"Iris it's Gold. He's in a coma."

My eyes widened, and my hand trembled.

"W-what?"

"You heard me. When can you get here?"

I still couldn't comprehend what she said. Blue didn't sound like she was joking, and there was absolutely no way she'd lie about something like that. So instead of trying to figure things out, I gave an answer. I was never one to take in too much information at once and understand it at once.

"S-seven hours, at the least."

"You're in SINNOH?"

I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Yeah. Actually, I'm with Platinum right now."

Blue sighed on the other end.

"Alright. But why seven? Doesn't it take only five?"

"Well, you know. I have some things to do. I'll wrap those up and get there as fast as I can, alright?"

"Okay. Just...as fast as you can."

Blue hung up, and I sighed. Platinum, who was next to me, looked up in confusion. I looked down at my junior.

"Was Blue. Something's happened to Gold."

She nodded.

"How will you get to Johto?"

I looked up, racking my head for an idea. It was a habit of mine. Looking up at the sky always cleared my head. The birds looked so free...Ah. Birds.

"I'll fly."

Platinum was startled.

"It's five hours by air. Staraptor can't fly that long while carrying you."

"I know. That's why I'm flying. If I surf, Then I can stop indefinitely for rest, but flying's faster. And besides, if Staraptor gets tired, I'll stop when we reach Hoenn and finish the journey on Unfezant. And if Unfezant can't take me the rest of the way, I'll surf."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Yeah..."

"And your plans always work." She said, smiling at me.

"sorry our meeting was cut short, Platinum. I'd have loved to catch up."

"It's no problem, Iris. Send my regards."

I said my farewells to my friend. It took me less than two hours before I managed to get back to the hotel I checked into only a day ago, and checked out prematurely after packing my things. Then I went to the pokemon center to take Unfezant out of my box, before explaining my short plan to my two bird pokemon and single water pokemon. I then took off, flying through the air. The flight was quite pleasant, and I sang to my pokemon to keep it entertained. I occasionally fed berries to my dear flying-type pokemon, and the wild pokemon gathered around me to receive a treat as well. Then we landed in Hoenn.

I whispered a thanks to my Staraptor, and letting the tired bird pokemon rest inside its pokeball, released Unfezant and took off flying again. This time was similar to the last, though I was getting a bit tired and sleepy. Flying took strength out of the rider too, after all. But a little while before we reached Johto, Unfezant began to get tired.

"It's okay, Unfezant. You can just lower me down a bit. I'll surf."

Unfezant cooed an apology, then swooped down to sea level. I released Empoleon, one of my favorites, and jumped off Unfezant to land on Empoleon softly. I then returned Unfezant and kneeled, speeding towards the now-visible land i recognized as Johto. When I landed on shore, it was at Azalea Town. I thanked Empoleon and returned it, setting foot on land after only four hours and 52 minutes. I then walked tiredly to the pokemon center, where I gave all three of my pokemon for rest. I headed to the gym before anything else.

Only to find what was left of it. I was shocked for the second time today. The usually bright colors of the gym was destroyed, and the entrance was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, I hadn't met any of the citizens except for the nurse. And the nurse hadn't talked back to me either.

'What happened...? Where is everyone?'

I felt a tap on my shoulder to see someone my height. That someone had purple hair and was holding a bug net with pokeballs inside.

"What a pleasant surprise, Iris."

"Falkner!" I shouted. I hugged the gym leader, forgetting myself for a moment. "I was so worried!"

Falkner awkwardly pat me on my back, and when I stopped glomping him, led me into one of the houses in the Town. There was an elderly woman living there, and upon our entrance, she greeted us both. Falkner greeted her back, and led me into a room. He then deposited me on the bed and went out, muttering 'tissues'. I sniffed a bit, calming my heart. I then looked out the window at the Town again.

I hadn't noticed it before, but now that I looked carefully, I noticed details about the Town which told me what happened. The ground was dusty and the air was unusually dry. There were cracks forming on buildings, and most noticeably, of course, the gym was collapsed. I didn't turn around when Falkner came back in.

"Tell me what happened this instant."

"You're here for Gold, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Falkner sighed. Everybody seemed to be doing that lately.

"Where to start...?"

I turned around to face the bug type leader.

"At the beginning."

I didn't care that I was late for my meeting with Blue. I needed answers. And I wouldn't stop bothering Falkner until I got them. So when I managed to calm myself enough to stop glaring at the poor leader, he began to speak.

"About two weeks ago, Gold suddenly came to Azalea Town. I asked him what he was doing, but he smiled and said it was classified information. But before he left, I managed to get out that he was tracking down some bad guy. I didn't really care at first, since it was Gold."

I nodded, understanding what he was saying. If it was Gold, he'd chase a simple bag snatcher around the whole region.

"Then about seven hours ago, there was a massive tremor. I thought it was only Azalea Town, but after a few phone calls I managed to find out that it was around the whole region. The only thing that really bugged me was that...the only buildings which were completely destroyed were Gyms. And the tremor was only felt in cities or towns with gyms. Hence, places like New Bark and the Dragon's Den were not affected. Clair called me not soon after and told me she found Gold lying in the Dragon's Den, unconscious. No, not unconscious. In a coma. That's when all hell broke loose."

My breath hitched. I looked at the sky. Falkner's timeline seemed correct. If I understood correctly, Gold was chasing someone. Then, a tremor about seven hours ago. Then the likely cause of Gold's coma would be the same tremor. The time seemed to match with when Blue called too, so that was true.

"What happened?"

"The authorities decided they were going to get a case on this matter. The Gym leaders were to put their duties on hold and focus on helping rebuild and protecting their domain. We rejected help from other regions, insisting that they protect their own regions, especially Kanto, because we're connected. Unknowingly, our rejection of help created a total lockdown of the regions. In order to stop whoever was responsible, nobody was allowed in. Nobody was allowed out. You were probably the last person to go across regions."

I nodded again. If the regions were in a lockdown, then Blue couldn't go back home, unless she was allowed special treatment. It also meant that Green, as a trainer and leader could not leave Kanto, having to protect Viridian. Falkner invaded my train of thought.

"Go see Gold now. Maybe something will happen."

"What?"

"I don't know, but I feel like something's going on. Something that we could have never seen coming."

I suddenly felt something pull inside my stomach. I felt nauseous, and I thought I'd pass out. Thankfully, I didn't, and Falkner followed me out of the house. He saw me to the center, where I put my Unfezant back in the box, and returned Empoleon to my belt. Then he saw me off as I flew to New Bark Town.

I sighed when I landed. The difference was striking. While Azalea Town seemed like it had been through a sandstorm, a typhoon, a tsunami and just about everything else, New Bark seemed as pristine and as homey as ever. I began my short trek to Gold's house with heavy feet, deep in thought.

So there was an attack in Johto, targeting only cities with gyms. Was this to incapacitate these cities so they couldn't be protected? No. There are more ways than one to protect the gyms. But why a lockdown? And why was I allowed through? There was a police officer in Azalea Town when I landed, so he could have questioned me about where I came from. Or maybe the lockdown wasn't in place yet?

While muddling over my thoughts, I arrived at Gold's house before I knew it. I knocked on the door to find it open. I frowned. Not such a good security placement for someone who was forced into a coma. When I stepped into the house, the first thing I noticed was that all the pokemon weren't there. Gold usually had a bunch of pokemon running about everywhere, but this time was different.

"Isn't everything just changing now...?"

I mumbled. Then I stepped into Gold's room, where I was greeted by a life-threatening tackle from Blue.

"Oh Iris you're finally here!"

"Oh hey, Blue...I heard everything from Falkner."

Blue released me and looked at me squarely in the eyes. I had to stop myself from groaning.. She was still taller than me.

"No. You haven't heard everything."

She moved aside to show me Gold's body. He was lying down, and it would seem he was sleeping, if you didn't know he was actually in a coma. Then, something fluttered by. I glanced up to see something rise out of Gold's body. My eyes widened. It was Gold. Only, he was transparent.

"Oh. You can see me."

I nearly fainted then and there.