Foil / Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily

Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily

Just like Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail, the story takes some time to contrast characters with each other.

---

Gladion

• Like Chloe before him, Gladion has many parallels and contrasts with various characters from both halves of the Crossover:
  • Simon: Both are ponytail-sporting blonds who got stuck on the Train, and their respective Fatal Flaws hinge on how neither is willing to admit their mistakes. Both cling to their self-justifications, ignoring the impact their actions have on others, even those they care about most — both turn upon Grace/Lillie for challenging their respective delusions of grandeur. Simon is a young adult who primarily wears white, while Gladion is a black-clad pre-teen. Gladion came onto the Train with canine Pokémon as companions; Simon boarded alone and spent some time traveling with The Cat until she "abandoned" him while fleeing a Ghom. Simon's willingness to murder without remorse provides a dark reflection of what Gladion could become if he isn't careful.
  • Goh: Both are Pokémon-obsessed youths who favor black/grey and red outfits. Each is focused upon a particular Pokémon (Nihilego and Mew); however, Gladion's reasons are much more personal, given the trauma Nihilego inflicted upon his family, while Goh's search for Mew is more of a general Goal in Life. Both have a strained relationship with a girl who used to be important to them; Gladion left Lillie behind on his quest for strength, while Goh simply neglected his Childhood Friend. Both insist that they're closer to Lillie/Chloe than they actually are, and are dangerously out of touch with their feelings. Of the two, Gladion is the more experienced battler, while Goh is more focused on capturing 'mons. Gladion's family includes a sister and mother (his father having been sucked into an Ultra Wormhole long ago), while Goh is an only child with both parents around and a grandmother.
  • Lexi: Both hold an intense grudge against somebody who wronged them (Grace and Simon/Faba and Nihilego); this hatred threatens to lead them down very dark roads in pursuit of catharsis. Their relationships with the most significant girl in their lives are drastically opposed. Lexi holds Chloe in high regard, and her opinion matters greatly to him; he's willing to both listen and trust in her strength. Gladion claims to have sacrificed everything for Lillie's sake, but regards her as a helpless damsel, refusing to recognize her strength or respect her opinions. Like Simon, Lexi wears white while Gladion favors black. Both of them want to topple the Apex, but Lexi's case is much more personal compared to Gladion wanting to defeat them for just being a-holes.
  • Trip: Both are rivals to Ash — Trip from Unova, Gladion from Alola — who got on the Train after different crossroads: Trip was trying to get out of his mindset of being all about rules and wanting to fight Alder while Gladion not only strives to become stronger but also to be a knight to his sister. Trip has no siblings, Gladion has his sister Lillie. Both of them believe in Ignorance Is Bliss for different reasons: for Gladion, it's to keep Lillie in the dark about the Nihilego incident while Trip wants Goh to be completely ignorant of the Infinity Train's existence else Goh will try to enter it to save Chloe. Trip hosts a variety of Pokémon on him while Gladion mostly used Dark-types. Last, Gladion only saw Ash as a measuring stick to gauge how he must train harder while Trip eventually saw Ash as someone he truly loves. Amusingly, Larkspur brings up Trip's trial to fight the Apex to Gladion.
  • Tulip: Left after a huge argument with a loved one and went on a journey somewhere — Tulip for coding camp, Gladion on a "quest" to become stronger — before the Train picked them up. Tulip teamed up with Atticus while Gladion has his Pokémon. Tulip unintentionally ended up on a grand quest that brought One-One back to his role as the Conductor, while Gladion wants to end up on a quest to be a true knight. Tulip's parents were divorced, Gladion's parents were Happily Married until his father was taken into an Ultra Wormhole.
  • Jesse: Older brothers who entered the Train after hurting their respective siblings. Jesse was an Extreme Doormat and couldn't stand up for himself over fears of making everyone unhappy. Gladion was in denial and walked out on the person who needed him most. Jesse's partner was Alan Dracula, a deer who had strange and abnormal powers. Gladion has Silvally who can change to whatever Pokémon-type he wants if given the right disk.

Lillie

• Lillie Montblanc
  • Parker: Both are younger siblings who idolized their older siblings, both of whom wound up boarding the Train. For Parker, however, this is a new experience, and his faith and admiration of Chloe hold firm and he's shown to get angry at those who hurt his sister (whether indirectly or directly). Lillie dealt with her brother's absence for years, spurring her to reject him before he boards. Parker has no Pokémon on him, barring him trying to train with Yamper in Chloe's absence, while Lillie has her Alolan Vulpix, Snowy.
  • Nate: Another younger sibling who also played a key role in their brother winding up on the Train. Jesse's passivity led to Nate's arm getting broken by Jesse's "friends" forcing him through a 'manliness test'. Gladion similarly witnessed his sister being traumatized by Nihilego and promptly left her behind while he ran off with Type: Null, aggravating the situation. Nate forgave his brother for the stunt, Lillie is not willing to be that forgiving.
  • To Chloe herself as they are both white-dressed girls with green eyes who show anger at a boy (Gladion/Goh) for practically abandoning them on some grand quest. The main difference is that Chloe got on the Train, not Lillie and that Chloe could tell her father to bug off while Lillie shows concerns about her mother. And while Chloe doesn't make her anger towards her tormentors subtle at all, Lillie decides to employ Passive-Aggressive Kombat.
  • To Mallow in regards to Gladion: Mallow has concerns about where he went because of her experiences with the Infinity Train, while Lillie could give a flying feather about his whereabouts.

Lusamine

• Lusamine Montblanc
  • To Professor Cerise from Blossoming Trail.
    • Professor Cerise never tried to contact Chloe when she went missing (although it's under the lens that he didn't know it was possible since Goh never said anything about it). Lusamine immediately asks where Gladion is after he's been missing for a week.
    • Professor Cerise's funds mostly come from donations, governments, and so on, and recent events cause those funds to take a hit. Lusamine, meanwhile, has so much money that even if the Absurdly High-Stakes Game she has with Lillie ends in her loss, she won't need to worry about it.
    • It takes a lot of probing and trauma to get Professor Cerise to realize what a bad father he's been towards his children, and a big spectacle is made out of it. Lusamine realizes and tries to atone for these mistakes with little fanfare.
  • She contrasts Amelia as both lost someone they loved — Mohn was sucked into an Ultra Wormhole, Alrick died — but both had different ways of coping through it. Amelia entered the Train and wreaked havoc for 33 years to recreate her life with him, whereas Lusamine got into her work and did her best to raise her children properly. Lusamine is blond in a white dress, Amelia is a brunette with a black cloak/grey suit. Lusamine is in her 40s, Amelia is in her 60s.

Mohn

• Mohn Montblanc to Chloe Cerise, as a family member whose disappearance brought a huge chance to their family. Mohn was an adult man, while Chloe's a pre-teen girl. He was taken by an Ultra Wormhole, while Chloe was snatched by the Infinity Train. Finally, Chloe's likely gonna come out of the Train okay, while Mohn's all but stated to be dead, given the Death World status of Ultra Space.

Snowy

• Snowy: Serves as one to Yamper from Blossoming Trail. They're both single Type Pokémon who's close to a pre-teen girl (Chloe for Yamper, Lillie for Snowy), but while Yamper was an original Pokémon who Chloe wasn't that close with, Snowy's an Alolan variant of a Kanto Pokémon, and their relationship with Lillie's so close as Lillie was taking care of Snowy back when they were an egg, they even have a nickname.

Mallow

• Obviously she's one to Gladion as someone who was a former passenger on the Infinity Train. However, Mallow's trip was a more traumatizing time due to being a five-year-old girl who ran away after chewing out her mother for being ill (with it being the last time they ever talked) and also because this would've been years before One-One returned to his rightful throne and began posting videos on how to navigate the Train. Zing time due to being a five-year-old girl who ran away after chewing out her mother for being ill (with it being the last time they ever talked) and also because this would've been years before One-One returned to his rightful throne and began posting videos on how to navigate the Train.
• She serves as a foil for Goh as they're both dark-skinned characters who are the Deuteragonist of the story. But while Goh has no idea why Chloe ran away and no clue as to what caused her to vanish, Mallow has the experience and tries to find evidence of the Train. Goh's problems were him being insensitive and No Social Skills that made it hard for him to understand how he hurt Chloe, whereas Mallow's problems is that she doesn't fully explain the existence of the Train and instead only vaguely asks if anyone is concern about Gladion's disappearance.

Larkspur

• To Lexi

Margaret

• Margaret
  • Of Lusamine. Both are motherly-type figures but Lusamine truly means well as a mother (but was distracted by her work) whereas Margaret has darker motives for Gladion. A few of her behaviors more or less match game Lusamine, such as her controlling and obsession.
  • Of Tuba as both were mothers who lost their child and got a replacement in either Mallow/Hazel for the former and Gldaion for the latter. However the main difference is that Tuba's love for the two girls was genuine, Margaret tried to force Gladion to be her son.

Robbie Jewell

• He's a foil to Tulip Olsen, which Gladion notes. Both of them are going through divorce with Tulip trying to get into gaming and he with his Pulseman video games. While both were on the Train, Tulip's main focus was to find the Conductor and get off it while Robbie wishes to find something that will keep his family together.

Specter

• To Lexi: Being a white-haired, silver suit wearing being with the main difference is that Lexi is copying from Specter. They have traumatic pasts that are tied into a loyalty with someone (Specter to Ryoken and Lexi to Chloe)

Paul London

• To Amelia: The eldest members of their group with high numbers with Amelia's main reason being her denial of moving on from Alrick's death and London is atoning for having murdered people. But Amelia took thirty three years before she moved on from the lesson, whereas London already has learned his lesson. Amelia wears a black cloak and a grey suit, London wears all white.

Tokio Chisou

• To Chloe

Mad Ben

• To Lexi: Both are shapeshifters, but while Lexi changes his form while sticking to his living paper nature, Mad Ben changes his species. Mad Ben uses technology while Lexi uses his natural abilities. Mad Ben is far more aggressive, arrogant, nasty, and otherwise brutish than Lexi is, and while Lexi was a victim of the Apex, Mad Ben victimizes the Apex.

---