~ Chapter 70 ~

The Aura Tribe of Iron Island

"The Aura Tribe. That's what the inhabitants of Iron Island had. Supposedly they had come to Iron Island, long, long before the Sinnoh tribes had been banished from Mt. Coronet. They had left the mountain of their own volition, and settled down on the iron and ore rich island. They mined the island for their iron and metals, and eventually, when they contacted the mainland Sinnoh culture, they started trading their ore and iron goods for profit. To this day they still maintain their own mines and trade them with the mainland. Captain Wendill, our friendly ferrymaster, was responsible for transporting most of the ore and metal from the island to the mainland. But they held another secret—on the surface they were a simple, mining, smithing folk. But once they let you past their front gates, you soon learned they kept a monopoly over something else on that island."

They stood on the island, wind blowing in their hair. It was silent.

No one was there with them, as the captain of the ferry left them, and the supplies by the dock, as always, and disappeared shortly after.

He warned the group that the Tribesmen would not appear before those they deemed unworthy. Seeing as no one had shown up to claim the supplies the captain had dropped off, the group assumed they had been deemed "unworthy."

With a collective sigh, they made their way up the steep cliffsides. Rolling hills, high mountains, sheer clifface, and windswept highlands with exposed shale formations and columns of basalt.

The wind battered the group as the waves battered the shore of the island.

Rumbling beneath their feat seemed to indicate the location of a mine or settlement beneath their feet.

"Somehow this place is more depressing than it was when Rowan and I came here decades ago," muttered Aurelio, the wind not affecting him.

The group stopped in a narrow valley between two tall peaks of sheer cliff side.

"We could bunker down here," noted Jeremy, "The wind doesn't hit here as hard."

"Too exposed," noted Sam, "And there's too big of a risk of rocks coming down and crushing us."

"Should we look for a cave?" asked Alyssandra.

Aurelio shook his head. "Don't go poking your heads into places you don't need to be on Iron Island. Especially caves. Sure way to piss off the locals."

"That's a no go," replied Sam, "Locals."

Niya nodded as she realized Sam had a point.

"Let's push forward," continued Sam.

Everyone nodded, keeping silent as the wind blew around them, messing their hair up and blowing their clothes about.

They continued their trek inwards, no idea where they were going, or why. Then, Sam froze.

Something in his mind, though he was not sure what, alerted him to the presence of others around him.

"Someone's here," he whispered to his friends.

Aurelio rumbled a bit. "About time you noticed."

"You weren't going to tell me?" he asked under his breath.

"We've been spotted," Sam heard someone state from just ahead, behind a rock. The voice sounded old, weathered.

"How?" asked a second voice, younger than the first, but still older than Sam was.

"The one up front," said the first voice, as the body it was attached to stepped out from behind the boulder, "He can sense us…him and the other by him. The old man."

"Old man?" mouthed Jeremy to his friends, sure these two were crazy, "What are they talking about?"

"His Aura radiates with a light unseen," spoke the younger man, appearing from behind the rock, following the older man.

"So does the girl's," stated a third voice, appearing behind the group. This one was a woman.

The first man, the old one, was old, white haired, with long braided hair and long braided beard with copper clasps. He wore plain leather robes that hung loosely about his body.

The middle-aged man, the second voice, was a tall, broad chested man, with wide shoulders, and thick, corded muscles. He wore no shirt, but simple brown leather pants and no shoes, like the first man. His hair was long, but not braided. He had a short, close-cropped beard, and his hair was streaked with grey.

Behind them stood a dark-haired woman with darker skin. She was the third voice. She wore leather armour and clothes beneath, and again, no shoes. Her dark hair was braided, and long, and almost scraped the ground below. She carried a bow and arrow on her back, and a short sword at her hip.

"Outsiders," noted the old man, "Brought by the captain along with the supplies."

"We've come to train," stated Sam bravely, standing tall, worried they might be attacked at any moment, "The Captain said we could train here, if we were brave enough."

"The Captain speaks true," smiled the old man.

Sam noticed, suddenly, that all of these people wore strips of black cloth across their eyes. Were they blind? How could they see?

"And yet you come armed," hissed the woman from behind.

"But not with the intention of using the weapon against us," the old man said soothingly, trying to calm the irked woman behind the group.

"Why bring a weapon here if he had no intention of using it?" rumbled the woman.

"Weapon?" wondered Aurelio.

Sam's friends echoed Aurelio's words.

Sam said nothing, but kept his mouth shut.

"Revenge," replied the middle-aged man, "He carries it for revenge. A dark path to wander down…his Aura is confused, conflicted…angered. Powerful, teetering on the edge though."

"What did you do?" asked Aurelio, worry in his eyes.

"Hand over the weapon," called the woman.

Shamed, Sam did as he was asked. He reached into his bag and pulled out the small gun and the box of ammunition, and turned it over to the woman.

"Conflicted," stated the old man, "But good at heart."

Sam could feel the looks of worry, fear, and a little bit of anger coming from his friends behind him. His grandfather wore a face that was equal parts shock and pride.

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate…leads to suffering," warned the old man, "Revenge is not the path of the righteous. You should not seek revenge as you do. Murder…violence…shatter their plans, stop them, avenge the weak and innocent…but never should one sink to revenge."

"You have come here for training…you have come to the right place," stated the old man, "Come. Follow me."

The group was marched silently down a set of carved steps towards a large caved carved into the side of the mountain.

They were led down wide, perfectly carved hallways, past more hallways, indoor rooms, and hundreds of other members of the Iron Island Tribe.

Lit by torchlight, the underground city was beautiful, but simple. Ornately carved, but without gold, or jewels, or fancy stonework. Everything was grey stone.

Finally, they arrived in a small antechamber, with the old man, his middle-aged fellow, and the young woman.

The door slammed shut as stone scraped against stone. Finally, the old man spoke.

"I am Vethyr," stated the old man, "My companions are my son, Kaethyr, and my daughter, Illiria. I am the leader of the Iron Tribe. We are wary around strangers…we have reason to be. So we don't grant audiences with any."

"So why us?" asked Niya as Vethyr sat the group down at a stone table.

"The Auras of two of you were…particularly bright," explained Vethyr, "We…we decided to keep an eye on you. And then we were noticed. I'm not sure how. Very few who are not versed in the ways of Aura can sense us."

"I'll be honest," replied Sam, speaking for the first time since he was confronted about the gun, "I have no idea how I was able to sense you. But I was."

Vethyr nodded sagely. "Your Aura is strong…perhaps it tipped you off without you knowing?"

"What do you mean, Aura?" asked Alyssandra. She had been incredibly forgiving of Sam and the gun incident.

The two had a chance to whisper to each other on the way into the caves, and she had explained she wasn't upset, and she understood, but she was hurt and disappointed that Sam hadn't been honest about having a gun. That he felt the need to lie and hide it, and go towards the path of murder and revenge.

Sam still hadn't told his friends about Alexios, but he would have to later now.

Niya would not be so easy to appease.

"Aura," explained Kaethyr, "It is the energy that suffuses us, and flows through us. It reflects who we are, what we are feeling, even bits of our memories and thoughts are tied to it. It is undeniably a part of who we are."

"The Iron Tribe, known as the Aura Tribe, to some," started Illiria as she approached the table with a saunter, "Is specially trained to see the world through Aura. Aura suffuses all living things, even the rocks, the trees, and the ground. Animals, Pokémon, humans—we all have Aura."

"Is that why you wear the blindfolds?" asked Jeremy.

"We are blind at birth," explained Vethyr, "A rare mutation of our people. We cannot see like you do, we see through Aura. We cover our eyes as sign of our devotion to the Aura."

"And also because we are blind," Illiria replied dryly. The semblance of a smile peaked across her face. She almost looked like she was making a witty joke.

"How will you train us?" asked Sam, "I came to make my Pokémon stronger—"

"To prepare for your Gym Battle," replied Vethyr, smiling, "For the Pokémon League…and for defeating Team Galactic. I notice you carry…powerful relics. I sense this world's fate will soon be in your hands."

"How—" started Alyssandra.

"These relics carry a powerful, ancient Aura that shine like a beacon," replied Kaethyr, "It would be impossible to hide them from us."

"Fated youths," smiled Vethyr, "Yes, we can definitely train you."

"How though?" pressed Sam, trying to get the answer he craved still.

Vethyr looked sagely at Sam and his friends. "We cannot train you how to use Aura. Not in the short time allotted to you…but…we can teach you how to master yourself. Master your inner turmoil. Find inner calm…inner peace. With greater mastery over yourself, you will find greater mastery over your Pokémon."

"Will that really work?' asked Sam, sceptically.

"I see no reason why it shouldn't…and perhaps you'll forego your ideas of revenge at least," smiled Vethyr, "We'll let you discuss this amongst your selves…we'll know when you're ready."

With that, Vethyr and his children left the room, leaving Sam with his friends.

"Start talking, now," started Niya, barely waiting for the door to close.

"It was exactly what it looks like," replied Sam, really not wanting to repeat himself.

"Where the hell does a sixteen year old kid get the gun?" asked Niya, holding back her anger.

Jeremy looked at Sam with a sullen look. He'd figured it out. "When you went after Alexios, I heard a gunshot." Jeremy's face went white.

"No, I didn't kill him," Sam answered quickly, "He did kill himself. I just…took the gun from his corpse when I buried him."

"You're leaving that gun here when he leave," grumbled Niya, "You're not taking it with us. Your fists are enough of a weapon apparently, that grunt from Celestic town is testament to that."

"I'm…I'm sorry," sighed Sam, "I shouldn't have lied to you guys."

"No, you really shouldn't have," stated Aurelio, speaking for the first time since arriving in the stone room.

"You shouldn't have," hissed Niya, "And I swear if you do it again I'll smack you so hard you won't know what hit you."

"So Alexios is dead, huh?" asked Jeremy, still not fully able to grasp that his old teacher, his old principle, was no longer alive. Not just evil, and behind the Galactic Bomb and some of Team Galactic's most vile experiments, but dead.

Alyssandra and Niya had a similar look.

Only Sam had really had a chance to process his death—perhaps not in the best way, but still better than people who didn't even knew he died.

"At least that's one less Admin for Team Galactic," muttered Sam, "But yeah…he's dead. I…I don't know why he felt so desperate that he felt he had to kill himself. He had the gun pointed at me originally…then he turned it on himself and pulled the trigger."

"Did you seriously gamble with your life there?" asked Alyssandra, both worried and impressed.

"I…I don't even know what I was doing, but yeah, I suppose I did," replied Sam, putting things into perspective for the first time.

"Boys are idiots," groaned Niya, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat.

"Now we have to decide what we do about the training they're offering," added Sam, trying to push the conversation forward.

"I'd take it," Aurelio interjected, "They're a wise people, if a bit…creepy, and depressing. I never met them myself, but I'd heard stories. Give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?"

Sam didn't even want to answer that.

"I think we should take it," stated Alyssandra, "We all know we could use the mental reset. It could be relaxing."

"Or gruelling," added Jeremy.

"We're here to train," Sam said, coming to Alyssandra's defence, "We can train ourselves, and train our Pokémon. We'll all be stronger for it. We'll need it to deal with Team Galactic. Forget the Pokémon League, because if we can't defeat Cyrus and Team Galactic, there won't be a Pokémon League to beat."

"The liar has a point," smirked Niya, "Training yourself as a person is just as important for a trainer as training your Pokémon. You both need to grow and evolve, as it were."

"So, we do it then?" asked Sam.

Niya nodded.

Everyone was in agreement.

Before they could even reach the door to call Vethyr back, him and his children had returned. Stalking into the room like jovial spectres.

"Are you ready to begin?" asked Vethyr.

"Born ready," replied Sam. His determination was clear on his face.

"There are many secrets I was taught by the Aura Tribe during my time there. We all learned something new about our Pokémon, the world, and ourselves. But many of the methods and practices used by the Aura Tribe are a guarded secret however…they would not allow me to share them so lightly. They were not as forgiving as the Shrine Maidens, who can just as easily make their headquarters appear as abandoned as the Ruins of Alph or Tanoby. It was just as easy to claim that was made up…far more than the Aura Tribe. Too many have sought to know their secrets, and steal it for themselves…and so our training under the Aura Tribe shall remain a secret between us, and them."

They had trained for a week with the Aura Tribe, directly under Vethyr and his children.

In one week, they had strengthened their Pokémon, they had met new Pokémon they had never met before, and they had stregthened themselves.

Now, they stood before Vethyr and his children, the light from the entrance pouring in behind them.

They were ready to leave, to return to the mainland for Sam's Pokémon battle in Canalave City against Byron.

Vethyr was making them go through one final test, in his words. "What have you learned?"

It was a fairly simple question, but also the hardest question of their lives. What had they learned?

They each answered with confidence, to the best of their abilities.

"I learned to have confidence in myself and my abilities. To have faith in my Pokémon, and to take the things I want unapologetically. To fight for what I want, in all things, in all aspects of life," started Alyssandra.

"I've learned to trust in my Pokémon, as much as I trust in myself, and to allow myself to lean on them and learn from them, just as they do with me. Together, we can achieve our goals," added Jeremy.

"I've remembered I'm still young, and still have much to learn. For all I am teacher, I am still a student, of myself, of my Pokémon, and of life. If I cease my learning, I must also cease my teaching; a teacher who does not learn is no teacher, and student who cannot pass on what he has learned is no student," Niya chimed in.

"Revenge is a dark goal, that leads to a dark path. It is good to be righteous, but revenge is not right. Power comes from within, from the heart, and the bond I share with my Pokémon. I must use this bond to achieve my goals, and defeat my enemies, both evil and benign. If I strengthen this bond, there is no obstacle we can't overcome," finished Sam.

Aurelio smiled proudly behind him.

Vethyr and Kaethry echoed this sentiment; pride booming through their faces, blossoming across their wrinkles. "You have all learned much," smiled Vethyr, "I am proud to have called you students of mine. Be careful not to forget what you have learned this week…these are dangerous lessons to forget."

Sam and his friends bowed, as did Aurelio. If Sam wasn't mistaken, it almost seemed to him that Vethyr and his children had seen this, and bowed to Aurelio as well, though he couldn't be entirely sure.

"One last thing," stated Vethyr, "I wish to gift upon each of you, a Guardian. Specifically, the Guardian that was assigned to each of you during your stay here."

Sam knew what this meant. He had met their Guardians many times during sparring battles, and every day life among the Aura Tribe.

Vethyr handed a Cherish Ball to each of the four teens. "A Guardian for you each," he noted, "To mark you all with a sign of friendship. Should you find yourself near another member of our tribe in this world, they will not fail to recognize you. Should you choose to return, you shall be greeted at the harbour."

Once more Sam and his friends bowed, thanking Vethyr and his family—his people—profusely for everything.

Once the goodbyes and thank yous were finished, Kaethyr escorted the group back down to the harbour, to await the Captain's return.

It was on this trip down that Sam realized how much he and his friends had changed.

Jeremy was no longer the quiet youth he had been when he left Twinleaf Town. He was now a Pokémon Ranger in training—self-training, but still training—with goals to go far in the organization.

Alyssandra was a Pokémon Coordinator, with confidence in herself and her skills. She almost made the Grand Festival after only being a Coordinator for barely six months.

Niya had learned a lot about being a mentor and a teacher, a lot about herself, and a lot about the world she had never taken the chance to get to know during her single-minded quest to be the best Pokémon Coordinator in Sinnoh.

She had set out with the decision to not catch anymore Pokémon than her original six. Now, on her belt hung the Poké Balls for Starfire, her Rapidash, her Spitiromb, with whom she'd bonded with greatly since being gifted the Pokémon, and now, a Cherish Ball containing her new Lucario.

The Pokémon Companion bred solely by the Aura Tribe. The Guardians. Lucario and Riolu were strong with the Aura, and Aura powers.

Vethyr said his people were taught the secrets of Aura by Lucario millennia ago. Iron Island has been their natural habitat, and when humans came, the Lucario tribe that lived there, and the humans of the Aura Tribe bonded, and became one, living side-by-side.

Sam had his sixth Pokémon for his team. He and Lucario had bonded during this week, and Sam knew he and his new Pokémon would be close, and already bonded for battle.

And it helped that Lucario and Riolu were some of the few Pokémon that were able to communicate with humans, in their language, through telepathy. It would make non-verbal communication easier, and would give Sam the advantage in a fight if he didn't have to call out attacks.

Plus it would unnerve his opponents.

Sam was coursing with excitement.

Life was looking up.