One week after the Unown were neutralized, Goh joins Ash, Trip and Serena on their latest venture out to the Saffron City dojo. Ash hopes that this is a step in the right direction, but the trip takes a turn when they encounter Bede, providing a chance to learn more about the incident that led to Hop boarding the Train. Bede's casual dismissal of the matter fails to make him any friends — everyone present is reminded of Jerkasses they've dealt with in the past, with Goh taking it especially personally.
Meanwhile, Delia helps Talia and Aldrich navigate the fallout of the Unown incident as their lives continue imploding around them. She swiftly makes clear, however, that her sympathy for their situation does not extend to their children, offering harsh doses of her own perspective on matters. A confrontation with Parker helps cut to the heart of the matter, as she forces him to reveal motivations that further surprise his parents... and to confront the enormity of his actions.
After having a chance to unwind and process things in the Spa Car and Honey Car, Chloe decides to tackle the challenge lurking in the Dead Carnival Car. Despite it being completely optional, she wants to further hone her combat skills in anticipation of what lies ahead. Besides, she's familiar with the setting, having played the game before...
But that familiarity proves to be a double-edged sword, as she never reached the ending, and is taken aback when the final battle doesn't turn out to be against whom she expected. The Organ Man turns her own allies against her, leading to an increasingly desperate battle as both sides strive to maintain control.
Still, it's what comes afterwards that hits hardest. For Talia contacts her daughter, informing her about the latest developments back home... and putting her foot down. Declaring that it's high time Chloe accept her share of responsibility for all that has unfolded, including the consequences. She also reveals that both Goh and Parker are being haunted by Zeno, and that once she returns home, she'll be taking an enforced break from anything horror-related.
While she doesn't disagree with her mother's assessment, Chloe still feels unmoored, wondering who she is without her macabre obsessions. But with Amelia and her friends' gentle encouragement, she takes her first stab at further refining her self-image, starting with a new look... and reaffirming that this won't cost her the progress she's made.
She is Chloe, the daughter of Aldrich and Talia Cerise, and she's learning how to let go.
This chapter contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Once they're in the clear, Amelia admits that she found it hilarious that Chloe shouts "I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!" before kicking the Organ Man off his zeppelin.
- An Aesop: The themes about obsession are played out here; it's not wrong to indulge in things you like, but sometimes it's okay to just take a break from them and try something new. Given that this lesson is brought to us by Amelia who spent 30+ years obsessed with her past life, it's enough for Chloe to recognize herself and start changing for the better.
- Amusement Park of Doom: The Dead Carnival Car is essentially CarnEvil on the Infinity Train.
- The Bechdel Test: Passed as both female pairs of Delia and Talia alongside Chloe and Amelia have conversations that don't revolve around men.
- Armor-Piercing Question:
- Delia demands to know why, if Parker was so concerned about his father's behavior, he chose to mind control her son and his friends instead of the Professor. This spurs him to reveal that Chloe wasn't the only one who felt that Ash was taking everything away.
- Talia further breaks down her son's denial by comparing his actions to Chloe lashing out with the paint can — the catharsis of getting revenge didn't last, and ultimately did more harm than good.Talia: It felt good to unleash that anger and wrath upon everyone but in the end, it wasn't worth it, was it?
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Rather than the dojo master or Bea, it's Bede who exemplifies this attitude, as he only cares about rankings... and rubbing his supposed superiority in everyone's faces.
- Bait-and-Switch: Chloe is confident that the final boss of the Dead Carnival Car is Baron von Tokkentakker...so she's shocked to find that it isn't and is totally unprepared for The Organ Man.
- The Battle Didn't Count: After Ash trounces him, Bede attempts to downplay his victory by nitpicking everything he can, such as commenting on how his friends' reactions suggest that he doesn't bring Infernape out very often and acting as though this somehow makes his win less valid.
- Big Brother Worship: Riolu starts howling in excitement at seeing Infernape in action.
- Breather Episode: A single-parter of catharsis and recovery after the huge drama bomb that was the Cyan Desert Car.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Some of the food in the Scroll Car includes sushi, burritos and "sushi the size of burritos".
- Brutal Honesty: Delia's assessment of Parker and Chloe's behavior, and Talia's subsequent message to Chloe. Amelia remarks upon this:Amelia: Well. And I thought I was going to be the more brutal one when I tore Grace and Simon's ideologies upside down. Then again, when it comes to parents, honesty is much more personal.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Bede deliberately treats his battle with Hop this way, pretending to have forgotten about it purely to get under everyone's skin. This bites him in the ass when Trip has him repeat this and then reveal that Leon had listened to that confession.
- Call-Back: When fighting Evil Marie, Chloe asks Lexi if he remembers Gadrell, back in "The Canals of Fondue Car". Lexi does and prepares two paper buzzsaws that slice Evil Marie's arms off so that Chloe can shoot her in the scar on her neck.
- Chloe's new haircut is probably bringing back how one of One-One's tips was to "keep her hair at a reasonable length" as the Organ Man nearly kills her by digging his claws into her long hair.
- Chekhov's Gun: Two of them.
- The moth bracelet Lexi gifts Chloe back in "The Crayon Car". Chloe points to it as The Organ Man has her by the hair and Lexi uses the papers to turn into a butterfly knife, slicing her hair off.
- The crimson mark that Chloe received from "The Cyan Desert Car" is revealed to give her Summon Magic, which she uses to summon AmdusiasExplanation to destroy The Organ Man's music contraptions.
- The Chosen One: Discussed in Chloe and Ash's emails with one another as Chloe asks for advice on how to deal with such a thing.
- Circling Birdies: When Chloe and Atticus crash into a pyramid of presents while escaping the Krampus, sugarplum fairies dance around in Chloe's head.
- Combat Pragmatist: Atticus will claw and bite at your face if it gives an advantage. Justified in that it's his only line of offense.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot:
- Delia and Talia (along with Zeno) try to help Parker understand that his reluctance to talk to his parents about what Chloe was going through ultimately prevented them from being able to try doing anything before it was too late. Moreover had Talia gone to explain that her and Professor Cerise's argument wasn't aimed at Chloe and was more about frustration at what had happened, Parker wouldn't have kept everything so secret.
- Nothing actually forces anyone passing through the Dead Carnival Car to tackle its hidden challenge; however, Chloe decides to use it as training to further prepare for what lies ahead.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Bede easily trounces Goh in their battle. Then Ash does the same with Infernape.
- A Day in the Limelight: Delia and Talia have focus as mothers trying to struggle with how Chloe, Parker and the Unown have affected their lives.
- Didn't See That Coming: Chloe was expecting to fight Tokkentakker as the Final Boss of the Dead Carnival Car so she has no idea how to fight back The Organ Man when he reveals himself.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Amazingly, Bede not only refuses to show any remorse when faced with Leon himself calling him out, but casually insults the Champion's poor navigational skills. He also insults the #CallingChloe campaign the moment her name comes up.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- Hop checked into the Monostoke Pokémon Center, but never checked out. Bede sarcastically questions how that's even possible, but flinches when Leon asks if he really wants to know. While the explanation is more fantastical than Bede expects, the scene brings another way that Hop could have accomplished that to mind.
- Parker explaining that he never told his parents about Chloe because he was afraid they'd hate her if she told them the truth. While it's framed around her hobbies and not being into Pokémon as expected, it also comes up in the idea that Chloe was afraid of coming out as lesbian/bi/trans/etc. Also, his rant about how he hated Ash for "stealing" Chloe away from him implies something more than just strong admiration for his big sister.
- Dramatic Irony: Among the things Talia fears the cultists will do to her daughter is cutting off her hair. This actually happens during her fight with the Organ Man — at Chloe's own command, with it being far better than the alternative.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Lexi, Atticus and Amelia's abilities helped Chloe tear through CarnEvil with ease...so it makes it even more pressing when Lexi and Amelia are forced to fight Chloe under the music of The Organ Man and Atticus has to dodge Umlaut, leaving Chloe to face off these challenges by herself.
- Engineered Public Confession: Once again, Trip exploits the tendency of bullies like Bede to gloat about their 'accomplishments' to ensure that Leon gets to hear in Bede's own words just what he did to Hop.
- Even the Dog Is Ashamed: Yamper remains deeply displeased with Parker, staying with him not as a companion, but a guard.
- Gratuitous German: Deaddy shouts Fort! Da! when he fights Chloe and Amelia. Amelia retorts with Gott ist tot!
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse:
- Bede tries deflecting Leon's rage about Hop gone missing by casually claiming that, as an orphan, he has no way of knowing what family is like. Nobody buys it.
- During his talk with Delia and Talia, Parker tries to explain himself by claiming that he did everything for Chloe and that he didn't know what else to do because, to his knowledge, his parents were one bad day away from hurting Chloe. Not only is neither mother convinced (and in Delia's case, sympathetic) by his words, but they then explain exactly why Parker's actions are inexcusable and all the damage he's done, which eventually leads to Parker to realize his mistake.
- Heel Realization:
- Chloe starts to seriously recognize just how much of her problems are her responsibility.
- Bede realizes how much his words affected Hop after learning how he's now stuck in Silent Hill.
- Parker, like his sister, begins to fully grasp the role he played in the communication breakdowns that led to her running away in the first place.
- Important Haircut: After Chloe's hair is cut off to save herself from The Organ Man, she styles it into side-swept waves as a sign that she is ready to return home and start anew with those she left behind.
- Insult Backfire: Chloe tells The Organ Man that he has a screw loose. Not only does the Organ Man express disappointment for how uncreative it is, he's also tightening a screw as he says this.
- It's All My Fault:
- Goh begins to recite this during a breakdown after Bede insults the #CallingChloe campaign.
- Talia never says it but she blames herself for not realizing how unhappy Chloe was and focused more on making her illustrations of her daughter smiling.
- Lampshade Hanging: Atticus questions why Rickety Town is Christmas-based in an amusement park filled with zombies and undead.
- Mirror Character: Talia unintentionally reveals a considerable amount of resentment towards Ash for seemingly being able to make it through so many horrors unscathed, mirroring how Chloe saw him as The Ace. The ultimatums she issues in her last email also reflect her daughter's past demands.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Ash and Chloe continue to find common ground, as she consults him for advice concerning her apparent status as 'The Chosen One'.
- Not So Similar: While Molly and Parker both got entangled with the Unown as five-year olds, Delia's experience with the former makes her less sympathetic towards the latter. Molly wasn't driven by personal vendettas or going out of her way to target anyone, and wasn't particularly pleased by the pain she was causing.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: The repercussions of the Unown incident reverberate outwards, dramatically reshaping the world as the Cerises and those connected to them knew it.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Bede goes through this thrice: when Ash defeats him with Infernape, when he learns that Leon overheard what Bede had to say about Hop, and upon hearing that Hop ended up in Silent Hill as a result.
- Chloe goes through this in her fight against the Organ Man, having to face Amelia and Lexi under his control and then going at it all by herself.
- Plot Parallel:
- The Dead Carnival Car, like the Fog Car, is based on a Horror-themed game. While Chloe knows about the Silent Hill franchise, she has yet to experience any of the titles firsthand; she has, however, played CarnEvil (albeit she never played it to the end) leading her to underestimate the threat it poses.
- Chloe's dramatic underestimation of the car's challenge mirrors how Parker failed to grasp just how terrible his horror-inspired punishments really were. Witnessing terrors unfolding safely on the screen or in the pages of a book is completely different than experiencing them firsthand.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": Amelia shouts this when the Organ Man's music forces her body to fire her shotgun at Chloe.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The one thing Chloe feared the most was her parents forbidding her from horror if they found about it. Now, she's forced to take a leave from it at her mother's insistence, as it what was led to all the trouble back home in Vermillion City.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Both Chloe and Atticus have rhymes against Umlaut that end like this.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Atticus and Chloe defeat the Krampus by lighting up multiple fireworks and hurling a bomb at his face.
- Tempting Fate: Chloe states that it's going to be a piece of cake fighting Tokkentaker... only to promptly find herself facing somebody entirely different, who proves that they aren't going to be easily beaten.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Amelia's reaction when she learns that Deaddy has a vomit attack and she has to take the brunt of it.
- Time Skip: Takes place one week after the end of the Unown attack.
- Tranquil Fury: Delia enters this state whenever either of the Cerise children come up.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: Played for Laughs; after they beat the Organ Man, Chloe suggests giving it another shot to see if they'll be able to challenge Tokkentaker. The rest of the Quarto immediately veto it and haul Chloe away before she can put the token in Umlaut's mouth again.
- Wham Shot: After Bede gloats over how he beat Hop, Trip flips his phone over and shows Leon had been listening in for quite some time.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Delia spells out just how much of Chloe's problems are on her, and Talia and Chloe have to agree.
- While Delia encourages Talia to stop blaming herself for everything that's gone wrong, she does call her out whenever she suggests that Parker's rampage was in any way justified.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The Dead Carnival Car is based off of CarnEvil — Chloe even recognizes it as such, and is taken aback when things don't play out the way she expected.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Played for Laughs; Atticus doesn't care for the taste of peppermint, so he's not exactly thrilled at being brought into the Christmas-themed level.
- Ye Olde Butchered English: Amelia dislikes this, or as she calls it, "Shakespeare in the park".
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: While she doesn't completely absolve them of all responsibility, Delia reassures Talia that neither she or her husband are solely responsible for their family coming apart at the seams.
- Youkai: After Chloe decides to have a makeover for the two of them, she transforms Lexi into one of these called a kyorinrin, which is a collection of papers and scrolls with a draconic appearance.
