A/N: Sorry for the late chapter! I hope it wasn't too long a wait, but real life stuff got in the way, as usual. Still, just two days, so that's not too bad I hope. I'm aiming to get the next chapter out by Thursday again. Thank you all for your continuing support of this story, and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Days

The day when Morty doesn't want to

Misty

Saturday, January 25th

Leaf walked into the room with a confident stride and looked around the group seated at the big table. Misty watched as Leaf made eye-contact with all of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members around the table, and nodded back at her when it was her turn.

Misty glanced at Brock, who was seated a few places away from her, and he gave her a grim smile. There were better circumstances to see each other again. After a small smile from her side, she turned her attention back to Leaf.

She wondered what was going through the Champion's mind right now. In Misty's own opinion, this was an unmitigated disaster. They had no clue what was going on, but yet at the same time the death rate kept increasing. They had gotten together today to discuss the latest death: Shauntal of the Unova Elite Four, which had happened while an Unovian Gym Leader had been on watch.

But apparently one Gym Leader on watch wasn't enough.

"We need to change our game plan," Leaf said, opening the meeting without further ado. She sounded confident to unpracticed ears and Misty wondered how much of that confidence Leaf was really feeling. "I think it's obvious what this meeting is about. As I have told you yesterday, Unovian Elite Four member Shauntal was found dead last Thursday. She was specialized in Ghost Types, just like Agatha and Phoebe."

At that, all eyes turned to Morty, who demonstratively leaned back in his chair. It was common knowledge among the Gym Leaders that Morty didn't enjoy being watched like a child. Leaf narrowed her eyes at him. "One protector isn't enough, so we'll upgrade to two."

Morty pressed his lips together and sat up again. "I still think it's better if I simply disappeared off the radar for now."

"We need you in view," Leaf said, without missing a beat. It gave Misty the feeling they had already discussed this before.

"I'll be in more danger then," Morty shot back.

"We don't know that," Leaf said after a short pause. Then she looked at Morty with steel in her eyes. "Do you accept that danger?"

Now Morty was silent, and Misty contemplated her own answer. He would almost be like a sitting Psyduck, just bait so that they could catch whoever was behind these attacks-

"I accept," Morty said. "For now."

Leaf looked at him for a moment longer, nodded, and then turned back to the group.

"The Unovian Gym Leader Skyla has finally awakened. It appears she was caught in a very powerful Nightmare attack," Leaf said, and Misty had to repress a shudder. Using Pokémon attacks on people was harsh, but a mental attack like that...

"She is not yet in a state to answer questions, as you can understand, but Alder has assured me they are doing their best to get the information as fast as possible," Leaf continued. "They expect that Skyla will recover fully."

At that, a wave of whispered words of relief came from the group, and Leaf smiled a bit, before her face returned to the determined Champion mask.

"Now we at least have a hint. Pokémon are involved in this, one way or another. We don't know if it's Pokémon alone or if there are humans involved as well. Considering that there are hardly any Pokémon who are so bloodthirsty and so specialized in their choice of victims, I think we're talking about humans and Pokémon working together."

"Or Pokémon being forced by humans to do their dirty work," Clair said heatedly. Misty frowned, and Leaf nodded shortly in acknowledgement of the statement.

"So, Lance has made some schedules for us to guard Morty at all times with two of us," Leaf continued. "You'll see them in your inbox after this meeting."

There were some nods and sounds of confirmation coming from the group, and Leaf nodded before continuing on. "Sabrina and Morty, I want a comprehensive list of all Pokémon able to learn Nightmare, how strong those attacks could be and how likely you think that those Pokémon could use it to hurt people, and any other details you think necessary."

"Yes, ma'am," Sabrina said, and Morty nodded.

"Good," Leaf said with another nod. "Continuing on… So far, owning ghost type Pokémon seems to be the only link between the victims. Despite that only Agatha's and Phoebe's deaths are common public knowledge for now, there is already some media speculating about that link. Lance, Lorelei and Bruno, I want you three to look at some objective measurements of the public opinion on ghost type Pokémon, things as PC storing, trading, releasing…"

Misty couldn't help but frown a bit as she wondered why she wasn't included.

"Yes, and maybe breeding numbers as well, use in battles…" Bruno added, to which Lorelei nodded.

"Whatever you think will be useful information," Leaf agreed, and Misty saw how Lance looked at Leaf with an approving look.

"Alder will make the public announcement of Shauntal's death later today," Leaf continued. "Our investigation and the seeming link with ghost type Pokémon will be mentioned as well, and I expect that this will have effect on how the public will look at ghost type Pokémon and their Trainers."

"Misty and all Gym Leaders, I want you to keep an eye on the people that challenge you or who come to the Gym. Talk to them, try to figure out what their opinion on ghost Pokémon is. And keep an eye on people who own ghost Pokémon, what do they think, do they notice anything different about their Pokémon, have they heard anything strange…"

So she was going to be put in the same group as the Gym Leaders. Misty was not sure how she felt about that, but she nodded anyway. Talking to Trainers would probably be easier than looking into all kind of data from Pokémon Centers.

"Alright, are there any questions for now?"

"So in conclusion, we still don't know anything more?" Clair spoke up.

Leaf sat up straighter in her chair and Misty saw how Lance watched attentively.

"We know Pokémon are involved," Leaf said with steel in her voice. "And we know that that Pokémon was able to use a Nightmare attack. That's more than we knew before."

There was a tense silence as everyone looked expectantly at Clair. Misty saw that Lance was not looking happy with his cousin. After another moment, the blue-haired Gym Leader gave a short nod. "Then we better continue investigating."

Leaf's stance relaxed and she nodded. "That's what we're going to do." She looked back at the group. "Are there any more questions?"

Negative murmurs sounded and Leaf stood up. "Good. Then I think it's time to call it a day and to go home. Thank you all for coming today. We're heading for some rough times, but..." Leaf gave a half smile and pushed her shoulders back. "But if we work together, I'm sure we'll get through this and find who's responsible for this."

Leaf gave everyone a last nod. "Goodnight everyone."

At that, everyone got up from their chairs and soft conversation started. Misty exchanged a worried glance with Brock and made her way to him.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey." Misty smiled at one of her oldest friends.

"So, what do you think?" Brock asked.

"Well-"

"Misty, could I speak with you for a moment?" Leaf interrupted her.

Brock and Misty exchanged a glance, and Misty gave a light shrug. "Of course." After all, you didn't say no to the Champion. "I'll speak to you soon, alright?" Misty said, and Brock nodded and gave her a last wave.

Misty followed Leaf in one of the offices, mentally preparing herself for a serious conversation about her Elite Four membership and the Gym.

Surprisingly, Leaf smiled and said, "Relax, I just wanted to congratulate you." Her smile turned a bit softer. "Gary told me."

Oh, right. Ash had told Gary and of course that was how it ended up with Leaf...

"Thank you," Misty said, still a bit thrown off.

Leaf looked at her, now a bit more hesitant. "Sorry to worry you, I didn't know if you'd already told more people, and I thought you might want to break it to the rest of your colleagues yourself."

"Uh, no, that's fine, you're right, we haven't told many people yet…" It was really thoughtful of Leaf that she had done this in privacy, it would've been terrible if Brock had found it out like that… They really ought to call their friends and tell them, Brock first. But she and Ash wanted to do it together, and they hadn't managed to find much time together – she knew her absence was justified, but that didn't make it any easier.

"Right," Leaf said, her face turning serious again. "Well, usually I'd tell you to take it easy now with your work, but we're in a crisis right now, so…"

"I will do my part," Misty said determinedly. "I'm an Elite Four member."

"That you are," Leaf said, but she was still frowning slightly. "But if you find that things are getting too much for you, you should tell me, and we can find a temporary replacement-"

"I'm fine," Misty said. "I can handle this, don't worry."

The other woman nodded hesitantly, and Misty's wounded pride made her straighten up further. "Leaf, I've been practically running a Gym on my own since I was ten years old. I can do this."

Leaf scrutinized her for a moment longer but Misty didn't back down, and Leaf nodded with satisfaction.

"Good," she said. Then she smiled again and patted Misty on the shoulder. "Well, that's all, you should go back to the others."

That was a dismissal if she'd ever heard one. "Alright, I'll see you later."

"Take care, Misty," Leaf said, and Misty nodded and waved, feeling just a bit awkward as she left the room. Conversations with Leaf were always such a strange cross between friendliness and serious work-stuff, and this one had been even more strange than usual.

In the main room some of the Gym Leaders had already left, but Brock was still there, and had apparently waited on her, because he came her way immediately.

"Still alive?" he joked, and still thrown off from earlier, Misty laughed just a moment too late.

Brock looked at her worryingly. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Misty reassured him quickly. "It was just Gym stuff. Nothing special." She mentally patted herself on her back for coming up with that so quickly. "Anyway, do you and Lucy have anything planned this week? We should meet up again."

Brock blinked – as much as he could, anyway – and grinned. "That's an awesome idea."

"I thought so," Misty said, smugly crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I'm sure we can schedule something… Uh, let's see…"

And as she and Brock talked, Misty found herself forgetting the crisis happening around them, and just enjoyed the time with her friend.

A/N: Thank you for reading! This was an interesting chapter to write, but I had some difficulty incorporating Misty in her own chapter haha, because so many other things are happening. I hope that it's okay like this, and tips are welcome of course! Also, this is the last week to vote in the Tournament poll, so please do so! You can find it on my profile :) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave me a review on the way out!

Thank you!

Recommendation:

The Inheritance Cycle: Shackled by Blood by purplehairedwonder. AO3. A sadly unfinished multi-chaptered story with a really interesting premise. Roran is captured by Galbatorix, and Murtagh must decide what to do with this information…

Recommendations are welcome!