When you get out of high school, you expect life to just fall into place. That's the way everyone here in the city had made it seem. So when I graduated, I had expected something to just fall into my lap, something like a job at a small corner restaurant around town, or a small scholarship to a local university. I'd applied for a few, but never heard anything back from anyone.

I wasn't the most outgoing student, or person in general, just an average guy in a big city. My grades in school were mostly C's and B's, sometimes a D, but never A's or F's. My personality was passive enough to not make any enemies, but rarely enough to hold a full conversation. I guess you could say I was always more of an observer than a participator. I could understand why they'd never bothered choosing to accept or hire me.

A good amount of time went by, still applying online occasionally, but not frequently. I spent most of my days sleeping until noon, and playing video games until the crack of dawn, slowly becoming somewhat nocturnal. It was fine for the first couple weeks, but after three months, it started to get to me.

I lived with my family still, but they were rarely home. Dad had a cozy job that took care of us all, and Mom worked as his accountant just to get out of the house, and my older sister, Vinn, had recently taken a new job out in the Asceros Region at the region's Pokémon Breeding Ranch. With my conflicting "schedule", I rarely saw or talked to my parents. It was beginning to be lonely, but then again, I'd never been that close with them. They weren't bad parents by any means, they'd just become much more devoted to their work now that their two kids were older and could take care of themselves.

Vinn and I, however, had always been close. She could always get me to smile and break out of my shell. We texted fairly frequently, our conversations mostly being about her. I didn't mind; if anything, it helped. She'd tell me all about her adventures with pokémon and how much she was learning. Living in the heart of the city, we rarely had contact with the amazing creatures. Everyone else seemed to take them for granted, looking past their beauty and wonder.

After hearing so much from Vinn about her new life, I practically started living through her stories. Little did I know then, she'd been working on helping me break into this new world she'd discovered.

I sat at my desk, staring into the bright screen of my laptop as I browsed online forums, the whirring of the machine's fan and the clicking of the mouse and keys being the only sound that filled the dark room. It was rather late, but still very early in the night by my nocturnal standards. Mom and Dad had already gone to bed hours ago. I sighed as I glanced at the digital clock in the corner of the screen. I should really try to get to sleep before the sun starts coming up in the next few hours.

My phone, which was resting next to the wireless mouse to my right, lit up and buzzed rhythmically. I gave it a brief glance and read "Vinn" at the top of smooth glass, raising an eyebrow at the oddity. She never calls, we always text, it was just easier. I reached over and grasped the small object in my head, sliding my thumb over the unlock and raising the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked quietly. Even though my parents were on a whole other floor, I still felt the need to keep the reverence of near silence.

"Oh good, you're up!" Vinn's replied happily. "I have no idea how you stay up this late every night, I'm dead tired after today."

"Long day at the Ranch?" I asked her, taking my phone into my left hand and again beginning to scroll through the forums on the laptop in front of me.

"No, actually. Which is why I'm calling you tonight instead of a text," she said, clearly implying something. "Take a guess where I am."

"On a flight back here because you lost your job?" I smirked. Even if she couldn't see it, she could definitely hear it in my response.

"Ha-ha," Vinn forced a sarcastic laugh. "Seriously, guess!"

I rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair, looking up towards the black ceiling of my room. "I dunno, still in Asceros? You made it sound like you're not at the Ranch, so I'm guessing you're up at Lake Astraeus, or down in Lindum City."

"Neither actually," she answered. "I'm on the complete other side of the island, up on the side of Mount Luceria."

I sat up and pulled up the map of the Asceros Region I had saved to my laptop. The Asceros Region had relatively simple geography. It was made up of two islands, one being very large, Tarrin Island, and another, much smaller island, Azmarin Island.

On the main island of Asceros, it was made up of a giant mountain in the middle of the region, Mount Luceria, and roughly thirty miles north of that, Lake Astraeus. The whole region was roughly five hundred miles from north to south, and three hundred miles from east to west. Looking at where the Ranch was on the northeastern side of Tarrin Island, it was about two hundred miles away from the location Vinn was describing now.

"What're you doing there? Assuming you were at the Ranch this morning, you'd have to go all the way around the mountain, and even then, it'd take you almost six or seven hours by driving."

She gave a small laugh, knowing she'd gotten my attention. "And what if I didn't drive?"

I paused. "You walked? That's a crazy hike, but not possible since we texted just last night and you were at the Ranch."

"Meaning…?" Vinn teased.

I clicked my tongue in slight frustration as I realized what she was hinting at. "No way in hell did you fly there."

"It's okay to be jealous," she teased again. "It took a few hours, but flying on the back of an Altaria has got to be one of the coolest ways to travel."

"I don't believe you," I said, calling her bluff. "You're probably just in bed back at your Ranch."

"What if you came out here and I showed you? Maybe go on a ride of your own?" She taunted. She was definitely still my older sister, despite not seeing her for a few months.

I gave a half hearted laugh. "No money, remember? Flights out of here aren't exactly cheap, and I barely have enough money to afford going out to get fast food once a week."

"Darren, I'm being serious," Vinn said, now totally sincere. "I'm on the side of this mountain because I had to deliver an egg to the Asceros Research Station. I'm staying the night here now. I know how much a small fish you are in that ocean of a city, I was like you, too..." She sighed and went quiet for a moment. "I think I found a way to get you out here, with me. The new professor out here, he needs an assistant with a project. The Ranch works pretty closely with their facility, so they asked us today if we had any recommendations for the position. Which is why I called you."

It felt like time froze for a brief minute. Everything I'd felt after this conversation with Vinn washed away, leaving me feeling numb. I didn't know what to feel. I pictured myself in place of her in all the stories she'd shared with me of her new adventures. Meeting all sorts of people and pokémon. She was the happiest she'd ever been, from what I understood.

I suddenly felt small, smaller than I'd ever possibly felt before, realizing the doors to the world had been opened for me, if only slightly. I was scared, yet felt a feeling of empowerment fill my chest, and my heart skipped a beat or two.

"Dare? What do you think?" Vinn asked, her uncertain voice bringing time to its normal flow again. I shook myself out of my thoughts and breathed in deeply.

"I honestly don't know. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for months, hell, even years. But now that it might actually be here...I'm not sure what to think," I answered her with honesty.

She gave a small laugh. "You have no idea. I was the exact same when I got the job offer for the Ranch." She paused. "You wouldn't be alone out here, though. Not like I was. Have been." Her voice practically gave away how lonely she'd been. It made me realize she wasn't just doing this for me. My sister wanted me out there for herself, too.

I breathed deeply again, collecting my thoughts, and we were quiet for a few moments. "When would I need to be out there?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Now it was her turn to take a deep breath. "Two days, Tuesday morning. You'd fly into Lindum City, and they're willing to cover everything. No travel expense. If you get out here and decide you don't want the job, you're free to stay here with me at the Ranch, or go back home. I've made sure you'd be taken care of." She sounded completely serious about this.

"I'll do it." I told her quickly. "It'll at least mean we get to see each other for a few days if I don't take the job."

I could hear her sigh in relief before inhaling excitedly. "You have literally nothing to worry about, I'll tell them first thing in the morning, and I'll make sure I'm there when you get to Lindum."

"Do you know anything else about what I'd be doing for them?"

"Not really, they said they couldn't tell me much since I'm not the one actually applying for the position."

"Fair enough," I said, settling on that being as much information as I'd get for the moment until I actually got there.

"Hey, I know there's probably a lot more we could talk about, especially with all this going on, but I need to be up and ready to fly back to the Ranch in the morning. I need to get some sleep if I don't want to fall off Altaria while flying over the mountain." Vinn said, yawning.

"Sounds good, and please don't actually fall off. I don't think I'll be able to do this without you." I teased.

"Get some rest. Tuesday's going to come way faster than you think." She said, sounded more excited than I did. "Keep your phone on you, we'll talk tomorrow."

We said our goodnights and closed my laptop and climbed into bed, laying down and staring up again at the pitch black ceiling. Even with all the new thoughts, curiosities and wonders swimming in my head, I somehow managed to find sleep easy for once, meaning I had found peace in my decision. A new chapter of my life was beginning.