet of her.
After realizing that their stay at Hotel Crayola feels just like a sleepover, Chloe sadly reflects on how long it's been since she had one. Goh stopped accepting any invitations to come over as he descended into his obsession with Mew, and the girls at her school made a point of claiming that there just weren't enough invitations to go around... provided they didn't simply ignore her. Just recounting this causes her number to creep up a digit.
Goh has a nightmare of chasing Chloe that ends with him at a Tower of Doors, futilely searching for which door she's in, and when he finally has her at arms' length, he passes by her. The dream ends with the tower he's in collapsing and him about to die all while he can only scream his friend's name in vain.
The author notes announcing that this chapter is tackling Episode 32 of Journeys aka the episode that delved into Goh's backstory as to why he stopped making friends. Those who remembered how it ended know what to expect.

Color Change / The Crayon Car Pt 2

This episode not only expands on Episode 32 of Journeys but gets more personal when it's revealed that the author's grandmother passed on as the chapter was being written. Get tissues.
Goh has returned to Azalea Town and continues to text the unresponsive Chloe, declaring that if he finds Celebi, he hopes to go back to the night she ran away and prevent that from happening.
If I find Celebi, I want to wish that I can go back in time to that night and prevent you from disappearing. I’m sorry Chloe
Please come back to me...
- Making this doubly depressing is how this underscores how he has fixated on that moment as where it all went wrong, rather than realizing that that was simply where Chloe hit her breaking point.
- Even more depressing is that Chloe has actually received his messages, but deletes them immediately and wishes she could just delete him out of existence rather than try to make things right again.
Goh's parents unintentionally demonstrate that his lack of social skills and general empathy may have deeper roots than his obsessive pursuit of Mew, as they thoughtlessly advise him to focus on making new friends and move past his loss. Then when he presses them further, looking for a better reason as to why this happened than just 'because', his mother snaps on him, unleashing a blistering "The Reason You Suck" Speech airing out all her grievances with how her son's been living.
Kurune: What do you want me to say? That the reason Chloe left you was because you didn't care about her like you cared about staring at six monitors all day?! That instead of going to school where you could be her shoulder to cry on, you decided that you would teach yourself everything you needed about the world online and refuse to go and make friends in the case you 'missed out' on Mew? That you didn't care about how concerned we were about your social life?! That maybe there was more to life than just one Pokémon?!
In a small moment, Atticus notes that he won't be able to leave the Train and read Chloe's book about Pokémon stories because he has his kingdom to attend to. All he can do is just request that Chloe makes promises to grow strong and face the future with confidence.
When Trip gives his kiss to Ash, Ash just lets Trip continue until he steps back with tears in his eyes. Ash is concerned if this is all his fault, but Trip states that he's just anxious about it all as he promised that when he got off the Train and saw Ash again, he'd confess his love and kiss Ash, accepting the outcome if Ash decided to reject him. Thankfully, Ash reciprocates these feelings, leading to one of the only happy moments of the chapter.
Chloe recalls the time she performed at her school's talent show, only to find that Sara dumped red paint all over her witch costume right before she was going to go on stage. Though she rallied, putting together a replacement costume with Parker's help, Sara just responded by dumping even more red paint directly onto her, with the help of Yeardley and several other cronies. On top of all that, Sara knocked Parker aside when he tried defending his sister. Chloe's retaliation — which had her hitting Sara repeatedly with the paint can and looking like she was completely drenched in blood — earned her three days in suspension, and while her tormentors were also punished and things went back to normal for a week or so, they just switched tactics back to nagging her about Pokémon again, showing that they learned nothing.
- Lexi questions why Chloe had to go through this. Reminded of how he was tortured by Grace and Simon, Chloe puts her own trauma aside to comfort and reassure him that they will work through things together.
- The rewrite of this scene adds even more trauma; her father was too stubborn to believe that therapy would work and forced her to go the lab and not partake in after-school club activities, not to mention that Chloe is contemplating suicide at age 10 which horrifies Atticus and Lexi.

Flower Gift / The Crayon Car Pt 3

While Chloe herself is given a breather, everyone else is going through emotional trouble.
- That said, she notes in passing that she regularly used the school library as a refuge from her classmates, as the worst they could do was hide her shoes. She also notes that they couldn't swipe the books she was reading, since then they would have to pay for any damages... implying that they wouldn't have the same respect for her own property. Given how they tore up her book report a few chapters ago, they would.
Professor Cerise realizing just how far out of the loop he was when he learns about the writing contest, and that Parker helped his sister with her story.
Cerise: She's that talented?
Parker: Of course she's talented! You just haven't noticed because you're busy with your work.
A Flashback reveals that Chloe feared that Renji and Chryssa were spying on her, keeping an eye out for any 'suspicious activity' after the paint can incident. What's more, she suspected that if her parents learned about her story writing, they'd rip it to shreds in front of her.
- Parker then begs his father not to punish Chloe, insisting that she's not insane — forcing the Professor to recognize that both of his children feared him finding out about her only avenues of self-expression and escape.
  Professor Cerise: Chloe was…She was hurting, and I wasn’t helping her at all...and so she entered the land of gods and monsters for an escape...
- It's also revealed that she used to be into softball, and named her bat Silver Night. But having to spend her afternoons working at the lab prevented her from trying any school clubs or bring up anything she did at school. To make it even worse, it's revealed that Chloe requested that bat from her father under the promise that she'd practice with it and Professor Cerise even watches a video of Chloe perfecting a swing and how she said her bat had magic abilities because she named it.
- Parker also reveals that he's worried about getting bullied himself just for trying to protect his sister, or for liking shows like My Little Ponyta or Sofia the First. This further underscores for the Professor just how little he knows his own children, and that neither trusts him to help or protect them. In a throwaway line, it's mentioned he was also mocked for liking Kirby.
- It hits the Professor just how long it had been since he'd done anything with Chloe. That he can't recall the last time he took her out for ice cream (their favorite flavor also; the author notes state that Chloe's love of mint chocolate ice cream comes from him) or bought anything nice for her... even as he happily ensured the boys had plenty of funding for their globe-hopping adventures.
- When Parker states how Chloe is like Princess Sofia, he starts breaking down in tears at how he misses his big sister.
  Parker: She doesn’t like being called a princess but she has the heart of one. Kind, caring, fearless, willing to protect those she loves. That’s why I like Sofia so much; she had a lot to learn and she made mistakes, but she took the time to develop and become better, even changing the most bitter of hearts with nothing more than her sincerity! Like Chloe... (sniffles and tears form in his eyes) I really miss her, Dad…
Atticus reveals that he's lost contact with King Aloysius, and fears (correctly) that the Apex raided the Unfinished Car. Lexi immediately accuses him of using Chloe for protection, while he insists that he didn't want to burden her with his worries.
Remember how Trip was assaulted in the Calligraphy Car by the Apex? Tokio had it worse. The denizens of the car became paranoid over future passengers thanks to the destruction of their car and tattooed a zinnia compass on his shoulder with burning ink as a test to see if he wasn't going to cause destruction. The Apex turned such an innocent car who loved making calligraphy art into a ritual ground for future passengers. All Tokio could do was beg and plead for the swans not to do this and think of how he stood Goh up.
- He also encountered the Apex and got smashed in the face with a guitar, and was forced to hide in a casket for hours down a river. To say nothing of whatever happened to him with the rabbit-masked strangers...
Ash finally breaks after he learns that Goh now knows about the Train, blaming himself for everything while Trip muses that even if Ash got involved, it wouldn't have changed much. And earlier, he reveals that he felt scared during the Unown incident when Entei brainwashed his mother and kidnapped her.
Ash: This isn’t fair! I couldn’t do anything to stop this! I should’ve done something but Chloe always refused my offers to join and I just let her go! And I didn’t do more to…. [starts crying into a pillow]
Trip: I honestly don’t think there was anything you could do. The things between those two were personal; whether you interfered or not wouldn’t have mattered.
Ash: But I could’ve done something!
(...)
Ash: Am I a bad person?
Trip: What? Of course not! Ash, this was out of your control. The Train just works in mysterious ways.
While minor, Renji is hurt by how Chryssa didn't do anything to defend him against their boss' accusations, pointing out how he was punished for speaking up while she stayed silent.
Chryssa: I’m...sorry about what happened yesterday.
Renji: Sorry that I was chewed out or sorry that you didn’t do more to defend me?
In light of how the Professor and Chloe used to go have ice cream, the Plush Penguin Car takes on a darker meaning. Chloe got to eat as much ice cream as she wanted without having to think about her ignorant and oblivious her father was. Even worse is the ice cream she's eating is mint chocolate chip, the same flavor that she and her father like.

Moxie / The Canals of Fondue Car

Just as Ash feared, Parker wants nothing to do with him, lashing out over how he never got to know her before she disappeared. His father isn't spared, either, as the Professor attempts to defend their ignorance, then tries to avoid answering his son's Armor-Piercing Question:
Ash: I didn't know how to approach her. I mean, I didn't know how she would react if I forced her to do something she didn't like. And I couldn't ask your father what was going on—
Parker: [glares at his father] Did you ever ask him?
[The Professor keeps eating, pretending not to have heard his son]
Ash: ...No.
Parker: Then that's your answer.
- For an extra little twist of the knife, they're having Napolitan pasta, with Parker unable to stomach the dish because he's reminded of how Chloe used to make it. It's unclear whether his parents chose this as a way of being close to their absent child, unaware of the impact it's having upon their son, or if this is simply something else they didn't know about her.
After seeing a statue of Gladion, Chloe wonders how a Pokémon trainer could ever wind up on the Train; in her eyes, they seem to have everything they could ever want. It's a sobering mirror of how others failed to understand her: she only sees what's on the surface, assuming that a trainer would have no trouble fitting in or achieving their dreams.
The fact that Chloe is willing to die when she hears why Zach is fighting in the arena: to save Ray and keep his promise to (kill) her. She compares him directly to Goh and how he never did anything like that for her:
Chloe: ...I envy you. When you make a promise, you keep it. No matter how small it is, you're dedicated to someone you care about. The only person in my life I wanted help from always makes excuses and never notices how I feel. The fact you went through the realm of Hades to rescue Ray is just so beautiful.
Chloe's attempts to reassure Atticus that the malasadas they're about to enjoy won't have any grape jelly unintentionally remind him of the Unfinished Car and its grape jelly puddle. He's so rattled that he snaps at her, leading to a heart-to-heart between him and Lexi where he admits that he fears the worst for King Aloysius, and doubts their ability to stop the Apex.
Professor Cerise and Talia learn that Mr. Pepper, unlike Miss April and Mr. Bradbury, was completely blind to Chloe's struggles. All he cared about was that she only ever followed the recipes rather than 'branching out', actively punishing her for following his instructions to the letter.
- They also learn that most of the teachers did little more than note down the various bullying incidents, spurring the frustrated Professor to start screaming at Miss April, one of the only ones who did try to help.
Parker's attempt to gather more stories about what everybody likes about Chloe gets twisted by her classmates into them bragging about all the ways they bullied her, showing that they don't regret their cruelty at all.
Parker: It's never going to be enough! None of these... these monsters know what it's like to lose someone they love for good! None of them know what it's like to see someone you love go through so much pain and torment that they'd rather run away from it all! All they know is how to hurt and act all selfish! [gripping Silver Night] Well, if that's how it's going to be, then I'M GONNA DO THE SAME! I'll finish what my sister started and KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THESE SEAKING MONSTERS ALL KINDS OF DEAD!!!
The Reveal that Mallow ended up on the Train as well, shouting that she hated her mother before she ran away. She was only around five or six at the time.
- It's also revealed that she was taken care of by a purple gorilla with two tubas strapped to her back. While it's nice, remember that this is taking place during Book 3. Now, remember what happens to that gorilla...

Intermission: Mold Breaker / You're Not Here

After realizing that he could have shared Sonia's story about the Darkest Day with Chloe — as the only things he and Goh mentioned to her was "Pokémon, battling and curry" — Ash starts berating himself for not figuring it out sooner because now he knows what Chloe would've liked. He ends up calling himself "stupid, so stupid."
- Trip's efforts to calm him down unintentionally exposes their Relationship Upgrade to Serena, who's driven to tears by the realization that she lost her chance.
- Most of what Trip says counts as he's afraid that Ash could potentially end up on the Train himself.
  Ash: I’m stupid! So stupid! I should’ve told Chloe about the story of Darkest Day I learned from Sonia. But instead I focused on what Goh and I liked: curry, Pokémon and battling. They were things she hated and I boasted about all the fun times I had without her while she was all alone! I’m the worst, Trip! I...I never asked her what she liked! I’m —
  Trip: ASH KETCHUM OF PALLET TOWN WILL YOU JUST STOP FOR ONE SECOND?! [Tears in eyes] Stop doing this to yourself. Ash, it was a mistake. You had no idea what she liked because she didn’t open up to you. And don’t say you should’ve done more by asking her family! You did all you could at the time. No one knew about the Train taking her away or how deep her problems were. You’re not a psychic, you’re human!
  Ash: Trip…Trip, please don’t…
  Trip: Ash if you do this to yourself, I’m scared of what will happen. I don’t want to lose you again…
  Ash: But…What am I if I can’t help her?
While Atticus is relieved that he knows that the Unfinished Car is in Quarantine, that doesn't clarify whether or not the Apex did or didn't raid it. The reader knows that the Apex went on a rampage but at least we know that none of its denizens were wheeled.
On her friends' advice, Chloe decides to stop ghosting Goh in order to make a cleaner break, making it clear that she wants nothing to do with him or her home right now.
- Her message for her father addresses him solely as "Professor Cerise", as she tersely informs him of everything that he missed, how he would pay more attention and love on Ash and Goh and essentially ignore her because she's "nothing". She apologizes for leaving her mother and Parker behind but expresses doubt that he cares about her absence, given how she'd long been replaced by the boys. To drive it even home, she has a postscript that tells that she has counted the days since they last had ice cream and it's been starting since Ash and Goh became his research fellows.
- Thanks to Goh being online when she responds to his last message, her attempt to break things off turns into a tense conversation where she admits that she used to want his attention, but has come to realize that she was the only one invested in their friendship.
- Goh's pleading only further cements the disconnect, as he completely ignores everything she says in favor of insisting that "I WANT YOU BACK", pleading for her to tell him if she's hurt or imprisoned somewhere on the Train. When she gives him a list of messages to pass on, he asks "Then you'll come back, right?" Then he brings up the Darkest Day myth:
  Goh: You know, Ash and I did learn about this awesome myth about a warrior in the Galar region and some event known as Darkest Day. Is that what you want? Then why didn't you say so?
  Chloe: Because you never listened to anything I said, and you told me that I had no right to call you out for not having a dream!
  Goh: I didn't mean to say you didn't have a dream, Chloe! It was a mistake.
  Chloe: It was a mistake on my end to cling onto the hope that we would always be friends!
- Goh even forgot about the promise he made to eat one of Chloe's homemade curries. That drives it home that Goh stopped caring for her.
- Her requests for her mother and brother are sad: she misses them badly and only wants them to be told that she's sorry she couldn't do more and that she's grateful for them being there for her. As for Ash, she only requested that she wished she could've told him what she liked and that he just walked up to her for once and treated her like a human being.
During the montage showing the reaction to Class 5-E's Engineered Public Confession, Miss April is shown to be having trouble sleeping, knowing that she'll be held responsible for her students' misbehavior to the point of being scapegoated. And she's right; a lot of people questioned where she was when her class admitted to all of their evil deeds.
- Professor Cerise comes clean on Facedex, posting a video confessing his failures as a parent along with the email she sent him. This opens him up to people accusing him of trying to mold her into his own image.
- Another one has Leon noting that the circumstances of Chloe running away are similar to how he hasn't heard from his little brother in a while. And Part 2 said that a Pokémon Trainer is going to be with Chloe in what is the equivalent of Silent Hill 4...
The fact that it takes now of all times for people to notice Chloe. Chloe was alone for so long and only after she's gone do people realize what a beautiful, charming and talented person she is. Even worse, when Goh tells her that everyone misses her, she doesn't believe him because she knows Goh never uses social media. So now she has no idea that out there, people really want to know her and be her friend.
The end of the intermission showcases Goh alone in his bedroom, crying his eyes out, his parents and grandmother trying to enter and the screen of his Rotom Phone cracked and stuck on one word:
...Goodbye.

Arc 2: Run Baby Run

Prelude: Dark Aura / Ashes and Ghosts (I Feel Your Stress)

We learn how Hop wound up on the Train. After getting beaten by Bede, still reeling from his Breaking Speech about how he's supposedly dragging his brother's name down, he gets a call from his brother... who spends most of it gushing about Ash, gleefully speculating about how the Alola Champion might be able to provide a real challenge. The Train appears right as he's contemplating switching Wooloo and the rest of his team out in a desperate attempt to bridge the gap.
- Ash is already reeling from Chloe's disappearance, Goh's sanity eroding, and Serena knowing of his Relationship Upgrade. How far will he break knowing he was part of the reason the brother of the World Champion is on the Train?

The Sacred Line / The Hidden Temple Car (The Hate I Hate Believing)

Mallow describes the incident that got her on the Train, afraid that someone else got on it. She also tells Ash to stop beating himself up and focus on supporting Chloe when she finally returns home...unaware that Ash already knows about the Train and can't stop blaming himself.
The confirmation that was indeed Tuba that took care of Mallow while she was on the Train, and how fondly Mallow remembers and honors her^note, considering that the story takes place during Book Three, where the gorilla is cruelly betrayed and killed by Simon.
As the author puts it for Mallow: she lost one mother due to terminal illness and lost another to an asshole. And even worse, if she learns about Tuba’s death, she is NOT going to take it well.
Serena mentions that someone disappeared and, if what Leon says is true about Ash's opponent in the Kalos League, then it heavily implies that Alain disappeared and got on the Train also.
- Even worse, it’s revealed that passengers that died end up as denizens on the train. And with Henry and Walter’s dialogue, the fact that Alex is wearing his Honor of Kalos medal and the heavy focus on what happens to passengers when they die, it’s very heavily implied that Alain was Killed Offscreen.
Upon learning about Hop's disappearance, Trip pleads with Leon to wait a while and to listen to what he has to say with an open mind, claiming in the long run that Trip is just an insignificant boy with a dream to defeat Alder and that Leon could probably win without batting an eyelash.
Goh has gone full-circle and became Chloe in how he's become withdrawn from Ash and refusing to let him see the messages she sent him in the Intermission. His hostility towards Trip really doesn't help matters as he feels like he's being replaced (which was exactly like Chloe felt)
Ash nearly starts vomiting from stress over learning how Hop's disappearance was because Leon was praising him. It takes Trip telling him that it's not Ash's fault that this happened; the problems Hop and Chloe had were on them and he shouldn't be putting this much pressure on himself.
- Unfortunately, near the end of the chapter, Leon receives an email from Hop, indicating that something is very wrong with him. Leon’s first instinct? Call Ash and furiously demand to know where his brother is because Hop brought Ash up — or rather how Alex kept muttering "ash ash ash" — in his email.

The Elephant Teapot Car

Innocent Moon / The Elephant Teapot Car (Can This Be Or Is it?)

This chapter can basically be summed up as "Goh feels like his entire world is crumbling down". He's losing his mind, feels like he's losing everyone around him, and the worst part is that Ash can see that it is happening, actively tries to prevent it, and not just fails to fix it but may only be making it worse.
- Goh hates Trip due to feeling like he's being replaced (kinda ironic considering Chloe), but it gets even worse when Goh learns from Ash that Trip is Ash's boyfriend. You can honestly hear his heart cracking like glass.
- When Goh states that Chloe is just a defenseless damsel on the Train, Professor Cerise notes that she's not that defenseless...and then mutters how he wished he knew he could contact Chloe himself, making a stealthy remark at how Goh never said anything about how he was messaging Chloe this whole time.
Chloe's chats with Amelia reveal more about the former Conductor. She explains that Atticus reminded her of a memory that Alrick wanted to adopt a corgi pup for the two of them. Amelia also muses that if she dies before that number of hers drops to 0, her body will be left on the rooftop of her old university (since it's heavily implied that she was Driven to Suicide), while her soul will be stuck in a denizen body to help some other grieving widow.
- Amelia knows that she doesn't deserve forgiveness for all that she's done and how her actions have heavily affected passengers and denizens alike.
Trip is shaking as he recalls what it was like to encounter the Apex; the attack still affects him to this very day. It doesn't help that Goh is ready to beat the Unovan into a pulp and is about to smack him across the face not unlike how Simon slammed a sledgehammer to his eye.

The Day of Night / The Elephant Teapot Car Pt 2 (My Mission is Holy)

Walter giving a Breaking Speech to a prisoner, ending it with, "You don't fit anybody. Not even your own brother." This raises a lot of questions as to who this person, but given the context...
- Even worse, Walter is blaming the prisoner for the death of an Apex member, watching them drown in the lake so all that's left is the harpoon-pack that Alex gifts Hop. The Apex were bad seeds, but did any of them deserve death? Especially after it's established that their soul is now trapped on the Train? And that of all cars they're stuck in Silent Hill?!
- The Reveal is that the prisoner is Paul and Walter is stating that no one ever loves him, not even Reggie and that he is to be pushed into the Despair Event Horizon for letting an Apex child drown and doing nothing to help them.
  Apex child: I can’t swim! Someone save me! Grace! Simon! Mama….MAMA!!!!!
In Chloe's email, she writes that she's not ready to go back home and doesn't want to return because of how she was treated. Special mention is for how she threatens to her father that she'll run back onto the Train if he ever steps out of line and makes her uncomfortable all while completely unaware that her father did love her but had no clue that he could've contacted her this entire time.
- Parker is afraid of the idea of losing his sister again because of their father doing something stupid, which only gets worse in the next chapter.
In a way, Goh’s mental state and his behavior. Not only is he avoiding any blame for what happened with Chloe, but he is quickly burning his bridges with everyone else: He’s slandered Chloe on Facedex, enraging her family in the process, he’s still not talking to his parents about his issues (which in his defense, both of them have shown to be completely incapable of helping him), he’s showing complete disregard and annoyance towards everyone’s concern for Alain and Hop and is showing such possessiveness towards Ash and jealousy towards Trip, he wants to tell Delia about their relationship just to make Ash suffer. Goh may have not the best person at the start, but he is rapidly devolving into a person who treats others like they are property, cares only for himself, and avoids any responsibility. In short: He’s becoming an abuser. And he is only getting himself into bigger trouble because no one is willing to put up with his behavior.
- Even worse, his behavior is the exact same as a certain someone on the Infinity Train, as that person ended up slandering his ‘friend’ just to make her suffer just because she didn’t do what he wanted and he didn’t want to take any responsibility either. In other words, Goh is becoming a second Simon.

The Cyan Desert Car

Love Psalm / The Cyan Desert Car (The Missing, The Torture)

Parker snaps at seeing Yeardley and Sara at the Cerise Lab, unable to forgive the two for instigating all the bullying on his sister...to the point that he unleashes the Unown to bring back his sister and to make those two suffer. When Yeardley and Sara state they'll promise to treat Chloe nice when she returns, they ring hollow in his ears because the main component of these false promises is missing:
Parker: I want MY SISTER BACK!!!!!!
- Everything about Parker in general. He’s dealing with a lot of sadness over Chloe leaving and refusing to come back, wishing to see her again, and a lot of anger towards everything that led to her leaving. His wish to see her again reaches the Unown, and they summon an illusion of her as his image of her: A princess of nightmares.
  UnChloe: Hello, Parker. I’m back.
- The worst part was that Parker was just this close to calming down. If Sara never opened her big mouth about Chloe "not being a princess", the Unown incident would never have been unleashed.
Despite his jovial appearance, Rashid is still crushed over being unable to save his friend from F.A.N.G melting her with his acid. After all, if he was able to move on, he wouldn't be on the Train.
Professor Cerise has lost both his children in a sense; one ran away from home, one has become a monster all because he paid more attention to Ash and Goh.
- He tells Yeardley that he was the one who got Chloe into softball because he used to play it. It shows how much the Professor had a big influence on his daughter good (love of mint chocolate ice cream and skills in softball) and bad (ignoring his daughter's problems and not knowing what she was into)
Alain's guilt ate away from him so badly that he became brainwashed by Henry and Walter, essentially becoming the Dreams component of their ritual. He's crucified in a room in an empty hospital and would rather stay like that than try to get his number down to 0.
Reggie's concerns about not hearing from his little brother after they had an argument, unaware that his brother is going to break into despair very very soon nor has he learned that Paul murdered someone.
In a minor moment, all of Chloe's classmates realize they were played in Sara's attempt to make Chloe miserable; now all of them have ruined their futures, made Chloe run away from home for good, and traumatized her family in doing so. And for what? Nothing.
Chloe texted Amelia over the destruction the Apex did in the Cube Car (shown in "The Mall Car") and how they were horrible in doing such a thing. Amelia can only comfort her as much as she can, now realizing the damage her actions in trying to be with Alrick has done.

Prisonic Fairytale / The Cyan Desert Car Pt 2 (A State of Isolation)

This chapter is sheer Tear Jerker combined with Nightmare Fuel, as a lot of the main cast has to deal with their traumas.
Chloe opens up to Azam about her blow up at the start of the story, explaining that all she wanted back then was recognition for trying something and some comfort from Goh. However, she didn’t get it, instead being told that ‘she should know that Normal Attacks don’t work on Ghost Types’. With coaxing from Azam, she admits this is because she was afraid to try new things because of Sara and her cronies. She then breaks down, explaining that ten-year-olds aren't tasked to stop cults; they travel around the world with partners, and if her class knew what she was up to, they would think she’s incapable of it because of her mistake during her battle with Ash. She then finally breaks down, calling herself weak.
- Just the fact that even after accomplishing so much on the train, Chloe still sees herself as a weak girl. Everything she has done on the train so far shows she does the potential to be great back in her own world, only to have her self-worth and confidence destroyed by a spiteful girl and her sheep, robbing her of her chance to reach such potential. Azam is also wondering why Chloe could say this since she tried to talk down a soldier known as "Walker" and would defend herself with a flaming donut holer.
Professor Cerise having to watch his son turn into a monster due to the Unown, and despite his and everyone’s attempts to reason with him, is now going to turn Vermillion City into his amusement park. And after he is allowed to leave, he basically had to watch his wife break down after telling her what had happened, crying Broken Tears and laughing about how much they had failed as parents. Finally, he has a nightmare of Chloe finally coming home, looking for him...Only to find the lab in ruins and covered in graffiti calling out the Cerises for what Parker has done. Then she is attacked by Delia, angrily screaming at her for what Parker had done to her son and saying that she wanted this, despite Chloe’s tearful pleas to contrary. The nightmare ends with Delia shattering Chloe’s skull with her bare hands while Chloe screams for her father.
Taila’s mental breakdown once she learns about the situation from her husband, breaking into laughter while crying. She says that they had failed as parents and that they should have done more for Chloe. And in her thoughts, she considers having the Unown pull Chloe off the train and wishes that it didn’t exist so she could have properly comforted her daughter after her breakdown.
- And since she is going to be sending the photos Aldrich had shown her of Parker to Chloe, she’s most likely only going to make things worse for her.
Despite everything that he is doing, Parker is still a scared little boy that wants his sister to be happy again. And while Yamper’s speech was able to get through to him somewhat, it’s quickly undone by his and UnChloe's idea to make an amusement park for Chloe and punishing Goh for his failures.
- His confused whimpering after being reminded that Goh got a gift for Chloe's last birthday — even remembering what she wanted — drives this home, as he struggles to wrap his mind around the idea that people aren't all bad or all good.
- Even worse, he’s only making things worse for himself and Chloe: Everyone’s opinions of him have turned for the worst due to the ‘tea party’ as Trip is outraged, Serena is feeling very betrayed and humiliated over what has happened and worst of all, it actually affected Ash so much, he intends to leave Cerise Labs after the incident is over just to get away from Parker. And Aldrich knows that Chloe is most likely going to get blamed for what happened since Parker is doing everything in her name...and that she will not approve of any of it.
Yamper’s speech to Parker: While he makes it clear that UnChloe isn’t Chloe herself and there were people that cared for her, he also shares that Parker is hurting people and reveals that the reason she holds back and constantly refused Ash and Goh's offers to join them is because she is scared and she had no one to tell her to even try. This hits Professor Cerise the hardest; he never encouraged her to try again, just "remember Normal types fail against Ghosts".
Ash’s conversation with Renji: While he’s still blaming himself for not doing more for Chloe, he also admits that he also couldn’t really do more since he didn’t know. Then he admits that he fully intends to leave Cerise Labs after the Unown are dealt with, as he doesn’t want to be near Parker anymore after what he did to himself, Pikachu, Serena, and Trip.
- Just the implications of Ash’s decision to leave: Not only will he have to find another way to travel since the Professor won’t be able to help him anymore, but it also really shows just how broken Ash has become since the story had started. And Parker’s Mind Rape of him has made him do the one thing he thought he would never do: Give up and walk away.
- And it’s not going to be just him that’s affected: The Professor is going to lose his research fellow, Parker had driven away someone that cared for him, and Goh is going to lose his Only Friend unless Ash keeps in touch with him. Worst of all, Chloe is getting what she wished for, Ash gone, while she’s starting to come to terms with what she really wanted was Ash to befriend her.
- Ash is well aware that this is not a good thing for Goh, but he also isn't fully aware of just what Goh's mental state is. Even if Goh becomes fully aware of what is going on (which is not likely a good thing since that would probably involve him being targeted) he isn't in a state to accept it.
Paul has already crossed the Despair Event Horizon, a broken shell of the haughty Pokémon Trainer from the Sinnoh Region, only able to mutter "I am Despair". And it's heavily implied that the boy has a huge number on his arm for what happened. To make it even worse, Walter mockingly sings "Room of Angel" to the boy to drive it home that there's no one in his world who cares for him, essentially trapping Paul in the Fog Car for good and his Xtransceiver is shattered on the ground so Reggie can't contact him.
In a tragic sense, UnChloe is seen differently because of how everyone never saw the true Chloe. The girl just wanted to be noticed and loved and comforted but no one ever stopped to consider it.

Walk on Vanity Ruins / The Cyan Desert Car Pt 3 (His Orders, My Brother)

Chloe emails Ash, apologizing for how she treated him and confesses how she was really feeling. It's a bittersweet affair, especially as she brings up all the things she wants to tell Parker as well, blissfully unaware of what her brother has been doing in her absence... or that Ash intends to leave the labs.
With varying levels of reluctance, Ash and Trip explain to Chloe about her brother unleashing the Unown. And her efforts to contact Parker just expose her to UnChloe instead, who cheerfully taunts her about her inability to do anything to stop her while she's stuck on the Train and how Chloe is still The Ditherer compare to how UnChloe is more proactive in doing what she wants.
Goh's parents finally put their foot down, punishing their son for the Facedex stunt by taking away his access to technology. After outlining the terms, Kurune finishes with a declaration of how much they love him, gently insisting that he can prove that he's better than Sara and the rest of Chloe's bullies.
- Making this much worse is how her words are wasted: Goh immediately decides that this is also Chloe's fault, cobbling together a mental "The Reason You Suck" Speech about the superiority of Pokémon to human friends.
  No wonder she hated Pokémon so much, they could do everything she did better. Sobble was a better coward, Raboot was a better sulking loner, Ash's Gengar was better at resenting everyone and everything and lurking around in a foul mood, Skwovet was a better cause of problems because it was focused on its stomach... Goh could make a list of why Pokémon were better companions than humans and then shove it in Chloe's face...
- While Goh is having his mental speech on how Pokemon are better companions, Raboot is having thoughts of his own: Of how much Goh has changed, how hurt he was when Goh tried to abandon him in Hoenn and wanting to leave Goh for another trainer if Goh doesn’t change.
Miss April's attempt to help her former students by ensuring they get at least some more education blows up in her face when UnChloe hijacks her online classroom and uses it to torture them one by one, with everyone Forced to Watch. And she makes it clear that she's deliberately saving Miss April for last. Even worse, Miss April ends up screaming and crying in her bathroom, repeatedly pounding her fists against the mirror as she knows that this was all her fault for not doing anything sooner. The narration states that the school has fired her, leaving her without a job, and is saddled with a reputation that will leave her completely ruined.
- Out of all the students, Julie is the most sympathetic: she was always told to follow orders and was actually guilty of what Sara and Patricia did to Chloe, but said nothing because she felt the pity would've been too late. Now her family is asking why she didn't say anything in the first place and all Julie can do now is just shut up to save what little reputation she has left.
- Franklin, one of the more left-brained students and the only one who wasn't in on the bullying scheme^note, is stoic and not really caring that Chloe was in trouble. But when UnChloe mentions his little brother, he flips out because his little brother died a stillborn and never got to live. Notably many of the classmates are shocked to hear this news for the first time. At least his fate is the least painful, swapping places with his shadow.
Upon learning how everyone sees UnChloe differently, Chloe gets pissed off because it only reveals that no one even saw her as a person, just an object when all she wanted was someone to notice her and help her get back on her feet. This causes her number to go from 96 back to 100.
Cherry_girl: You see? This is why I left! Because no one, NO ONE, actually saw me as a person! Not you [Ash], not the professor, not my classmates. NO PERSON DID!
Alain's problems were so bad he had nightmares about Lysandre winning and Ash an Empty Shell Dark Messiah to the point that he accepted Henry hypnotizing to erase the pain. Now he is the Empty Shell who is only addressed as "Dreams". Moreover, Alex is uncomfortable with both Alain and Paul essentially losing their former identities.

My Justice For You / The Cyan Desert Car Pt. 4 (My Trigger, Your Finger)

Serena is forced to cook pancakes while telling stories about her past adventures with Ash, while UnChloe mocks how Ash was completely oblivious to her feelings, spurring Parker to laugh at her misfortune as well.
Parker traps several of Chloe's classmates in rooms tailor-made to torture each of them, such as the "Strong Winds Room" — the perfect place for somebody who almost died in a hurricane! — and the "Greatest Looks Room" filled with glaring spotlights, tormenting a boy whose colorblindness makes him super sensitive to such things and making him play a game that mocks his disability. And he does these things without UnChloe there egging him on.
- He makes it clear that he's angry at everyone for not doing more to help Chloe, for bullying her, ignoring her, when it was Goh who had everything that they were jealous of. Goh had everything Chloe wanted and Chloe has been traumatized, broken and disappeared because of their inactions.
Miss April's guilt and grief spurs her to attempt suicide; once the news reaches them, everyone feels the effects. Chloe has a panic attack, Cerise hits his Rage Breaking Point, and Parker finally realizes that he's become just like his sister's bullies... or worse. If Mr. Bradbury didn't come to check on her, she would've died and no one would know how it happened.
- When Professor Cerise learns of this, he berates himself for how harsh he sounded when he chewed her out in Chapter 13.
- Miss April's judgment problems stemmed from her leaving her abusive boyfriend as revealed by Chloe.
Grace and Simon learn that Sean drowned in the Fog Car. Simon goes into denial about his death at first, while Grace wants to recover the body to give him a proper funeral.
- We learn more about Sean as well: how he was afraid of water after nearly drowning at the beach once, and got bullied by his peers, who tried forcing him to jump off the highest diving board at the pool and calling him a coward for backing down. Simon tried forcing Sean to face his fears, but Grace took a different tack, telling him that if he didn't want to raid any cars with a pool of water bigger than a bathtub, that was fine.
- We learn that Paul's Electivire was responsible for Sean's accidental death and that he and the rest of his Pokemon are being Forced to Watch their trainer's torture without being able to help him. Same with Alain's Pokemon, who are stuck in the dark and fearing what has happened to their friend...
- Samantha and Simon's farewells are bumped up to when Simon leaves the Winter Chalet, and they're just as bittersweet as in canon.
UnChloe's final Breaking Speech is reserved for Parker, as she mocks his desire to be better:
UnChloe: You can't apologize. You can't take anything back. You can never stop making them pay. They'll never stop paying, and neither will you and Chloe.
Parker: I can't... but I want to be a good boy, and good boys make the changes to fix their mistakes!
UnChloe: [laughs] A good boy? Parker... a good boy doesn't hurt people. And once you are a bad boy, you can never turn yourself around.
- She then calls Goh in as part of her last temptation, using the same More than Mind Control she did on Sara to make him say awful things in order to spur Parker into action. And Parker falls for the temptation, giving one last torment to the boy before everything finally ends.
Parker is left alone and isolated after everything he's done and knows full well that he deserves it. The only reason the Train doesn't show up is that there are witnesses, and he feels that he isn't deserving at all of a magical therapy adventure. Even after the Unown are gone, he's still hurt because now, now of all times does everyone tries to help his sister when she would've never left if they did more sooner.
- In a small moment, Dragonite snaps Chloe's softball bat in two, showing off how Parker's love for his sister and wishing to be someone to protect her has now made things worse for everyone.
Chloe is hyperventilating and setting the desert on fire when she learns all that has happened to the point that Lexi has to tell Parker how bad it is. Of all times Parker had to be this way, it was before she was to enter Silent Hill...

She / The Cyan Desert Car Pt 5 (Inside My Head Is Humming)

Even after the Unown are gone, the pain they caused remains. This chapter offers no real respite from them.
Professor Cerise uses Ash's phone to contact Chloe, and Lexi forces her to read the update he sent. It hurts more than it helps. The one thing that Chloe is mad about is that her father starts talking to her now and not when she needed it most because all she wanted was for him to listen to her.
Lost sympathy for Goh with recent events? Get ready to have it come roaring back with as Zeno forces him to experience the deaths of Chloe, Tokio, Ash and Raboot while being repeatedly called out on his Lack of Empathy and It's All About Me attitude.
- Before jumping, Chloe calls her Goh, only to be promptly blown off because he's busy 'chasing his dreams'. But don't worry, he reassures her: he's going to tell her all about his latest adventures once he gets back!
- Chloe's teacher and classmates are horrified at Chloe's suicide attempt, especially since the classmates realized how far their bullying affected her and would have to live with this for the rest of their lives and confess what they did.
- Raboot's death comes at Goh's own hands, as he catches one of his kicks and flings him into a pillar. And even then, his brief moment of realization is promptly swallowed up by his insisting that he's being punished for having dreams.
- Goh gets a glimpse into a world where he admitted to Ash that he didn't know why Chloe had grown so distant. While this doesn't instantly repair their relationship, the honest desire he shows to reconnect with her clearly helps... whereas when the real Goh replays this scenario, he keeps making matters worse with his thoughtless remarks and actions.
Zeno demonstrates that he's UnGoh by stepping into his own scenario and apologizing, humbling himself before Chloe by admitting his own mistakes, and getting the ball rolling on some much-needed honest conversations. The fact that none of this happened when it could have...
The vision of Goh getting exactly what he wanted has his older counterpart effectively shut down after catching Mew, followed by a montage of all the things he's missing out on in the lives of those he pushed away in pursuit of his dreams. Most are doing well, but his grandmother... not so much.
Parker tries making amends for his wish by telling Goh that he's got to change and that while there's no way to return to the past and the future is scary and strange, it's still okay. Goh rejects this and praises Parker for being a much better friend to his sister, completely unaware that Parker's the one responsible for the hell he's enduring.
Unlike UnChloe/Sara, Zeno possesses enough empathy to regret the outcome of his 'nightmare therapy', realizing too late that Goh learned his lesson too well and has been convinced that he is Beyond Redemption.
After finally waking up, Goh starts tearing his room apart, ripping down all of his charts and smashing his monitors and Mew-tracking device while his parents pound on the door and Sobble tries covering the shrapnel with bubbles. The carnage helps unearth an old photo of him eating curry with Chloe, causing him to remember their promise too late and hallucinate being surrounded by pictures of all the happy memories they never shared, screaming in anguish.
Ash finds out through a pair of phone calls what's become of the two ringleaders, which may spark some Sympathy for the Devils:
- Yeardley's little sister reports that he's crying in his bedroom, and timidly asks Ash if her brother is a bad guy.
- Sara's mother, sober for once, reports that her daughter has been pleading for a chance to leave Vermillion City behind for good, swearing that she's willing to do whatever it takes — even extreme measures like joining a nunnery, taking a vow of silence or digging ditches. It's also revealed that her mother has officially been deemed unfit and is giving her up to a foster family.
Jinny wants to thank Parker for standing up against her bullies, blissfully unaware that his desire to put a stop to all of that led to utter disaster. She asks Serena and Trip to let him know; the latter bitterly thinks that it'd be better if Parker never hears about this so that he doesn't think he was remotely justified.
Mr. Bradbury bitterly notes that he advised the Professor to seek counseling for Chloe, only to go completely ignored. He's left wondering how much trauma might have been avoided if he'd been willing to listen?

Noone love you / The Cyan Desert Cart Pt 6 (And In My Darkest Nightmare)

Ash visits Goh in the suicide ward, musing on just how much death he's had to handle in his life as a trainer...and how Goh's miserable situation is still hurting. The trainer has all but completely given up on life and his future, with Chloe or with anyone else.
Zeno heavily regrets what he did to make Goh learn his lesson. The poor boy is now so broken he's stuck in a downward spiral via doublethink, unable to believe the positives and completely dwelling on the negatives. Parker isn't much better off, either.
Paul is crawling towards a full Heel Realization and spends this chapter desperate to find some way to make amends with his Pokemon, his brother, or even Ash in what little way he can before Despair takes over him again. Even with Walter's brainwashing all but scrubbing out his memories of Reggie, he remembers that he's done badly by him and that he can be trusted to keep his Pokemon safe.
Chloe isn't able to enjoy her arrival at the story festival because her mind is preoccupied with 'what-ifs' and feeling that if she'd buckled down on her therapy and ignored her 'destiny', she would've gotten home in time to stop Parker from destroying everything.
"...One day earlier. If I’d gotten over things and emailed Ash with what I wanted one day earlier ...Parker might not have lost it, I could’ve explained what I really wanted instead of just saying ‘if one person screws up when I’m back home I’ll leave forever’...I spent a day in Corginia doing nothing, and then I spent weeks pretending I couldn’t text anyone back home, just to spite the one person who was trying to reach me. If I had started moving forward the second I woke up...actually tried to fix things instead of sitting around feeling good about myself, I could’ve been home in time to stop Parker from setting home on fire! When everybody was going to be happy to see me again and I’d get everything I asked for and those jerks had gotten what they deserved and nothing more and I could decide what I wanted to keep and what to lose and where to try again and I had a speech ready for what I expected from them and...and...and... ”
When Goh's family comes in to visit, Raboot rushes up to cuddle Goh - and the boy screams for him to stop being touched. It takes concentrated effort on Goh's part just to let his starter Pokemon hug him.
- Goh points out that for all his neglect, his parents did worse by not doing anything to get him to see Chloe. Ikuo and Kurune realize that for all of them praising Ash and stating "Oh Goh just need to have friends into guy stuff", they completely ignored how Chloe must've felt and should've hauled Goh's ass away from the computers and drag him to see Chloe or at least taught him how to be more social.
Goh: You could’ve done more. You saw me on my screens, you could’ve yanked me out of there and pushed me to go see Chloe! You could’ve told me my grades were slipping, told me I had to go to school...what was so important that my own parents weren’t there for me?! I wasted my life, wasted all the time I could’ve been there for Chloe, protecting her ….and now she’s gone and she doesn’t want me any more! She hates me! And I...I don’t blame her at all.
Goh: ...You know what’s really, really sick? Sick and stupid and selfish and horrible? I really thought I was doing right by her. Leaving her alone, letting her do her thing, making sure I thought about birthday gifts and nothing else. Because that’s how it works, right? You say hi to someone before you leave for your own thing, you get them a present you know they’ll like for their birthday, and that’s all you have to do, right? Because that’s what you did for me. That was what I learned growing up.
Goh: ...I should hate you. I should hate you like Chloe hates her dad, like she hates me. The only time I had anything in common with her was with P-p-pokémon...and that’s gone for me now too because I was never aware that she didn’t like them, and now I can’t even think about traveling and catching without wanting to throw up. I’ve got...nothing left. And I can’t turn to you for anything. Not even Raboot if he’s willing to leave me behind because I used the wrong words on him.
Wooloo is downright terrified at how Hop has changed, to the point he's hiding underneath the bed when Hop turns into Delirium. However, instead of crying, Wooloo decides to tackle the wall to become stronger so he and Corvisquire can eventually become strong enough to save their friend.
Parker is left alone, all his sins crawling on his back. One of the possibilities he considers is that Chloe would end up forgiving Goh and a few classmates before Parker, leaving him alone while she enjoys her new life. And he thinks he deserves it for singlehandedly undoing everything good that the Calling Chloe hashtag had attempted.
- His father spells out the seriousness of his actions - Cerise has lost a lot of his funding, Talia could face backlash of her own because of the picture Parker made her do, they may have to let Chryssa and Renji go, they won't be able to afford the house or live in town anymore, and Parker has been banned from Pokemon training until he's 18. And Parker can't "fix" things at all, just make sure they don't get broken any further.
Professor Cerise finally emails Chloe about what's going on, highlighting everything above and even put this line in.
"But on the bright side, you got your wish. I'll be someone different."
- Chloe is horrified to learn that Goh is in a suicide ward, knowing that she wouldn't wish that upon him.

Living In Fear / The Dead Carnival Car (Sometimes I Hear Them Coming)

While Goh is permitted to accompany Ash, Trip, and Serena on their latest adventure about a week after he was committed into a suicide ward, he doesn't believe he has any right to be there, especially after he makes a thoughtless comment about Hop 'having fun' on the Train.
- Ash suggests that Goh try fighting someone to get his confidence back. Unfortunately, he's fighting off Bede who doesn't even have to lift a finger with his newly captured Abra completely beating Raboot. This setback causes Goh to feel even more of a failure...kind of what Chloe was feeling when she fought Ash as he realizes that he didn't even try to comfort Chloe over her loss compared to how Ash gave her a compliment.
- When Bede says he heard of Chloe from "that stupid campaign", Goh snaps and threatens to choke Bede to shut him off as he breaks down at how this is all his fault for being so insensitive to Chloe and not comforting her when she lost, reflecting the nightmare he had to go through and failing to do the right thing time and time again.
Oh sure Goh, Hop is "having fun" on the train as he's regressed mentally to six years old as he continues his 'transformation' into Delight. Walter exploits his uncanny insight into the minds of his fellow sacrifices to try and ferret out any potential chinks in his plans, with Hop blissfully unaware of his status as a pawn.
Talia vents out her frustrations on learning how Chloe was ignored, belittled, and neglected in her world, and now she is at risk of dying on a Train by a cult that's probably even worse than the Gang of Bullies Chloe dealt with on a daily basis, blaming herself for not doing more or ignoring any signs that she could've been in trouble. She feels angry and jealous of Delia because her son goes through these adventures completely unscathed.
- The same conversation makes it clear that Delia's son doesn't go through things entirely unscathed: He'd have the occasional nightmare about the things he's experienced before but the UnChloe and Parker situation has made his nightmares more active and worse. Delia even got to witness one via the Rotom Phone, and one so bad that it looked like Ash was going to have a seizure. There are reasons Delia is not happy with Chloe or Parker.
- Talia has a very bad habit of denying sadness; case in point, she shows a picture of Professor Cerise and Chloe at the newly open lab with the former smiling and the latter...not. Then she shows an illustration she made with both of them smiling. It goes to show how her attempt to always see people happy blinded her to the harsh reality that her daughter wasn't happy in the slightest.
Talia: I always wanted to see things happy and cheerful...I always drew my children happy even though they weren’t. They weren’t happy in the slightest and I kept denying it. Always piling up the shame and hurt with smiles and sunshine and roses.
Delia makes clear that she has No Sympathy for either Parker or Chloe, writing the Cerise siblings off as a pair of ungrateful brats who've needlessly and cruelly hurt everyone around them. Though she's willing to take the Cerise parents in when they move to Pallet, she also spells out that she's perfectly willing to make the children camp outside rather than permitting either of them into her guesthouse, unless and until they prove themselves sufficiently humbled and chastised.
- Parker finally admits why he was lashing out: Pokémon took everyone away. His dad ignores Chloe for Ash and Goh, Goh ignores Chloe for Mew, Ash took Goh away from Chloe, and now he's afraid of Chloe leaving him behind.
- Talia admits that Parker should've said something sooner about Chloe, insisting that they would have accepted her no matter what. Parker counters this by revealing he heard them arguing over what happened at the talent show; their own words convinced him that he couldn't tell them anything for fear that they'd hate her. Talia is shocked that she never considered that possibility with her own son and has to reassure him that it wasn't hatred, more frustration over the situation. And that no matter what, they love Chloe as she is.
Talia's last e-mail with her daughter has her putting her foot down, berating Chloe about how she needs to accept her share of responsibility for everything that happened. She also blames her for the existence of Zeno, officially forbidding her from horror (or at least forcing her to take a sabbatical from it for a while) — even twisting her title of 'Chloe of the Vermillion' into a mockery of what it once stood for. Chloe's reaction is to just scream her heart out.
- One of the few things Chloe was able to take comfort in while gradually breaking down under the weight of her Parental Neglect and bullying has been tainted by association. For ages, she feared that her interests wouldn't be accepted, and now that's come to pass in the worst possible way. And she feels like she can't even argue against any of it or defend herself. Thankfully she bounces back thanks to Amelia stating that she can still try something new without sacrificing all her progress.
- Chloe reads a list of what Goh went through. And while many of it was fair — he ignored her, never went to school with her except for tests, basically never picked up her texts or calls on time, ignored how she was being bullied and was all in all very insensitive — what wasn't fair was how this nightmare said that Goh wouldn't care if she died, being just as cruel to Goh when it came to chewing him out for being selfish and breaking him so badly that he can't even pursue a dream at all.

The Curry Car

Dreams of Leaving / The Curry Car (The Promise, The Breaking)

While Goh's reaction to comforting Ash over his tie with Bea is hilarious (being very dramatic, saying it'll be okay and that they can have ice ream), remember that this is also while he's recovering from his nightmare therapy and how he realized that he wasn't there for Chloe when she needed comfort. He's afraid of pushing Ash away if he doesn't comfort the Pallet Town Trainer, showcasing once and for all that he doesn't want people to leave him because of his mistakes. Even Zeno mentions that Goh has a long way to go.
- Speaking of, when Zeno pauses time in the ice cream parlor to help Goh learn that he was doing way too much, Goh is downright begging not to go through another What If? scenario.
Chloe reveals why curry is a sore spot: Goh forgot their promise and abandoned her for Mew, making her feel that she wasn't good enough for him and that she would never be accepted for who she was. She recounts how, when the girls and boys broke into gender-divided clubs, neither side let her join, seemingly 'proving' that she didn't fit in anywhere.
Romin is on the Train because her attempt to give Luke her curry backfired. She chickened out at the last second and ran on the Train and she's not willing to cook another curry because she believes she doesn't deserve forgiveness. To compare, Chloe has a 93. Romin has a 7. Moreover, she feels that she deserves it for following her cousin's orders to kickstart Rush Duel's development else he'd reveal her dark secret. That she's tone-deaf.
Chloe mentioning that Gladion has been on the Train, to Ash's horror — if you're following the prequel to this story, Knight of the Orange Lily, you know Ash was right there when Gladion and his sister got into a fight. And now, he's informed it probably led to disaster.

Memory of the Waters / The Curry Car Pt 2 (Who Are You? I Know You)

As Mr. Bradbury (again) brings up his multiple warnings to the Professor, Professor Cerise begs said teacher to stop rubbing it in as it's not helping in the slightest. If he could, he'd do anything to have Chloe back and encourage her to try again and tell her how much he loved her.
- It's brief but when Professor Cerise says that Mr. Bradbury was "a better parent", Mr. Bradbury glumly admits he never got to be a parent.
- Mr. Bradbury also states that he's getting a recommendation letter ready for a prestigious Galar academy for Chloe to attend. Professor Cerise wants to object to this, the last thing he needs is to be separated from his daughter, but admits that he can't just push her around and force her to be something she doesn't like anymore. All he asks is what he can do to ensure Chloe knows he loves her.
Parker's trial concludes with him breaking down crying, begging to know why everybody hated his sister so much to not help her and wishing he could just have her back. The judge privately reflects that, despite the severity of his crimes, he's still a five-year-old boy who has already learned how cruel life can be, and that his life isn't going to get any easier anytime soon.
Parker Cerise: If he [Goh] just apologized... if everyone else apologized... if her class didn’t laugh at my sister but treated her like a friend... maybe went to sit with her at lunch or gave her a compliment or invite her to slumber parties and birthday parties and actually come to her birthday parties and not rip up invitations from her... if the teachers did more to help her... What did she do to deserve all of this? Someone tell me! Why did you all hate my sister?!
- The attending jury's reaction to Parker's upset outburst is just as heartbreaking, especially Class 5-E. The kids all know that they condoned and participated in Chloe's bullying, whether out of jealousy, stupidity, and/or sadism, and they lied to their parents and teachers about it until the problem boiled over. The parents and teachers only stood by until it got worse because they were either lied to, were prevented by circumstances from stepping in, or were just too apathetic to care. No one has the courage to answer Parker's question because all of them are too ashamed of their role in Chloe's misery. And judging by the journalists and cameras outside the courtroom, they'll be forever reminded of their mistakes and Vermillion International School's reputation has completely been tarnished for good.
- Parker is ultimately sentenced to a juvenile offenders' treatment facility near Pallet and is banned from ever entering Vermillion City or contacting anyone connected to the suit. After hearing this (and having Zeno explain some of it to him), Parker notes that he's going to miss Jinny.
- Yeardley's little sister is afraid of her big brother now, afraid that he'll start attacking her because she's a girl. As they leave, she refuses to hold his hand. His older sister doesn’t think highly of him either due to his misogynistic bullying, slapping him upside the head for good measure and calling him a "dumbass" after the trial.
- Class 5-E also realize how they were insensitive jerks when they replay the security footage of the paint-can incident and that they just ruined a family's life, eroding Chloe's self-esteem, indirectly made Parker unleash the Unown and have made themselves targets online.
Sara spends most of the trial apologizing, screaming into a pillow, and looking so pitiful as the weight of her actions presses down on her. The only saving grace she gets is that a kind family adopted her, but even then she has to see her mother looking like a total wreck and wanting to just say how much she loved her. Marianna Diktalyis says nothing and walks off.
Kurune and Ikuo realize just how little they knew about their son's activities online, and discover that he's being harassed by at least one stalker who's interested in his Mew Tracker... and when Kurune tells them to stop trying to contact him before deleting his profile, it just confirms to the stalker that he's in Vermillion.
When Chloe uses the power of her cloak to look into the memories of the Curry Prince, she learns the truth: he was once Soma from Black Butler who ended up on the Train when he was trying to return to India after Agni's cremation. He never left the Train as he found himself falling into despair, dying while holding onto Agni's urn. Then he woke up, forgetting his old life and became the mechanical Curry Prince before another denizen brought up reincarnation and life cycles that made him bitter and angry. The memories are so overwhelming that even she ends up crying.

Lives Wasted Away / The Curry Car Pt 3 (Reflection, Conception)

Soma reuniting with Agni after a hundred years with him requesting Agni to always stay by his side. Agni's response?
Agni: Joh Agyaa (translation: As you wish).
- Soma then requests for Chloe to dump Agni's ashes into the river and to bury his remains separately. Chloe refuses and gathers both their ashes to dump into the river because she can't think of them not together.
Trip argues with Delia over how Parker has been atoning for all that he did, while Trip himself hasn't. Trip states that not once has he done anything to make amends with Ash for making him build up a Guilt Complex because of his own Brutal Honesty... and yet Delia forgives him. But when Chloe is willing to do everything she can to make it up to the Ketchums even after she is returning from dismantling a cult and everything she'll face when she returns home, what does Delia do? Refuse to accept it. Trip ends up in tears, his faith in Delia broken since she's giving him what she doesn't want Chloe to obtain: a slap on the wrist.
- It's made worse in the following chapter that clarifies why Delia was avoiding saying anything: she hasn't forgiven him for how he acted and does think there are better people for Ash. She just doesn't think that Trip is a bad choice, just that there are better people for her son. All those people are implied to be girls though, so she avoided saying an exact that would make the fight worse than it already was.
Chloe finally realizes what her biggest flaw was: Fear. Fear of not being good enough, pushed aside, unable to heard or loved or paid attention to. Her resentment, judgment, foolishness, and anger stemmed from this and this alone.
- She also realizes that she's just like Goh: abandoned by someone they thought was a friend, they became obsessed over something and stopped trying to talk to one another. The fact that she realizes that the reason Goh is going to end up on the train is because of her is the ultimate realization that he truly was her friend and never meant to leave her behind for so long whereas she did so on purpose.
Chloe writes some emails to Serena and her father. For Serena's, she asks her to find Akemi and tell her that all of this was never her fault and to deliver a message for Ash's mom when she's ready to hear it. And for her dad, she tells him about how she heard them argue on the night of the paint-can incident and blaming each other when all she wished for was them to reassure their love for her. She also tells him that even though fighting the Apex is dangerous, someone has to do it. And if Goh is going to get on there soon, she wants to ensure his trip will be a much safer one. She ends it with a message that she loves him, unsure if she'll be able to tell it to his face if she happens to die by the hands of either the ritual or the cult.

Always On My Mind / Le Chat Chalet Car (Come Forward, I've Seen It)

Upon learning that everybody assumed Mallow was worried for Gladion was because she had a crush on him, she questions the Double Standard and asks what would they think if she got onto the Train. While Kiawe and Sophocles have some good answers (and Sophocles worries if the incident with Abe might have caused another Train pickup if Mallow didn't meet Oruguru), Lana makes a joke about Mallow going to elope. Unlike most times, Mallow is not in the mood for a joke. And when Lillie points out this is Mallow's fault for not being clear about what's going on...well, Mallow snapping is an understatement.
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!
(Lillie is in tears but Mallow does not care)
Mallow: And as for the rest of you! I thought I could trust you with my secret, but nooo, you just think that it's all crushes and bad jokes about marriage and getting drunk! This isn't funny! I was on that train for three months and at that time my father and brother were worried sick about me and had to deal with my mother's funeral service! I was 5 and alone with only Bounsweet as my guide, and I had no idea what to do or how I could get home and I nearly died! And I was so scared that the same was going to happen to Gladion and you would all just... just... WHAT WOULD YOUR FAMILIES THINK IF IT WAS YOU ON THAT TRAIN?! Because I certainly would not be making jokes if you got caught in that place for months without help or an instruction manual!
- Lana comes to comfort Mallow and points out that Mallow could've just been honest about it all and they'd believe her, but Mallow herself wanted to doubt it since it was just too ridiculous to believe. And no matter what happened, there was nothing they could've done to save Gladion since you don't call the Train, the Train calls you. What's more, Mallow is in tears and fear for Tuba's safety...while unaware that Tuba is with the leaders of the Apex at this moment.
After the confession from The Cat as to her abandoning Simon, Chloe has some reflection on herself: she's no better than the Cat for running away from her problems and Goh. But Atticus, Lexi, and Amelia bring up she's done more and is doing more than Samantha ever chose to do for the past eight years.

Arc 3: In the Darkness

The Fog Car

Different Persons / The Fog Car (The Answer Is Drowning)

Mallow finally learns about Tuba's situation from Chloe. But there's nothing she can do about it, other than calling Ash in her panic.
Before boarding the Fog Car, Chloe sends some final messages out in case she won't be able to once she enters... and in case she doesn't make it out. Her primary concern? Telling everyone not to blame themselves for whatever happens to her, and begging them not to try and avenge her.
Chloe: I don't want you barreling onto the train to try and save me or... avenge me. I want you to have good lives at home, the kind of lives you all deserve. I lashed out at everyone, afraid to face myself, and I got myself and others hurt in the process. And for that, I am absolutely sorry.
Parker's the youngest resident at the Calla Rehab faculty, surrounded by older kids whose crimes hardly compare to what he unleashed. He's worried that, if any of them turn out to be as cruel as Sara or Yeardley, nobody will believe him... or care enough to intervene, feeling that he deserves to suffer.
- His visions of other futures have shown him that without his intervention, Goh would usually sort himself out on his own, driving home how unnecessary his attempt at nightmare therapy was.
- The sole exception? In one reality, Goh went through with his plan to forcibly out Ash to Delia with a vicious hour-long message, expecting her to turn on her son. Delia chewed him out instead, and he loses everything, ending up on the Train... and returning as a corpse one week later.
- Even worse? Parker hasn't found any future where Goh doesn't get on the Train despite everyone's efforts to support and encourage him. Not even Chloe's help makes any difference.
Ash gets Chloe's last message just after he and Goh have a successful trip to the Safari Zone. Goh is concerned for Chloe's safety and feels ashamed upon stating that she was weak and helpless.
Goh: I...I thought she’d be helpless...I was so wrong about her, and now...Now she’s so much better than I could... ever be…what could she think of me now...and she...cooked curry...
Paul is so pitiful at this point; when he arrives for dinner with the Quarto and Grace and Simon's group, he acts more like a zombie and Walter has to force his chin up to look at every one.

Ordinary Vanity / The Fog Car Pt 2 (The Power, Believing)

Goh does not take learning of Chloe in Silent Hill well, blaming himself, wanting to find Celebi to go back in time to put some Poké balls into her backpack or just preventing him from saying the phrase that tipped her over the edge. But Ash replies that none of these would work and that all they can do is just wait for her to arrive...all while knowing that Goh is going to enter the Train sooner or later.
Grace and Simon arguing with the Quarto, particularly when Simon mocks Chloe for not being loved by her parents nor having any friends. In their apartment, Chloe is tugging at her hair and dropping to the floor, admitting that everything in Vermillion City can be traced back to two people: Sarah for being a bitch and Chloe for not speaking up for herself.
Paul is begging to himself that trusting Hop to help deliver his Pokémon to Ash or Reggie will work. Then Walter drags him away and he reverts back into Despair, uttering a mantra that will wipe out anything that's left of him.
“I am Despair. I serve Death. I am Despair. I serve Death. I am Despair. I serve Death. I am Despair. I serve Death.”
Wooloo is terrified and all but begging Chloe to save Hop. Looking into Wooloo's soul reveals how he's seen Hop go mad and that there's nothing he can do to stop it.

Mr. JOY / The Fog Car Pt 3 (Things That I Can't Remember)

Chloe's time in the haunted house is both terrifying and sad as it's a reminder of all the pain she put everyone through because of her inability to tell everyone what was going on with her, all while Hop is oblivious and thinks that she should only think of herself instead of others.
As Ash and Trip are staring at the stars, Ash's phone is beeping with notifications.
- Leon talks to Sonia about how he's been worried sick about Hop's situation for months.
- Mairin finally learns about what happened to Alain from Professor Sycamore and shouts that she'll go save him. Professor Sycamore replies that it's not possible for her to do so. Mairin just bursts into tears, blaming herself that it's because Chespie got hurt that it spiraled into this madness.
- Reggie is holding onto Paul's Gastrodon for comfort — the Pokémon that could've prevented so much tragedy on Paul's end if it was on him — and begs for his little brother to return safe and sound. Which leads to...
Simon attacking Paul and using the electrical properties of his shoes to torture the once-proud Sinnoh Trainer. Paul is screaming and stammering, his mind switching between Paul and Despair and there's no one who can save him. Not even Walter cares; if Simon attacks Despair, it just kills two birds with one stone.
Lexi and Amelia are horrified to learn what the Cage of Flauros will cause and will do anything they can to protect Chloe up to and including Amelia killing Hop to deprive the Cage of one of its components.

Shot Down in Flames / The Fog Car Pt 4 (Don't Fight Me, Ignite Me)

Grace learns that most of the 'Nulls' she killed were once human. She feels her entire existence and mentality crash down in utter horror from it.
- Grace then has an even worse epiphany; she has to reveal this to the Apex and none of them are going to be happy at how they gleefully became a bunch of serial killers. Amelia rightfully chews her out for everything that's happening, up to and including trying to get Hazel involved.
Hop's number has gone up to 1080 within the span of two months because of everything in Silent Hill. To his horror, he's informed it will now probably take a year at minimum to get it down and off the Train and to see Leon again.
Alain is muttering how cold he is, begging for someone to hold him and looking so pitiful.
Even after it's been cleared that Paul killed Sean in self-defense, he honestly doesn't believe he deserves redemption.
Paul: I...am...Despair. I belong here.
- The flashback reveals Paul realizing just what he did when he heard Sean cry for someone to save him, originally assuming it was just a ploy from Sean to drop his defenses. Even worse, it's implied that the paralysis came from Electivire's Thunder Punch. Paul only has time to extend his hand out before he sees Sean drown and his number rising exponentially. Even Electivire is horrified, especially since Paul is afraid that Electivire will be put down for causing this.
Amelia boasts that with how low Chloe's number is, all she has to do is get it to 0 and the Flauros is delayed for a while. But Chloe refuses to go home, not when she promised to get Hop, Paul, and Alain out. Amelia and Lexi beg the girl to just admit that she has to leave in the hopes of saving the Apex from a horrible fate.

Behind the Walls of Sleep / The Fog Car Pt 5 (I Walk Inside Your Circle)

The focus of this chapter is on Dream and Despair, especially Despair, and how the two have suffered because of their actions.
- Chloe's reaction to seeing Saint Ash. After spending so much time learning to not see Trainers, especially Ash, as grandiose perfect beings, Saint Ash comes into view and brings back those long-repressed memories, causing Chloe's number to rise and for her to nearly become Lady Destiny.
- Before looking into his memories, Chloe shows absolutely No Sympathy towards Paul, calling him out for mistreating Chimchar and so many other Pokémon, being completely apathetic to others and kicking them while they are down, and deserving to have no one love him. To the point Saint Ash calls her out on it. The reason this is said is because of what it implies: that despite all the progress she made, Chloe's still spiteful enough to lambast someone she's not only supposed to help, but who has been broken beyond belief.
  - The memory of a younger Paul having at his parents' funeral is heartbreaking as Reggie vows to be strong to protect them. Fans of the anime remember that Reggie stopped battling after his single loss to Brandon...
  - How big is Paul's number? 42007^note, meaning that he won't see his brother again for years compared to Alain at 131 and Chloe, who's just a few numbers short returning.
- Hazel just keeps drawing the short end of the stick: she becomes terrified as the apartment goes haywire, and then she finds out she's a Denizen and not a Passenger, not only from the last person she should hear from but during practically the worst time possible.
- Back in the Pokémon World, Goh is still as miserable as ever: Zeno keeps egging him for his previous mistakes, and the person he's seeing about his medical leave turns out to be less well-intentioned than expected...

Merciless / The Fog Car Pt 6

As if Goh's problems can get any worse, he's kidnapped in exchange for his parents to make a new Mew tracker since the kidnapper is trying to use it to get a Shiny Mew...and she's already critically injured Mew themselves for it. To state how bad it is? Zeno, who usually can't help but be a troll, is freaking out.
After Zeno arrives to help Parker make a detailed image of Goh's kidnapper, Parker knows that his wish for "Good things to last" has ended, meaning that Zeno is about to disappear for good. Despite what he put both of them through, neither Parker nor Goh is that happy to see him go.
Parker: (waving goodbye) Goodbye, Zeno...
- When Goh revisits the day he dropped off that book for Chloe's birthday, it's revealed he never went inside to give it to her and went on the assumption that she was with her friends. She wasn't because no one wanted to be friends with a "Monster Lover" and he was so obsessed with Mew to not even enter the house to see for himself that all Chloe wanted was him. Goh breaks down and states that he would've gone and celebrate 100% if he had known. And Zeno believes him.
- Zeno's ultimate piece of advice: both Goh and Chloe had problems communicating and it hurt them in the end. Now they both have to work on themselves if they want any progress to be made.
Akemi still blames herself for Chloe's disappearance; all she had to do was not talk about Ash and focus on Chloe and this story may never have happened.
Yeardley is broken; he's lost respect, a future, his friends, and now his parents are divorcing.

Overdose Delusion / The Fog Car Pt 7 (Your Power is Over)

"Tonight, someone dies". This chapter wasn't kidding.
When Paul reunites with his Pokémon, he apologizes for being such a prick. However, he is quickly hugged by everyone and he just bursts into tears at the reaction.
Simon murders Chloe and Tuba by making them plummet to their deaths. When Atticus reveals that he has the Pendent of Life, Tuba tells him to save Chloe, have her give a message to Mallow, and says goodbye to Hazel, giving her her satchel and singing her lullaby one last time.
- The Apex shows zero empathy for the deaths that happened. Toby says that Hazel will have better friends that aren't a Null and Tiffany said that Chloe deserved to die for ruining their fun. Amelia is so in the right to knock that child and Grace in the head with her shotgun and tell them that this is their fault and they have no hearts. Even Atticus is about to tear them out about how they are selfish little brats before Lexi reminds him to use the Pendant.
Despite everything Chloe did on the Train, her self-loathing and hatred of herself manifests as she realizes that she did have love and support but rejected it because it was both too late and not the kind she wanted. She admits that when Paul, Hop and Alain arrive home, they'll be praised. But she? After everything that happened, she'll be just like where she started: ignored, hated, spat upon, and with the added bonus of what Parker did causing even more problems. And why all of this? Because she wasn't a Pokémon trainer and didn't love Pokémon like others did. It even gets to the point where she blames herself for Parker's rampage back home, believing that if she had just opened up about her issues or simply become a Pokémon trainer, none of this would ever happened.
- In return, it takes the Trainers to help her break out of that toxic mindset and bias. When it finally sinks in, she's crying about why no one told her this lesson sooner and that she could've been fine as she was if everyone just left her alone and stopped pressing her into something she hated.
Simon dies after being plunged into Toluca Lake by Sean and only Grace is the one crying and mourning his death.

True / The Fog Car Pt 8 (This Pain Will Last Forever)

Sean explaining how he is going to be reincarnated and forget about his mother, and that the only reason he got on the Train was because he couldn't perform a high-dive. He goes and forgives Paul because Paul at least tried to save him and that this was all Sean's fault for trying to attack Electivire. But for Grace? He can't forgive her, even though she did plenty of good it doesn't erase how much damage she did by corrupting him and the Apex.
This chapter completes Grace's Trauma Conga Line by having her reveal to the children of the Apex how she was wrong, and how they're now stuck on the Train for another year at the very least thanks to said lies and how they have harmed innocent denizens for "glow-in-the-dark" tattoos. Watching the children break down afterwards is heartbreaking.
Hazel can't help but look at Grace with sympathy after the woman is left with nothing.
After apologizing to the three Trainers for being Innocently Insensitive, Chloe decides to speak with Grace. The two talk about how their inability to talk things out brought them to ruin, and the Oblivious Guilt Slinging Grace throws at Chloe is rather disheartening too.

Cradle of Forest / The Fog Car Pt 9 (Your Promise is Broken)

Yeardley notes that while no one will be evil enough to enjoy kids being shot, he and all of Class 5-E are hated by all of Vermillion City. Yeardley himself thinks nobody would mourn him; not his father, who is implied to be abusive to him, nor his older sister in college who made her anger towards him known at the trial, and whom he thinks will continue being ‘Miss Perfect’ in their father’s eyes. The only ones who would likely still give a damn about him are his mother and younger sister.
Alex stabs Henry with a spear and envelops him in a hug, planning on drowning the two of them in Toluca Lake. Before he does the deed, he says a farewell to Hop, seeing Josh in the boy.
Alex: Goodbye, Hop...(smiles as a tear hits his flashlight)...Thank you.
Hop: No... ALEX, NO!!!
Alex: (drags himself and Henry into Toluca Lake, and all that floats up is his flashlight.)
Hop: (takes the flashlight into his hands and screams into Dubwool)
Grace tells all of the Apex that they must leave because there's nothing they can do to stop Walter and they can't risk their only chance to finally leave the train. As they leave, Lucy just says goodbye.
- The aftermath; Grace admits that she did horrible things and that Chloe shouldn't be killing Walter — before Chloe gives a look to remind Grace of everything she did — before Grace backpedals. She then questions if anyone will ever forgive her — given that she has killed, murdered, destroyed, lied and who knows what else and the Infinet means that everyone will know of her sins forever — and that she'll probably head to Maccadams to get drunk after everything that happened.
Hop waves farewell to Alex and Josh's ghosts as he leaves while Paul breaks down in tears after finally leaving that hellhole.
Chloe finally saying goodbye to the train and everyone on it. She thanks Atticus for being with her since the beginning, thanks Lexi for letting her carry him, makes Hazel an honorary member of the Red Lotus Quarto, and Amelia hugs the girl and tells Chloe to never come back to the Train because there's so much waiting for her back home.
Amelia: Good bye Chloe, and thank you for everything that you've done.
- Before Chloe initially leaves for home, Sad-One, like he did in Book 1 when Tulip was about to leave, asks for a goodbye hug. Chloe rushes back to everyone — Red Lotus members, Hazel, One-One, and the Pokémon Trainers — with tears in her eyes as she hugs them all.

Emergency Exit / The Self-Portrait Car (I'm Back)

Samantha gets confirmation of Simon's death by Grace, resulting in a brief argument about who was more responsible for how he turned out before they both run out of steam and realize they're both at fault.
- It's heavily implied that Samantha had to survive on her own and just wanted love most of all when she saw all the other cats have fulfilling lives with passengers. As Grace notes, it didn't give her an excuse for abandoning Simon when he needed it the most.
Goh is rescued from the Psy-cage and informed that Chloe's returned home. Great news, right? Except running through Goh's head is every condemnation he's heard about how everything goes his way without him even trying...and he can still hear the train whistle fast approaching. The worst part is that none of this is from Zeno; this is all Goh's thoughts.
- Goh getting a hug from his parents and notes that he can't remember a time that they actually hugged him so tight.
Chloe has, for all intents and purposes, everything she always wanted: her family's attention, classmates trying to be her friend...and it came at such a high cost to everyone that it feels like a hollow victory to her.
- When Gard gives her a new softball bat, as Silver Night got destroyed in Arc 2, she finally breaks down. All she wanted was friends and to have parties and all of Class 5-E never gave her that. They attacked her, give her horrible nicknames, ripped her homework apart, never invited her to parties, crushed her self-confidence, made her unable to move forward and nearly wanted her to kill herself. And for what? Because she was different and didn't like Pokémon like they did?! Even they admit that they never hated her as it was them foolishly going along with Sara's manipulations and being envious of her life without getting to know her. Chloe even tells them that they have to stop this envious mindset as it has done more harm than good.
- Just the fact that Chloe could have had friends if the classmates weren't so stupid to follow Sara and actually went to Chloe and befriended her. She wouldn't have run away, she would gain confidence, she'd be able to do the things she loved. But no, they decided that hurting her was more fun. That seeing her silent and a doormat was better than befriending her. That's how much damage they did and she's only ten!
- Akemi still blames herself for everything and thinks that it's her fault that the school is closing, a class is traumatized, many people lost their jobs, and Vermillion City is a ghost town.
Mr. Bradbury and Miss April glumly talk about how the school is completely ruined now, with all of the teachers having lost jobs and numerous students having to move to other schools, and how unfair the Double Standard hit them for their mistakes. The only hope is that Mr. Bradbury realized his mistakes over Professor Cerise's parenting and is going to help Miss April get into college.
In comparison to Chloe, Yeardley only has his little sister and mother showing concern for him. And his father gave him orange lilies^noteWhich mean "I hate you" as a middle finger.
Paul and Hop have brief conversations with pictures of their loved ones, with Paul confessing to his role in Sean's death and fears of Reggie hating him and Hop trying to figure out how he feels about Alex, neither of them feeling like they can talk to their real brothers just yet.
Tuba's funeral is just as heartbreaking as in canon; the main difference is that Amelia, Hazel's true mother, is actually there out of real respect.

Healer / End of Small Sanctuary (You Have Your Orders Soldier)

The final chapter showing how bittersweet Chloe's journey on the train really is.
Mallow learns about Tuba's death from Ash. Her father and brother hear her scream Tuba's name before finding her sobbing into a pillow.
Goh and Chloe's reunion after two months of pain, trauma, self-discovery and hurt is bittersweet. Chloe is maturely explaining how badly she messed up on her end while Goh is tearfully apologizing, broken and shattered about being a pathetic excuse of a friend. Even Goh eating a bowl of curry laksa is tinged with sadness; a promise they made all those years ago isn't really worth it after the hard lessons they had to learn.
Goh ends up on the Train due to a series of critical errors:
- The presence of other people helps ward off the Train, as it only appears to somebody who is alone. Delia and others assume that Pokémon are just as effective, unaware that Hop had Wooloo out when the Train appeared to him. Chloe does not learn about this misconception until after it comes into play, when she's only been home for a scant two days.
- When Chloe discovers that Goh has found Mew, she VERY briefly slips into her old, bitter thoughts before catching herself. Unfortunately, Delia picks up on her Moment of Weakness and can't resist going on the offensive, smugly asking whether this renders his apologies pointless. Chloe realizes that Goh likely would think that — and that worse, he's currently unguarded, as Raboot and Sobble won't be enough to protect him. Everyone rushes to his room only to find that it's too late: he's already departed, leaving behind a note about how he has to work to earn his side of their freindship.
- Delia gets a harsh wake-up call: she prioritized attacking Chloe over guarding Goh, illustrating that calling others out just to make yourself feel better doesn't solve anything, and can actually cause more problems.
Goh's in a safe place, the Canals of Fondue Car, but he sees the entire car in celebration for the Apex done and Chloe getting a statue made for her, making him feel like he can accomplish nothing and how he tried to tear her down before. And his starting number is 813 so he's going to be on the Train for a year at minimum.

Other

Dreams of Indigo

Yes even an April Fool's Joke manages to wring out some tears. The biggest one is when Chloe gets to relive Goh's worst moment, watching him give up all hope and boarding the train while she begs him to stop and tries to tell him it'll be okay...
Without Chloe gone on the Train, Goh never searched for her, and thus no Trip and no one knows about the Infinity Train until Chloe Prime returns, meaning that her work to have Paul, Hop, and Alain's loved ones know about what's going on is for nothing.
Chloe Prime is all alone, in a world that doesn't remember her, and feeling angry and hurt when Renji calls out his frustration over Chloe Alter's whining and bitching.
Goh on the train is all but dead inside. The bartender of the car he walks into notes that he is way too young to have such an empty look in his eyes.

Tear Jerker / Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail

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