In one of the sweetest cars on the train, bitter truths are revealed for all parties involved.
This arc contains examples of:
- Adults Are Useless:
- Thankfully averted by Kukui. He's very on the ball the entire time the class is talking, quickly defuses situations that could've resulted in the Blame Game, and is the first one to react when Gladion freaks out.
- Zigzagged for what's going on in Den City; the Knights of Hanoi (Kyoko, Aso and Dr. Genome) are in their late twenties and thirties and all of them followed Ryoken's advice to keep Specter isolated in the Kougami Manor for fears of him wandering off again. Meanwhile, Ghost Girl (20-something Emma Bessho) actively went and did research about the Train and plans on doing something to help Specter with his problems.
- Arc Words: "Everything is fine", repeated by Gladion, Specter and Tokio to state that nothing is wrong with them.
- Artistic License – History: Despite Mallow's claims about Alola and trains, Real world Hawaii had many railways historically and today still has tourist trains
, meaning that Alolans would likely know what a train is. They probably wouldn't know about a magical therapy train, sure, but still. The next Car has other people reveal about trains in Alola and Mallow somehow didn't notice this. - Ascended Fridge Horror: The idea of Chloe's classmates entering the Train enough as it was in Blossoming Trail, but One confirms that such an event is possible and creates an Exodus; a chain reaction when one catastrophic event has the train picking passengers up and then more and more passengers from the first group's vanishing.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: When Chloe brings up how she defeated the Mirage Army, Chryssa states "That's so..." while Chloe is expecting the worst and laughing at how she did it without a Pokémon. Chryssa then mentions it's so "cool!" because of how she stood to Dr. Yung without a Pokémon.
- Big Word Shout:
- Chloe shouts "FREEZE!" to enact one of Asher's trigger phrases on Sycamore before he can crush One-One to bits.
- Gloria screams out ENOUGH! when Goh is ready to quit being a research fellow.
- Call-Back: Yuri's love of slimes returns when he can't help but hug a body double of Rimuru's slime form.
- Chain of People: Ryoken and the other Knights have to do this to Specter before he gets his hand on a knife.
- Cliffhanger: Part 2 ends with a mysterious group — the same group who was seen in previous cars, no less — looking at a photo of a crystal heart that is in the hands of an Apex child.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The Alola side is about highlighting this from Orange Lily.
- Many people point out that Mallow could've avoided Gladion's trip on the Train and Lillie's petty attitude if she admitted to telling about the Train or the consequences of the orange lily bouquet sooner.
- As an add-on to the previous point, Mallow admits that she should've told people about the Train, but also that it was going to be hard to believe in a train in Alola, how a flower bouquet could potentially ruin Gladion's life for good or anything that was even associated with the Train in the first place. This gets Kiawe to counter with the fact that given that they faced off against literal aliens in the form of the Ultra Beasts, there was some precedent that they could have believed her. And then Mallow points out that by the time she could have told anyone, Gladion was already far too gone to be saved since it would involve them to be mentally traumatized to enter. Kukui has to interfere at this point in order to stop yet another pointless back and forth.
- Lillie is horrified to learn that everything Gladion did on the Train is all because of her sending him a bouquet of orange lilies and blames herself that she should've listened to Mallow's warnings. And in Part 2, she blames herself for not telling her mother about her traumas from the very beginning since she didn't have an excuse like Gladion at the time.
- In an inversion of this trope, Ash tells Mallow that going to tell Phyco about Tokio being missing ended up being a good thing since it helped Tokio eventually get off the Train.
- Deceptively Silly Title: The Chocolate Car is where the White Gestalt's shattered sanity is brought into light.
- Did Not Think This Through: Professor Cerise's apology to Gloria and having her admit that she was right in some areas, made him decide that now was a good time to show he wasn't giving Chloe some well-needed therapy. This doesn't help Renji and Goh in the slightest — the former was chewed out for trying to speak up about Chloe's problems, the latter now realizing Chloe made a good point how he was getting everything for himself while Chloe never got any type of comfort or reassurance in the first place — and leads to Renji angry and Goh nearly quitting his job as a research fellow.
- Digging Yourself Deeper:
- After Goh tells the Alola gang that they're making Chloe uncomfortable by pretending she doesn't exist and jumping on Sycamore, Lana apologises by trying to explain that everyone was worried about how Sycamore disappered from the lab, not about how Chloe was alone and lost for far longer than him.
- Renji makes a comment that of course someone like Chloe will get a Mirage Houndoom. He then tries explaining that someone who loves spooky things would love a "terrifying monster that spews out fire" before Professor Cerise asks him to stop.
- Telling a bunch of people that you refused to give your daughter therapy is bad enough. Not shutting up as you explain your reasonings for it just makes it worse.
- Disaster Dominoes: What an Exodus event entails. One catastrophic event could cause trauma for people and the Train to pick them up simultaneously, which could lead to the passengers' loved ones getting stressed out and they enter the train, and then their loved ones enter, repeat ad infinitum. Chloe uses the parallel of her classmates getting on board, and then their parents growing concerned from them, creating a chain reaction.
- Double Standard:
- When the conference begins, the Alola gang all pounce on Professor Sycamore even though Chloe — who has been there much longer and has more traumas than Sycamore himself — is seen clear as day and completely ignored by them. Goh has to point this out to them when it looks like Chloe will snap.
- Augustine points out that One-One kicked out three heavily traumatized passengers who only wanted to save the Train, but he keeps the Apex who have heavily traumatized others, and Amelia the one who created the Apex, and does nothing to solve their problems or tell them to cut it out.
- Grace doesn't show concern that the Apex kids under her care are going to get punished, but she wastes no time about being horrified for the already innocent Hazel.
- Driven to Suicide: The members of the White Gestalt off the Train get so overwhelmed by their returning memories that some of them try to kill themselves to stop. And for London, it's implied that he's so sick of being isolated that he's willing to also end it all just as long as he gets the Apex leaders down with him.
- Easily Impressed: The judges in Sashay's Fashion Runway give high scores for even the simplest of things. This includes Amelia — who is wearing a pair of black feather wings and a lion-eared headband — slowly walking towards them and bares her hands out like they're claws. She gets 8's from the judges.
- Engineered Public Confession: London had his phone calling on Facetime throughout his fight with the Apex leaders and subsequent breakdown, fooling Grace and Simon into believing that the entire Train is now going to be aware of them if they try something funny. It's only after they leave does Asher reveal that it wasn't the case and London's mental breakdown was never broadcasted that far.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Ghost Girl (Emma Bessho) has a somewhat frosty relationship with the Knights of Hanoi, but she is shocked when she learns that Ryoken intentionally isolated Specter when he returned and refuses to humor his notion about the Infinity Train even after she reveals that there's evidence of its existence.
- One wants to help passengers with their problems and numbers are important, but he balks when Yuri suggests that the numbers that are on the passengers' hands are some sort of "alternate fuel source".
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: One-One states that the Train will pick up the remaining White Gestalt members in 24 hours. But wait, how does that explain Gladion appearing on the Train in the first place? It turns out Asher asked a Slime from the Twisted Lab Car to make a copy.
- Foreshadowing:
- Victor notes that Gloria has to fake having a fear of mirrors to hide how she has no reflection and Goh calls it "specterphobia" before Victor corrects it through the real term, spectrophobia. Scenes later, we see that Specter has an adverse fear of mirrors and anything that could show his reflection.
- Victor mentions that Gloria has been going through therapy sessions to help her tackle the trauma of being on the Train. To get her out of her funk, Professor Cerise brings up the topic of therapy (or rather how he's not been giving it to his daughter).
- One of the memories Easter showed Sycamore was one of the Apex kids snatching Lampetia's heart. The end of Part 2 reveals that the same group of individuals that rescued Dr. Yung are going to go grab it for themselves.
- Gilligan Cut: Lexi states that he won't get out of his "Specter of the Black Forest" attire unless he has to. Cut to the Fashion Runway Car and he now has to wear a new outfit.
- Girls Love Chocolate: The minute Chloe learns they're in the Chocolate Car, she races to enter it and is snacking on bon-bons.
- Go Mad from the Isolation:
- Specter getting trapped in his room in the Kougami Manor has made him go crazy, not helping that Ryoken insists that the Train never took him away. Couple this with his memories returning and you have an unstable Knight of Hanoi who is in dire need of help.
- It's implied that London is also growing insane from being alone and having to run away else the geass reactivates.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: None of the former White Gestalt members take their returning memories well, going so far as to either relapse (Tokio) or try to kill themselves (Gladion and Specter).
- Important Haircut: Chloe decides to cut her hair short to Screw Destiny since Lady Destiny has "long flowing hair".
- I Warned You: After Ash admits that everyone messed up for not questioning Mallow's concern about Gladion's whereabouts, se immediately shouts that she knew it. She knew something was wrong and no one cared!
- Lampshade Hanging: Upon noting how Chloe, Lexi and Atticus have outfits based on three Ars Goetia demons with wings (Furfur, Seere and Glasya-Labolas), Asher questions if they've gotten a recent obsession with them.
- Let Me Get This Straight...: Chloe asks of this of Asher in the Fashion Runway Car when he requests a new outfit.
- Madness Mantra: Specter's journal entry has him repeating "Everything is Fine" as his memories reach a breaking point.
- Missing Reflection: Gloria has no reflection since Mirror Gloria got sanded down in the Chrome Car.
- Mood Whiplash: In the midst of Tokio's Freak Out, Goh tries to call Chloe...who is currently in the Jellyfish Rave car and can't hear anything.
- My God, You Are Serious!: After Mallow brings up the possibility that Sycamore and Chloe are on a "magic train", everyone laughs at her...until Kukui confirms that Mallow is absolutely correct.
- Mythology Gag: Tokio gets pissed when the teenage trainer goes "So what?" In Knight of the Orange Lily, Grace says this when she is reminded of how she killed Utahoshi.
- Never Say "Die": While recounting the event that traumatized Gloria, Victor states that they eventually handed her off to the Reflection Police so they would... "End" her.
- Noodle Incident: Something happened in Gloria and Victor's trip to have a denizen shout about Gloria being the "Demon Prodigy".
- Poor Communication Kills: In regards to the Alola gang and Gladion's situation, everyone is at fault. Mallow could've been more explantory about Lillie's wise decision to give her brother orange lilies and the "bad place" or trust her friends more. Her friends, and Ash, could have taken Mallow's warnings more seriously. Lillie could've expressed her anger to Gladion much better than a passive-aggressive F you bouquet. The adults could've been there for Lillie to help her go through her anger issues. And if Gladion just told someone about the Nihilego incident to Wicke, his mother or any other trusted adult, Lillie would've been in a much better place to be treated. All in all, the situation with Gladion and the train is the fault of everyone either not speaking up, paying little attention to Gladion's whereabouts or taking Mallow's warnings at face value.
- Pragmatic Villainy: The group of individuals that have been seen both in the Model Diorama and Ninjala Car also want to put an end to the Cage of Flauros so that it doesn't interfere in their plans.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: How Chloe reacts in trying to make Lexi in an attire based on Stolas.
- Pun-Based Creature: The Red Lotus Trio once entered a Nightmares Car...as in a car with ghastly looking horses.
- Rage Breaking Point:
- The teenage Pokémon trainer going "So what?" at Tokio has him flip out and pummel him in rage.
- One refusing to remove the ban is enough for Augustine to lose it and nearly destroy the bowling ball Conductor.
- Simon remarking that Tiffany hasn't thrown Lampetia's heart into the wheels is enough for London to grab Simon and slam his head into the wall several times. And Grace going "So what?" again for her crimes has him ready to kill them both.
- Real After All: Ghost Girl tells Ryoken that yes, the Train is real and both Queen and Yusaku are probably on it.
- The Reveal: The last time Gloria used one of her analogies, it got her and Victor's denizen partner nearly killed by Gloria's reflection who had to be killed off before she went and did any more damage.
- Sanity Slippage: All of the passenger members of White Gestalt suffer through this.
- Gladion is reduced to a raving lunatic ready to use a pen in a non-writing way before Kukui has to restrain him.
- Specter's diary entry has him repeating "Everything is fine" before he's tearing his diary apart and has to be restrained by the other Knights of Hanoi before he remembers where the knives are.
- Tokio attacks another Trainer after they mutter "So what?" before seeing Raboot has him muttering he is the White Rabbit and clawing at his face.
- London has taken the isolation very badly and will easily kill Grace and Simon, before dying himself, to end this cycle for good.
- Serious Business: How bad is Kukui's news? It's the equivalent of him wearing a shirt.
- Shout-Out:
- Chloe squees at the Nightmare (a haunting looking horse) by going "He's so ugly! I LOVE HIM!" Moreover, the nightmare goes "Eeyup".
- When Chloe looks for a Ars Goetia prince to give Lexi a new look, she reacts negatively to one based on Stolas.
- Amelia compares herself to Molly Crue in the Fashion Runway Car.
- Spotting the Thread: Goh notes something is wrong with Tokio's story on how he left the Train if he doesn't even remember it.
- Stealth Pun: Specter suffers from a fear of mirrors, or spectrophobia.
- Take That!: When Lana wants to mention the time Ash dressed up as a Passimian, Mallow tells her that they "Don't talk about it", referencing how the episode was banned from the Sun and Moon dub due to its...unflattering racial undertones.
- Taking You with Me: London is ready to die but he'll gladly do so if he kills the Apex leaders.
- Therapy Is for the Weak: Part 2 reveals that Professor Cerise has refused to give his daughter counseling over some remark of paying higher prices on the last one which does not help the mood in the Cerise Institute in the slightest and Lexi quotes how Chloe said "therapy is not my father's dictionary". Him trying to make excuses for why he thought it was a good idea to withold professional help does not help.
- They Just Dont Get It: No matter how many times you repeatedly tell them, Grace and Simon will not understand that their childish views are wrong and hurting others. Even attempting to kill them doesn't work. It's only when London announces that One-One is going to call their parents does it reach to them that they're fucked.
- That Came Out Wrong: After a small talk with Chloe on how she's improving, Chloe has to state that she doesn't crush on Augustine.
- Wham Episode: As a whole, the Choclate Car reveals how White Gestalt has been dealing with the fallout of their actions and it gets so bad that Augustine nearly kills One-One out of anger, not to mentio how London has fallen so low that he's willing to slaugther Grace and Simon to end it. And even after that's said and done, the same group of people that rescued Dr. Yung are now off to stop the Apex on their own terms. The only positive thing that came out of it is that White Gestalt will be able to return back on the Train after 24 hours.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Ghost Girl is not pleased to learn what Ryoken's treatment has done to Specter.
- Renji is nothing but disappointed in Professor Cerise — who chewed Renji out for keeping Chloe's problems secret — while he could've had a chance to get therapy for Chloe and refused it.
