Windchasers (Professor Sycamore) | Infinity Train (Denizens, Red Lotus Uprising [Chloe Cerise], White Gestalt (Specter), Elipzo) | Pokémon World (Goh Fujihachi, Professor Cerise, Sara Diktaylis) | Den City | The Multiverse
Augustine Sycamore
- "I'm coming to get you, Alain".
Appears in: Seeker of Crocus (Debut) | Rey Mysterio vs the Cosmos (Mentioned) | Voyage of Wisteria (Cameo, The Darkest Day)
The protagonist of this deviated story. A Pokémon Professor from the Kalos region with Mega Evolution as his focus for his research. After his former assistant, Alain's, disappearance, Professor Sycamore grew restless as he tried to help with the police's search for him.
However, his single decision to not tell Ash his worries and the stress of not finding any evidence to Alain's whereabouts led him into the Train that he shouldn't be on in the first place.
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A-D
- 10-Minute Retirement: He's left so drained by the events of the Cyan Desert Car he ends up being taken to his mental realm by Audric in order to regain his sense of worth, leaving Chloe and the rest of Red Lotus Uprising and Windchasers to defeat Sara's Unown threat.
- Accomplice by Inaction: He failed to provide Alain the help he needed, or figure out that Lysandre wasn't someone trustworthy. Avoiding becoming this once more is one of the reasons he joins up with Red Lotus uprising, for better or for worse.
- Action Survivor: Despite having no combat skills whatsoever, he accompanies Rimuru's squad to protect the werewolf village. He drops the "survivor" part after getting some training in.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Alain going missing hits him much harder than in canon, being the reason he wound up on the Train and all. He also suffers from serious self-confidence and self-worth issues.
- Adaptational Badass: Professor Sycamore had no real combat ability in canon that didn't involve the use of a Pokémon. In this story, he eventually learns how to wield a sword and later obtains a Persona.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Professor Sycamore was a nice guy in the original games, and while he's still nice here, he shows a darker, more spiteful side whenever he's sent past his breaking point, which is often. This becomes even more pronounced during Act 2, as the relentless emotional and psychological beating he got during the events of Act 1 causes him to grow jaded and cynical.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Since they were in entirely different dimensions through most of it, Sycamore and Chloe were complete strangers back in the original trilogy. In here, their relationship forms a big part of Act 1.
- Adults Are Useless: He certainly thinks he's an example of this trope in regards to what happened in Alain. This gets subverted when he helps heal the werewolf village chief and he is reassured that what happened with Alain is not his fault. During the Cyan Desert Car arc, this reaches its peak when Chloe is unable to calm down in wanting to stop Sara and he blames himself for not doing enough, before Specter walks in and spits on his teeth by getting the girl to calm down.
- Aesop Amnesia: If there's anything that Sycamore learned by the end of the Cyan Desert Car, it's that Chloe's ultimately too stubborn and toxic to allow herself to be helped, and that he was better off splitting from her and focusing on his own issues. Come the Palimpsest Car, and Tres' therapy session convinces him to stick to Chloe's side, especially after she promises to be better… despite Sycamore having seen firsthand how easy it is for her to backtrack into her spiteful self (thankfully Harvest Moon Car has her willing to let go of her hatred).
- All for Nothing: The events of the Cyan Desert Car makes him feel like all his efforts were for naught when Chloe completely succumbs to anger and spite upon hearing what happened back at Vermillion City, right before she uses him to vent her frustrations about being powerless to do anything and has to watch Specter be the one to ultimately gets her to see reason. It's so bad he goes insane over it and nearly destroys the world before Auric interferes.
- Apologetic Attacker: Before or after he blinds someone with Kouha, he will apologize.
- Ascended Extra: He was originally a minor character in Blossoming Trail where he just informed Ash about Alain's disappearance. Here, his decision to forgo telling him in this story caused him to enter the Train instead and become the protagonist.
- Amnesiacs are Innocent: After Paimon erases his memories of his spite and honesty against Chloe and Specter, he's more or less his normal kind-hearted self. And Paimon hopes it stays that way.
- Amnesiac Hero: He's so broken by the events of Act 1 and Chloe's horrible spitefulness that Paimon is forced to erase his memories of those events in order to reset him back to how he was when he first started, lest he tries to destroy the world again. It fails as the Palimpsest Car goes on to have him regain those memories while being almost turned into the conductor of the car, with his issues flaring right back up.
- Anguished Outburst: The Prelude to Act 2 has him placed under the effect of a truth geass in order to get him to spell out about his problems with Chloe and Specter. Given how he's been bottling these feelings since the start of the trip, and how badly he was hurt by their actions, this results in him exploding against the two, calling them out over their apparent inability to try work on themselves without hurting other people or throwing away that development in the process, with him even going so far as to call Specter something that leaves him speechless.
- Audience Surrogate: A very dark example. Like most readers, he initially gets an interest in watching Chloe grow into a healthier person, but the longer he sticks around with her, the more and more he gets thrown darkness at his face, with his actions proving increasingly less effective in actually getting anything to change. The Cyan Desert Car has him eventually go insane and try to destroy/restart the world when Chloe not only throws away all of her development in a moment of spite, but then decides to hear a guy she just met over him, who's been dedicating his whole train trip to help her get better, just like how many readers eventually grow tired of the increasing darkness of the story until they decide they've had enough and quit.
- Badass Longcoat: Wears this as part of his Train outfit that Rimuru provided. According to the author, it's also to invoke the tropes of an isekai protagonist.
- Badass Normal: Despite having no supernatural powers of his own — until he gains a Persona — he still joins the assault to protect the werewolf village.
- Benevolent Boss: He serves as the leader of the Windchasers, and he treats all of them with equal amounts of respect.
- Berserk Button: He hates signs of cruelty and bullying along with ignorance of said problems. For example, when he overhears just how much Chloe has suffered at her school, he is angry that not a single adult — not even her parents — was there to help her at her lowest.
- Betty and Veronica: He's the kind, calming Betty to Specter's snarky aloof Veronica. He's the one who supports Chloe by telling her to believe in herself and acts like a parental figure who helps guide her to be her better self.
- Beware the Honest Ones:
- When he gets hit with a Truth Geass in the Act 2 Prelude he wastes little time stating how he really doesn't like Chloe and Specter's actions in the second half of the Cyan Desert Car stating that Chloe is a selfish brat who couldn't cherish what she had and says that Specter will never get the love and relationships he wants and says something so damning that Specter feels like he lost his hearing for a second.
- In the Palipsest Car, he does not spare Amelia any grief by stating that all the heroic groups are mostly here to clean up the mess she made and that she needs children to get her to actually do something before the Train dissolves into chaos from the cult she indireclty had a hand in making and that there are thousands of denizens killed or injured and passengers who struggled for over thirty years on figuring what to do because she couldn't care less about anyone except her sorrowful self.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a very pleasant and kind person so if you manage to piss him off, you're pretty much done. Not even One-One is safe when he's pushed into a corner.
- Be Yourself: Whenever he's asked to do a performance, as he has stage fright, he's mostly told to just be natural. It works as the denizens love this more realistic, awkward, depiction of the Professor.
- Black-and-White Insanity: The situation with Sara and the Unown causes him to snap when his simple white/black world view clashes with how Chloe isn't able to calm down after one epiphanic speech but rather Specter's blunt observations that she has to stop being angry and actually start getting shit done. The only thing that stops him from killing himself is Asher's Master sealing this insanity away.
- Blinded by the Light: Not he himself, but he primarily uses his Kouha spell to blind his opponents.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Ends up like this in the Twisted Lab Car, courtesy of his shadow. Thankfully it's only temporary.
- Brainwashing for the Greater Good: The events of the Cyan Desert Car end up breaking him and desiring to either end it all, or end the world. Asher's master/Auric seals this insanity, but it's implied to have done the poor professor more harm than good. And then in the Act 2 Prelude, Paimon removes his hate and anger to reboot him to his normal kind self, warning Chloe and Specter to not apologize for their actions or else it will just restart the loop again.
- Break the Believer: This is basically what sums up Act 1 for him; he spends most of it a Wide-Eyed Idealist with Black-and-White Morality, but once things near the end, his simplistic view of the world simply cannot keep up, eventually ending with him being driven insane by the sheer despair he feels and feeling like he can't do anything except destroy or Restart the World.
- Break the Cutie: The events of the Cyan Desert Car and Chloe's unwillingness to not fall into spite and anger for the dozenth time — due to being stuck in a situation she can't find to be hopeful, along with how it's not his words that finally get her to calm down, but Specter's Brutal Honesty and Dare to Be Badass approach — causes him to lose all hope and get ready to either kill himself or Restart the World.
- Break the Scientist: It's almost redundant to mention this trope, but his first arrival on the Train causes him to faint twice for a reason.
- The Cameo: Appears in Act 3 of Infinity Train: Voyage of Wisteria to comfort Oleana when she's on the Infinity Train. It's revealed in Part 4 of the Cyan Desert Car that he got transported there by the barista/Auric (who is Asher's mentor) as a test.
- Can't Catch Up: Played for Drama. Professor Sycamore enters the train with relatively little fighting experience, but still decides to lead the Windchasers and eventually become an ally to the Red Lotus Trio. Unfortunately, he finds himself very quickly failing to keep up the pace with the rest of the teams, especially Chloe, which only serves to further damage his already fragile sense of self-worth.
- Catchphrase: Allons-y.
- The Chains of Commanding: He serves as the leader of the Windchasers, but this only piles up his self-worth issues regarding how he can actually be of use, which are absolutely not helped when the team decide to join forces with Red Lotus Uprising and Chloe enters the picture.
- Character Title: He's the titular "Seeker of Crocus".
- The Chosen One: To Rimuru Tempest, who not only gives him the task to rescue Alain from Silent Hill, but help the Red Lotus Trio in their quest to stop the Apex.
- Combat Pragmatist: He'll use the Kouha spell to blind opponents.
- Composite Character: Given how the original Blossomverse trilogy would have important characters given traits of Silent Hill characters, Augustine takes Silent Hill 2 James Sunderland's desire to search for Alain with traits of Silent Hill 3's deuteragonist Douglas Cartland on his pursuit and eventual Parental Substitute role for Chloe Cerise (who is based off Heather Mason). Moreover, Douglas held regret over the death of his son and wants to make amends, just like how Augustine failed in being a more astute mentor for Alain and wishes to do right by helping Chloe with her problems.
- Dark Is Not Evil: His covenant with Buné — a three headed black scared dragon who is part of the Goetias, gives him the appearance of what is essentially a shiny Charizard, but he's still the heroic Seeker of Crocus
- Deal with the Devil: Makes a covenant with Buné at the end of the Harvest Moon Car.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype:
- Of the Decoy Protagonist. He initially enters the story as the main protagonist, but that role instead goes to Chloe as Act 1 keeps going. The deconstruction comes from the fact that Sycamore is aware of this, but still tries to be of use to Chloe through the rest of the Act, and when he finds himself unable to do so, he completely snaps and decides to end everyone's suffering by ending everything in general. And later on, Gremory and the barista have to tell him to stop seeing himself as a side character and become the main character he's supposed to be.
- He also serves as one to the Morality Chain. He serves as Chloe's chain during Act 1, but in order to be as effective as he is, he ends up neglecting his own issues in order to focus solely on Chloe, and when he ends up being rejected by her, he goes completely insane.
- Decomposite Character: In a way. While Specter is usually the one who has a lot of Vincent Smith traits, Augustine has traits of Vincent's film self, Vincent Cooper. Namely in that he's the one devoted to protecting Heather Mason/Sharon de Silva, is depicted with black hair instead of a brunette and is determined to helping Chloe in finding her father. In Act 2, Augustine gains Buné's seal on his chest, like Vincent Cooper has the Halo of the Sun carved onto his chest.
- Decoy Protagonist: Initially he's outed as the main protagonist of the story, but as Act 1 goes along, he ends up taking a backseat for Chloe's development, and as more and more people appear in the story, Sycamore's actual importance diminishes, culminating in him not even participating in the final battle of Act 1. Gremory and Auric both have to advise him that it's time for him to really take the spotlight.
- The Defroster: In theory, he's supposed to act like this to Chloe, providing her with the emotional support she never got back home and helping her thaw out of her aloof persona in order to help her return home. In practice, Sycamore just ends up putting time on Chloe that he could've spent on himself, causing his own issues to go completely unaccounted for. Thankfully, once Bune helps get to the core of Chloe's issues, she's shown to thaw out more.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: While he technically already has it as a Pokemon Professor, Alain's disappearance has caused him to grow severely self-conscious and wondering what he's supposed to do next. He tries to find one by helping the Red Lotus Uprising, but that doesn't exactly work out for him...
- Detrimental Determination: His determination in helping Chloe go back home once he meets her brings him nothing but pain and misfortune, to the point he goes completely insane by the end of Act 1 because Chloe renders all his work for naught.
- Does Not Like Spam: The Harvest Moon Car reveals he hates spicy foods, so something doesn't seem right when he's seen eating lots of peppers and downs a spicy soup without problem. Because he's not himself, it's Buné in him thanks to Chloe's botched summoning spell.
- Draconic Humanoid: Accidentally becomes this in the Harvest Moon Car after Chloe tells Buné to get out of Augustine's soul but didn't add to remove his new dragon features. Buné decides to make this a feature to protect him in the future.
- Dream Walker: Asher's connection to him allows him to communicate with others while he was asleep (which he was thanks to Chloe accidentally placing the soul of a Goetia in him) and he was able to chew out Goh's parents for their apathy towards a suicidal girl.
- Driven to Suicide: The Cyan Desert Car and Palimpsest Car put a lot of pressure on him, to the point that he's ready to place a sword to his neck in order to stop the world from putting him further through the wringer. It's only through Tres arriving to give him therapy that has him avoid it.
- Driven by Envy: As spelled out to him by Auric and Gremory, a big part of Sycamore's attitude and [[Spoiler:eventual breakdown]] comes down to the fact that he's envious of the many, many people on the train who shows greater expertise at things he can't do, while he himself is stuck being given every reason to believe he's completely useless and incapable of doing anything that matters.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Played for Drama. Despite having a lot of good, heroic deeds since he arrived at the Infinity Train, up to and including becoming the chosen one of Rimuru, Sycamore isn't treated any differently by the other character, whether they're his allies or his enemies. This doesn't help him with his self-worth issues, especially when Chloe appears and people just have to talk about how "great" and perfect she is.
E-M
- Early-Bird Cameo: Appears in the final arc of Voyage of Wisteria before making his debut in Seeker of Crocus. "The Cyan Desert Car" expands on how and why Sycamore is there in the first place.
- Easily Forgiven: Chloe forgives him for what Augustine did in the Palimpsest Car...which was take control of a child-like train that made it fly off the rails and nearly crash into Casimira's house where Chloe was currently staying at. Justified in this case as Augustine was not in a clear mental state when this happened.
- Empowered Badass Normal: After obtaining a Persona, he's capable of unleashing light spells on a whim. He later obtains the powers of a Goetia. And not just any Goetia, but a giant, three-headed dragon.
- Even the Guys Want Him: The Figure aka Austen Plane comments on how majestic he looks.
- Evil Costume Switch: When brainwashed by his Shadow, he dresses up like Lysandre. Thankfully it's only temporary.
- Expy:
- Like how the Cage of Flauros components that weren't initially Silent Hill characters are all based on the protagonists of the mainline games (ex. Chloe was Heather Mason and Alain was Shattered Memories Harry Mason), Augustine has traits of Silent Hill 2 protagonist James Sunderland who journeys to into the fog after getting a message from their loved one (in this case Alain) and he must fight a manifestation of his own darkness (Shadow Sycamore).
- The barista compares him to Oersted, a heroic knight who wished to push on to help others but ultimately cracked when his black and white mentality was skewed, with the final straw being Princess Alethea's spiteful suicide. Augustine nearly went down that path when Chloe Cerise — who is mockingly called a princess — snapped at him, taking back all the progress she had made along the way in order to yell and threaten and find something to take out her frustrations about the Unown situation.
- Expy Coexistence: Sort of. Sycamore gets compared to Oersted by the barista, and it's eventually revealed that Oersted himself entered the Train over a thousand years ago.
- Eye Colour Change: For some odd reason, one of his eyes turns gold during the end of the Palimpsest Car.
- False Dichotomy: He's stuck in one, believing that he's either going to become a great hero on the Train or, as everybody else has practically told him, he's a prime example of how Adults Are Useless and he should just sit back and let the other, real heroes do their job.
- Failure Hero: By the end of Act 1, Sycamore has essentially done nothing of value and failed each of his objectives; he still isn't any closer to finding Alain than he was at the start, he's failed to live up to his title of chosen one from Rimuru, he failed to give Chloe any meaningful progress in getting her number down without her backtracking right at the very start, he hasn't even been able to inspire any hope in other people, passenger or denizen, because they only compare him to Chloe rather than pay attention to what he says.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Sycamore certainly believes this to be the case the longer his Train trip goes; he fails to realize Team Flare mustn't be trusted, fails to help Alain recover from said ordeal, he fails to find Alain on the Infinity Train before being driven mad by Chloe's wrath and his sense of hopelessness, and most damningly, despite doing his absolute best to help Chloe get an early exit, she ends up sabotaging herself when she chooses to focus on her spite and anger over Sara and uses him as a punching bag to vent.
- Faints in Shock: The first thing he does upon meeting a talking goblin in the Monster City Car is to faint from the mental overload.
- Fantastic Science: He's a Pokémon Professor, meaning he studies Pokémon... Which doesn't help him at all when he ends up on the Train.
- Fatal Flaw:
- Helplessness. He feels like he can't do anything right upon learning the sheer scope of what's going on even though it's shown time and time again that he is capable of doing good. Not only is he reminded on how he failed to help Alain, but him reaching his breaking point that made him nearly destroy One-One makes him fall into a Heroic BSoD and lamenting how useless he is. And it gets even worse Chloe breaks him by falling into spite and anger yet again, causing him to be corrupted and decide to either kill himself out of disillusionment or Restart the World if his subconscious thoughts are correct.
- He feels like his way of giving hope is a one-size-fits all scenario. Unfortunately, Chloe's anger and rage at Sara in the Cyan Desert Car is not quelled so easily — due to how Chloe is justified in her anger how her bully has injured her brother and forced her father to be her plaything — and seeing Specter's bluntness finally getting to her causes him to snap.
- Selflessness. Sycamore is a legitimately gentle soul who wants nothing more than to help the people around him, but this eventually translates into him neglecting his own needs in order to focus on what everybody else needs, regardless of how important it is.
- Envy. As Gremory points out, he's hiding a lot of jealousy over others who excel at certain areas he can't. This is especially noticeable with Specter, who was able to do the one thing he couldn't — get Chloe to see reason in what was the darkest monent of her life at that point.
- First-Name Basis: He prefers to be called by his first name, Augustine, than his surname, Sycamore, to the point he even asks Rimuru to call him by his first name when he calls him "Sycamore."
- Flower Motif: Crocus flowers represent "Hope" which is what Professor Sycamore will bring when he enters. It also relates to Alain's own flower motif being the crocus combined with his last name (Sativus) being related to the plant that creates "saffron".
- Foil: Sycamore is basically this to every other Pokémon character whoever entered the Train, mostly because he's an adult compared to the kid passengers (with Mallow having entered at age 5, Tokio, Chloe, and Goh at 10 and Gladion at 14).
- He's a contrast to Chloe in some regards, with one aspect of them being that he's slightly embarrassed to sing while Chloe is willing to serenade her partners without a hint of bashfulness. And while he's completely confused with the craziness that goes on, Chloe rolls with it. Augustine's weapon is a magic sword crafted to him by high-quality blacksmiths, while Chloe's signature weapon is a rusty pipe (or "donut holer") that was given as a gift by Randall when Atticus traded objects for the journey ahead. Augustine becomes a hero within his first car while it took several before Chloe became a household name.
- He's also one to Professor Cerise. Both of them suffer a Guilt Complex over an important person going missing, but while Professor Cerise managed to somewhat stay stable regardless until his train trip at the end of Act 1, Sycamore was taken by the Train. And while Professor Cerise is used as The Scapegoat and made a punching bag, the story does everything it can to prove to Sycamore that he's not solely to blame for what happened with Alain.
- As the Token Adult (and male) to a group hoping to dismantle the Apex, he's this to Paul London of White Gestalt. Sycamore is a newbie with his only problem being based on concern and worry over Alain, whereas London is stuck due to having committed murder and everything else that was done under White Gestalt's name and has been on the Train for three years at this point. And while Sycamore moves forward to get things done, London has no choice but to run away before things get worse. Sycamore's main attire is black and white, London sticks to an all-white suit. Sycamore is optimistic and leader whereas London is cynical and a follower. Also, Sycamore likes to be addressed by his first name, while London goes by Last-Name Basis.
- Friendly Address Privileges: To most people he meets and befriends with, he tells them to call him by his first name, Augustine.
- A God I Am Not: Tells this to his Shadow after he sees into their memories:Sycamore's Shadow: Just how long are you playing as a messiah while knowing how much you’re hurt from everything I did to you and your friends?
Augustine: I am not playing God. And if you think I am playing, then I cannot help you in that regard - Genre Blind: He thinks he'll at least manage to last on the Train long enough to find Alain if he remains optimistic and determined. All fine... except he's on the Infinity Train, where most people operate on a morally neutral manner, not to mention trying to operate on such extremes as "good and evil" don't exactly work out for the thinker.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: He's so used to a black-and-white view of the world, as Rimuru notes, that he's in danger of breaking apart if left unchecked. Sure enough, the events of the Cyan Desert Car shatters his black/white philosophy, courtesy of Chloe and Sara.
- Good Is Dumb: Not so much dumb as he's naive, but it's the same principle: Sycamore is a genuinely good man surrounded by more morally neutral characters in the middle of a world where such moral neutrality is at least expected. However, he carries himself in a manner of black and white thinking, even when it becomes clear this mentality is more hazardous than useful at times.
- Good Is Impotent: Deconstructed. Professor Sycamore is a legitimately nice man who only wants to find his former pupil and, after a little bit on the train, help Chloe reach the end of her trip. However, his black and white thinking, coupled with him not being that much of a fighter, as well as being surrounded by people either more experienced or straight up more powerful than him, makes him come across as almost completely useless in a given situation. This is something Sycamore is painfully aware of, and he goes completely insane once he feels he has become permanently useless in the grand scheme of things, to the point he might as well reset the world so he at least gets a chance to be of use.
- Good Is Old-Fashioned: In a world where the majority of people at least operate in a morally neutral manner, Sycamore stands out as strictly operating on a "good and evil", black-and-white sort of thinking. The story then goes to great length to show how this kind of thinking brings more problems than it solves that way.
- Gratuitous French: Likes to drop French phrases in speaking, albeit this is justified since he's from the Kalos region which was inspired by real-world France.
- Greater Need Than Mine: Deconstructed. Once Sycamore finds Chloe and learns about how she got on the Train, he decides to have his team join hers and help her get her number down, as it's much bigger than his own at that point. This results in him neglecting his own wellbeing, both mental and physical, to the point that he gets a number much bigger than hers by the end of Act 1, with Chloe still nowhere near close to going home by then.
- Guilt Complex: This was Alain's Fatal Flaw in Blossoming Trail but this now affects Professor Sycamore also, believing that he didn't pursue Alain's problems more or didn't come to stop Alain before Lysandre reared his ugly head. When he can't stop Chloe's Freak Out when she sees how Sara has essentially is going to raise hell in Vermillion City, his mind essentially breaks over how he can't stop this.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Though it's not so much that he prefers it, Sycamore's gifted a sword from Rimuru in order to help for the second Rock Crusher raid, and to make his journey across the Train slightly easier. His weapon in the Ninjala Car is the Ippon Katana.
- Heroic BSoD:
- In the Chocolate Car, He ends up in one after in his rage, he nearly killed One-One over how the Conductor blatantly kicked out three innocent passengers yet he lets the Apex continue their rampage and allowed Amelia to be unpunished for her atrocities.
- Chloe's decision to fall into spite and murderous rage against Sara — who has control of the Unown and has injured Parker, fused an abomination with her father and is out to torture Ash and Goh before spreading it to destroy Vermillion City — sends him into another one, this one so bad that he's constantly pondering whether to end it all or end the world to create his own idea of "Hope". It gets to the point this has to be sealed so he doesn't go through with it.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: He sees himself as lesser, useless and weak even though he's done a lot for someone out of his depth on the Infinity Train. It gets so bad that he becomes broken over his perceived uselessness, and even when healed, his number increases to 717 at the end of Act 1.
- Hidden Depths:
- He's fond of electronic dance music. Sycamore said that this is because Professor Kukui gave him a playlist filled with these songs in order to calm him down before his first lecture.
- He's also a Gundam fan as he admits to Meyer that he was excited to pilot one during the events of the Model Diorama Car.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: When Asher puts a truth geass on him in order to get him to vent his frustrations, as it's made clear he won't do it otherwise, he makes it clear that whatever his feelings for Chloe were, he now holds the girl in utter contempt for not only rejecting him when he only wanted to help, but for casually backpedalling whatever progress she makes whenever the slightest trigger appears on her way. He also reveals he doesn't like Specter, noting that Specter is really not doing anything for himself, and saying something so scathing his voice actually cracks and everyone else is horrified (the words turn out to be parasitic sycophant).
- Hope Bringer: His role in the story, relating to his title of "Seeker of Crocus". However, the Cyan Desert Car reveals that he wants to bring out his own vision of hope, even if he has to Restart the World to do so.
- His role in Voyage of Wisteria is to give hope to Oleana, helping her let go of her revenge against the Train — in retaliation for it killing her sister, Arianna — and save it from Ogami's forces.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: A platonic example with Chloe and justified because he's an adult and she's only 10.
- Humble Hero: Is very modest when Rimuru praises him for saving the werewolf chief. And despite his own feats, he's in awe at what Chloe has done, despite being 10.
- The Idealist: He's one of the more cheerful characters and is quick to hold onto hope even in the worst situations. Chloe's breakdown over Sara's actions and the events of the Cyan Desert Car eventually make it so this is no longer the case.
- Identical Stranger: If Anubis is right, Augustine has a similar appearance to a previous passenger named Armand. The Horrorland Car confirms this to be the truth, given Lampetia's visions of a figure with similar black hair and matching blue/gold eyes.
- Informed Flaw: While recovering from his freak out near the end of Act 1, Auric calls him out on his behavior, claiming how he's essentially just a Control Freak of a tyrant who wants things to go his way, lest people around him can burn. However, up until that point in the story, Sycamore has been generally neutral, if not friendly, to most people, with the few times he did lose his cool and act like a tyrant coming from him being overwhelmed by the stress of the situation, which is understandable considering the setting.
- I Just Want to Be Special: As revealed at the end of Act 1, all Sycamore really wants out of his Train trip is to get to be the hero he feels he failed to be back in his homeworld due to Team Flare and Alain. Unfortunately, this falls in deaf ears to just about everybody else, who tell him to stand back and let them do the work, which doesn't do well for his sanity.
- In-Series Nickname: Because Vaillant finds his first name (Augustine) to be a mouthful, he picks "Gus" as a nickname for simplicity's sake. He also is somehow called "Professor of the Monster Kingdom". Yuri later calls him "August" and his Shadow nicknames him "Auggie".
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: A variation. Rather than being chosen itself being seen as the reason it sucks, it's the superfluous nature of it; despite having been chosen by Rimuru himself to be his warrior, Sycamore barely gets any respect from other people as a result, and even when he does, it's solely to compare him to Chloe Cerise and how much "better" she is than him.
- Karmic Jackpot:
- Despite having no combat capabilities himself, and Valliant's rude attitude to him earlier, Sycamore still risks his life by coming along to save the wolf village, even saving the chief. In the process, he gets his first Denizen partner in Valliant, who's grateful for all his help.
- By wanting to work alongside his Shadow — despite the fact said Shadow brainwashed him to nearly kill Yuri and Vaillant and he ended up stabbing Lain in the stomach Augustine gained an incredible ally whose skills in analyzing body movements helped to break apart lies.
- Unfortunately Subverted during Chloe's breakdown after Sara reveals what she's done with the Unown. Despite having done his absolute best to work as a supportive figure to the girl, this does not spare him from Chloe's verbal lashing at him, which, coupled with Specter's brilliant decision to then do what he couldn't do and calm Chloe down right in his face, causes him to completely fall into despair and become a shadow monster intent on either killing everyone or restarting the world.
- Karmic Transformation: Discussed. As Chloe reels from her accidental summoning of Bunè that has the demon's soul in Augustine's body — since neither Wepwawset nor Anubis decided to give her instructions prior — Augustine believes that turning into a monster is his way of atoning for what happened in the Palimpsest Car. Asher tells him to quite it with the atonement talk.
- Laughing Mad: Ends up like this in the Twisted Lab Car when he repeatedly stabs Lain in the gut, due to being brainwashed by his own shadow.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: It's repeated noted in the second half of the Cyan Desert Car that Augustine is acting more like a "side character" than the protagonist he's supposed to be and that he needs to step into the spotlight.
- Leitmotif: "Spectrum" by Zedd, which he sings at the finale of the Cyan Desert Car.
- Light Is Good: Gains the ability to use light spells through his Persona, and he's one of the good guys.
- Martyr Without a Cause: Played for Drama. Sycamore has been affected so badly by what happened with Alain that he's perfectly willing to sacrifice himself if it means it'll allow him to be of some use to his team. However, the people he sacrifices himself for are those who either are capable of taking care of themselves, like the rest of the Windchasers, or those who are perfectly willing to abuse his generosity in order to make themselves feel better, like Chloe during her breakdown at the Cyan Desert Car, which not only causes him to mess up his own train trip, but make the tip for everyone last longer than it needs to.
- The Medic: Thanks to training as a Professor, he knows how to tend to injuries. This allows him to be of big help at the attack on the Monster City Car, acting as a doctor for the injured wolves while everybody else faces off against the golems.
- The Mentor: He decides to become something like this to Chloe, providing emotional support and being by her side on her journey. Of course, this being Chloe, it doesn't take long before Sycamore finds himself becoming an Obsolete Mentor...
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He doesn't straight up die, but he's left so utterly drained at the end of his psychotic episode near the end of the Cyan Desert Car that he sits out the final battle against Sara and her army of Unown-Shadows.
- Mental World: Sycamore wakes up in one of these in the Elephant Teapot Car which takes the form of a greyscale version of his apartment. Going deeper shows a black/white office with an Astral Chessboard.
- Misery Builds Character: His arc across Act 1 serves as a horrifying Deconstruction of this trope. When Sycamore enters the Train, he is the same Wide-Eyed Idealist as he was in the Pokemon World, with the Monster City Car proving to him that it might not be enough to save him. From there, he suffers several hardships that ultimately help him grow stronger as a character, making it look like he's going to come closer to his breakthrough as a Passenger... and then Red Lotus Uprising enters the picture. Once both the Windchasers and Red Lotus Uprising join forces, Sycamore's "misery" starts turning from painful but beneficial in the long matter, to just plain, unrelenting suffering, which isn't helped by Sycamore not focusing on his issues in order to look after Chloe. By the time the Cyan Desert Car appears, Sycamore has been through so much pain and suffering that, when Chloe verbally lashes out at him after learning what Sara has done with the Unown that, rather than grow stronger from it, he utterly breaks, coming this close to destroying or restarting the world in order to stop suffering for the sake of "growing better as a character".
- Mirror Character: To Tulip Olsen from Infinity Train Book 1 as both are logically minded characters who board the Train and have many similar quirks: one of them being that they're embarrassed to sing a song important to them in the Crystal Car (Tulip's song, "Word Up" was a song she sang with her parents on road trips while Augustine's song "The Specter" related to his love of electronic dance music).
- Morality Chain: Becomes one for Chloe during Act 1. While Chloe isn't really evil, she has a tendency to backtrack into self-loathing and spite and becomes incredibly violent if pushed. Professor Sycamore is literally one of the only people who can get her to not only calm down, but actually keep her on the straight path. This leads to him neglecting his own issues in order to focus on her and go completely insane once Chloe rejects him. It's later revealed that while he is part of the reason why Chloe hasn't broken, the true chain is Goh who convinces her that her life is worth living and that he always cared for her.
- My Greatest Failure: Not being aware of Alain's actions and of Team Flare's wickedness still hangs on his head at the beginning of the story, and Alain's disappearance because he didn't do enough to help him is what got him on the Train in the first place.
N-Y
- Named Weapon: Names his magical sword "Tempest's Light" after one of his titles and his friendship with Rimuru.
- Nice Guy: A humble, gracious person to the point he was willing to accept his own Shadow even though he never forgives said Shadow's actions of brainwashing him and made him kill a construct of Alain.
- No Hero to His Valet: Played for Drama. Despite being a figure in some pretty important events, like saving the werewolf village from the Rock Golems, nobody really treats him any differently than they did before he did those things. This doesn't help him at all with his crippling worth issues, especially when he stands next to Chloe, whom just about everybody sings praises to about being both a hero and the goddess of the Train.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: While initially only entering the Train to save Alain and work on himself, he decides to join Chloe's team's quest to stop the Apex and Cage of Flauros after hearing about it from them, as well as keeping an eye out on the redhead. What he got from this was a constant set of heartbreak and heartache regarding whether he was actually useful in the large scheme of things, culminating in going completely insane and having that insanity sealed in order to stop him from killing everyone.
- Not Good with Rejection: Platonic example, but Sycamore tends to take it pretty badly when somebody rejects, especially if it's done in a way that seems malicious or furious. The best example is Chloe's cold rebuttal when trying to calm her down after learning about what Sara is doing with the Unown, which affects him so badly he effectively goes insane and has to have this madness sealed before he kills everyone.
- Not Quite Back to Normal: Having his insanity sealed seems to cure him...Until he pushes Yuri into the sand with a cynical look.
- No Sympathy for Grudgeholders: By the time Act 2 rolls around, Sycamore begins to show little patience for those who'd rather wallow in anger and spite than forgive and try to move on; part of the reason he comes to resent Chloe is because her continued failure to remember her lessons and move on boil down to the girl refusing to let go over her petty grudge to everyone back home for allegedly hurting her, and he shows himself completely apathetic to Kurune and Ikuo when he talks to them once he learns they hate Chloe for nearly making Goh drown when they were younger.
- Odd Friendship: Out of the many, many Denizens he could have befriended as part of the start of his train trip, it's with Rimuru - the talking slime who also happens to be a demon lord.
- Only One Finds It Fun: He's basically the only person in the room who ends up enjoying Shion's cooking. For comparison's sake, Garchomp, his faithful aid, winds up knocked out immediately.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After a dive into his Palace and his desires to either kill himself or Restart the World are sealed by Asher's Master, Augustine wakes up with a cynical look on his face and pushes Yuri into the sand. It's later revealed that was Auric's doing so he can get some distance from everyone else.
- Out of Focus: Played for Drama. Despite being the alleged main character of the story, Act 1 doesn't really do much to give him character development, instead focusing on helping other people, particularly Chloe, deal with their own issues. This causes him to neglect his own issues, allowing them to fester until they blow up in his face.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Played for Drama. As the Cyan Desert Car goes on, he feels more and more useless since his attempt to keep Chloe calm didn't pan out and he has to watch everyone else do things better than he and doesn't even partake against stopping the Unown threat. It drills it into his head that he's a worthless adult who can't do anything right.
- Obsolete Mentor: Deconstructed. When Sycamore meets with Chloe, he decides to become like a mentor of sorts to her, helping her along her Train journey. However, Chloe rapidly begins to grow in sheer power, to the point that by the end of Act 1 she has long since surpassed Sycamore. This does not help the man's crippling self-esteem issues, and serves as one of the biggest factors for his mental breakdown at the end of The Cyan Desert Car.
- Parental Substitute: Acts like a father figure to Yuri, Vaillant and Chloe. He later explains that it's more akin to a mentor figure than a parent to for the last one though.
- Performance Anxiety: He shows shades of this during the Routine Arc, to the point he asks Asher to hypnotize him to make him appear cool and confident prior to getting on stage for the White Gestalt Return Concert. Asher refuses because it's below his standards and that it's better if Augustine was just his raw authentic self on stage. However, when he has to do a performance for the Cyan Desert Car all by his lonesome, he nails it...until he gets backstage and looks ready to havea a heart attack.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Screams this to Lain once he's free from Shadow Augustine's brainwashing and having realized he just killed Lain in his madness."Please Lain! Don't leave me alone! Don't leave me again!"
- Poor Communication Kills: Wouldn't be a Blossomverse protagonist without this.
- Decides not to tell Ash what's going on with Alain...who could have helped out in explaining the Infinity Train's existence because Trip is already there in regards to Chloe's disappearance. He later learns that Alain passed by the Monster City Car a while back.
- He then learns that he could use the Infinet to contact everyone long after he woke up from the Train because One-One hasn't updated the introduction videos. Needless to say, he's not happy to find out he could've called everyone sooner.
- Due to London's wording, he thinks Alex Shepherd is someone who can protect the group from Pyramid Head...he doesn't get clarification until Chloe reveals in the Ninjala Car that Alex Shepherd can transform into Pyramid Head thanks to Gloria and Goh's own verion of PCK when they refused to let Parker explain why Alex Shepherd isn't trustworthy. London even comments on this a few cars later.
- He focuses so much on helping Chloe that he neglects to talk to people about his worries. Everyone is horrified to know that he's so traumatized from it all.
- Pretty Boy: An older variation as he's around 30 and has stubble, but he's known to have plenty of followers on the train, from the denizens to the Figure aka the Big Bad and leader of Elipzo. Even Sara's narrations in the Cyan Desert Call call him the Ikemen Professor.
- The Promise: He vows to help Chloe on her trip to the Fog Car to stop the Cage of Flauros. Unfortunately, his sanity starts deteriorating as things get out of hand in the Cyan Desert Car...
- Rage Breaking Point: If Sycamore's anger reaches this, it's a signal that things are getting worse.
- After hearing from Officer Jenny that the police will cancel the search for his former assistant along with her accidentally instigating a rant-inducing slight by asking him to take a rest, Augustine couldn't hold in his frustrations and worries any longer as he went on ranting over that his former pupil is in danger. It isn't until he accidentally snapped at Calem and Mayer that made him realized that the stress of the search is getting to him.
- Another one happens during his confrontation with Shadow Sycamore, when him being Brainwashed and Crazy into attacking his friends and killing Lain causes him to enter a Tranquil Fury state against the Shadow before unleashing how he will never be his Shadow.
- And hearing One-One refusing to remove the ban that traumatized 3 members of White Gestalt has him ready to murder the bowling ball and even destroy the Engine itself to stop the cycle of despair.
- While more of a "Despair Breaking Point", Chloe deciding she wants to kill Sara for the events of the Cyan Desert Car while breaking him with some cynical talk causes him to give up on everything and corrupt him into a Shadow. It takes the madness being sealed to put him back to normal... Sort of.
- Red Baron: "Augustine of the Light" and "Seeker of Crocus".
- Restoration of Sanity: He gets driven mad by Chloe's pessimism and anger at the climax of the Cyan Desert Car, but Auric's intervention causes him to seal his insanity and bring the good old professor back to normal... for the most part.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Augustine's starting number, '129' is the episode number for Pokémon XYZ's "Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare!", which was where Professor Sycamore met Alain for the last time before the Team Flare arc. His new number at the end of the Cyan Desert Arc becomes 717, which is the National Dex number of Yvetal, the Pokémon associated with destruction.
- His black and white longcoat reflects his innocent views of things being black and white. The deepest parts of his subconscious is a room with black and white furniture and a chessboard floor.
- Walter calls him a new Cage of Flauros component, "Daybreak" which is meaningful in two ways: 1) it's not part of a reference to the original 7 components and 2) every component aside from Dreams start with "De" whereas Daybreak starts with "Da", highlighting that he's unique to the story itself.
- He's one of the more idealistic characters of the story, constantly clinging onto hope. Chloe ends up breaking him by choosing to wallow in spite and anger rather than move on, symbolizing how the Blossomverse, at least initially, would rather wallow in anger and hurt everyone and everything rather than try to look for a solution.
- By the time he's back to normal at the end of Act 1, his number has risen to 717, symbolizing not only how much mental and emotional damage the poor professor has gone through, but how trying to focus solely on other people beside himself has done nothing but hurt him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: While he obviously can't leave the Train without getting his number down to zero, he's so worn out from all the crap that happened in the Cyan Desert Car, including Chloe backpedaling on all the progress they did to work on her anger and spite, that he decides enough is enough and quits the quest to stop the Apex and the Cage of Flauros (but more because there's something bigger on the horizon, not because he's doing a Rage Quit).
- Secretly Selfish: Gremory brings this up in the Cyan Desert Car that despite his calm nature, he's just dripping with envy and desires to be useful.Gremory: For all I understand, you’re frustrated that you’re useless. But all I see is jealousy, envy, and rage at yourself that you’re nothing more than a nobody on the Train. Unable to change everything, unable to stop the threats around you. You are nothing but a selfish and envious man.
- Seeker Archetype: He's the "Seeker of Crocus", who wishes to find the truth over what happened to Alain and the mysterious group known as Elipzo.
- Self-Inflicted Hell: Professor Sycamore goes through so much pain and misery across Act 1, but most of that misfortune only happens because he refuses to cut his loses and leave Chloe behind, even after it's been made clear that not only does she have more than enough support without him around, but is ultimately too stubborn and too toxic to make any real progress in having her number go down, even after she starts working on herself.
- Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: Unlike everybody else in the story, Sycamore doesn't wallow in the depressing atmosphere and is quick to hold onto hope even at the worst times. The events of the Cyan Desert Car change this, and indeed, convince him to straight up quit the quest in order to focus on a far more important matter: stopping Elipzo.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: After the events of the Monster City Car, Sycamore switches from his lab coat to a white and black long coat similar to Rimuru's, signifying his new role as the protagonist of the story and
according to the author, represents him as Rimuru's Chosen One. - Skewed Priorities: Despite the entire point of boarding the Train being to work on your own issues, Sycamore spends most of Act 1 focusing on how to help Chloe and not himself, which leads to severe consequences down the line.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His cameo in Infinity Train: Voyage of Wisteria has him comfort Oleana that she can still do something despite how she was almost ready to destroy the Infinity Train. This helps Oleana use the bomb to obliterate the March Hare's army and let her be able to move forward after saying farewell to her sister (reincarnated into Rosmca).
- So Proud of You: States this to Chloe when he sees her becoming more confident and willing to cut off her hair so she can Screw Destiny.
- Standardized Leader: He's allegedly The Leader of the Windchasers, and also happens to be the closest thing to a normal person in a team composed of an illusionary werewolf, a living shadow, a big bipedal hammerhead-like creature, a boy with a knack for mechas, and a plush rabbit and robotic spider.
- Stock Light-Novel Everyman: In contrast to the other protagonists of the Blossomverse, Augustine is just a normal person (Barring his role as a Professor) who only gets on the Train because of concerns for Alain and is more of an Action Survivor who mostly tries to act as a pacifist, only fighting when he has to.
- Stock Light-Novel Hero: That being said, he's a pretty boy with dark hair who gets trapped into another world with a Badass Longcoat, gaining new abilities via his Persona and is a Badass Bookworm. Humorously, he first ended up in a car that is ruled by another one of them in the form of Rimuru Tempest.
- Story-Breaker Power: He has a Gundam at his command, but never uses it after the Plastic Diorama Car since it would decimate everything in his path.
- Summon Everyman Hero: He gets sent onto the Infinity Train all because of his worry for Alain, but he ends up becoming a hero by virtue of his bravery. The "everyman" is played with since he arrives as a Badass Bookworm with no other powers outside a Garchomp with Mega Evolution and he arrives around the time Chloe of the Vermillion has just made a name for herself, but eventually loses the "everyman" part of him as he gets involved in more and more craziness on the Train.
- Sweet Tooth: Harvest Moon Car reveals that he's known for liking very sweet foods. Chloe exploits this by giving Augustine a very spicy soup before handing him a sweet tart. He loves the former and hates the latter, which is all Chloe needs to prove that something is possessing the professor.
- Team Dad: As the oldest and most reasonable member of the Windchasers, he's more often than not the one who helps the younger Passengers work out their issues. He later poses one for Chloe when they meet up in the Ninjala Car.
- Third-Person Person: Subverted. He begins speaking like this during his chat with Victor and Gloria in the Ninjala Car, but it turns out to be Shadow Sycamore/Asher screwing with his phone.
- Token Adult: He's the only real adult in the Windchasers: Yuri is 11, Vaillant is essentially a teenager, while Garchomp and the other two members' age are unknown.
- Took a Level in Cynic: He breaks when Chloe's anger gets the best of her and is about to kill himself because he is so disillusioned that his black/white views can no longer hold up. Asher's Master (the barista aka Auric) comes in to save him, but all it did was make him very pessimistic. He starts taking steps to get out of it by the end of the Cyan Desert Car but it's still a long way to go.
- Training from Hell: Engages in this during his stay in the Monster City Car because he knows he can't rely on Garchomp all the time.
- Tranquil Fury: Shadow Sycamore brainwashing him and then forcing him to murder Lain during the Twisted Lab Car makes him pissed when he wakes up.Sycamore:...I don't need you anymore.
- Trigger Phrase: With Asher's blessing, he is given numerous phrases through hypnosis to prepare for the journey ahead. Aside from the two obvious ones — "Sleep" and "Awake" — he also gets "Breathe" (helps him take a breath), "Freeze" (his body is paralyzed), and "Undo" (undoes a previous trigger). He also has "Mute" to make him unable to speak and Chloe learns that there's a fifth trigger — "Reflect" — that makes Sycamore a ventriloquist dummy for Asher to talk through and puppeteer while Sycamore watches from within his mind.
- Unfit for Greatness: It's made pretty clear that, while Sycamore never outright says this about himself, his self-esteem is so low that he doesn't see himself as being worthy of being considered "great" or anything like it. This is definitely not helped by him being surrounded by several people with either more experience than him or incredible superpowers, or him being constantly told to stand back and let everybody else handle the problem at hand.
- Unlikely Hero: Unlike the numerous protagonists in the Blossomverse series, and even from Infinity Train itself, Sycamore stands out as an adult who gets taken onto the Train who has little to no problems outside a concern for Alain. Then comes this story as he later obtains a Persona, dragon powers from a demon, and somehow is tied to a mysterious passenger named Armand who looks exactly like him.
- Wants Versus Needs: While Sycamore's original goal was to get on the Train in order to save Alain, once he meets Chloe and his team accompanies her, he decides he wants to help her get her number down to zero and get off the train. It doesn't take long for this to horribly backfire, though, and when he's recovering after being detransformed from his Shadow-episode hysteria, he's told that what he actually needs to do is not focus on other people and instead focus on his own number.
- We Used to Be Friends: He and Chloe initially didn't like each other, but they slowly but surely developed a bond as they kept going through the Train. However, come the end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2, and Chloe's ping-ponging regarding whether she learns her lesson or not and her horrible abuse of Sycamore to vent her frustrations over Sara's Unown rampage before kicking him in the teeth by listening to Specter shortly after not only leads the good old professor to break and nearly either destroy or restart the world in order to get away from all the bs, but lose any and all respect for Chloe by the time he's forced to tell the truth. By the time Palimpsest Car ends, and with help from Tres, they're willing to start again.
- Why Are You Looking at Me Like That?: Asks this in the Ninjala Car because he's unknowingly turned into a child, as he had chewed on Ninja Gum prior and Yuri didn't bring up the side effects.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- When Sycamore begins beating himself up over being an example of how Adults Are Useless, Rimuru, and the newly-named Vaillant reply that it isn't the case, since he helped keep Vaillant's village safe despite having no combat ability of his own.
- Unfortunately Averted when Chloe tries to talk his shadow down when the group tries to help Sycamore calm down. She tries to apologize for breaking him in her fit of rage, but the professor is too far gone at that point to listen.
- You Are Not Ready: Professor Sycamore might be a nice man, but his rather black-and-white way of seeing the world makes him woefully unprepared for the morally complicated worlds that the Infinity Train has prepared in store. It makes him especially unable to deal with Chloe's issues, as they (and to an extent Chloe herself) are too complicated to be resolved with some good old "good and evil" thinking.
- You Are What You Hate: He's not actually this, but believing that he might become this is his greatest fear; he has a pretty big dislike of adults and other authority figures not being as helpful as they could be, or even willingly ignoring obvious danger for whatever reason. This is worsened due to Sycamore's experience with Team Flare, and his failure to help Alain before, which is something he wants to fix. Not helping matters is that, as his Train trip keeps going, the man finds himself questioning his abilities more and more, especially when his teammates get more powerful and the Red Lotus Trio/Uprising join them.
