(A/N This is my second fanfiction. It is going to be a rather long one, as how I planned it in my head. Don't worry, the title will make sense in sooner later chapters. R&R)

Ash looked out the window of the high speed train taking him back to Pallet Town, his home town. The scenery of Kalos passed by him in a blur. Ash can't believe it. He has been in every Pokémon League™ and placed high in every tournament. 6 years ago when he had first started his own journey, with a reluctant Pikachu, he had no clue on how to catch pokémon and how to raise them, now that ornery Pikachu is now his best friend and one of his most powerful pokémon, maybe the most powerful under his belt. The little electric type has been with him since day one and has never left his side at all. He was content, but he then was pondering what to do with his life.

"I've been every Pokémon League™, placed high in each one, have the ability to become a Frontier Brain, and is in the Orange Islands Hall of Fame. But, now what? I want to do something more than just be the greatest pokémon trainer the world has ever seen" he thought to himself. He took out his Poké Dex and looked at the time, a rather useful feature. It was 8:54 PM and the sky reflected this fact. The sun was a blood red and was setting behind the horizon. Ash yawned like a Snorlax and decided to go to bed and sleep on his decision on what to do next. He looked at his ticket stub and to his chagrin, he had not paid extra for a place in the sleeper car on the train. He went back to his seat, Pikachu was asleep and in the seat beside Ash's. Ash wadded his jacket into a pillow and fell asleep.

The next morning, still having not decided on what his course of future was, Ash wandered into the Dining car of the train, stomach growling. A sleepy Pikachu was on his shoulder, who immediately woke up after the tantalizing smell of ketchup wafted in his direction. Ash and Pikachu chose an empty booth and Pikachu was immediately downing the ketchup from the ketchup bottle at his table. A waiter wandered over to his table and asked Ash, "What would you like for breakfast young man?" Ash responded by ordering pancakes, eggs, bacon and a glass of orange juice. While waiting for his food to come, Ash fed his Pikachu a handful of the Pokémon food he carried with him.

"What is my future, Pikachu? What lies in it?" asked Ash.

"Pikachu" The pokémon responded, not knowing how to respond to the questions.

In a rather short amount of time, Ash's food came. In an even shorter amount of time, the food had disappeared, along with a good chunk of Ash's money. After going back to his seat, Ash looked again outside the window and realized that the scenery that was rolling on by was Hoenn.

"Hoenn, May's home region. I wonder how she is doing with her Pokémon Contests. I home she is winning a lot of them." Ash's train of thought was violently interrupted when a dark noxious smoke filled the train car. Everyone started to scream, except for Ash. He dropped to the floor and brought Pikachu down with him. The pokémon began coughing violently. Ash pulled a handkerchief from his bag and covered the pokemon's mouth and nose with it, filtering out the smoke so Pikachu wouldn't have this problem breathing.

A calm voice blared over the intercom, "Sorry for the events folks, it appears that the engine has had a malfunction and we will be stopping for a day in Petalburg City to get this issue cleared up."

Ash immediately perked up. "We are stopping in Petalburg City? That might mean May might be there. I want to ask her something." The train had coasted the way into Petalburg City and everyone was in a rush to get off the train. Ash was one of the last ones to get off because he had chosen his seat near the back of train so he can have some privacy. Once on the platform of the Petalburg City train station, Ash was able to get a good look on what had happened to the train. There was smoke coming out of the front and what appeared to be rather large rod was sticking out of it. Ash assumed the train had thrown a rod and needed a new engine. Ash went inside of the train station and looked at the time table. The next train to Pallet Town was an entire day wait. Ash was disappointed for a brief moment because he wasn't able to get home as fast as he hoped, but that feeling disappeared when he realized that he could see May. He walked out of the train station.