A woman holding a clipboard was waiting for the next high-hoping trainer to walk through those doors. Dark red hair tied up in a neat, sharp bun with black sharp-rimmed glasses covering her emerald eyes, Sheila was not a person to mess with and her business shark outfit showed it. Tapping her pen on her clipboard, the assistant studied the newest trainer coming in. She hoped this next one would be the last, but there always was another one.

"Name?" Even her voice was like the end of a tack. The index finger on her right hand clipped the point of the pen out.

"Lethe."

"Alright, Lethe. Morty is just down this hallway." It was as though she turned on a dime and began walking like that wasn't a care if the trainer got left behind. Why would she care? Sheila would miss being Morty's assistant and she highly doubted that any of these "wanna-be" trainers could fill in the spot perfectly. Or at least close to it. Something was odd about this walk. Now they were walking past the gym battling floor and usually the person being escorted would be showing some kind of nervousness, cockyness, or just talking way too much. But this one; this one was quiet. Quiet with confidence? Or nervousness. This actually tugged on one of Shelia's nerves. Luckily they reached the door that would lead to Morty's study.

"Morty will interview you in there."

"Thanks."

An eye twitched slightly. That quietness again; the blue-haired trainer spoke only a single word. Shaking it off, Shelia knocked on the door twice. "Sir, Lethe is here for you. "Good luck with your interview." She spoke, opening the door and watching the girl walk in.

Lethe wasn't sure if the secretary's comment was for her or Morty.

Morty's study wasn't exactly the biggest place. Small and quaint, and filled with shelves of books about legendary Pokemon, Lethe noticed, but also with histories of the leagues and rules of a badge-holder among others with no titles or authors on the spine.

"Please, sit."

The tired, yet forced-a-smile voice startled her and focused her attention to a man wearing a blue headband wrapped around blonde hair with a blue outfit to match. It was him. The Fog Badge bearer of the Johto league and Ecruteak's pride: Morty.

She sat down in the chair at his desk, across from him.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have to ask you a few questions. Are you fine with that?" He could already tell there was something different about her unlike most of the others he had to waste time with. Call it a "gym leader's instinct". He received a nod in response. "All right, now, what type of Pokemon did you choose for your starter?"

"My starter chose me."

This struck Morty as odd. "That's not a response I've heard today. Care to explain?"

Lethe looked at a top corner in the room, this too caught onto his curiosity. "Lethe?"

"She's saying that your question is kind of personal to her, but in order to help me, all she'll say is that you of all people should know about how Pokemon connect with humans."

"And 'She' would be…?"

"SpookSpook, my Gastly."

'SpookSpook'? He had to restrain a chuckle from hearing that nickname. That childish nickname didn't really seem like it would have come from a young teen so mature for her age. "Ah…I see. So, then you're obviously a ghost-type trainer?"

"Basically…"

"What other Pokemon do you have?" It wasn't often you got to meet another ghost-trainer. Well, there was Agatha, but she's odd and well… old. He had to admit, she was an interesting character, and could possibly have potential to become a gym leader. It still is too early to tell. Not to mention this is only the first step to help weed out most of the applicants.

"I have a Shuppet, Misdreavus, Sableye, and a Duskull."

Morty thought over the 4 listed Pokemon, three of them weren't in their final evolve forms, while Sableye doesn't evolve. But being evolved isn't every thing, it might not be too one-sided if she trained her Pokemon well enough. He studied her for a minute and realized she was a person of few words most of the time. She didn't seem like a power-hungry person or someone who just wanted the title to be "popular". "
"Why do you want to become a gym leader, Lethe? Why do you think I should allow you even a chance to replace me?"

Gastly became visible and circled around her partner.

"'Why'" She repeated, "Simple. It's just been a dream of mine."

An eyebrow raised on the gym leader's forehead. "What is the reason for that dream? It can't be that simple. Why is that your dream?"

"I want to amount to something. Not in an egotistical way. It's more personal than that."

"I see…" He jotted down some notes. "That'll be it for today, Lethe. My request is that you come back at 10 'o' clock sharp tomorrow morning. Others will be there too. Be prepared for anything."

Getting up, Lethe said her thanks and left, the purple orb vanished from sight once again.

"Tomorrow will be an interesting day." Morty smiled and folded his hands together as his elbows rested on the desk.

As he spoke the last sentence a purple Pokemon with red eyes came through the wall. "Gengar…"

"I'll need you to keep a look out for cheaters tomorrow. But also, keep an eye on this male, Kevin and a girl, Lethe. Think you can do that?"

"Gennnngaarr gen…"

"Heh. You're right. Forgive me. Of course you can. Tomorrow will be interesting indeed."