Welcome to Gaia! ::

*Ike walks in the common room silently. He sees the new TV and nods his head thanks to Doug. He reaches in his pocket and reimburses him for his purchase.*
Ike: *Speaks with a sore throat.* Thanks. It's a nice TV. A lot nicer than the last one.

"They sell TVs in the Aqua Store?" Ginji asks. "Oh, it turns out they don't sell dawn or dusk stone either..." he sighs as he turns to Ike. "You know what the White Flute does? And can I Snag non-shadow Pokemon with a snag machine?"

Ike: *Clears his throat* Well, the white flute allows you to catch an extra one or two Pokemon in a mission or a RP. And as for the snag machine...*hem* We're only allowed to use it upon given permission by Brian or Hunter. : I'm not a big fan of stealing other's Pokemon so if you ask me I'll always say no... But our snag machines snag both shadow and non-shadow Pokemon...*goes to find a glass of water*

*Ike sighs as he grabs a bottled water from the fridge and heads back down to the Hanger. He wasn't feeling too well. Quilava ran up beside him as he entered the Hanger.*
Quilava: Hey, I think something's wrong with Lucario.
Ike: Huh? He should be fine... I healed him last night...
Quilava: He's not hurt, he's being really quiet and evasive.
Ike: ...More than usual? *walks around the Hanger and looks for Lucario.*

Ike: *Concerned about Lucario, Ike searches the entire Hanger without finding a trace of his partner. He searches his room, the common room, the kitchen... no sign of him.* Huh... *Ike proceeds to exit the HQ and begins to take a walk in the woods. "Maybe Luc's somewhere out here?" Ike climbs over bushes and rocks and arrives at a small, open area of prairie grass. Lucario was standing in the middle, the tall grass reaching his waist.*
Lucario: *Looks down to the ground, frustrated.*
Ike: ...You ok, Luc?
Lucario: *Turns around to Ike. Upon meeting his eyes he looks back down at the ground.* That man... I failed to protect Kurtis and you...
Ike: *Coughs* ...oh.
Lucario: A human beat me. He was so fast... I couldn't keep up...
Ike: *Walks out to Lucario. He puts his hands in his pockets as he approaches him* He was kinda... good. I've never seen someone beat a Pokemon in hand-to-hand combat.
Lucario: *Flinches at the words, feeling even more worse*
Ike: *Sighs* You're not alone, Luc. *coughs* After the Gang left, it was only me and Archie in that room... I felt powerless.
Lucario: *Looks up at Ike* Hm?
Ike: It's weird. *Looks past Lucario at a couple of Taillow sang on a tree branch in the distance.* Out of all the bad guys we've been up against... out of all the experiences we've had... Archie's the only man I'm afraid of.
Lucario: ...Afraid? We once fought our way out of Team Magma's grasp... We went in the belly of the beast and helped rescue Brian, Maddy, and Ginji from that giant Tentacruel... and you're afraid of Archie?
Ike: *Sighs* ...Yeah. Nothing stood between me and Archie yesterday... I felt... powerless. *coughs*
Lucario: *Looked over at the Taillow that Ike was looking at. The Taillow fluffed their feathers and took flight.*
Ike: How about it, Lucario? Let's go train. All of us. *Looks at Lucario* We'll be ready the next time we face him.
Lucario: *Looks back up at Ike and stares. He then nods and turns around to walk back to the HQ.*
Ike: *Fallows* We can train to improve your evasiveness... *clears his throat.* We can work on Scizor's accuracy and speed... *Ike hesitates to say the next thing, then sighs* And maybe it's time Quilava evolves?

*Ike and Lucario enter the HQ.*
Ike: *Spots the note and walks over to read it. He is overjoyed to see Hunter's signature at the bottom. After reading it with a smile on his face, his smile slowly turns up-side down.* ...Pool?
Lucario: Hm?
Ike: ...*coughs* Hunter's been at a pool while we get trampled by the world week after week?...ughh... *Crashes on the couch and turns on the new TV. He was surprised again to find HoennTV "Off the air" due to "technical difficulties."* Yeah... alright Archie... we believe you... *rolls his eyes and flips through the channels*
Lucario: *Walks over to the couch* ...Were we going to train?
Ike: *coughs and stands up quickly, his train of thought derailed for a moment.* YES~! Yes. Let's head down to the Hanger... *Stands back up and walks down to the Hanger with Lucario.*

Ginji walks into HQ. "Hunter's back! That's good to know." as he contemplates what Ike had said. "Of course the snag machine shouldn't be used against innocents. Only Pokemon abusers and the like should have their Pokemon stolen." Ginji sighed as he looked at the mission board, wondering if he should try and get some Shadow Pokemon.

"Missions can be re-done right? Just a different story each time?"

Cody walks into HQ. He looks for Ike, but doesn't see him. "Hey, what's with all the new people?" Cody says and looks around curiously.