Future story directions for characters
Chloe Cerise
- An evil team leader such as Ghetsis, Lysandre, or Cyrus.
- A jerk foe unrepentant like Damian or Shamus (Pignite's original trainer)
- Hunter J
- A human movie villain or villains
Cyrus and Hunter J would probably be Jossed since one is in the Distortion World and the other one is presumed dead.
Because him being at X is a meme at this point....or a dead meme. Not entirely sure.
There is reason to do so beyond fanservice of course: Chloe could probably get something out of the encounter in the way of understanding Ash or sympathizing with him. The two sources that have said anything about him offer two possible avenues.
The first Masmitsu Hidaka (The director and storyboarder for the first 5 generations of the anime and the source of such things as 'Celebi was in the G.S Ball but after Movie 4 was decided on we shelved it and hoped people would forget it' and 'we change the female companions out to give boys new eye candy to look at') said that he was a trainer on his own journey who may or may not ever be introduced if they ever wanted to give Ash a major development.
The second Takeshi Shudo (the original head writer to mid-late Johto) who wrote the non-canon but often discussed Pocket Monsters: The Animation light novels described a man who left Delia shortly after marrying her on an ultimately failed journey and is implied to have accomplished nothing.
Either character would offer interesting insights for Chloe into Ash, and even a perspective of her own family. For her father never left home and never came back.
Whatever his fate may be, she will obtain the Pokemon that once beat Ash Ketchum and broke the internet. It won't go super well for her, this troper suspects.
The author is very adamant about subverting and deconstructing the Easily Forgiven trope, with Chloe declaring the entirety of Vermillion City (sans her mother and brother) as 'unforgivable', regardless of whether their offenses were genuine bullying and neglect, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the flipside of This Is Unforgivable! isn't without issues, especially when she inevitably comes home. If she refuses to forgive the people close to her, things will turn toxic very quickly. Either she'll be perpetually 'punishing' them for their mistakes, or she'll be holding their failures over their hand to bring it crashing down when they screw up. And they will screw up. They're only human, and nothing encourages a mistake like being scared of making one. And if she does something wrong, everyone will assume that she'll just invoke 'that horrible thing they did' if they try to correct or confront her.
This won't necessarily happen because Chloe is just that horrible, but because she feels, correctly or not, that if she says the words "I forgive you", then it'll invalidate her earlier pain and the statements she made in response to that pain. And if her inability to say those words is what sends Goh onto the Train (because we know that will happen) there could also be an element of guilt if she extends any forgiveness to anyone else but not her Childhood Friend when he needed to hear it.
On the flipside of the above theory, Chloe might actually return in a slightly more forgiving mood than everyone else assumes, but since her most notable contact was a speech about how she'll never forgive anyone and run away if there's the slightest issue, everybody will assume she despises them and will never let them move on. And then there's the debacle with UnChloe, with Vemillion City being scared of angering or upsetting her in any way, lest they face Parker or Chloe's wrath.
This...will not sit well with Chloe, who may just want things to be better than she left them. Between a school full of scared sycophants who act like she's the next Sara, and Ash and Cerise being Extreme Doormats who all but beg her not to leave again, Chloe might rue wishing that everyone paid more attention to her needs.
- Confirmed. Chloe finds out the hard way that her poorly worded email to Parker about not wanting to come home had...certain consequences.
And then there's Goh. Chloe may not want to forgive Goh or be friends with him anymore, but that doesn't mean she'll be happy to learn that Parker tortured him or that he's on the Train with a very real chance of dying there, either because he's too broken to change or Parker's torment has convinced him he's irredeemable. And if everyone assumes she is happy about that, with Ash trying to act like he's not concerned about Goh (and/or being visibly one more crisis away from running for the hills, train or no train), Parker assuming that his horrendous actions were what Chloe would have wanted him to do, and Cerise keeping Goh's situation hidden for fear of triggering her trauma again will make Chloe disgusted that everyone thinks so little of her after everything.
With Silent Hill existing as both a game and a car and the existence of both 'The Ledyba Hero' and Chloe B this is not impossible, and a wide range of possibilities exist in humor, meta commentary, and even horror if the Mutually Fictional trope is played right.
Additionally, Chloe will start to develop a Guilt Complex much like Ash, blaming herself for everything that's happened, believing that if she'd never run away; or gotten Parker into horror; or had just been "normal" and liked Pokemon like everybody else, or simply said something about how she was feeling, none of this would've ever happened.
And it isn't because of a new UnChloe incident level hiccup.
With Goh's recent mention of a Celebi-induced retcon, it might very well be that this is foreshadowing to him very much doing that. With his guilty conscience and fear of Chloe being hurt and believing only the most drastic actions can fix his mistakes, Goh will manage to find and capture a Celebi and have it take him back in time. In doing so he'll manipulate events to make sure that Chloe never had any reason to leave.
He'll expose the ongoing bullying problem, he'll let Professor Cerise know that she's unhappy, he'll make good on the curry promise and stop the Ash and Chloe battle. His own guilt will lead to further time poking that makes it so that any 'good' that came from it is retained, if not in full or perfectly.
When he gets back to the present Chloe is still there, and he'll believe he 'finally' did good. However Chloe was not on Pokeworld when Goh did this. She was still on the Infinity Train, and like Sunset Shimmer during the events of Season 5's finale this makes Chloe immune to the time shenanigan.
Unlike Sunset Shimmer she can still go home, but when she does return it is a different world. Sara is still with her mother, Ash doesn't have a guilt complex, the Cerise Institute is not threatened....and there is the unaltered Chloe of the past still there.
This other Chloe, the Chloe of the story who never quite hit the boiling point that the one we've followed did but still simmering, is also the first clear hint that Chloe from the train gets that something is seriously out of whack when she opens the door for her at Cerise Institute.
Then things explode....not literally or anything but two Chloe's are promptly at each other as imposters and everyone is confused.
Everyone but Goh over why there are two Chloe's, and Goh because he doesn't get how what he did could possibly have backfired.
After both Chloe's are cleared as 'not clones/dittos/etc' and are given identifications to differentiate (Train Chloe is Chloe-Blue for her hair and non-Train Chloe is Chloe-Red) the events of the post Chloe return arc are focused on how anyone can handle this mess. The Cerise family is confused about how to handle two Chloes that are drastically different, Chloe-Blue is unsure of how to really react to a seeming lack of consequences for anyone (including herself, Parker, and her classmates and teachers) and the knowledge gap that time travel created with stuff like the train and those stil lon it, and Chloe-Red has the ultimate attention thief in her life as her parents, Goh attention rival (Ash) and others quickly come to care for Chloe-Blue and, unlike her, she openly reciprocates.
This also is what has Goh enter the Infinity Train where Parker and Zeno failed.
The antagonist of this arc would be Chloe-Red, as a Replacement Flat Character to Chloe-Blue.
Ash Ketchum
Parker wants to train and work with Yamper for Chloe while he is gone and Ash, who is less likely to do something stupid than Goh is, will most likely be around to give him some pointers. It will likely also be a means of showing his ability to adapt to macabre and dark fiction with his own experiences and empathy and show that a lot of his problems with Chloe were communication errors that were avoidable with just the right circumstances.
If the fic does decide to go over how there are limits to what Ash actually could have done and the reasonability of his concerns the best person to bring it up would be someone, an original character most likely, in the coronation series who had been through the same thing as himself. Ash believes you can communicate the best via battles with people, and he put out enough feelers someone who had been in shoes likely could hear of it and come around.
One of Ash's older companions will eventually point out to him that the inability to connect with Chloe was as much a problem of her not giving him anything to go off of as it was him not knowing what to suggest. Such a companion could be...
- Misty: Who is both empathetic enough and hardly against telling Ash when he is being stupid.
- Dawn: Who could compare Chloe's clamminess to Paul in a harsh but not without merit comparison.
- Mallow: As the girl closest to Lillie she could very well point out similarities between Chloe and Lillie's family problems and how information doesn't flow freely enough for him to know.
- Brock: Who is mature enough to offer a perspective Ash can't as a stunned however old he is
- Bonnie: Wisdom from a child is a trope
- Mallow wrote Ash an email to tell him to stop beating himself up.
Goh and Chloe's train escapades won't change the flaring up oddities with his band and someone will need to do it. If Goh is out of commission Trip is a valid candidate. Plus it may open a door to looking at Ash having a bit of an issue with feeling like he's responsible for anything around him, from Chloe's social life to near end of the world scenarios, even when he arguably shouldn't.
Tweaked take from the above.
As the train only takes on passengers who are at a crossroad in their life and Ash is far from a point where he is at that. The only points he might have been eligible for it were points like after the Indigo League.
Beyond being useful, as likely intended, for any World Coronation Matches, it would probably be useful to have a big attack to handle Unown/Silent Hill plots. He will, of course, need to take into account that of his current team at the Cerise Institute only Dragonite and Pikachu can use the Z-moves he has access to bar a moveset change.
Charizard and the Johto team from Movie 3 may want a rematch, or the sensory skills of Noctowl to deal with any freaky illusions, or to accidentally set Goh off on a further edge with a reminder of the fact that Ash has past adventures and achievements.
Aura is something that Ash has the ability to use and is noted in fic, but it isn't something he actively works. At some point, someone will bring this up, either as a 'hey why don't you do it' question or an 'Aura totally could have read Chloe's mind' sort of way.
- Ash makes a mental note in the Intermission to start training those Aura skills, and they are instrumental in stopping Parker and UnChloe.
Per talk of part 2 becoming a flip take on what part 1 did Ash's sorrow about his failure with Chloe will change to seeing her at fault for most of it instead of himself.
Ash's own issues, and the brewing promise of repercussions from Part 1, may lead to more and more problems at the Institute. Ash, being someone with the least connections, most used to travel, and having a potential base of operations in not just Oak's Lab but even the Kukui household in Alola, is the most likely to leave. The cause of it will be personal drama, either a fight with someone present or Vermillion town ire wrongly (entirely or in intensity) coming onto him from the Chloe movement.
- Confirmed: After getting Mind Raped by Parker, Ash has decided to leave the Lab after the Unown are dealt with, not wanting to be anywhere near the boy anymore. Though Word of God suggests he might just be staying out of town, and will still work for Professor Cerise from a distance.
Because the writer has done the idea before in Zero Hour (ARC-V) with Yusei, Jack, Crow, and Kallin, because Ash probably needs the support at this point, because it would be different than the expected Trip v Serena battle for Ash's heart motivated by Serena thinking Trip is responsible for hurting Ash, and because Ash is uniquely set up for that sort of thing. By that, the troper means he can connect with a lot of people and would be perfectly fine with moving about so often no one who might care can notice and say anything.
- Serena does mention that Ash is still her goal but she also wants to make sure both he and Trip are safe.
Because why not?
As this was an Ash episode where be battled at the Saffron Fighting Dojo and later Bea it is most likely going to focus on him (Goh was there but not as much, though he could possibly be given more of a role).
Beyond his general goal of increasing his W.C.S rank Ash may be using his battles to try and clear his head. A positive activity to avoid being depressed.
Bede being present suggests he may also be seeking fights, and as his role at the time he'd be battling Hop was that of a Psychic-trainer he is liable to be abusing type advantage.
Both Ash and Bede would likely want to battle the Karate Master, and later Bea. They may in fact even battle for the right to do so.
While Ash won't be at 100%, it is likely that Ash does have the ability to win such a battle, particularly if there is an additional means of focus (Trip and or Serena encouragement, Bede reminding him of Paul and setting off a burning fire of injustice to sharpen his focus, etc etc). While it would be easy to transfer Ash's loss in this episode from Bea to Bede....it would have consequences that only would serve to put Ash on the train.
Ash may even manage to win the battle with the team he used against Bea (if he wants to prove a point a la his battle with Hodge in episode seven for Goh) and thus lead to a different lineup to go against her.
A major factor in how Bede is handled is if the Gen 8 protagonists exist: if they don't Ash can easily take over their job of 'Bede beating' and put Bede on his collision course with 'pink'.
Ash could have earned one the same as Goh got a Hitmonchan and if Goh can win one so can Ash. This could be part of a remixed 34 with Bede in the mix.
Leon as an adult can process the problems (in theory) more measurably than Ash can and can help him steer him away from what isn't his fault so he can focus on what he can actually fix about himself to prevent this situation from occurring in the future.
Goh is showing signs of extreme possessiveness towards Ash, thinking that he shouldn’t be with Trip just because he’s his friend, and clearly wants them to break up as shown by his urge to tell Delia. If he does try, Delia, Trip, or someone else will tell Ash about Goh’s betrayal and makes him realize that Goh is toxic for him and clearly only cares about himself since he was willing to go behind Ash’s back to break him and Trip up. After which, Ash confronts Goh and washes his hands of him, wanting to focus on resolving his own issues and not wanting Goh to control his life.
- Seeing as there is an earlier guess about Ash leaving the Cerise institute let us combine the two: Goh tries that, it goes horribly, and Ash just up and leaves. He can go 'base' himself at Professor Oak's instead, he just needs to change how he decides to go places than get given directions by Professor Cerise. Though there is also the probably simpler result of 'Goh gets kicked out', though that will have more upheaval to deal with.
(Ash would just need to take Pikachu, Mimey, Dragonite, Gengar, Riolu, and Farfetch'd. Goh has a lot more).
Goh
Goh, freaking out and being impulsive in trying to fix things, will run after it with only scant supplies and a few Pokemon, probably just Raboot and Sobble. It will go really, really, really badly.
All of the bits and bobs about Goh not taking stuff like Melmetal, Ash's experiences with seeing Mew, and his achievements and friends of old? They will come true, and it will not be pretty.
- Episode 37 had him meet Melmetal but then again he didn't know that it was a newly discovered Legendary at the time. Also in Episode 9, Ash brought up Ho-oh and Goh didn't look angry or jealous.
- Goh is in a distinctly different mental state then and in canon as well as a story that isn't as kind to him as canon (arguably) is. Changes are possible.
- Chapter 15 has him overhear a lot of Ash's adventures and ponders just what he knows about the Pallet Town Trainer.
Goh takes negative outcomes, like his loss to Hodge or Tokio's absence, badly. With part 2 set to have the actions of part 1 get looked at more negatively we may see Goh take on the opinion that Chloe, who slammed hot curry in his face, never did anything to fix the fact no one knew what she liked among her father and Ash, never went up to him and said there was a problem or any number of other things, Goh could very well write her off completely. This would mean he'd stay away from the train, but he'd probably also do things like telling Ash 'you didn't do anything wrong, it's all her fault so snap out of it', tell Parker that his sister abandoned him, or possibly may retreat to Pokémon only friendship entirely. Goh himself may actually leave the institute instead of Ash to get away from people entirely.
If Goh can actually survive such a break is a question, so his parents may need to be sure he isn't researching edible berries, how to make more permanent structures in the woods (perhaps taking a page from a fic like Pokémon Reset Bloodlines and having him use Secret Power to live in a Secret Base), or how to teach a Pokémon Teleport as to use his Butterfree/Venomoth/Exeggcute (which can learn Teleport via TM in Gen 1 and the Lets Go Games) to let him travel and pursue Mew without plane tickets.
- Goh already blames Chloe for how she said or did nothing except sit on a sofa and read or be on her phone.
While it was focused on Ash in canon, Goh could be the guy to battle Bede. Unlike Ash Bede not beating Go is unlikely and this will not help Goh's current mental state of being.
- The arrival/Goh learning of more of Ash's old friends being around. Trip may not be enough, perhaps not even Trip and Serena. But, say, if Mallow comes over for in-person moral support or Misty comes down to smack Ash out of his angst (no one's tried beating Ash out of his funk with a battle yet) Goh will think Ash is replacing him or something.
- Learning of Ash's relationship with Trip, or even walking in on something more (like him being kissed by Trip and Serena at once). Probably not over anything prudish and more about replacement angst.
- The train knowledge Trip is keeping to himself because Goh will take it badly, getting to Goh and him taking it badly and feeling betrayed it wasn't revealed.
- Parker's anger causing him to say something needlessly harsh (see below in the Other section for details).
- A loss to Bede and, subsequently, Ash beating Bede after Bede tears apart Goh's capture preferences.
- A non-Parker related Mew reveal. Maybe the events of Movie 8 will come up from an aura discussion and it spirals out of control. Maybe Professor Oak says something. Goh will take it as Ash just 'stringing him along'.
- The full reveal of Ash's roster to Goh. Goh had no issues with this reveal in canon but here he is in a very different state and may take it far worse. In particular note is Melmetal the Mythical Steel-type.
- A related reason may tie into the Bede battle. Ash may debut one of his older Fighting-types either in fighting Bede or in conversation with Bea in a different context (say if she first meets him after beating Bede with Farfetch'd and Riolu). This may tie up not just 'my only remaining friend doesn't tell me about his past adventures and do I really know him?' with 'why does he keep making friends with people so easily?!'. Bonus points if Goh reads the situation very erroneously and Bea is far from Ash's friend (perhaps mistaking a respectful rivalry for friendship)
- Ash having to go somewhere to help a friend out. Goh's in a state that he may take 'Hey Goh I have to jet up to Pewter City to babysit my friend's 10 younger siblings while he's doing something' as being abandoned.
- The worry about Alain and Hop may cause Goh to believe that people have stopped caring about Chloe.
- Goh trying to break Ash and Trip by telling Delia, only to be harshly scolded by her, and Ash turns his back on Goh as a result.
Chapter 15 has him learn that Trip was also a former passenger who wanted to keep the Train secret from him and that Ash is "together" with Trip too. He also questioned who Serena was and why she's "replacing" Chloe. Yet the Unown Tiles aren't ready to be unleashed.
- Jossed, it's Parker who summons the Unown.
We know Goh will get on the train, and it'll likely be after Chloe has already left. If Goh finds out that he's too late to do anything to help Chloe, he might need to focus on a new goal to keep himself moving. If he runs into the name of Ash's father, he might resolve to investigate what happened so he can give something to try and make up with his friend.
Parker and UnChloe might create a fake Goh that's everything Goh should have been, either to keep everyone from noticing Goh's absence while they go into their punishment of him, or to force Goh to see what he should have done. Since Parker has a slightly higher opinion of Ash while despising Goh, he might give UnGoh to him so Ash can have the friend he deserves without abandoning Goh like Parker thinks he should. UnGoh might even be Goh, stuck in an And I Must Scream mode as Parker and UnChloe puppeteer him into being a better person.
It's building up to that and as their sadism and desire to cathartic justice build and build it will likely climax on Goh. As to what that climax would look like...
1: Making him feel everything Chloe did, or considering that they think he's responsible for everything that's happened so far, making him feel everything everyone has gone through in the process.
2: Somehow destroying his goal in life: His desire to complete the Pokedex and catch Mew might be the thing they target. How they'd do it could be...anything. They could release his entire collection, maybe somehow give them to someone Goh hates (which could possibly even be Ash at this point), something like that.
3: They could use the translation and Raboot's dissatisfaction to basically destroy Goh's 'Pokemon are better friends than humans' belief. Maybe even make Raboot leave Goh for Ash in front of him, and doll him up as the 'White Rabbit' while they're at it.
4: UnGoh (see above)
5: Expose his intentions of outing Ash to his friends and forcing them to disown Goh as a friend.
6: Locking Goh on the other side of a mirror and forcing him to watch all the 'fun' he could've been having with his friends.
And it won't be a part of UnChloe or Parker's design. Nothing speeds up the collapse of a theme park like a child going missing and no-one being able to find him...
1: Sekirei's Hayato Mikogami. The two have a fair amount of similar traits: both are 'collectors' of Pokemon and Sekirei, both see them as better friends than humans, both are kind of social failures, both have parents with poor approaches to parenting, etc etc. Mikogami developed, in canon, the opposite direction of fanfic Goh, and of all Sekirei characters he's the most likely to run into the train after series. He's also a good candidate to see Pokemon as mutually fictional which could have a lot of implications for Goh. Finally Sekirei's long been memed as 'Pokemon with giant boobs', so the jokes write themselves.
2: The Magnificent Seven's Ezra Standish. Considering that Parker's punishment may end up convincing Goh that he needs to throw away everything about himself, good and bad, his train journey may be just as much about accepting who he is and how to be the best version of himself. Ezra could provide an interesting counterpoint to the notion that someone has to completely change to be better, since a big part of his Character Development in the show is accepting that he is who he is, Warts and All, and suggests that his own journey isn't just about "not being a thief" since he does just as much good with his less-than-ethical talents that others cannot.
3: A Transformers Armada character to continue the first idea's theme of a Poke-X type series. With 'D-16' already mentioned Transformers aren't impossible and there are a few possible candidates from those who didn't show up in Energon to consider (or even something more drastic, like Armada Starscream)
Parker's final wish was that Goh would experience two different nightmares - one where he gets what he wants playing out to its worst conclusion, and one where he sees everything he could've been for his friends. Zeno is forcing him to experience just what his actions could have caused before "changing the channel", presumably to show him how good things could have been if he had been better. Everything that he should have done before to be a better friend and a better person, but didn't.
Zeno might cap off the dream with a little test to see if Goh understands, releasing him in front of the dream audience and having him show what he's learned so far in a retread of one of the earlier scenes in the story. If he repeats his mistakes, he needs more lessons. If not, he can wake up and go free. Maybe he teleports Goh to a recreation of the dinner scene at the start of the story, just before Chloe ran away from home, and waits for him to apologize to and comfort Chloe about what happened.
Goh apologizes...and tries to kill himself there and then.
Zeno's "therapy" just convinces Goh that he's irredeemable and is too late to do anything to fix his mistakes. That he has to throw away everything about himself, and even that won't make a difference. And Zeno can't do anything to stop him or take back everything he saw, because he isn't there to make Goh better - he only exists to punish him. If Zeno has more Parker in him than UnChloe, he might scramble to convince Goh that it isn't too late to change or make amends, but it will be utterly hollow coming from him after what he put the boy through. Zeno will be forced to release Goh, and Goh will have his one-way ticket to the Train in his self-loathing conviction that he'll never make things right and is utterly worthless.
Conversely, if UnChloe is in full control, that might be the entire point.
Another possibility is that he captures Mew...but with no friends to come back to and no other goal to chase with his obsessive behavior, Goh is stuck wandering aimlessly for what feels like years, with all the enthusiasm and happiness he might get from capturing Pokemon getting sucked away into nothing until he finally falls down and fades away, with no-one around him to help him get back up again...
Other
For tone whiplash reasons.
- Jossed, their a comic relief cameo
In that, like some American colleges, you only need to be in on certain assignment days like tests which was the case in the 12/11/20 episode. Someone will make that connection from other universes the Train goes to and be very confused while not-college age kids have a system like that.
Chloe is going to here talk, or even meet, characters from universes far removed from her own. Some series, selected at random for the example, include Code Lyoko, Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS, DuckTales (2017), Soul Eater, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and One Piece. This could range from a point of being just random cameos to a plot detail about anything from obsession to observation of oddities of the worlds themselves.
Chloe already met Jaden, she saw a picture of G. Pottage and Lexi mentioned Owen And Anna. Who knows what other characters she'll meet?
Parker's anger is demonstrably bad enough that could do something terrible to Goh without any remorse, not just against Goh but everyone around him. The most likely scenario is that while Ash is trying to reach Goh, Parker will snap and rip into Goh. But not only will he tear into Goh for what he did wrong, but Parker will deliberately try to make Goh suffer by revealing Ash had already met Mew several times and never told him. Parker will feel satisfied for a second - until Goh breaks, disowning Ash as a friend and causing the Unown problem to unfold.
For bonus points, Sara will applaud his speech and asks Professor Cerise if he's going to systematically destroy Parker's life like he did with her, or if he'll take Parker for ice cream like he did when Parker nearly killed Yeardley. "You're raising a little monster, professor. What are you going to do? Really think about it."
- Jossed in regards to Goh summoning the Unown, but Parker may still cross a line now that he has The Unown's power...
She wasn't happy when Ash fell into a depression post-Wulfric, and this time there is a certain someone to put the fault on. Ash probably won't also anger her directly like that time.
Maybe she understands Ash needed a shoulder, maybe she only dislikes girl competition, but that won't be the problem. Just like above Trip, whose words helped set off Ash's depression, will earn her ire. Trip, who has already realized he was too harsh on Ash, won't be the most aggressive in response.
- So far, Serena doesn't hate Trip for the kiss, but she rather wants to protect him and Ash since they both need each other.
With part 2 moving into a deconstruction of part 1 Delia, who is more distant from the scenarios at hand than the others, will see a lot more of Chloe's faults in what is going on, especially in what it has done with her son. She may also have a notably negative reaction to the actions that, say, Goh or Professor Cerise do in the present (in the events of a fallout) or the past that Ash would not easily have.
- Professor Cerise has a vivid nightmare where a demonic Delia takes vicious revenge on the Cerise family for everything that happened to her son...
- Confirmed in regards to hating Chloe and Parker, jossed in regards to Prof. Cerise and his wife Talia.
- For Chloe, in Post-Cyan Desert Car, is that Delia sees her as a as a spoiled brat that whines about things not going her way,ran away to hurt others (guilty or otherwise) and had the audacity to demand forgiveness from her victims, all while blaming others for her problems.
- For Parker, it's all the Disproportionate Retribution he caused with the Unown and UnChloe, like forcing people to live through a horror story, not knowing the difference between reading one and living one, and breaking everyone in Vermillion City that didn't notice his sister. And after he lost the Unown's powers, Delia tells him that he'll never be forgiven by her nor Ash considering his actions.
Many note the fact the two were basically parental substitutes to Ash in Alola, and Kukui is in quite a unique position to note Chloe's talk about how her father 'replaced' her with him and go 'yeah no that isn't it at all' and view her as a wildly flailing brat attacking people indiscriminately. Also as someone familiar with Lillie's own family issues, he'd have a different opinion on Ash not sticking his nose into her business than Trip or Chloe herself.
Continuing the train of thought of the story that criticizes fan hatred of Chloe giving the hate reason to exist in verse Leon will eventually realize what happened with Hop is mirrored in what happened with Chloe. He, as an adult, will handle the implications of this better than Ash does and recognize where the fault of both sides are in the situation. While he certainly won't hate Hop and will feel guilty, he will not see getting on Ash's case for the same thing as valid and will note that Chloe caused her own isolation with her refusal to say anything about her interests or lack of ice cream trips.
This troper has always considered one of the major problems with Chloe's existence not to be her lack of shipping with Ash, or her lack of a clear character arc a year and a bit in. Alongside the question of her lack of roles, this troper has always had issues with a Voodoo Shark she and Goh do open up.
Ash and school.
Unless this troper has missed something Ash isn't running into wild Truant Officers constantly. No one talks about it as if it is an odd thing, even in Alola where he was at a school for a bit. This troper finds it makes him wonder why more 10+ year olds aren't running off to avoid schoolwork and hang out with magical creatures in canon or in this very fanfic.
It's realism that clashes with a fairly fundamental part of the series itself and has always bugged this troper.
With Goh's frustrations bound to start boiling over, even his comparatively lax school needs versus Ash's lack of them may come up as a big, boiling, sense of injustice that may or may not be fairly applied. Goh could also possibly treat his higher level of education as something to lord over Ash, particularly if something also causes a sense of inferiority to pop up (for example if Bede battles Goh and trounces him, or it becomes a repeat of the Hodge battles where he trashed Goh but Ash beats him easily). Or a third reason. Regardless someone will ask the question of 'why doesn't Ash take math tests', either seriously or even as a joke.
Looking at Alex’s character more closely, a lot of things that are connected to Alain can be seen:
-Alex gets headaches when he eats chestnuts. This leads back to Chespie, Mairin’s Pokémon that indirectly led to Alain gathering more energy for Lysandre in hopes of waking it up. And what are Chespin (and Chespie) based off of? Chestnuts.
-Alex also keeps muttering the word, ash, whenever he sees a burnt building while he’s in Silent Hill. This, of course, calls back to Ash, Alain’s greatest rival, and a massive source of guilt for Alain as Ash got captured during the Team Flare incident as Lumiose City turned to ash.
-And of course, the fact Henry notes that Alex is wearing a medal that looks like a Poké ball. Now who was among the heroes that received the Honor of Kalos?
- Jossed, Alex is a denizen and Alain is still alive, albeit not really himself anymore.
Per the recent reveals it is possible that Atticus was once something other than a corgi. In fact, his talk about wishing he could leave is a subconscious tapping of said memories as much as wanting to see Chloe and Tulip's world. For a bit of extra terror perhaps he was even a father of some sort hence his parallels to Professor Cerise.
Because why not make that theory?
It will go a bit better than Chloe by the simple measure of being a trainer.
With the ever hairy topic and concept of 'Human x Pokemon' it is a viable passenger candidate. Perhaps Chloe will encounter someone whose train trip involved coming to grips with the fact they love their Pokemon partner in a different way than most do and that is perfectly normal.
Hawk Moth keeps turning those with the emotions that attracts the train into villains before they can be found by the train. Chloe is from after season 3 and thus is one of the few he isn't targeting, so she got train grabbed.
Because of the recent fridge horror, let's offer up some ideas of what the side effects could be. The possibilities, many of which are not mutually exclusive, include but are not limited to
1: Ash and or Goh leaving the Cerise Institute. (Confirmed with Ash.)
2: The Cerise Institute shutting down, which will compromise the family's financial situation and mess up Professor Cerise's reconciliation...he might have to work even more than before, or Chloe will have to put her personal dreams aside to act as an additional breadwinner for the family. Even if there's no backlash against Talia (her illustration in the Act 1 intermission might be seen as encouraging a sadist to some people) there's no way her illustrator job can cover the expenses of a family of four, let alone the money for therapy or whatever they get sued for by the class' parents.
- The end of chapter 27 shows Chloe considering all the consequences she and her family will likely face, a couple of them being the Cerise Family facing bankruptcy from legal fees and Chloe being forced to become a Pokemon Trainer just to make ends meet.
3: Parker being arrested (How legal arresting a five-year-old is a bit iffy. While earlier episodes occasionally would suggest Ash could be arrested he was notably older than Parker and a trainer. Perhaps they could give Parker a trainer license then arrest him.).
4: Parker being expelled from his school, or banned from being a trainer.
5: Professor Cerise being arrested or sued for Parker's actions.
6: The city of Vermillion coming to agree with Chloe's bullies that her horror interests were wrong and unwelcome (because they were the reason that Parker likes horror). That, or they just cannot handle having Chloe return since they'll be seeing someone with the same face as their tormentor, meaning Chloe cannot live in Vermillion.
7: Parker joins Team Rocket.
8: Parker ends up on the Infinity Train. Inversely, part of his punishment/therapy might be taking steps to make sure he doesn't go on the train.
9: Ash ends up on the Infinity Train.
10: Goh ends up on the Infinity Train.
11: Serena ends up on the Infinity Train.
12: The return of Greninja.
13: Someone such as Ash/Goh/Serena/Trip/Delia/Molly slapping Parker in the face or punching him in the gut. If Goh has been traumatized or taken by the train, Raboot or one of his other Pokemon may even threaten to kill him.
- Ash ends up slapping him when it's all over.
14: Seriously compromising Chloe's return to the town, with everyone too scared of her to be friends or being a doormat that Chloe doesn't appreciate.
15: Parker and Chloe eating their words regarding Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse and Rejected Apology. Rule how you wish to be ruled, eh, Parker?
16: Either Jinny won't want to be Parker's friend anymore or her parents will tell her not to speak or hang with him ever again.
- Jinny is apparently still friends with Parker, wanting to thank him for sticking up for her and Feeby, but Trip and Serena decide to keep her in the dark about Parker's misdeeds.
17: The Cerise family having to move to another region when all is said and done, possibly Galar. Chloe will be...less than happy that she'll have to start over in a strange new city and gamble that she won't run into another Sara and/or Yeardley.
Because this train of thought is fun.
Now for clarity, there will be ones that don't: Dragonite seems too sweet to go 'Chloe only makes things worse' without more context than at current time (ask that question again about Parker's Unown crazy fun time). However, of Ash's team, there are three that are likely to have either an opinion that Chloe is a lot more responsible than she thinks (and Parker sees).
First is Pikachu, who is nearly always with Ash and is probably the best judge if Ash really was acting 'wrongly' with her. If he doesn't...well that's probably it and it ties more into wanting Ash to stop beating himself up than anything.
Next is Riolu, who while younger has the benefit of Aura. If Riolu was to have a sense of the aura of those around him it is not hard to see the little dog go 'Chloe had a defensive aura that never let anyone in. Blaming my trainer for that is stupid'. Compared to Pikachu he is probably more likely to actually dislike Chloe for the issues in the story as Riolu is, again, younger. Almost like Parker in a way.
Finally is Gengar, who is probably the most likely in the entire institute to have the most knowledge of what is going on. Gengar frequently hangs around invisibly watching everyone both pre and post-capture, and if there is anyone who'd know just how much Chloe disliked Ash for existing or seeing her not being open to him at all, it is Gengar.
Plus they all had a chance to visit Oak's ranch in the story. It is entirely possible that one of them mentioned the situation to the Pokemon at the ranch and they, with less context and rumor-based escalation, may have spread tales of a rude, spiteful girl named Chloe who blames everyone but herself for her problems all over the ranch. A female Paul if you will, which could definitely be a rumor escalation that could have come from one of Ash's Sinnoh team in particular.
This is, of course, not even pondering if Parker does something terrifying with the Unown. If he does and Ash is affected there will definitely be a Cerise that the Pokemon despise: him.
- At the very least we get an indication in chapter 21 that Pikachu does view Chloe as having the same level of culpability in Ash and her not connecting. If he actually dislikes her isn't clear yet.
Because it would be a funny moment for a later chapter needing levity, especially if either no one bet on Trip or someone did and it was considered a long-shot. It's also possible one of his team bet anyone but Trip and is salty about it: this troper would guess Oshawott would do that and is flabbergasted.
- Confirmed.
Between utterly failing Chloe, losing her job and future prospects, and her last effort at doing right by her students being hijacked by a sadistic torturer while she is Forced to Watch...it is very unlikely that she is going to recover at all. Not without one massive intervention, at least. If it doesn't happen, Parker is going to choke on his words about the class almost driving Chloe to suicide, and things will be utterly unsalvageable in Vermillion.
- Confirmed. Thankfully, Mr. Bradbury saves her.
Considering the horrific actions the two denizens have committed and how they're clearly not being truthful about their plan with the Apex, the Red Lotus Quarto might have to resort to drastic actions to stop them.
Now that we have confirmation that passengers who die on the train get converted into Denizens, someone might get fixated on that element as some sort of 'rebirth' and built an inverted Apex that targets passengers rather than Denizens, convinced that they are 'freeing' the unsaveable passengers from a lifetime of failure or simply allowing them to become something stronger. The impetus for this may have been a Littlest Cancer Patient for whom no amount of personal growth will protect him from dying when he returns home, and he or someone close to him pulls a Mercy Kill to give him a brand new stronger body. This might be the actual 'Splinter Apex' rather than people who are somehow 'too extreme' for Grace and Simon.
Considering that either Chloe or Goh won't be present for the archeology episodes of Pokemon Journeys, Trey and Troy will probably pick up the slack, maybe even getting to go on the dig in question and inviting Ash and his friends on it. Shenanigans, possibly with a revised version of Bede at Stow-on-Side.
As for Hilary, considering that she's representative of the resentment and jealousy of Ash in Pallet Town, and the kids will be staying there for some time, Hilary might be a recurring problem, maybe with her 'sewing group' trying to cause trouble for Ash or Chloe. This might even get bad or just frustrating enough for Ash to use it as an excuse to join Chloe when she goes to Galar for an extended period.
- Confirmed, at least for Trey and Troy, who do appear in the sequel with Zamazenta and the other legendary at hand.
Lexi's advice is to learn to cut tie with people when they aren't worth it anymore, and Atticus' advice was to learn to let go. While these kinda do apply to Chloe, they more apply to Grace and Amelia, two women whom both characters have issues with.
So, perhaps, rather than giving Chloe advice to deal with her father and Goh, they tried giving her advice that they would give to these characters, or otherwise use this advice to deal with them.
