History Recap / InfinityTrainVoyageOfWisteriaTheDarkestDay

** Gard and Julie learn a lot of what Chloe went through when she ran away from home and are ''horrified'' upon learning that she could've been dead because of their dare. They also end up seeing firsthand just how nasty Chloe really was, with her messages in particular being seen as dickish.

** During his big call-out to Chloe, Goh asks her point-blank why she gave up on him so easily, didn't trust him to talk about her problems, and if he was really ''that'' bad of a person to her?

** Chloe has this epiphany after getting her own words thrown back at her. All she had to do was talk to someone about her problems and none of the negativity would have happened. The only reason she kept it all in was because she felt like her misery had to be something ''big'' in order to justify her actions.
** Gard and Julie admit to themselves and Chloe that if they never forced her to battle Ash, realized how they were hurting her with their bullying or maybe just tried to be her friend, it would never have gotten to an extent that they destroyed their hometown out of petty jealousy and Chloe nearly dead.

* DidNotThinkThisThrough:

** Chloe also gets a moment like this when she realizes that Goh taking Tokio's broken promise so badly, and his irrational actions back them, was because he was a kid who didn't know any better.
** Again, Gard and Julie learn how their insults over Goh not being there for Chloe practically destroyed her life, his life, ''their lives'' and the entire city.
* DoubleMeaningTitle: The Darkest Day either reflects the emergence of Eternatus or how it's the "darkest day" of Chloe's life when she has to reflect on everything she did back in her spiteful phase.
* DramaQueen: Chloe gets to see in full just how histrionic she was in her early days on the Train. In particular, remembering that at one point she was ''entirely serious'' in her threat to run away again if ''one'' person didn't apologize to her [[IHatePastMe makes her feel sick to her stomach.]]

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: While Chloe is trying to think of something to say to save face during the interview, she begins asking herself why Goh took Tokio's allegedly broken promise so badly when he was a kid...And it's then that she realizes that ''he was just a kid at the time'' that everything starts making sense.

* ForcedToWatch: Since Chloe is somehow stuck on the Train from the Macro Cosmos portal, she can't do anything but stare in her "interview" as Vox and Dahlia waste no time tearing apart her image as the hero of the Train and reveal her spiteful actions in ''Blossoming Trail'' to everyone.
* HanlonsRazor: During her EurekaMoment, Chloe finally stumbles upon a connecting factor between many of the actions that shaped the ''Blossomverse''.[[note]] Goh getting so hung up over a misunderstanding with Tokio, only to take ''her'' friendship for granted; Tokio letting the guilt for that incident drive him onto the Train, when he could have reconnected with Goh with a phone call or a trip to Vermillion City; Ash Ketchum being so helpless in connecting with Chloe and instead letting her turn him into [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence an icon of resentment]]; Trip barging onto the scene like a Tauros in a china shop, when he really ''did'' [[WellIntentionedExtremist want everyone to learn from their mistakes]]; and Yeardley joking about being a "work in progress" in class.[[/note]] To put it quite simply, it was because they were all ''children.'' They kept encountering situations that they didn't know how to handle and made mistakes because they didn't know better, yet truly did have good intentions even if their actions made it seem otherwise. As for the Cerise kids, they ''ignored'' the Razor and assumed malicious intent from ''everyone'' in Vermillion City.

* HistoryRepeats: Chloe's JerkassRealization in this arc has quite a lot in common with Parker's in ''The Cyan Desert Car Part 6,'' as both Cerise siblings confront the fact that [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot they never needed to happen]]. In the days after the fact, Parker realized that with [[RealityWarper the Unown]] at his disposal, he could've focused on giving Ash and his friends some magical adventures that ''everyone'' would enjoy, deepening their bonds. But instead, he opted for ColdBloodedTorture and ended up being HatedByAll. Weeks after her return, Chloe realizes that she could have enjoyed her trip on the Train without repercussions and allowed herself to recover from the bullying and stress she'd endured, ''without'' letting her loved ones think she might be dead before giving an ultimatum to ensure everything would be ''perfect'' upon her return. In both cases, [[SkewedPriorities the siblings assumed their highest priority was punishing those they believed had wronged them]], and in the end their grudges ruined what ''should'' have been purely enjoyable experiences. The main difference between these two experiences is while Chloe fully realized what she did wrong and gave a sincere and tearful apology, which Goh accepted]], Parker began [[IgnoredEpiphany sailing back up denial river]] before the chapter was even over, and struggled to accept his guilt for the remainder of the Arc.

** The interview is effectively Chloe's own version of Nightmare Therapy, complete with a grinning demon as the host, a not-her adding insult to injury, and all her mistakes getting thrown back in her face, all while being ForcedToWatch.

** Gard and Julie also hate their past actions and insults about Goh when they see videos of him actively looking for her, as it reminds them of how ''they'' destroyed so many lives in the process and convinced Chloe that Goh never cared for her.

* ItAmusedMe: The only reason Class 5-E forced Chloe to fight Ash was because they knew she would lose and thought it would be ''hilarious'' to see her get humiliated. Not so much after it ruined their lives and nearly had Chloe die by the claws of a giant dragon...

** Chloe not only has to rewatch every moment in her life where she acted like a selfish, petty, and entitled {{Jerkass}} to everyone, but also listen to Vox and Dahlia read every single text she made in ''Blossoming Trail'', which were extremely cruel and abusive. And because this happens in a public "interview", everyone on the Train who knew her as a kind, helpful girl [[BrokenPedestal ends up learning just how cruel Chloe really was the past]].

* NotHelpingYourCase: Mentally, Chloe bitterly notes after Goh reveals the reason he both snapped at her and filmed the video with Ash that if he had just explained what he meant, she would've been more understanding...which is the same scapegoating Goh says she's been doing to him since ''Blossoming Trail''.
* NowYouTellMe: After so much trauma and spite on her end, Chloe now learns what Goh meant that night when he recorded her loss against Ash and screamed that she lacked a dream: it was all motivation for actually ''finding a dream and him supporting her''. She internally notes that that would've been nice to know a ''lot'' sooner.

* PerspectiveFlip: A case can be made for Vox and Dahlia's "interview" with Chloe. In the past, Goh recording Chloe's disastrous battle with Ash and then declaring that she had no dreams or goals was seen as insensitive from her point of view and culminated in her running away. Here, Goh reveals that his actions were all meant to help ''motivate'' Chloe to start chasing after a dream, but her bitterness and self-loathing clouded her better judgment.
* ThePoorlyChosenOne: Vox and Dahlia start painting Chloe as one of these during the interview while her "Chloe of the Vermillion" persona is brought up. [[DownplayedTrope Not because she's not capable]], but because most of her actions either come down to her having so many power-ups, luck, or being at the right place at the right time.

--->'''Rose:''' We're trying to stop a train.
** Goh accepting Chloe's apology ends up being this, as it shows that he's willing to forgive her and move forward.

--->'''???:''' In another world, [[Fanfic/InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus I am the Seeker of Crocus.]]

* RewatchBonus: Chloe's first moments of battling Ash, lashing out at her family, and then running away in the first story all take on new meaning after reading part 3 of this arc.

* ThePoorlyChosenOne: Vox and Dahlia start painting Chloe as one of these during the interview while her "Chloe of the Vermillion" persona is brought up. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed Not because she's not capable]], but because most of her actions either come down to her having so many power-ups, luck, or being at the right place at the right time.

* RewatchBonus: Going back to the first story with Chloe's first moments of battling Ash, lashing out at her family, and then running away all take on new meaning after reading part 3 of this arc .

** After being effectively torn apart by Vox, Dahlia, and Goh, Chloe concludes that her entire train journey was nothing but a completely pointless temper tantrum.

* HistoryRepeats: Chloe's JerkassRealization in this arc has quite a lot in common with Parker's in ''The Cyan Desert Car Part 6,'' as both Cerise siblings confront the fact that [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot they never needed to happen]]. In the days after the fact, Parker realized that with [[RealityWarper the Unown]] at his disposal, he could've focused on giving Ash and his friends some magical adventures that ''everyone'' would enjoy, deepening their bonds. But instead, he opted for ColdBloodedTorture and ended up being HatedByAll. Weeks after her return, Chloe realizes that she could have enjoyed her trip on the Train without repercussions and allowed herself to recover from the bullying and stress she'd endured, ''without'' letting her loved ones think she might be dead before giving an ultimatum to ensure everything would be ''perfect'' upon her return. In both cases, [[SkewedPriorities the siblings assumed their highest priority was punishing those who they believed had wronged them]], and in the end their grudges ruined what ''should'' have been purely enjoyable experiences. The main difference between these two experiences is while Chloe fully realized what she did wrong and gave a sincere and tearful apology, which Goh accepted]], Parker began [[IgnoredEpiphany sailing back up denial river]] before the chapter was even over, and struggled to accept his guilt for the remainder of the Arc.

** In ''Blossoming Trail'', Goh was repeatedly lambasted over how he was a terrible friend to Chloe with no way to hit back. Now ''Chloe'' is the one getting it drilled into her about how SHE was the bad friend, and she's in no position to argue over it.

* VillainHasAPoint: Rose is going to endanger ''thousands'' of people for his plan, but he's not wrong that at least he's ''doing'' something whereas both Lillie and Lusamine didn't notice (or in Lillie's case, bothered to ''care'') that Gladion wasn't even on their world for months on end.
** Vox and Dahlia highlight a lot of Chloe's problems, particularly her vicious attitude towards Goh and how that ended up hurting him.

** After being effectively torn apart by Vox, Dahlia, and Goh, Chloe comes to the conclusion that that ''everything'' she did during her angry and spiteful state was completely pointless.

** Chloe has this epiphany after getting her own words thrown back at her. All she had to do was talk to someone about her problems and none of the spite, anger, or self-loathing would have happened. The only reason she kept it all in was because she felt like her misery had to be something ''big'' in order to justify her actions.
** Gard and Julie admit to themselves and Chloe that if they never forced her to battle Ash, realized how they were hurting Chloe with their bullying or maybe just tried to be her friend, it would never have gotten to an extent that they destroyed their hometown out of petty jealousy and Chloe nearly dead.

* DeadlyPrank: In hindsight, what Class 5-E thought was just going to be another way to mock Chloe ended up with her being ''dead'' dead and, had it not been for Tuba, ''would've stayed that way''.

* ForcedToWatch: Since Chloe is somehow stuck on the Train from the Macro Cosmos portal, she can't do anything but stare in her "interview" as Vox and Dahlia waste no time tearing apart her image as the goddess of the Train and reveal her spiteful actions in ''Blossoming Trail'' to everyone.
* HanlonsRazor: During her EurekaMoment, Chloe finally stumbles upon a connecting factor between many of the actions that shaped the ''Blossomverse''.[[note]] Goh getting so hung up over a misunderstanding with Tokio, only to take ''her'' friendship for granted; Tokio letting the guilt for that incident drive him onto the Train, when he could have reconnected with Goh with a phone call or a trip to Vermillion City; Ash Ketchum being so helpless in connecting with Chloe and instead letting her turn him into [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence an icon of resentment]]; Trip barging onto the scene like a Tauros in a china shop, when he really ''did'' [[WellIntentionedExtremist want everyone to learn from their mistakes]]; and Yeardley joking about being a "work in progress" in class.[[/note]] To put it quite simply, it was because they were all ''children.'' They kept encountering situations that they didn't know how to handle and made mistakes because they didn't know better, yet truly did have good intentions even if their actions made it seem otherwise. As for the Cerise kids, ''their'' malicious actions came about when they ''ignored'' the Razor and assumed malicious intent from ''everyone'' in Vermillion City.

* HistoryRepeats: Chloe's JerkassRealization in this arc has quite a lot in common with Parker's in ''The Cyan Desert Car Part 6,'' as both Cerise siblings confront the fact that [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot they never needed to happen]]. In the days after the fact, Parker realized that with [[RealityWarper the Unown]] at his disposal, he ''could've'' focused on giving Ash and his friends some magical adventures that ''everyone'' would enjoy, deepening their bonds. But instead, he opted for ColdBloodedTorture and ended up being HatedByAll. Weeks after her return, Chloe realizes that she ''could have'' enjoyed her trip on the Train without repercussions and allowed herself to recover from the bullying and stress she'd endured, ''without'' letting her loved ones think she might be dead before giving an ultimatum to ensure everything would be ''perfect'' upon her return. In both cases, [[SkewedPriorities the siblings assumed their highest priority was punishing those who had wronged them]], and in the end their grudges ruined what could have and ''should'' have been purely enjoyable experiences. The main difference between these two experiences is that Chloe fully realized what she did wrong, and gave a sincere and tearful apology, which Goh accepted]]. Parker, on the other hand, began [[IgnoredEpiphany sailing back up denial river]] before the chapter was even over, and struggled to accept his guilt for the remainder of the Arc.

** Gard and Julie learn a lot of what Chloe went through when she ran away from home and are ''horrified'' upon learning that she could've been dead because of their dare. They also end up seeing firsthand everything Chloe did and said out of spite, with her messages, in particular, being seen as dickish.

* IronicEcho: Dahlia seems to take sadistic pleasure in repeating Chloe's tirades and messages back to her, particularly her first blow-up at the beginning of the first story and her poorly-worded ultimatum that sent Parker over the edge.

* ItsAllMyFault: Chloe nearly falls into this, only bolstered by the fact that her former bullies tell her not everything is her fault and ''they'' also screwed up with how they treated her.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: One could make the case the interview is one for Chloe, being forced to actually confront and address what she did wrong to Goh and facing the judgment of the formerly adoring train.

** Goh, who's also attending the "interview", tearfully gives Chloe an ''epic'' WhatTheHellHero speech on how she mistreated him, lashed out at him for not being a "good friend" when she frequently shut him out of her life, and turned him into a scapegoat for everyone to point fingers at, which led to what happened with the Unown. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Goh then asks her if he was a truly terrible person who deserved his abuse]]. Chloe is so devastated by this that she tearfully begs for forgiveness at Goh's feet, which is also karma for how, in ''Blossoming Trail'', she wanted all of Vermillion City to grovel for ''her'' forgiveness out of spite for not being catered to on her terms.

* WhatTheHellHero: The third chapter. Vox And Dahlia reveals the full extent of Chloe's past cruelty, spitefulness, and emotionally abusive behavior through a public "interview", leaving both Gard and Julie incredibly appalled and disgusted with her. Everyone else on the Train who knew her as a nice girl who could do no wrong starts going through a huge BrokenPedestal moment as they all learn how Chloe treated her family and friends back in Vermillion City. But the crowner comes from Goh, who gives her a tearful TheReasonYouSuckSpeech detailing everything she did to him to make his life an utter hell, just because she thought he was a poor friend and was more concerned with PlayingTheVictimCard instead of hearing his side of the story. Chloe is reduced to tears by the end of it, and she grovels at Goh's feet (which is karmic on her end for previously wanting everyone to beg for ''her'' forgiveness) and tearfully, genuinely apologizes for her mistreatment of him.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The Darkest Day either reflects the emergence of Eternatus or how it's the "darkest day" of Chloe's life when she has to reflect on everything she did back in her angry spiteful phase.
* DramaQueen: Chloe gets to see in full just how hystrionic she was in her early days on the Train. In particular, remembering that at one point she was ''entirely serious'' in her threat to assault her father and run away again if he made her feel uncomfortable by talking about Pokemon [[IHatePastMe makes her feel sick to her stomach.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: Chloe's former bullies, Julie and Gard, were pretty awful back in ''Blossoming Trail'', but even they find the farewell texts Chloe sent to Goh to be too much. They look in gob-smacked horror upon seeing the image of Chloe falling to her death, realizing that they never wanted her ''dead'' for a stupid dare.
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: While Chloe is trying to think of something to say to save face during the interview, she begins asking herself why Goh took Tokio's allegedly broken promise so badly when he was a kid... And it's when she realizes that ''he was just a kid at the time'' that everything starts making sense.

* HanlonsRazor: During her EurekaMoment, Chloe finally stumbles upon a connecting factor between many of the actions that shaped the ''Blossomverse'' [[note]] Goh getting so hung up over a misunderstanding with Tokio, only to take ''her'' friendship for granted; Tokio letting the guilt for that incident drive him onto the Train, when he could have reconnected with Goh with a phone call or a trip to Vermillion City; Ash Ketchum being so helpless in connecting with Chloe and instead letting her turn him into [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence an icon of resentment]]; Trip barging onto the scene like a Tauros in a china shop, when he really ''did'' [[WellIntentionedExtremist want everyone to learn from their mistakes]]; Yeardley joking about being a "work in progress" in class; and ''Chloe's'' CharacterDevelopment having to result in [[AesopCollateralDamage her loved ones being traumatized]] and [[HatedByAll her hometown hating her]][[/note]] To put it quite simply, it was ''because they were all children.'' They kept encountering situations that they didn't know how to handle and made mistakes because they didn't know better, yet truly did have good intentions even if their actions made it seem otherwise. Even those individuals who ''were'' malicious weren't [[BeyondRedemption one dimensional monsters that couldn't be redeemed.]] The [[KidsAreCruel bullies of Class 5-E]] ''were'' awful to Chloe, but that rose out of being DrivenByEnvy and believing LonersAreFreaks. If they had received better instruction on what being a Trainer was actually like, and allowed themselves to get a better picture of Chloe and what her life was like, who knows how things might have turned out? As for Chloe and Parker Cerise, ''their'' malicious actions came about when they ''ignored'' the Razor and assumed malicious intent from ''everyone'' in Vermillion City. Subconsciously, Chloe believed that [[MiseryPoker her trauma ''had'' massive and horrible]], so she could make sense of both the hurt ''she'' felt and the hurt she inflicted upon others as catharsis.

* HistoryRepeats: Chloe's JerkassRealization in this arc has quite a lot in common with Parker's in ''The Cyan Desert Car Part 6,'' as both Cerise siblings confront the fact that [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot never needed to happen]]. In the days after the fact, Parker realized that with [[RealityWarper the awesome power of the Unown]] at his disposal, he ''could've'' focused mainly on giving Ash and his friends some magical adventures that ''everyone'' would enjoy, deepening their bonds. But instead, he opted for ColdBloodedTorture and ended up being HatedByAll. Weeks after her return. Chloe realizes that she ''could have'' enjoyed the trip on the Train without repercussions and allowed herself to [[ThrowTheDogABone recover from the bullying and stress she'd endured]], ''without'' letting her loved ones think she might be dead before giving an ultimatum to ensure everything would be ''perfect'' upon her return. In both cases, [[SkewedPriorities the siblings assumed their highest priority was punishing those who had wronged them]], and in the end their grudges ruined what could have and ''should'' have been purely enjoyable experiences. The main difference between these two experiences is that Chloe fully realized what she did wrong, and gave a sincere and tearful apology, which Goh accepted]]. Parker, on the other hand, began [[IgnoredEpiphany sailing back up denial river]] before the chapter was even over, and struggled to accept his guilt for the remainder of the Arc.

** The interview is effectively Chloe's own version of Nightmare Therapy, complete with a grinning demon as the host, a not-her rubbing in salt, and all her mistakes getting thrown in her face, all while being ForcedToWatch it happen. The main difference is that her apologies are actually accepted by Goh.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: One could make the case the interview is one for Chloe, being forced to actually face and address what she did wrong to Goh and facing the judgment of the formerly adoring train.

** Chloe not only has to rewatch every moment in her life where she acted like a selfish, petty, and entitled {{Jerkass}} to everyone, but also listen to Vox and Dahlia read every single text she made in ''Blossoming Trail'', which were extremely cruel and abusive. And because this happens in a public 'interview', everyone on the Train who knew her as a kind, helpful girl [[BrokenPedestal ends up learning just how cruel Chloe could be in the past]].
** Goh, who's also attending the 'interview', tearfully gives Chloe an ''epic'' WhatTheHellHero speech on how she mistreated him, lashed out at him for not being a 'good' friend when she frequently shut him out of her life, and turned him into a scapegoat for everyone to point fingers at, which led to what happened with the Unown. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Goh then asks her if he was a truly terrible person who deserved his abuse]]. Chloe is so devastated by this that she ''[[PoseOfSupplication tearfully begs for forgiveness at Goh's feet]]'', which is also karma for how, in ''Blossoming Trail'', she wanted all of Vermillion City to grovel for ''her'' forgiveness out of spite for not being catered to on her terms.

* MiseryPoker: The interview makes it clear that Chloe's been playing this game since day one, acting and making her situation out to be worse than it actually was in order to garner the sympathy she believes she wouldn't get otherwise.

** Julie has this reaction when she sees how Goh worked himself to death trying to find Chloe, as it just reminds her how she and the other classmates bullied Chloe about "No-Show Goh" allegedly not giving a fig about her, resulting in Chloe unable to open up to anyone and believe that Goh never cared.
** Both she ''and'' Gard have another when they realize that thanks to their little dare, Chloe nearly wound up ''dead'' dead by the hands of a giant dragon.
** And of course, Chloe gets several of this as not only is she made to look back at everything she did and said, but also gets a EurekaMoment that renders ''everything'' that happened because of it mostly pointless.
* NotHelpingYourCase: Mentally, Chloe bitterly notes after Goh reveals the reason he both snapped at her and filmed the video with Ash that if he had just explained what he meant, she would've been more understanding... Which is the same scapegoating Goh says she's been doing to him since ''Blossoming Trail''.

** After dancing around the issue, Chloe and Goh reach this realization: if Goh explained what he was actually doing with the video and his call out in early ''Blossoming Trail'', Chloe would've understood, while if ''Chloe'' hadn't given up on Goh and told somebody about her problems, none of this would've happened.

* WhatTheHellHero: The third chapter. Vox And Dahlia revealing the extent of Chloe's past cruelty, spitefulness, and emotionally abusive behavior through a public 'interview' leaves both Gard and Julie incredibly appalled and disgusted with her. Everyone else on the Train who knew her as a nice girl who could do no wrong starts going through a huge BrokenPedestal moment as they all learn how Chloe treated her family and friends back in Vermillion City. But the crowner comes from Goh, who gives her a tearful TheReasonYouSuckSpeech detailing everything Chloe did to him to make his life an utter hell, just because she thought he was a poor friend and was more concerned with PlayingTheVictimCard instead of hearing his side of the story. Chloe is reduced to tears by the end of it, and she grovels at Goh's feet (which is karmic on her end for previously wanting everyone to beg for ''her'' forgiveness) and tearfully, genuinely apologizes for her mistreatment of him.

* YouAnsweredYourOwnQuestion: Chloe's EurekaMoment takes the form of this: as the "interview" keeps going, she mentally tries to look for something to say and asks why Goh got so broken up over a failed promise with Tokio when he was a kid... At which point it hits her: Goh was a ''kid'' back then and was thus prone to childish and irrational reactions. Or as the narration calls it, "Stupid stupid ''simplicity''."

** Rose asks if Lusamine and Lillie ''did'' anything to help Gladion get off the train, or just sat around waiting for him to return. While they have the excuse of not knowing about the details for the longest time, the question still stings.