History Fanfic / InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: In the first chapter, Calem's friends (Victor and Gloria) react this way when they start piecing together where Alain might've gone...

* ADayInTheLimelight: While Sycamore and Chloe are the two protagonists of the Train-side of the story, many of the cars have other characters as a focus.

* SanityStrengthening: Act 2 is dedicated to people becoming mentally healthier by confronting their frustrations, anger, and troubles and to better communicate with others. Augustine and Chloe learn to talk things over thanks to Tres. Goh learns to be kind and learn how his NoListeningSkills and LeeroyJenkins attitude has made his parents go overboard in protecting him and turned his friend into a monster because he was he coward who couldn't confess his problems. Chloe learns to connect with her grief hidden beneath her layers of rage. Amelia finally lets go of Alrich, refusing to live happily ever after with a clone of his. Tokio finally confronts how his GuiltComplex isn't fixing himself.

* SchoolIsForLosers: This is Goh's opinion of Vermillion School at least, and the story does little to give him a counterargument; those who attend the school are always shown to be miserable, and would rather be out being Pokémon Trainers than stay any second longer there.

* ShoutOutThemeNaming: Jesse's classmates that he greets in ''Orchid Observer'' are all named after characters from ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'': there's Angela who has a better relationship with her father, Mary and Laura in a relationship and Eddie with his pet dog. Meanwhile, his former bullies are named after characters from ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': Ethan (Winters), Leon (Scott Kennedy), Piers (Nivans) and Lucas (Sera).

** Oscar has to stop Kaito and Zocks from using their weapons -- which are essentially guns -- to fight Team Flare's Pokémon because they're like animals. So Zocks asks for his little brothers (who are super-deformed robots at this point, ItMakesSenseInContext) to take their place.

** Ai wants to live amongst humanity, but Ryoken and the Knights of Hanoi are incense to make sure every Ignis is killed to the point that Ryoken only calls him "Dark Ignis"[[note]]Ryoken ''did'' call Ai by his real name in Episode 99 but then reveted back to Dark Ignis.[[/note]] Ai himself can't comprehend how Specter gets to have two partners in a living lightning bolt and statue lady despite how he worked for a man who wanted to destroy ''all of VRAINS'' for six Ignis. He also has to point out that Specter's wish for a bond with is own Ignis is very shallow since, after all, Specter never even ''knew'' he had an Ignis whereas Ai had years to form a bond with his brother.

** A minor case. Chloe is said to have played all four games of ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', with the most focus being on ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII''...except ''Crocus'' takes place in late 2020, and NMH 3 wouldn't be released until the following year.

** Forced expectations. People, unintentionally or not, force their expectations and ideas onto others that ends up doing more harm than good. Chloe was forced by her classmates to be into Pokémon, Grace is being told that she's a monster who has to stop her ways. [[spoiler:Augustine's rising number]] is based on everyone telling him to rest and that he's not there to be a hero.

** Reconciliation: While ''Blossomverse'' was focused on spite and blaming, ''Crocus'' focuses on people trying to mend their fences with one another. Sycamore and Chloe decide to forgive one another after the fallout of the Cyan Desert Car, Goh and Chloe learn to admit how they both were at fault for their friendship failing, Tokio's biggest lesson is to forgive himself for the Ilex Forest incident, Specter's biggest wish is to make amends with London for how he treated the wrestler. Reconciliation is not easy or quick, but through admission of one's flaws, it is feasible.

* ContinuityNod:
** In the prologue, Professor Sycamore hears about the #[=CallingChloe=] campaign while he's doing his research on Alain.
** One of the cars that Calem's friends entered was something they called the "Plush Piplup" Car. Gloria comments that Nico's bagels were delicious.
** When meeting Gloria and Victor, Goh brings up Tokio's [[spoiler:trip across the train, particularly the tattoo he got from the Calligraphy Car.]]

** Both Asher and Chloe gain Mirage Pokémon in Murky the Murkrow and Hewie the Houdnoom. Both of them are Dark-types (and Murkrow is called "The Dark Pokémon") but function more as pets and loyal allies.

* DeconReconSwitch: Goh and Chloe's talk during the Harvest Moon Car does this with the FairWeatherFriend. ''Both'' of them claimed to be each other's friends, but thanks to a variety of factors, including Chloe and Goh's own issues, they barely even qualify as acquaintances by the time the story began, with Chloe's power trip-fueled spite and Goh's spiraling inability to keep his mouth shut not helping things. However, once the two eventually get enough development to break away from their black-and-white mentality, and learn to stop talking and listen to each other for once, they manage to convince each other that they can still make the friendship work.

* DiligentHeroSlothfulVillain: On the Infinity Train, Chloe Cerise busts her ass off to become a hero to the denizens, building her skills from the bottom up with nothing but a [[PipePain donut holer]] and [[PlayingWithFire a fire casting cloak]] to her name, along with producing videos, photos, and stage productions that rally hope against the darkness. In contrast, her bully doesn't even bother to work her butt off and instead manipulates feeble-minded classmates to bully Chloe so she has no choice but to give everyone a Pokémon instead of actually going to Professor Cerise's Institute to get one for herself.

* PoliceAreUseless: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. The story begins because one Officer Jenny tells Professor Sycamore the search for Alain will have to be stopped due to AbsenceOfEvidence regarding where he went, but it's implied she and her unit did everything they could until they were told to call it off. Later, [[spoiler:while the police ''do'' arrive late to the Unown incident, there was little they could do to actually stop it, and do a decent job detaining Sara and her mother once the Unown are dealt with.]]

* SanityStrengthening: Act 2 is dedicated to people becoming mentally healthier by confronting their frustrations, anger, and troubles and to better communicate with others. Augustine and Chloe learn to talk things over thanks to Tres, Goh learns to be kind and learn how his NoListeningSkills and LeeroyJenkins attitude has made his parents go overboard in protecting him and turned his friend into a monster because he was he coward who couldn't confess his problems, and Amelia finally lets go of Alrich, refusing to live happily ever after with a clone of his.

** Kurune and Ikuo easily dismiss any ideas of how [[spoiler:their son is currently trapped in the Cerise Institute by one of his former classmates going crazy with the Unown.]] Tomie, however, is on the ball since [[spoiler:Sara tried to dissuade any concerns by imitating Goh's voice and stating that she's not into stew with star-shaped carrots...even though Tomie ''knows'' her grandson loves star-shaped carrots.]] Thankfully, the two realize something is wrong and try to help. ''However'', they also knew very well about Chloe wanting to hang out with Goh, but due to a camping incident where Goh nearly drowned, they lied to him to believe her requests were nothing and thus intentionally drove a wedge between the two..

*** While keeping a promise is important, some promises are more important than others

** Kids should ''not'' take responsibility for adults and their messes. Goh's parents never taught their son how to be more social or to move on from his angsts about Tokio, and it takes Gloria and Victor to get him out of his funk. Parker has to be the one to tell the parents of Chloe's former classmates to stop being scared of their own shadows. Augustine tears into Amelia for not doing ''anything'' about the Apex and making kids like Gladion, Tokio and Chloe fix her mistakes. Many of the problems that go on are squarely on the shoulders of adults who don't do more to care for their children.

** NowYouTellMe becomes central in Act 2. How many things could be cleared if people just explained stuff earlier? From something as simple as reading an email to fully explaining that you were happy to see someone as a friend, one shouldn't wait till ''after'' hell breaks loose to finally explain what's going on.
** Like the original Book 3 of ''Infinity Train'', empathy is an important focus. While most attempts to help others are nice, it's NotQuiteTheRightThing. What's needed for people to heal is people ''actively'' talking and comforting the ones going through a mental health crisis instead of leaving them to stew over their problems and thus aggravating them. Whether it's Professor Cerise assuming that leaving his daughter in the Institute substitutes as therapy or Goh assumes that his friend has no problems except "doesn't like Pokémon anymore", to the Hanoi shoving Specter into his room in an attempt to keep him from running away, or Goh's parents letting him stay in his bedroom to look over six monitors instead of helping him make friends, these attempts don't actively fix the problems as they are just masking them over. Act 2 focuses on these people seeking help and shoulders to cry on when therapy is not in anyone's dictionary.

** Reconciliation: While ''Blossomverse'' was focused on spite and blaming, ''Crocus'' focuses on people trying to mend their fences with one another. Sycamore and Chloe decide to forgive one another after the fallout of the Cyan Desert Car, Goh and Chloe learn to admit how they both were at fault for their friendship was failing, Tokio's biggest lesson is to forgive himself for the Ilex Forest incident, Specter's biggest wish is to make amends with London for how he treated the wrestler. Reconciliation is not easy or quick, but through admission of one's flaws, it is feasible.
** Kindness, or more specifically, what happens if you don't ''reciprocate'' or ''appreciate'' it. Chloe has done her best to be there for Goh, but he refuses to thank her due to his own problems and focus on himself. This in turn leads to Chloe shoving Ash and Goh to the side when they kindly ask her to join them. Augustine has a meltdown when Chloe takes Specter's directness towards his patience. The inability to notice when people are doing kind things for others lead to frustration and feelings of not being "enough". However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't ''stop'' being kind. Goh always cared for Chloe and did perform acts of kindness towards her, Augustine and Chloe obtained their denizen partners this way, and one of Specter's motivations to get back on the train is to payback the kindness London showed him by sacrificing himself to Pyramid Head.
** Speaking of kindness, unconditional love and kindness are the key ingredients to get people to stop blaming themselves and move forward. Goh comes to understand Chloe's gestures to him, London decided to help Specter even if he wasn't getting anything in return, and Juran's advice for Goh is to just "be kind" even in the face of unknown. Chloe's icy wall around her heart starts to thaw when she learns how Yamper always loved her and he evolves when she states how she loves him back.

* DeconReconSwitch: Goh and Chloe's talk during the Harvest Moon Car does this with the FairWeatherFriend. ''Both'' of them claimed to be each other's friends, but thanks to a variety of factors, including Chloe and Goh's own issues, they barely even qualify as acquaintances by the time the story began, with Chloe's power trip-fueled spite and Goh's spiraling inability to keep his mouth shut not helping things. However, once the two eventually get enough development to break away from their black-and-white mentality, and learn to ''shut up'' and listen to each other for once, they manage to convince each other that they can still make the friendship work.

** The story treats Goh, who has a history of mental issues in the ''Blossomverse'', the same way as in the original trilogy: that is to say, most people will call him out over being insensitive and not having done more to help Chloe, and generally view him as a jerk. Chloe, meanwhile, is ''implied'' to have a mental disorder here, and is given AdaptationalSympathy by everybody, not only with people being quick to come to her aid whenever people call her out, but even coming close to [[DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery justifying]] her more unsavory actions as being her just being different, something Goh doesn't get. Thankfully, Act 2 gives Goh a break while allow him to tell Chloe that she has no excuse for her own attitude.

** As the story eventually reveals, both Chloe and Goh's parents caused a ''lot'' of damage to many people as a result of letting their anger and grief get the best of them. However, while Chloe is given unconditional support from most people, with even her detractors seeing the reason why she did what she did, Kurune and Ikuo are lambasted by their own family for their hands-off parenting. However, Chloe admits that she did do the Fujihachi parents wrong and vows to make it up to them when she returns and she asks Goh to not wish them onto the Infinity Train.

** Everything involving Chloe unable to help Goh is ''solely'' on the principle that she was never told about Tokio. Had Goh or his parents brought it up for her, she would've been more understanding and none of their friendship problems would've happened.

* HourglassPlot: Chloe and Goh's friendship in a nutshell. When they were younger, Chloe tried to reach out to Goh but he refused her. In the present, ''Goh'' wants to reach out to Chloe, but ''she'' refuses. Chloe was the one giving him the homework to which Goh could care less about since he's too focused on his dreams. Now Goh is going to get the sheets while Chloe is too busy trying to escape her suicidal thoughts to even care. Finally, their friendship started to fray when Goh jumped into a river to catch a Vivillon while Chloe has to fish him out. Their friendship starts repairing when Goh vowed that he ''would'' stop Chloe from jumping off a rooftop. Chloe hated waiting for Goh while he was off doing whatever he wanted and thought little of her, whereas ''Crocus'' is all about Goh waiting for ''Chloe'' while she's working on herself.

** Never bottle up your feelings. If something is bugging you, say so ''immediately''. At the same time, if someone is trying to warn you about something, actually ''listen'' to them instead of brushing it off as nothing.

* JustEatGilligan: With how much trouble school is shown giving Goh in later chapters, it really does raise the question of why he even bothers to keep his "I only go to school for tests" promise or how he's forcing Chloe to be his delivery girl and never showing gratefulness of getting his homework for him when he can just drop by and pick them up before skedaddling. He has a job at the Cerise Lab, Ash and other trainers don't go to school and they aren't given crud, and nothing about school sounds like it would give him any benefit (it might help Chloe, but that's about it). It would honestly be a better solution for him to drop the promise and just stay as far away from the place as possible.

* CastFullOfGay: Starting at the end of Act 1/beginning of Act 2, and in a few side stories, there are more and more characters under the LGBTQA+ spectrum, mostly among the non-Pokémon cast members: Specter is demiromantic, Indigo is bisexual, Casimira is lesbian, Tres is a transman, and Ryan and Min-Gi are a couple (meaning Ryan is bi compared to his straight in the original show). Team Riconnetersi consists of asexual Jesse Cosay, female non-binary aromantic Lake, gay Spencer, and "bi-curious" Colette. Among the ''other'' half of the series, such characters are limited to Ash and Trip (until it's revealed that [[spoiler:Colette is actually an alternate Chloe.]])

** As the story eventually reveals, both Chloe and Goh's parents caused a ''lot'' of damage to many people as a result of letting their anger and grief get the best of them. However, while Chloe is given unconditional support from most people, with even her detractors seeing the reason why she did what she did, Kurune and Ikuo are lambasted by their own family for their hands-off parenting.

* HolierThanThou: The Cerise kids just love to claim the moral high ground over [[NoSocialSkills Goh]] by accusing him of ''only'' caring about people who love Pokemon (i.e., Ash and Tokio) and being a FalseFriend to Chloe. Now, no one can deny that Goh ''[[HypocriteHasAPoint does]]'' have a lot to learn when it comes to friendship (since he cared more about a boy who he met for ''one day'' compared to the girl he's known for three years and sees every single day)... But then again, neither of ''them'' showed any concern over the issues ''Goh'' was facing over the past few years (such as [[WhenYouComingHomeDad his parents never being around]] and [[FriendlessBackground having zero friends outside of Chloe]]) and there was no indication that ''they'' were any better friends to him. [[DoubleStandard It just goes without saying]] that Goh bore ''all'' the responsibility for maintaining his and Chloe's relationship - and besides, as he's [[DoesntTrustThoseGuys a Pokemon enthusiast]], the Cerise children would consider Goh [[PrivilegedRival privileged]] until proven otherwise. Thankfully, both siblings realize that they ''also'' were in the wrong with Chloe admitting that she's also at fault for not seeing Goh's point of view and Parker tearfully apologizing about seeing Goh as a monster.
* HourglassPlot: Chloe and Goh's friendship in a nutshell. When they were younger, Chloe tried to reach out to Goh but he refused her. In the present, ''Goh'' wants to reach out to Chloe, but ''she'' refuses. Chloe was the one giving him the homework to which Goh could care less about since he's too focused on his dreams. Now Goh is going to get the sheets while Chloe is too busy trying to escape her suicidal thoughts to even care. Finally, their friendship started to fray when Goh jumped into a river to catch a Vivillon while Chloe has to fish him out. Their friendship starts repairing when Goh vowed that he ''would'' stop Chloe from jumping off a rooftop. Chloe hated waiting for Goh while he was off doing whatever he wanted and thought little of her, whereas''Crocus'' is all about Goh waiting for ''Chloe'' while she's working on herself.

** Harvest Moon Car reveals that Chloe started acting more like Goh because she believed it would make him acknowledge her as his friend.

* JustEatGilligan: With how much trouble school is shown giving Goh in later chapters, it really does raise the question of why he even bothers to keep his "I only go to school for tests" promise. He has a job at the Cerise Lab, Ash and other trainers don't go to school and they aren't given crud, and nothing about school sounds like it would give him any benefit (it might help Chloe, but that's about it). It would honestly be a better solution for him to drop the promise and just stay as far away from the place as possible.

* SanityStrengthening: Act 2 is dedicated to people becoming mentally healthier by confronting their frustrations, anger, and troubles and to better communicate with others. Augustine and Chloe learn to talk things over thanks to Tres, Goh learns to be kind and learn how his NoListeningSkills and LeeroyJenkins attitude has made his parents go overboard in protecting him, and Amelia finally lets go of Alrich, refusing to live happily ever after with a clone of his.

** The story treats Goh, who has a history of mental issues in the ''Blossomverse'', the same way as in the original trilogy: that is to say, most people will call him out over being insensitive and not having done more to help Chloe, and generally view him as a jerk. Chloe, meanwhile, is ''implied'' to have an mental disorder here, and is given AdaptationalSympathy by everybody, not only with people being quick to come to her aid whenever people call her out, but even coming close to [[DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery justifying]] her more unsavory actions as being her just being different, something Goh doesn't get. Thankfully, Act 2 gives Goh a break while allow him to tell Chloe that she has no excuse for her own attitude.

** The whole ghost hunt debacle described in Harvest Moon Car would've gone down a whole lot differently if A.) Goh had listened to Chloe's warnings to not chase after a Vivillon over a river, and B.) Chloe hadn't dawdled in trying to get him back to camp and then been more considerate of his health and wellbeing afterwards.

* HolierThanThou: Chloe and Parker just love to claim the moral high ground over [[NoSocialSkills Goh]] by accusing him of ''only'' caring about people who love Pokemon (i.e., Ash and Tokio) and being a FalseFriend to the former. Now, no one can deny that Goh ''[[HypocriteHasAPoint does]]'' have a lot to learn when it comes to friendship (since he cared more about a boy who he met for ''one day'' compared to the girl he's known for three years and sees every single day)... But then again, neither of ''them'' showed any concern over the issues ''Goh'' was facing over the past few years (such as [[WhenYouComingHomeDad his parents never being around]] and [[FriendlessBackground having zero friends outside of Chloe]]) and there was no indication that ''they'' were any better about celebrating birthdays or even asking about ''his'' day. [[DoubleStandard It just goes without saying]] that Goh bore ''all'' the responsibility for maintaining his and Chloe's relationship - and besides, as he's [[DoesntTrustThoseGuys a Pokemon enthusiast]], the Cerise children would consider Goh [[PrivilegedRival privileged]] until proven otherwise. Thankfully, both siblings realize that they ''also'' were in the wrong with Chloe admitting that she's also at fault for not seeing Goh's point of view and Parker tearfully apologizing about seeing Goh as a monster.
* HourglassPlot: Chloe and Goh's friendship in a nutshell. When they were younger, Chloe tried to reach out to Goh but he refused her. In the present, ''Goh'' wants to reach out to Chloe, but ''she'' refuses. Chloe was the one giving him the homework to which Goh could care less since he's too focused on his dreams. Now Goh is going to get the sheets while Chloe is too busy trying to escape her suicidal thoughts to even care. Finally, their friendship started to fray when Goh decides that the smart thing to do is jump into a river to catch a Vivillon while Chloe has to fish him out. Their friendship starts repairing when Goh vowed that he ''would'' save Chloe before she decided to jump off a rooftop. Chloe hated waiting for Goh while he was off doing whatever he wanted and thought little of her, whereas''Crocus'' is all about Goh waiting for ''Chloe'' while she's working on herself.

** The entire Cerise Institute (Parker included) falls into this when they note how they're ''all'' to blame for why Chloe ran away from home since they had every chance to talk to her but ''didn't''.

** As Chloe is about to end it all, she blames herself for her mistakes in Cyan Desert Car, Palimpsest, and Harvest Moon Car, thinking that she was never good for anything except a punching bag or to be ignored for not conforming to others' wishes. Buné and Goh help her break out of this mindset and to focus on the progress she made, not the mistakes.

* AdaptationNameChange: Moonlight Passengers are a different name for Golden Letters, a concept that appeared in several expanded universe stories where those who came to the Infinity Train on their own power to find or save someone with a distinct symbol on their hands. The main difference being what that symbol is (golden letters that spell 'Visitor' instead of a blue moon as in Crocus.)

** This is zigzagged in Den City. The Knights of Hanoi followed Ryoken's suggestion to put Specter into isolation whereas Ghost Gal was willing to look into the Train herself and vows to get him help. London even states that the Hanoi scientists are being bystanders ''again'' to Specter (since they let Specter and five other kids be electrically tortured for the sake of advancing humanity). Upon realizing how they have done wrong, the Knights of Hanoi decide to stand up in Specter's defense and help prepare him for the journey back.

** In the Cyan Desert Car Parker (who is now stuck in a wheelchair and cast thanks to Sara and is ''pissed off to no end about being told he's JustAKid'') states this trope by name during the climax of the Cyan Desert Car. The adults -- parents of Chloe's former classmates -- around him scream like headless Combuskens literally afraid of their own shadows and he points out that the reason why things to to hell is because adults don't ''listen'' to children until it's far too late.

** Never bottle up your feelings. If something is bugging you, say so ''immediately''.

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: The ''Blossomverse'' is no stranger to LGBTQ themes, but these were fairly minor, with only a few characters like Ash and Trip playing a major role in the story. ''Crocus'' goes ''all out'' in adding as much representation as possible, with several characters having their orientation changed from whatever it was before to something befitting the group; Specter is now gay, several Denizens identity as non-binary, and so on and so forth.

* OneMythToExplainThemAll: Gods and Demons -- or the Numinae and Goetias as they are called -- are denizens created by the Train with human mythology and stories about them based on passengers who met them in person.

* SanityStrengthening: Act 2 is dedicated to people becoming mentally healthier by confronting their frustrations, anger, and troubles and to better communicate with others. Augustine and Chloe learn to talk things over thanks to Tres, Goh learns to be kind and learn how his NoListeningSkills and LeeroyJenkins attitude has made his parents go overboard in protecting him, and Amelia finally lets go of Alrich and refuses to live happily ever after with a clone of his.

** Speaking of Specter, one of the reasons he goes back on the Train is because he wants to see three important people again -- London, Easter, and ''especially'' Lampetia. Ai doesn't understand how Lampetia is so important to Specter and could care less when she gets injured. White Gestalt begs to differ and ''all of them'' get pissed off when [[spoiler:Ai mocks Lampetia ''losing half of her face'']].
* YoYoPlotPoint: Chloe's character development. At first, it seems as if talking with Sycamore helps her open up a little, but she falls back almost immediately when [[spoiler:Dr. Yung]] tempts her with an offer of [[spoiler:a Mirage Pokemon]] to shut up the naysayers back home, which she nearly takes before the Windchasers and her team snap her out of it by talking things out. Then comes a long stretch where it seems that Chloe will learn her lesson, only for her to fall back ''again'' as a result of [[spoiler:Sara mocking her with a message about her having the power of the Unown]], with Chloe's reaction striking Sycamore so badly that he [[spoiler:nearly restarts the world out of spite]] and has to be reset. Then, after that incident is dealt with, it seems like Chloe's lesson will ''finally'' stick, but then her phone call with Ash reveals that no, she ''still'' believes she's the sole victim and that everybody else is out to hurt her, as she snaps at Ash over how he never cared for her ''despite'' it having been made clear that he does, he just didn't know how to properly express it. It takes the events of the Palimpsest Car and [[spoiler:getting near beaten to death by street cleaners]] and talking to ''an actual therapist'' before Chloe properly apologizes to Sycamore and ''seemingly'' learns her lesson, and by the end of the Harvest Moon Car after a near suicide attempt that is only stopped by Goh being both blunt ''and'' reassuring that he always saw her as a friend, she fully resolves to make proper amends.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: The Train hosts denizens that would become the basis of numerous myths through the revelation that gods and demons exist. ''Rey Mysterio vs the Cosmos'' reveals that the Roanoke incident happened because the passengers got picked up by the Train and assumed they were going to Croatoan Island instead.

* HourglassPlot: Chloe and Goh's friendship in a nutshell. When they were younger, Chloe tried to reach out to Goh but he refused her. In the present, ''Goh'' wants to reach out to Chloe, but ''she'' refuses. Chloe was the one giving him the homework to which Goh could care less since he's too focused on his dreams. Now Goh is going to get the sheets while Chloe is too busy trying to escape her suicidal thoughts to even care. Finally, their friendship started to fray when Goh decides that the smart thing to do is jump into a river to catch a Vivillon while Chloe has to fish him out. Their friendship starts repairing when Goh vowed that he ''would'' save Chloe before she decided to jump off a rooftop.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: PlayedWith. Like in the ''Blossomverse'', many of the problems people have could be solved if therapy was in someone's dictionary, but this time there are ''actual'' therapists and discussions on this trope brought up. Tres is a licensed therapist who helps Augustine and Chloe talk about their issues before handing Chloe a medical care app to help her talk with other trauma victims. Tokio mentions that he went to a therapist after his initial Train Trip, Victor makes remarks that Gloria took therapy to combat [[spoiler:how she lost her reflection]] and Yuri even suggests that One-One creates a therapy program with the denizens since the Train's views on mental health are ''heavily'' outdated.

** In ''Orchid Observer'', the world that the original ''Infinity Train'' protagonists come from reveals that there are government sponsored programs for former passengers to recover, obtain therapy and catch up on tutoring if need be. Moreover, Jesse's old "friends" were revealed to have been punished for what happened to Nate and being somewhat the fault for Jesse's disappearance.

** Goh's remark of "I don't need these homework sheets" is meant to be humorous and establish that he's BrilliantButLazy. The fic shows the events on Chloe's side, in how she's bullied and teased because she's the ''only'' person who goes out to get the sheets and Goh's remark now shows how ungrateful he is for Chloe waiting for him and shows little to no concern over the Lugia stunt severely hurting him.

** Goh ultimately concludes that both he and Chloe were at fault for their camping trip that was explained in Harvest Moon Car. Chloe was being insensitive when he got a fever, only asking if he can come have more ghost adventures with her. Goh then admits to his parents that ''he'' also messed up -- the only reason he got sick in the first place was because Chloe ''warned him multiple times'' not to chase after a Vivillon floating in the river, which led to him getting sick with a fever in the first place because he was too stubborn to listen.

** Kindness, or more specifically, what happens if you don't ''reciprocate'' or ''appreciate'' it. Chloe has done her best to be there for Goh, but he refuses to thank her. This in turn leads to Chloe shoving Ash and Goh to the side when they kindly ask her to join them. Augustine has a meltdown when Chloe takes Specter's directness towards his patience. The inability to notice when people are doing kind things for others lead to frustration and feelings of not being "enough". However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't ''stop'' being kind. Goh always cared for Chloe and did perform acts of kindness towards her, Augustine and Chloe obtained their denizen partners this way, and one of Specter's motivations to get back on the train is to payback the kindness London showed him by sacrificing himself to Pyramid Head.

* ADayInTheLimelight: While Sycamore and Chloe are the two protagonists of the story, many of the cars have other characters as a focus.

** Augustine gets blamed for what happened in the Palimpsest Car even though he was depressed and not thinking straight. Does ''Amelia'', who spent thirty years as the Conductor, get '''any'''' sort of punishment or accusations thrown at her face? Not in the slightest -- One-One completely brushes her usurping under the rug and hires her to make the videos that ''should've'' been made all those years ago. However, Tres points out that One-One also has some blame for letting the cars do as they wish and not caring for consequences. After all, Amelia has only been Conductor for thirty years, so she should be blamed for what she did during that time span alone.

** The beginning of Part 2 has Chloe reeling through this, highlighting her depression from everything she's going through, before she almost takes her life at the end of the Harvest Moon Car. It's only thanks to Goh and Buné that she snaps out of it.

** Goh bumps into Gloria on his way to the Cerise Institute after Chloe's goodbye message, and she stays with him even after he snaps, even giving him some InUniverseCatharsis in the form of a smash game. Because of this, Goh's is more mentally sound, at least for the moment. It's thanks to her and Victor's influence that he is able to stand up to Chloe and force her to stop blaming him for her problems, which has Chloe admit that she's in the wrong and the two to forgive each other.
** Adding onto this, because Gloria and Victor are here to help, this means Parker never becomes mentally unstable as he has supportive older sibling figures who won't tolerate his anger and spite yet still reassure him that his sister will return. Moreover, because Chloe properly calls her mother and assures Parker she ''will'' come home when she's in the Elephant Teapot Car, this means the latter never goes off the deep end. Cementing this, [[spoiler:Parker's version of [=UnChloe=] is a gentle, older sister figure who supports him instead of giving in to his twisted desires.]]

* HourglassPlot: Chloe and Goh's friendship in a nutshell. When they were younger, Chloe tried to reach out to Goh but he refused her. In the present, ''Goh'' wants to reach out to Chloe, but ''she'' refuses. Chloe was the one giving him the homework to which Goh could care less since he's too focused on his dreams. Now Goh is going to get the sheets while Chloe is too busy trying to escape her suicidal thoughts to even care.

* ItsAllMyFault:

** The entire Cerise Institute (Parker included) falls into this when they note how they're ''all'' to blame for why Chloe ran away from home since they had every chance to talk to her but ''didn't''

* JustEatGilligan: With how much trouble school is shown giving Goh in later chapters, it really does raise the question of why he even bothers to go to school. He has a job at the Cerise Lab, Ash and other trainers don't go to school and they aren't given crud, and nothing about school sounds like it would give him any benefit (it might help Chloe, but that's about it). It would honestly be a better solution for him to drop the test promise and just stay as far away from the place as possible.

** Jesse and Lake had ShipTease moments throughout ''Infinity Train'', but ''Orchid Observer'' changes it so that the former is asexual and lake is aromantic.

** Goh has a different reason to go back to school outside wanting to get a break -- he wants to go back to return the favor of Chloe always delivering his homework for him.

** In the Cyan Desert Car Parker (who is now stuck in a wheelchair and cast and is ''pissed off to no end about being seen as JustAKid'') states this trope by name during the climax of the Cyan Desert Car. The adults -- parents of Chloe's former classmates -- around him scream like headless Combuskens literally afraid of their own shadows and he points out that the reason why things to to hell is because adults don't ''listen'' to children until it's far too late.

* AngerBornOfWorry: Discussed in the Cyan Desert Car. Chloe's classmates are being chewed out by very pissed off parents for a number of reasons, but the anger comes from concerns that they didn't do enough for their children to make them realize that their futures are in jeopardy at the moment and that they almost crossed a line.
* TheAntiNihilist: As Arc 2 goes on, many characters start adapting this mindset. The world sucks, and the Train is infinite and long, but people can decide what to do with their lives by being kind and helping others.

** "So what?" is usually associated with someone with a severe LackOfEmpathy: Grace stated this when she was reminded on how she killed Utahoshi, Tokio's RageBreakingPoint came from a teenager (later revealed to be Bede) not caring on making a young trainer cry, and Sara states this when she doesn't realize how she's ruined the lives of her classmates. Later on, it's a common phrase to say in defiance to someone's accusations (like when Lampetia uses it to tell Ai that she's not gonna give up despite [[spoiler:having lost ''half of her face'' to one of his monsters.]]

** While Professor Cerise became this in ''Blossoming Trail'' he gains more of an ascension by the end of Act 1 since [[spoiler:he's now taken onto the Train.]]

* FelonyMisdemeanor: Are you a ten-year-old child who has issues with punctuality and generally limits your texting for quick updates on when you'll arrive? Prepare to have [[DramaQueen your childhood friend]] denounce you to ''everyone she meets'' as [[TheOathbreaker]] because of your [[InsistentTerminology "broken promises,"]] and a five-year-old labeling you as a {{Hypocrite}} for responding [[NeverBeHurtAgain irrationally]] to a broken promise in ''your'' backstory. This gets subverted later on as Goh starts standing up for himself and Chloe and Parker apologize for slandering Goh without getting the facts straight.

** As much as Tokio hates to admit it, but this is also his flaw too. Even though what happened to him was ''never'' his fault, just outside forces, he still wishes to blame himself for it.
** Chloe herself goes through this as well, believing everything that happened to her life and others is because of her mistakes, to the point that she's ready to kill herself when the despair gets too much.

** Kindness, or more specifically, not ''reciprocating'' it. Chloe has done her best to be there for Goh, but he refuses to thank her. This in turn leads to Chloe shoving Ash and Goh to the side when they kindly ask her to join them. Augustine has a meltdown when Chloe takes Specter's directness towards his patience. The inability to notice when people are doing kind things for others lead to frustration and feelings of not being "enough". However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't ''stop'' being kind. Goh always cared for Chloe and did perform acts of kindness towards her, Augustine and Chloe obtained their denizen partners this way, and one of Specter's motivations to get back on the train is to payback the kindness London showed him by sacrificing himself to Pyramid Head.

** Amelia is usually seen with handguns or long-ranged weapons in ''Blossoming Trail''. While she ''still'' uses a pistol, she later gets a hold on an electric croquet mallet and an Ice Wand.
** Gladion and Specter used toy brick shields and Tokio had the Gale Boomerang. For their return trip, as their weapons are now Apex property, London gifts Gladion a kusarigama, Specter gets a size-shifting metal staff and Tokio has a deck of throwing cards that double as bombs.

** In ''Orchid Obsever'', the world that the original ''Infinity Train'' protagonists come from reveals that the government has made government sponsored programs for former passengers to recover, obtain therapy and catch up on tutoring if need be. Moreover, Jesse's old "friends" were revealed to have been punished for what happened to Nate and being somewhat the fault for Jesse's disappearance.

** In the anime, Goh jumping off onto Lugia was a triumphant moment with a bit of comedy sprinkled in over how he and Ash wonder what they're doing. In the story, once she hears about it, Tomie points out how dangerous such a stunt actually was, and how Goh could've been hurt as a result of it and how no one was even aware he was out doing something so reckless.

** Kurune and Ikuo easily dismiss any ideas of how [[spoiler:their son is currently trapped in the Cerise Institute by one of his former classmates going crazy with the Unown.]] Tomie, however, is on the ball since [[spoiler:Sara tried to dissuade any concerns by imitating Goh's voice and stating that she's not into stew with star-shaped carrots...even though Tomie ''knows'' her grandson loves star-shaped carrots.]] Thankfully, the two realize something is wrong and try to help. They also knew very well about Chloe wanting to hang out with Goh, but due to a camping incident where Goh nearly drowned, they lied to him to believe her requests were nothing.

* DiligentHeroSlothfulVillain: On the Infinity Train, Chloe Cerise busts her ass off to become a hero to the denizens, building her skills from the bottom up with nothing but a [[PipePain donut holer]] and a fire casting cloak to her name, along with producing videos, photos, and stage productions that rally hope against the darkness. In contrast, her bully doesn't even bother to work her butt off and instead manipulates feeble-minded classmates to bully Chloe so she has no choice but to give everyone a Pokémon instead of actually going to Professor Cerise's Institute to get one for herself.

** Adding onto this, because Gloria and Victor are here to help, this means Parker never becomes mentally unstable as he has supportive older sibling figures who won't tolerate his anger and spite yet still reassure him that his sister will return. Moreover, because Chloe properly calls her mother and assures Parker she ''will'' come home when she's in the Elephant Teapot Car, this means the latter never goes off the deep end.